Mahakavi Kalidas-Greatest Scholar and Poet in Sanskrit
One of the greatest Sanskrit poets that India has ever had, the life history of Kalidasa is absolutely fascinating and interesting. Though the exact time of his fame is not known, it is estimated that he survived around the middle of the 4th or 5th century A.D. This is roughly the period of the reign of the famous Chandragupta, the successor of Kumaragupta. The biography of the great Indian poet Kalidasa provides us with an immense amount of detailed information about the places he traveled and the kind of life he led. To know more about Kalidasa, continue to read this insightful biography on him.
Personal Life
The poems he wrote were usually of epic proportions and were written in classical Sanskrit. His creations were used for fine arts like music and dance. Regarded as an outstanding writer, Kalidasa resided at the palace of Chandragupta in Pataliputra (modern day Patna). He was one of the gems of the court of Chandragupta. According to legends, Kalidasa was blessed with good looks. This attracted a princess with whom he fell in love. Since Kalidas was not too good in intellect and wit, the princess rejected him.Kalidasa He then worshipped Goddess Kali and she blessed him with intellect and wit, thus making him one of the “nine gems” in the court of Chandragupta.
Malavikagnimitra is considered to be the first play of Kalidasa, among his existing plays. It narrates the story of King Agnimitra, who falls in love with the picture of Malavika, an exiled maid servant. Soon the queen comes to know about her husband’s passion for this maid and exasperated with anger imprisons Malvika. But destiny takes its turn and Malavika is discovered to be the original princess and thus legitimizing their relationship.
The second play is Shakuntala which is Kalidasa’s masterpiece. This play is world renowned and translated in English and German. It is about King Dushyanta, who falls in love with Shakuntala, a beautiful girl of humble background. They are happily married and suddenly destiny takes a brutal turn and the king goes back to the court for some important business. On the other hand Shakuntala is cursed by a saint that the King would forget her. Later the saint becomes calm by listening to the requests of Shakuntala and asserts that the king will be reminded of Shakuntala when he sees the ring given by him. She loses the ring while taking bath in the river and things become worse when she comes to know that she is pregnant. Finally true love wins when a fisherman discovers the ring, and seeing it the king is reminded of his love.
Among the existing plays of Kalidasa, Vikramorvashe is the last play. It is the most mystical of his plays. This play is about the king (Pururavas) who falls in love with Urvashi,a heavenly damsel. She writes love letters on a birch leaf to her lover and goes back to heaven to enact in a celestial play. Captivated in her lover’s thought she spoils the play by calling her lover’s name while performing in the play. She is punished for spoiling the play and is exiled from heaven. She goes through a series of unfortunate events and finally unites with her lover and lives happily with him on earth.
Apart from plays, he also wrote poems. His few poetic works are are Raghuvamsha (“Dynasty of Raghu”) and Kumarasambhava (“Birth of the War God”), as well as the lyric Meghaduta (“Cloud Messenger”).
