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Texts

Nineteenth-century prose

Chandrakāntā by Devaki Nandan Khatri (selection from the novel)
Premsāgar by Lallulal (selection)
Literary criticism by Bhartendu Harishchandra, “Hindī bhāshā” and “Urdū kā syāpā”

Twentieth-century prose

“Sadgati” by Premchand
“Dudh kā dām” by Premchand
“Urdū, Hindī, aur Hindūstānī” by Premchand
“Malbe kā mālik” by Mohan Rakesh
“Tanāv” by Rajendra Yadav
“Dillī mẽ ek maut” by Kamleshwar
“Paccīs caukā deṛh sau” by Omprakash Valmiki
Apne-apne pinjare by Mohandas Naimishray
“Lājwantī” by Rajinder Singh Bedi

Poetry

Two Braj Bhasha poets:

• Kabir
• Rahim

Selections from Braj works:

• Raḥīm - Dohāvalī
• Raḥīm - Nagaraśobhā
• Keśavdās - Rasikapriyā chapter 3
• Keśavdās - Rasikapriyā chapter 7
• Bihārīlāl - Satsaī Commentary

The Chayavad movement, with

• Selection from the critical essay “Kalpnā ke kānan kī rānī” in Chāyāvād by Namwar Singh
• “Vishva chavi” by Sumitranand Pant
• Nīrajā by Mahadevi Varma (selection)

Old Avadhi texts: selections from

• the Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsīdās
• the Madhumālatī of Manjhan

Kabir

This selection of popular dohās (couplets) attributed to Kabir (fl. 1450) exhibits the homely didactism of sant poetry—Kabir’s poetry is often called vāṇī (sayings, teachings) for good reason. As with Rahim and other masters of the dohā meter, we admire the poet’s ability to get his message across with conciseness and drama.

The texts and glossaries are available as PDF files in Devanagari script and Nastaliq script. The nastaliq version is adapted from this website.

Rahim

This selection from the dohāvalī (collection of couplets) of Rahim (c. 1600) serves as a brief introduction to the muktaka (freestanding verse) tradition of Brajbhasha poetry. Master poets are able to offer a pithy aphorism, lament a lover’s absence, and even telescope an entire story into the space of just two lines.

The texts and glossaries are available as PDF files in Devanagari script and Nastaliq script.

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