Vijay Gupta

Vijay Gupta ifteenth-century Bangla poet, composer of Padmapurana, a mangalkavya in honour of the goddess manasa. Vijay Gupta was born to Sanatan and his wife Rukmini in the village of Fullasri, between the rivers Ghaghor and Ghanteswari in barisal.

Kana (blind) Haridatta is believed to be the first and Vijay Gupta the second of the more than hundred poets who wrote poems eulogising Manasa and propagating her worship. Padmapurana describes how Manasa was able to convert Chand Saodagar, a devotee of shiva, to her worship. However, the poet also wanted to show that Manasa was worshipped by Muslims. Thus, in one episode, an angry Manasa attacks Kazi's town and harasses its people when she finds that Kazi's sons, Hasan and Husain, have vandalized an altar. Kazi saves himself, his family, wealth and his people by offering puja to the goddess.

Padmapurana is, however, not only fiction as the poet also narrates a number of contemporary historical and social events. The poem also contains an eulogy of Sultan husain shah (1494-1519), as 'invincible in war' and a 'kalpataru' or heavenly tree in charity whose good governance let his subjects live a happy life. [Wakil Ahmed]