Ramdas Adak
Ramdas Adak was a famous 17th-century Bengali and Sanskrit court poet and song composer. He composed a Dharmamangal kavya named Anadimangal. He was one of the most significant poets of the Dharmamangal Kavya. He was the only "non-Brahmin" poet of Dharmamangal. He was one of the earliest known composers of the Dharmamangal Kavya. He was the "Swavakobi" of Raja Pratapnarayan of Bhurishrestha.
Early life and folk stories
He was born in 1635 in a Dakshin-Rarhiya Mahishya family at village Hayatpur under Arambagh subdivision of the Bhursut Kingdom in present day Hooghly district. After his father's death he settled in a village called Paschimpara in modern day Bardhaman district. For extreme poverty after his father's untimely death, he was unable to pay taxes and imprisoned by Chaitanya Samanta, an official of Raja Pratapnarayan, the Maharaja of Bhursut, and the son of Raja Rudranarayan and Bhavashankari, after few days an old man in disguise secretly freed Ramdas from the prision.To escape from the king’s soldiers, he constantly changed his place of residence. It is said that one day he being chased by a supernatural guard, he became frightened, exhausted, and thirsty. When he went to a pond to drink water, the water miraculously dried up, and he fell unconscious, at that moment, God Dharmathakur appeared before him in the guise of a young Brahmin and offered him Ganges water to drink, and restored his consciousness.
After regain consciousness, The Brahmin commanded him to sing a devotional songs in praise of Dharma Thakur. Since Ramdas had no knowledge of worship or devotional songs, he humbly described himself as ignorant. Pleased by his humility, Dharmaraj revealed his divine form as Lord Vishnu and granted Ramdas the boon of supreme wisdom and ordered Ramdas to compose Anadimangal and spread the glory of Dharma Thakur.
Ramdas' only son was Balai Chand. His descendants still reside in Paschimpara village.