going on for some dramatic entertainment. It has been cus- tomary with the Vaisnava Satradhikars of the Assamese monasteries to give tokens of their learning and religious zeal by first composing a drama before they are formally ordained as pontiffs.
Mr. Goswami sent his collection of dramas several years, before his death, but they have not seen the light of day as yet on account of the delinquency of the Calcutta press of which every Assamese publisher of books is an invariable victim.
Katha-Bhagavata-Mr. Goswami sent this second work of Bhattadeva to the press several years ago, but the volu- minous character of the book will necessarily take many more years before it sees the light of day. Sankar Deva translated the Bhagavata into Assamese verse jointly with Ananta Kandali, while Bhattadeva rendered the same into simple and majestic Assamese prose thus laying the foundation of the Bhagavat Dharma, another name of the Vaisnava creed as it obtained in Assam through its principal sponsors. The diction of the Katha-Bhagavata is no doubt artificial and far removed from the actual language spoken by the people. It has great affinity to the artistic diction of Assamese Vaisnava poetry which is familiar to every Assamese Hindu, the reading aloud of Vaisnava classics to a devoted audience being universal in Assam. Even the uninitiated and illiterate Assamese peasant can follow the stories of the Katha Bhagavata and draw morals from them. The Bhagavata had thus a great influence in humanising the Assamese people and educating them in the cardinal principles of religion and morality as propounded through the life and teaching of Srikrishna Katha-Bhagavata when published will be of interest to all scholars of Eastern India on account of its linguistic catholicity, inasmuch it can be followed by any man of Orissa and Behar, not to speak of Bengal and Assam.
