Global InformationMeghnad Badh Kavya information
| Author | Michael Madhusudan Dutt |
|---|---|
| Original title | মেঘনাদবধ কাব্য |
| Translator | Clinton B. Seely |
| Country | British India |
| Language | Bengali |
| Genre | Epic poem |
Publication date | 1861 |
Original text | মেঘনাদবধ কাব্য at Bengali Wikisource |
Meghnad Badh Kavya (Bengali: মেঘনাদবধ কাব্য; English: The Slaying of Meghnada) is a Bengali epic poem by Michael Madhusudan Dutta. Regarded as a central work in Bengali literature and Dutta's greatest literary work as well as the finest epic in Bengali literature and also as one of the greatest works of world literature. [1] Meghnad Badh Kavya is based on the demise of Meghnad (a.k.a. Indrajit), son of Ravana, the king of Lanka in the classic Sanskrit epic Ramayana.[2]
The poem is divided into 9 cantos.[3] Each part exhibits different incidents. Starting from the death of Beerbahu, son of Ravana, it is continued till the sati-daha (the ancient Indian custom of burning the widows alive with the dead husband) of Prameela, Meghnad's beloved wife.
The poem starts with the lines:
সম্মুখ সমরে পড়ি, বীর-চূড়ামণি |
The great hero, being defeated in a face-to-face battle, |
- ^ Azad, Humayun (2007). "Bangla Literature in the Nineteenth Century". In Islam, Sirajul (ed.). History of Bangladesh 1704-1971. Vol. 3: Social and Cultural History. Dhaka: The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. p. 239. ISBN 984 512 337 6.
- ^ "The Slaying of Meghanada". home.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ^ Read the whole ballad in Bangla