INTRODUCTION :
Bharatchandra Ray Gunakor (1712–1760) was a Bengali and Sanskrit poet and composer of divine songs. He is well appreciated for his holy work, Annapurnamangal, which mentions the greatness of Mata Annapurna, a form of Mata Shakti Devi, who provides plenty of food to all the living beings in the earth. He was honoured with the title Gunakor by the then Maharaja Krishnachandra of Nadia.
Bharatchandra was born in the year 1712, to a pious Bengali family in a village in the present day Howrah district. Bharatchandra was brought up by his uncle in Naoapara at Kolkata. At his teenage, he was married to a pious young girl. He was a highly knowledgeable person, and he got good knowledge in Hindu Holy texts, and he learnt Sanskrit and Persian languages. After finishing his education, he became the court poet of Maharaja Krishnachandra of Krishnanagar. He was highly honoured and received lot of wealth from Krishnachandra, for his talent in penning devotional poems on the deities.
WORKS
⦁ Annapurnamangal
⦁ Rasamanjari
⦁ Gangashtaka
⦁ Satyanarayan Panchali
⦁ Chandi Natak
Bharatchandra was a master in Bengali music and written songs and sung in praise of Mata Annapurna, and also composed and sung songs on Radha and Krishna by mentioning their divine love. Bharatchandra died in the year 1760, and it is believed that due to his good karmic deeds, he would have attained SALVATION, after his death.
Some of the verses from his poems are as follows:
⦁ Oh! Ma Annapurni, you are the goddess of food and water. Please provide sufficient food and water for all the people and other living beings in the earth.
⦁ Oh! Ma Annapurni, even your loving husband Lord Shiva had eaten food from your lotus hands. Give your divine presence to me, and offer food to me from your divine hands.
⦁ Oh! Ma Annapurna! All the living beings are depending on food only. Since you are relieving the hunger and thirst of the people, you are considered as the superior goddess.
⦁ Oh! Ma Annapurna Devi! Please remove the badness from the minds of the people, and make them to become good, by offering the divine Prasad from your hands.
⦁ Oh! Ma Annapurna Devi! Even the Trimurties cannot fully describe your greatness. You are such a kind and an affectionate Universal mother.
⦁ Oh! Ma Annapurna Devi! Please show me the path of heaven, and please release me from this difficult world.
⦁ Oh! Ma Annapurna! You are the divine cow Kamadhenu and the divine wish fulfilling tree Kalpakavriksha. Please provide all the necessities to us, and make us to live happily.
⦁ Oh! Ma Annapurna! By reciting your names itself, all of our worries and sufferings would come to an end.
⦁ Oh! Ma Annapurna! Let the world be filled up with full of food, and let the people relieve from their hungriness.
“OM”
SENT BY
R.HARISHANKAR
