Chandidas & Rajokini

© Parvathy Baul & Ravi Gopalan Nair
 
Chandidas is considered one of the foremost Devotional poets of Bengal.
His devotional fervour is unsurpassable.
Scholars date his works to the early 15th century.
His works include over one thousand devotional poems all centered around the love of Radha for her beloved Sri Krishna.
 
He was also one of the earliest Bengali language poets.
His relationship with Rajokini, who was considered to belong to a lower strata of the society, turned out to be a deep source of his inspiration and spiritual sadhana. 
 
This woodcut depicts the story of Chandidas sitting near the pond and catching fish, where Rajokini used to wash the clothes.
They never spoke to each other all this while.
Twelve years passed thus and one fine day Rajokini asked Chandidas how he had been trying to catch a fish for twelve years, did he catch one ever?
Chandidas replied “Yes, today I have caught one.”