Kalidasa and his works

Kalidasa biography:

Kalidasa’s biography is an interesting one to read. His works started in the 4th century CE. He was a Sanskrit poet. He is well known as the greatest poet of all times. His works are mainly on ” Vedas” of Ramayana and Mahabharata. 

Kalidasa Birth and death:

Kalidasa Birthplace:

Kalidasa might live in the Himalayas. The work kumarasambhava by Kalidas poet displays his interest on Himalayas and Ujjain place which shows he might lived in that place. Some other poets wrote in their works about Kalidasa birth place .Kalidasa’s birth and death are not exactly traceable, some books say he lived in Kashmir and then moved towards the South. 

Kalidasa birth and death are notably not recorded in any of the books, but some hypothetical years of estimation is made. Kalidasa’s birth took place in the 4th century CE, died between 4-5 century CE. 

The growth of Kalidas as a poet-kalidas poet:

The Kalidas biography is also an inspirational one. A court’s minister’s son gets rejected for a marriage proposal by the princess. Then the frustrated minister sends the most eligible Kalidas shepherd to the princess. The Kalidas poet was not able to digest the insult and started learning Sanskrit. 

The earlier work of Kalidas poet:

He started with a writing on his insult- “asti kascit vagvisesa? “

Major works of Kalidas as a poet-kalidas poet:

He wrote Raghuvamsa, which describes the entire family tree of Raghuvamsa, starting from Dilipa to Rama. 

He wrote a poem called as “Meghaduta”

A major epic wrote by Kalidas poet is – kumarasambhava”

Kumarasambhava contains many poems on the birth history of goddess parvati.

Minor works of kalidasa. 

Kalidasa wrote some khandakavyas along with the major works. Khandakavyas are the smaller poems. 

He wrote a khandakavya on Ritusamhara which describes about six seasons 

Another notable work of kalidas poet is Meghaduta which is also a khandakavya. 

The most popular plays of ancient times are the plays written by Kalidasa. 

Abhijnanasakuntalam: It is one of the works of Kalidas poets which were translated into English. This work of Kalidas revolves on the meeting of dushyanta with sakuntala.

The Indian Shakespeare :

Many people believe that Kalidasa poet is a

one of the nine gems of Vikramaditya. Since kalidas works revolve around the following things:

1) Expressing the love on nature

2) Praising the seasons and monsoons

3) Glorifying the field and sky. 

4) Illustrating mother earth. 

All of the above things are in his works which demonstrates his works are majorly on nature. His works include soul-satisfying peace. Along with those his Kalidas works have the sincerity which exemplifies the truth of his nature. His works are almost similar to the works of Shakespeare. Hence is also called Indian Shakespeare.

Translations of his works:

Many works of Kalidas’ poetry are translated into various languages.

The major script of Kalidasa Shakuntala was translated by  Arthur Franklin. It is named Cloud Messenger. Sir William also translated the Shakuntala which is a marvelous thing. Dasgupta also translated his Sanskrit writings to English. These translations are exact and are classics. Apart from these works many books are now available in the market which showcases the works of Kalidasa poets.

Facts of kalidasa:

1) Kalidasa is considered as the Indian Shakespeare and the Prince of Indian Poets.

2) Ritusamhara is Kalidasa’s first poetic work.

3) Raghuvamsa and Kumarasambhava are Kalidasa’s two epic poems.

4) Gupta King Chandragupta II ruled during Kalidasa’s reign. In Chandragupta II’s court, he was one of the Nine Jewels who are also known as Navaratnas.

5) Aihole Inscription and Hanamkonda Inscription are two inscriptions that reference Kalidasa.

Legacy of Kalidas:

With his simplistic and lucid style of writing, he brought Sanskrit poetry to a level that has rarely been surpassed in Indian history.

The oldest paleographical evidence of Kalidasa is a 473CE inscription from the Sun Temple. His name was stated in a 634 CE inscription found in present-day Karnataka.

Later Kalidasa Sanskrit plays inspired European literature in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Sir William Osler, the Father of Modern Medicine, had a poem by Kalidasa on his desk at all times.

Further Reading on Kalidasa:

Kalidasa’s works have been translated numerous times. Kalidasa: Shakuntala and Other Writings, translated by Arthur W. Ryder (1912), is the most practical. Franklin and Eleanor Edgerton’s, The Cloud Messenger (1964) is a comprehensive translation of the Meghaduta with accompanying Sanskrit text. Sir William Jones’s (1796) outstanding translation of the Sakuntala is a classic.

In Arthur Berriedale Keith’s two works, The Sanskrit Drama in Its Origin, Development, Theory, and Practice (1924) and A History of Sanskrit Literature (1928), whose critical commentary on the poetry and drama is still of interest, various arguments concerning the dates of Kalidasa and other biographical points are critically examined.

Conclusion:

Kalidasa is widely regarded as the greatest Sanskrit poet and dramatist of all time. All of his admirers in India, including post-dated poets and critics such as Mammta, Anandavardhancharya, and Abhinav Gupta, praise him. His poetic style impacted all subsequent poets, as well as current poets of the twentieth century.

In recognition of Kalidas’ work, the Indian government gives Kalidas Samman in Madhya Pradesh who performs well in classical dance, poetry, classical music, plastic arts, and arts.