Kalidas

Introduction

Kalidas was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language. Kalidas was first great name in Sanskrit literature after Ashvaghosha. In the intervening three centuries between Asvaghosha (who had a profound influence on the poet) and Kalidas there was some literary effort, but nothing that could compare with the maturity and excellence of Kalidas’s poetry.

Tradition says that he was one of the nine gems of his court, and there is no doubt that his genius was appreciated and he met with full recognition during his life. He was among the fortunate whom life treated as a cherished son and who experienced its beauty and tenderness more than its harsh and rough edges. Kalidas was well

acquainted with contemporary sciences and arts, including politics and astronomy. His knowledge of scientific astronomy was manifestly gleaned from Greek sources, and altogether he appears to have been a product of the great synthesis of Indian and barbarian peoples and cultures that was taking place in north -western India in his day.

Evaluation of Kalidas Based on his work

Great as Kalidas was, it has been observed that he had his literary weaknesses. He showed no interest in the social problems of his day; his plays do not reflect the tumultuous times in which he lived; he felt no sympathy for the lot of the common man; his work is overburdened with description, and is sentimental, wordy and at times coarse.

Kalidas was follower of the Vedic Sanatana dharma. He believed in the ‘Varna-ashram’ social order (four castes and four ashrams (stages of social life). He believed in Dharma, Artha, Kama and moksha. Moksha was his eternal goal, then dharma and then comes Kama. He advocated ‘tyaaga’ (opp. of indulgence) and ‘tapasyaa’ (austerity). He preferred ‘tapovana’ instead of palaces. He was a Shiva devout and remembers Shiva in all his openings of works (mangala-aacharan). He put society above the individual. He prayed here and there for world peace. He was optimistic. Even though he considered death as natural and life as a deviation from that, he considered this small life as a great gain.

Life

In spite of the celebrity of his name, the time when he flourished always has been an unsettled question, although most scholars nowadays favour

the middle of the 4th and early 5th centuries A.D., during the reigns of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya and his successor Kumaragupta. Undetermined also is the place of Kalidas’s principal literary activity, as the frequent and minute geographic allusions in his works suggest that he travelled extensively.

Scholars have speculated that Kalidas may have lived either near the Himalayas or in the vicinity of Ujjain or in Kalinga. The three speculations are based respectively on Kalidas's detailed description of the Himalayas in his Kumarasambhava, the display of his love for Ujjain in Meghaduta and his highly eulogistic quotes for Kalingan emperor Hemangada in Raghuvaṃśa (sixth sarga).

Virtually no facts are known about his life, although colourful legends abound. It says physically handsome, he was supposed to have been a very dull child, and grew up quite uneducated. The king's daughter was a very learned lady (equality of women!) and said that she will marry him who will defeat her in

`shaastraartha' (debate on the scriptures). Anyone who gets defeated will be black faced, head shaven and kicked out of country on a donkey. (The punishment part might be later additions!) SO, the pundits took Kalidas (whom they apparently saw cutting the tree branch on which he was sitting) for debate. They said that he (Kalidas) only does mute debates. The princess showed him one finger saying `shakti is one'. He thought she will poke his one eye, so he showed her two fingers. She accepted it as valid answer, since `shakti' is manifest in duality (shiv-shakti, nar-naaree etc). She showed her the palm with fingers extended like in a slap. He showed her the fist. She accepted it as answer to her question. She said `five elements' and he said `make the body' (earth, water, fire, air, and void). [The debate explanations are also apparently later additions] So they get married but Kalidas's stupidity could be concealed for only so long, and the night of the wedding Kalidas blurted out something inane. The princess realized that she had married a prize fool. Furious, she threw him out of her palace, and her life.

The dejected Kalidas wandered around, till he came to the bank of the river. He contemplated taking his life when he suddenly saw some women washing clothes on the edge of the river bank. He observed that the stones which the women were pounding with clothes, were smooth and rounded, while the other stones were rough and ragged. This observation hit him like a thunderbolt, and it dawned upon him that if stones could be worn through and changed their shape by being pounded upon by clothes, then why couldn't his thick brains change, by being pounded upon by knowledge!

Kalidas thus grew determined to become the wisest and most learned man in the country, and to achieve this end he started indulging in intellectual pastimes, reading, meditating and praying to his goddess Kali to grant him divine knowledge. His wish was fulfilled.

When he returned to his house, his wife (the learned) asked, “asti kashchit vaag-visheshah” (Asti = is; kashchit = when, as in questioning; vaag = speech, visheshah = expert; i.e. “are you now an expert in speaking”).

And the great Kalidas wrote three books starting with the 3 words:

1.asti = asti-uttarasyaam dishi = Kumara-sambhavam (epic)

2.kashchit = kashchit-kaantaa = Meghdoot (poetry)

3.Vaag = vaagarthaaviva = Raghuvansha (epic).

Literary Works

Numerous works have been attributed to his authorship. Most of them, however, are either by lesser poets bearing the same name or by others of some intrinsic worth, whose works simply chanced

to be associated with Kalidas’s name, their own names having long before ceased to be remembered. Only seven are generally considered genuine.

Plays

There are three plays, the earliest of which is probably the Malavikaagnimitra (Malavikaa and Agnimitra), a work concerned with palace intrigue. It is of special interest because the hero is a historical figure, King Agnimitra, whose father, Pushhpamitra, wrested the kingship of northern India from the Mauryan king Brihadratha about 185 B.C. and established the Sunga dynasty, which held power for more than a century. The Vikramorvashiiya (Urvashi Won through Valor) is based on the old legend of the love of the mortal Pururavaas for the heavenly damsel Urvashi. The legend occurs in embryonic form in a hymn of the Rig Veda and in a much amplified version in the Shatapathabraahmana.

Abhigyan shakuntalam (Shakuntala Recognized by the Token Ring), is the work by which Kalidas is best known not only in India but throughout the world. It was the first work of Kalidas to be translated into English from which was made a German translation in 1791 that evoked the often quoted admiration by Goethe.

Poems

In addition to these three plays Kalidas wrote two long epic poems, the Kumarasambhava (Birth of Kumara) and the Raghuvansha (Dynasty of Raghu). The former is concerned with the events that lead to the marriage of the god Shiva and Parvati, daughter of the Himalaya. This union was desired by the gods for the production of a son, Kumar, god of war, who would help them defeat the demon Taraka. The gods induce Kama, god of love, to discharge an amatory arrow at Siva who is

engrossed in meditation. Angered by this interruption of his austerities, he burns Kama to ashes with a glance of his third eye. But love for Parvati has been aroused, and it culminates in their marriage. The Raghuvansha treats of the family to which the great hero Rama belonged, commencing with its earliest antecedents and encapsulating the principal events told in the Ramayana of Valmiki. But like the Kumarasambhava, the last nine cantos of which are clearly the addition of another poet, the Raghuvansha ends rather abruptly, suggesting either that it was left unfinished by the poet or that its final portion was lost early. Finally there are two lyric poems, the Meghaduta (Cloud Messenger) and the Ritusamhara (Description of the Seasons). The latter, if at all a genuine work of Kalidas, must surely be regarded as a youthful composition, as it is distinguished by rather exaggerated and overly exuberant depictions of nature, such as are not elsewhere typical of the poet. It is of tangential interest, however, that the Ritusamhara,

published in Bengal in 1792, was the first book to be printed in Sanskrit.

Literary Style

Kalidas is considered as the greatest poet of `shringaar' (or romance, beauty). His works is brimming with shringaar-rasa. Sometimes he has used `haasya' (comedy) and `karuna.' (pathos). There are two aspects of shringaar-sambhoga (the romance of being together), vipralambha- that of separation. Kalidas was expert at both. Meghaduta is immersed in the `vipralambha-shringaar'. Kumarasambhava's 8th chapter is epitome of `sambhoga-shringaar'. 4th chapter of Kumarasambhava (Rati-vilaapa) and 8th chapter of Raghuvansha (aja-vilaapa) are superb examples of karuna-rasa (pathos). Kalidas's comedy is of the highest order. (Bharata in his Natya-shaastra mentions 8 types of comedy from the crudest of physical comedy resulting in guffawing loud

laughter to the most subtle where the heart smiles). Kalidas's comedy brings a gentle smile, not a loud guffaw.

Alankara (figure of speech) is of two types. Shabdalankara=beauty of sound, artha-alankar = beauty of meaning. Kalidas used artha-alankar more than the former. He is famous for his `upama' (metaphor). Indian pundits say, ``upama kalidasasya'' (upama like Kalidas's). His upama are clear, complete and beautiful. His observation is sharp and subtle. He knows the nature and human nature in and out. He has a sound knowledge of the scriptures. His `utpreksha' (simile) and `artha-antaranyas' (transfer of meaning) are also very beautiful. He has used some `shabdalankara's as well. Anuprasa (alliteration), yamaka (same word repeated with different meaning), and shlesha (pun; one word two meanings). Kalidas loved the softer side of nature. He mentioned serene and beautiful ashramas, river banks, gardens, palaces, bumblebee, deer, cuckoo etc. He loved Himalayas more than the Vindhyachal (both mountain chains).

Kalidas's verse knowledge is immensely deep. He has used most of the known meters (chhanda) in Sanskrit. In one chapter he uses only one meter. The next chapter is in a new meter. Kalidas's verse knowledge is immensely deep. He has used most of the known meters (chhanda) in Sanskrit. In one chapter he uses only one meter. The next chapter is in a new meter.

Kalidas is of the vaidarbhee style. Easy to understand (yet the trickery of hinting the cause through mention of effect and vice versa is very common). He has complete control over language. His language is very chaste as per the grammar. His words are very select. He doesn't use words like hi, cha, vaa (also, and) for completing the meter. When he uses them, he has a purpose! Kalidas expresses inner world and the external world equally well. Among the objects of metaphors, he knows exactly how much importance to give to which one. He only describes the major attribute of the thing being compared.

Kalidas knew the human psychology deeply. What humans think in what situation? He also knew women's psychology very well. He was a master of expressing emotions through actions. This brings extra dimension to his work (Remember the shlok about Parvati counting the lotus leaves when her marriage proposal was being discussed?). In continuation to the shlok (about the great rishi asking Parvati's hand from Himalaya for Shiva), Himalaya glanced at Mena. It is understood that he was seeking Mena's approval as every good householder should include his wife's opinion in every decision. (So, women's oppression is a pretty later development).

Abhigyan shakuntalam

There are many tales, fables and episodes in our folklore to which the dust of time has covered up

and these are ultimately forgotten. Kalidas selected his story out of such things .i.e., the story of Dushyanta and Rishikanya Shakuntala and by giving it an artistic and cultural touch and puts it before his audiences in the form of a poetic drama not only for entertainment but for moral purpose also.

Synopsis

Although Kalidas makes some minor changes to the plot, the play elaborates upon an episode mentioned in the Mahabharata. The protagonist is Shakuntala, daughter of the sage Vishwamitra and the apsara Menaka. Abandoned at birth by her parents, Shakuntala is reared in the secluded, sylvan hermitage of the sage Kanva, and grows up a comely but innocent maiden.

While Kanva and the other elders of the hermitage are away on a pilgrimage, Dushyanta, king of Hastinapura, come hunting in the forest and chances upon the hermitage. He is captivated by Shakuntala, courts her in royal

style, and marries her. He then has to leave to take care of affairs in the capital. She is given a ring by the king, to be presented to him when she appears in his court. She can then claim her place as queen.

The anger-prone sage Durvasa arrives when Shakuntala is lost in her fantasies, so that when she fails to attend to him, he curses her by bewitching Dushyanta into forgetting her existence. The only cure is for Shakuntala to show him the signet ring that he gave her.

She later travels to meet him, and has to cross a river. The ring is lost when it slips off her hand when she dips her hand in the water playfully. On arrival the king refuses to acknowledge her. Shakuntala is abandoned by her companions, who return to the hermitage.

Fortunately, the ring is discovered by a fisherman in the belly of a fish, and Dushyanta realises his mistake - too late. The newly wise Dushyanta defeats an army of Asuras, and is rewarded by Indra with a journey through

the Hindu heaven. Returned to Earth years later, Dushyanta finds Shakuntala and their son by chance, and recognizes them.

Translation

It is the work by which Kalidas is best known not only in India but throughout the world. It was the first work of Kalidas to be translated into English by Sir William Jones in 1789. from which was made a German translation in 1791 that evoked the often quoted admiration by Goethe. In the next 100 years, there were at least 46 translations in twelve European languages. Goethe was powerfully impressed, and he paid a magnificent tribute to Shakuntala. The idea of giving a prologue to Faust is said to have originated from Kalidas’s prologue, which was in accordance with the usual tradition of the Sanskrit drama.

Evaluation

Emphasis on Natural Beauty

When Kalidas wrote ‘Abhigyan Shakuntalam’, he placed the lovely heroine of the play in the lap of Mother Nature. Shakuntala is an integral part of the flora and fauna. To be true, Dushyanta just did not fall in love with lovely lady alone; he is actually enchanted by the whole idea of an innocent, natural beauty in the forest. 

If we place Shakuntala in concrete setting, she would not be that appealing. Shakuntala can only be conceived in our mental eye with flowers adorned on her body, and with deer and birds surrounding her. She is as innocent, as pure, and as natural as the other creatures of the forest. She does not put on gold or diamond jewels. Flowers of different colours are her earrings, bangles and necklaces. This is how Kalidas has used Nature in his works. Nature is instrumental in the development of the story.

Moral of the story 

At the end of the play, one feels sad at the sufferings of Shakuntala and we are at a loss as to whether we should blame Dushyanta or the 'Divine Power' for these happenings. In the last act, we see Shakuntala wrapped in a very ordinary sari, but she is a picture of grace and dignity. Though young in age, she speaks but a few words in a profound sense. She is a real Tapaswini (one who wants to sacrifice life for eternal salvation). One wonder at the manner in which she has transformed herself from a pleasure- seeking young girl into a young woman imbued with a sense of total renunciation and service. Through portraying scenes of Shakuntala’s maids teasing her, sage Kanva's far-sightedness, the King's paining for Shakuntala’s love when she is away, Shakuntala's unsullied sense of love, the divine grace which brought about the happy reunion, the playwright presents before us a large canvas on which all the vicissitudes of life are touched upon.

Meghaduta

The Meghaduta, until the 1960's hardly known outside India, is in many ways the finest and most perfect of all Kalidas's works and certainly

one of the masterpiece of world literature. A short poem of 111 stanzas, it is founded at once upon the barest and yet most original of plots.

Synopsis

For some unexplained dereliction of duty, a Yaksha, or attendant of Kubera, god of wealth, has been sent by his lord into yearlong exile in the mountains of central India, far away from his beloved wife on Mount Kailas in the Himalaya. At the opening of the poem, particularly distraught and hapless at the onset of the rains when the sky is dark and gloomy with clouds, the Yaksha opens his heart to a cloud hugging close the mountain top. He requests it mere aggregation of smoke, lightning, water, and wind that it is, to convey a message of consolation to his beloved while on its northward course. The Yaksha then describes the many captivating sights that are in store for the cloud on its way to the fabulous city of Alka, where his wife languishes amid her memories of him.

The very fact that a cloud ('Megha') is chosen to be a messenger of love is something unique. The poet fascinatingly describes the travels of the cloud from Ramagiri to Alka nagari. The rivers, hills and mountains, cities and towns, vast fields, farmers' daughters as well as girls in the cities, the birds and the bees -- are all described by the poet vividly. It is a total picture of a beautiful world. His descriptions of Alka nagari, the Yaksha's house and the garden around, the Yaksha's wife playing the Veena and her grace and beauty are captivating.

Throughout the Meghaduta, as perhaps nowhere else So plentifully in Kalidas's works, are an unvarying freshness of inspiration and charm, delight imagery and fancy, profound insight into the emotions, and a oneness with the phenomena of nature. Moreover, the fluidity and beauty of the language are probably unmatched in Sanskrit literature, a feature all the more remarkable for its inevitable loss in translation.

Translation

In Sanskrit literature, the poetic conceit used in the Meghaduta spawned the genre of sandesha kavya or messenger poems, most of which are modelled on the Meghaduta (and are often written in the Meghaduta's mandakranta metre). Examples include the Hamsa-sandesha, in which Rama asks a Hamsa bird to carry a message to Sita, describing sights along the journey.

In 1813, the poem was first translated into English by Horace Hayman Wilson. Since then, it has been translated several times into various languages. As with the other major works of Sanskrit literature, the most famous traditional commentary on the poem is by Mallinātha.

Evaluation

To this poem and to Kalidas, the American scholar Ryder has paid a splendid tribute. He refers to the two parts of the poem and says: “The former half is a description of external

nature, yet interwoven with human feeling; the latter half is a picture of a human heart, yet the picture is framed in natural beauty. So exquisitely is the thing done that none can say which half is superior? Of those who read this perfect poem in the original text, some are moved by the one, some by the other. Kalidas understood in the fifth century what Europe did not learn until the nineteenth, and even now comprehends only imperfectly, that the world was not made for man, that man reaches his full stature only as he realizes the dignity and worth of life that is not human. That Kalidas seized this truth is a magnificent tribute to his intellectual power, a quality quite as necessary to great poetry as perfection of form. Poetical fluency is not rare; intellectual grasp is not very uncommon; but the combination has not been found perhaps more than a dozen times since the world began. Because he possessed this harmonious combination, Kalidas ranks not with Anacreon and Horace and Shelley but with Sophocles, Virgil, and Milton.”

Kumarasambhava

One of the gems of Sanskrit literature, Kumarasambhava poem is one of the greatest epic poems written by Kalidas which basically

talks about the birth of Kumara, the first son of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Critics maintain that Kalidas wrote only the first eight chapters of the epic poem.

Synopsis

Kumarasambhava literally means "Birth of Kumara". This epic of seventeen cantos entails Shringaar Rasa, the rasa of love, romance, and eroticism, more than Vira rasa (the rasa of heroism). The work describes the courting of the ascetic Shiva, who is meditating in the mountains, by Parvati, the daughter of the Himalayas; the conflagration of Kama (the god of desire)—after his arrow struck Shiva—by the fire from Shiva’s third eye; the wedding and lovemaking of Shiva and Parvati; and the subsequent birth of Kumara (Skanda), the war god.

Evaluation

Kalidas's portrayals of the great Himalayan Mountain and of the mode in which the season of spring (vasanta) blossomed are some of the most lyrical expressions in the language. His descriptions are vivid and heart-warming; it is as if we are seeing the events happening before us. Kalidas's portrayal of Parvati's grace and beauty magnificently shows his ability as a poet. Rati's lament upon Kama being consigned to flames moves us to tears. Kalidas is equally at ease in portraying the happy marital life of Shiva and Parvati as a couple deeply in love as also of picturing the grace and beauty of nature and man,   Feelings of joy and sorrow and all other emotions.

Crowning all these pen-pictures of things that are beautiful and sweet in life is Kalidas's extolling of a noble culture. What does 'culture' mean? It is a sense of decent behaviour - in body and mind; it is the blossoming of the mind and heart to savour the rich and colourful beauty around us -- such as the colour and fragrance of flowers which gladden the hearts of one and all.

The thought, word and action of a man's mature mind give happiness to others. Besides describing these in a masterly style and imagination, Kalidas also exhibits his powers of perception while recognizing what we can call as 'beauty in action and behaviour'.  Episodes such as the Parvataraja's not going by himself to see Shiva even when sage Narada tells him that Parvati was to marry Shiva, his agreeing for Parvati's desire to go to serve Shiva, her sitting for penance, his acceptance of Shiva's offer, sent through the seven Sages, to marry Parvati -- all these enable us to weave in our minds his personality shining with full grace and honour. Parvati allows no distraction of her mind and engages herself with singular devotion; she sits for a strenuous penance to make Shiva accept her and would not tolerate anyone abusing Him. All these show the high culture in which she is moulded. Though stirred a bit on noticing the beauty of Parvati, Shiva, in his anger at being disturbed in his penance, burns down Kama, puts Parvati's mind and thoughts to test, sends the seven Great Sages to Parvataraja -- thus

exhibiting his maturity of mind. In fact, Shiva was not enamoured by the physical beauty of Parvati and only destroyed Kama who attempted to make him desire her physically. Actually he admired her several fine, noble qualities and her devout penance. Both he and Parvati were performing penance and leading a life of sacrifice -- i.e., tapasya. Both were embodiments of purity. Born to them was Kumara. His parents' penance fortified him with strength to destroy the demon Taraka.

Kalidas's poem gives us a vivid picture of what a good, meaningful life a man could and should lead as propounded by our learned ancestors.

Summary

It gives us great aesthetic pleasure to read Kalidas's works. His descriptions enthral us. With him we are in the company-cultured a highly civilized, cultured personality. It is like a flower which, in bloom, spreads its fragrance all around. And a man's mature, ripened mind and intellect brings pleasure to those around him. In Kalidas's creations, we enter the world of people pure in mind and body and who are graceful. We learn here the manner in which man's nature can reach high, moral levels. It pleases us deeply to come into contact with characters like Parvati, Dileep, Raghu, Aja, Shakuntala, Dushyanta and Kanva. It is for this wonderful experience that we as well as people in other countries read Kalidas.