Meghnad Badh Kavya

The Slaying of Meghanada
AuthorMichael Madhusudan Dutt
Original titleমেঘনাদবধ কাব্য
TranslatorClinton B. Seely
LanguageBengali
GenreEpic poem
Publication date
1861
Publication placeBritish India
Original text
মেঘনাদবধ কাব্য at Bangla Wikisource

Meghnad Badh Kavya (Bengali: মেঘনাদবধ কাব্য; English: The Slaying of Meghnada) is a Bengali epic poem by Michael Madhusudan Dutta. Regarded as a central work in Bengali literature and Dutta's greatest literary work as well as the finest epic in Bengali literature and also as one of the greatest works of world literature.[1] Meghnad Badh Kavya is based on the demise of Meghnad (a.k.a. Indrajit), son of Ravana, the king of Lanka in the classic Sanskrit epic Ramayana.[2][3]

The poem is divided into 9 cantos.[4] Each part exhibits different incidents. Starting from the death of Beerbahu, son of Ravana, it is continued till the sati-daha (the ancient Indian custom of burning the widows alive with the dead husband) of Prameela, Meghnad's beloved wife.

The poem starts with the lines:

  1. ^ Azad, Humayun (2007). "Bangla Literature in the Nineteenth Century". In Islam, Sirajul (ed.). History of Bangladesh 1704-1971. Vol. 3: Social and Cultural History. Dhaka: The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. p. 239. ISBN 984 512 337 6.
  2. ^ "The Slaying of Meghanada". home.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
  3. ^ "মেঘনাদবধ থেকে বীরাঙ্গনা". Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  4. ^ Read the whole ballad in Bangla

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