Kashiram Das or KÃÂà ÂërÃÂm DÃÂs (, ; born 16th century) is an important poet in medieval Bengali literature. His Bengali re-telling of the MahÃÂbhÃÂrata, known as KÃÂà ÂëdÃÂsë MôhÃÂbhÃÂrôt, is a popular and influential version of the MahÃÂbhÃÂrata legend in Bengal. Although the entire work is intra-textually ascribed to him, most scholars agree that he composed only the first four of the eighteen books (parvas). As with the RÃÂmÃÂyaá¹Âa of Ká¹ÂttibÃÂs OjhÃÂ, KÃÂà ÂërÃÂm freely removed elements and added other legends to the story. DÃÂs is not a last name and is a title meaning 'servant' in the Vaiá¹£á¹Âava tradition; the name is also written as Kashiramdas.
Kashiram Das was born into a Bengali Kayastha Vaishnava family in the village of Singi, near Choto Meigachi, adjacent to Katwa in the undivided Bardhaman district (Now Purba Bardhaman). His death anniversary is still commemorated in the region. Kashiram was the second son of Kamalakanta Das; two of his brothers were noted poets on their own, in the Vaishnava Padavali tradition. His elder brother Ghanashyam Das, is the author of Srikrishnavilas, and his younger brother, Gadadhar, composed Jagannathamangal. Although Kashiram's topic was outside the mainstream Krishna legend, his work is stylistically in the same tradition and uses the payar chhanda (payar metre).
There is some doubt regarding his birthplace. It appears that Kamalakanta left the Bardhaman area (at the time known as Indrani Pargana) and had settled in Orissa, so it might be that Kashiram was born in Orissa and then returned to Bengal (Midnapore) at a later stage.
As a Sanskrit and Vaishnava scholar, Kashiram was patronised by a zamindar family in Midnapore, and ran a pathshala (small school) there. In addition to the Kashidasi Mahabharat, he is cited to have composed several works, including Satyanarayaner Punthi (the book of Satyanaryan), Svapna-Parba (dream reverie), and Nalopakhyan (tale of Nala), which are now lost.
It is said that he was inspired to embark on composing a Bengali version of the MahÃÂbhÃÂrata after a recitation of the Sanskrit text at his patron's home. He may have been guided in this enterprise by his teacher Abhiram Mukhuti of Haraharpur.
It is quite clear that the first four parvas—ÃÂdi, sabhÃÂ, vana, and virÃÂá¹Â×were composed by him around the turn of the 16th century. The vanity refrain at the end of the virata parva gives the date of its composition as the shaka year 1526 (1604 CE). He had embarked on the next book, the vana-parva, but it is thought that he may have died shortly thereafter, and the remaining books were completed by his son-in-law, nephew, and other relatives, who followed the same style and even retained the 'Kashiram Das' vanity line after each chapter. The entire work was completed around 1610 AD.
Kashiram Das had named his text Bharata-PÃÂÃÂcÃÂlë, where Bharata refers to the Bharata dynasty, and pÃÂÃÂcÃÂlë refers to the narrative song tradition of Bengal. The pÃÂÃÂcÃÂlë works attempt to tell a story that will keep the audience's interest. In this spirit, Kashiram Das avoids the long philosophical discourses that are part of the MahÃÂbhÃÂrata, such as the entire discourse of Ká¹Âá¹£á¹Âa to Arjuna (the BhagavadgëtÃÂ). On the other hand, he elaborates the story of MohiniâÂÂthe female avatar of Viá¹£á¹Âu who enchants à ÂivaâÂÂbased on a two-line à Âloka in the original.
Although other Bengali MahÃÂbhÃÂratas had been composed earlier (for example, Kavindra Mahabharata, 1525), the Kashidasi Mahabharata soon became the staple of Bengali MahÃÂbhÃÂrata readings. Composed in the mangalkavya tradition, the vanity refrain has become a staple of Bengali tradition: <blockquote></blockquote>
This is translated to: "The MahÃÂbhÃÂrata tales are like amrita, says Kashiram Das; it brings merit to listen to it."
Other phrases that have become part of the Bengali folklore include "krodhe pÃÂp, krodhe tÃÂp, krodhe kulôkṣôáºÂ;" ("anger causes sin, anger causes heat, anger causes the demise of one's line").
When the Serampore Mission Press was started in the 19th century, the KÃÂà ÂëdÃÂsë MôhÃÂbhÃÂrôt in parts were among the first Bengali texts to be printed. Eventually, the complete text, edited by Jayagopal Tarkalankar, was published in 1936 by the same press.