Vidyapati
Vidyapati
(also Bidyapati). Birth and death dates unknown. Indian poet of the 15th century. Born in the village of Bisapi, present-day Bihar.
A court poet, Vidyapati is known as the bard of the love of the god Krishna (incarnation of Vishnu) and the shepherdess Radha. The language and style of his poetry, written in the Maithili dialect, influenced the work of the Vishnuite poets of Bengal. He wrote the poem Liana of Glory in a late form of Prakrit—Apabhransha (Abaxamma)—and lyric poems (Trial of a Man and others) in Sanskrit. Some of Vidyapati’s imitators signed his name, which makes the establishment of his original works difficult.