Raghuvamsa: Kalidas

The celebrated poet Kalidasa is responsible for penning the literary masterpiece known as the Raghuvamsa drama. Because of its close association with its author, the drama is frequently referred to as Raghuvamsa Kalidasa. The main focus of the play is to investigate the origins of the vast lineage that includes Lord Rama, his offspring, and Raghu, the great conqueror. The book known as Raghuvamsam focuses mostly on the bravery and prowess of the legendary warrior Raghu. It tells the tale of several of the most powerful warrior kings who were ever to be born on Indian soil. The life of Lord Rama, whose exploits are celebrated in the monumental epic known as the Ramayana, is without a doubt the most well-known of all of these heroes. Continue reading this enlightening essay on the play Raghuvamsa if you want to learn more about the stunning play that bears that name.

The Story of Raghuvamsa

In the beginning, there was a king who was unparalleled among rulers. His name was Vaivasvat-manu, and he was revered by all those with common sense. Om, the sacred syllable of the Vedas, was unparalleled among all other mystic syllables. 

The Sun gave birth to the first Manu, who would later become the king of mankind. “whatever Manu says, that shall be good like medication…” 

Within that lineage of immaculate descent, a moon-like king known as dilIpa was born with the highest level of immaculateness, just as the moon is said to have been born from the Milky Ocean.

He is a lovely one for one and all, like the moon, and he took birth in a dynasty that is beyond fault, which means that he is a suiting monarch from the Manu dynasty. Like the moon, he was born out of the whitest Milky Ocean. As a result, the moon has ties not only to the solar system but also to the Milky Ocean.

He who possessed a physique that was befitting for his heroic deeds in kingship, with a sizeable chest, bullish shoulders, tallish stature like a sala tree, and dexterous arms, remained as a personification of the duty and valour of kshatriyas. This individual had to have a tallish stature like a sala tree.

The first word of the first verse, which is vyUDhorakso, is taken verbatim from the Valmiki Ramayana, which can be found in bAla kANDa. For the purpose of demonstrating the adage that “excellent poets steal, while bad poets borrow…”, the phrase “maha uraskaH – gUDha jatruH” appears in the Ramayana. In this instance, the poet alters the language, making it impossible to identify the original word.

He whose might is superlative over everything, whose resplendence spurns anything that is self-resplendent, and whose physique is imposing among all physical bodies, that King Dilpa stood out pervading the whole of the earth like the all-superlative, all-resplendent, and all-imposing Mount Meru, which stands pervading the whole of the earth .

Because he originated from the self-resplendent Sun, people refer to him as being self-resplendent. Since everything else is a lamp before the sun, this demonstrates that he is just like his father in this regard. The characteristics of a man and a mountain are comparable to one another, even if they cannot be compared in the same way that a mountain appears smaller when viewed in a mirror. There is an allusion here with an object and a mirrored-object, and the communality clause is prevalent throughout.

His towering personality is consistent with his lofty brilliance, which is consistent with his scripturally majestic enterprises, which are consistent with his resolute initiations, which produce fruitful results consistent with his initiations. His towering personality conforms to his lofty brilliance, which conforms to his lofty brilliance, which conforms to his scripturally majestic enterprises. 

The upameya, oc, that is utilised in the first upama alankAra, simile, becomes the upama, o, that is utilised in the succeeding simile, and thus chaining similes in the same manner is known as rashana upama, where rashana in Sanskrit means – a multi-stringed girdle chain, whose chains will be like festoons at waist.

With his kingly traits of dreadfulness in his resplendence, valour, and victories, etc., he became inaccessible, much like an ocean that contains capturers such as crocodiles and sharks that are inaccessible to seafaring warriors or pirates. On the other hand, with his desirable traits in grace, favour, and generosity, he became accessible to his dependents, much like the very same ocean that contains gemstones, pearls, and seafood.

They have never deviated from the line of their traditional course of conduct practised from the time of manu-prajApati even by a hairbreadth, as with the rotating wheels of a chariot that do not veer out of the beaten track of wheel-grooves on roadway when steered by an experienced charioteer. Dilpa is the wheelman, and his subjects are the traditionalists.

The source of Raghuvansham

Raghuvamsha (Sanskrit: रघुवंश, Raghuvaṃśa) is a Sanskrit mahakavya (epic poem) by the most known Sanskrit poet Kalidasa. Even if the precise period of composition is unknown, it is generally agreed that the poet was active during the 5th century after Christ.

This work, which is based on the Ramayana, recounts the ups and downs of the Solar dynasty of the ancient Indian nobles, all the way up to the point where it tells the story of Rama and Sita from the Ramayana. The Raghuvamsha is renowned for its exquisite descriptions and accounts of incidental events, which lend the poem a slightly episodic quality.

During the time of Gupta King Chandragupta II, Kalidasa was active in the world ( Chandragupta Vikramaditya). In the court of Chandragupta II, he was considered to be one of the Nine Jewels, also known as the Navaratnas. The three Sanskrit Plays of Kalidasa are: Vikramorvasiyam, Malavikagnimitram and Abhijnanashakuntalam. Raghuvamsa and Kumarasambhava are the names of Kalidasa’s two epic compositions, respectively. Ritusamhara and Meghadoot are examples of Kalidasa’s Khandakavyas, which are his shorter poems. Abhijnanashakuntalam was the very first Indian drama to ever be translated into a language spoken in the western world. Sir William Jones is responsible for the translation work. Horace Hayman Wilson made the first translation of Kalidasa’s Ritusamhara Meghadoot into English. This work of poetry was written by Kalidasa. It is thought that Kalidasa composed this piece while he was seated on the banks of the River Kshipra. The Aihole Inscription and the Hanamkonda Inscription are the two inscriptions that make reference to Kalidasa. Raghuvamsa is the name of Kalidasa’s work that contains the mention of Kerala.

Name of the first canto of Raghuvamsa 

Canto 1 – King Dilīpa’s journey to Vasiṣṭha’s hermitage

The work begins with a prayer: 

vāgarthāviva saṁpṛktau vāgarthapratipattaye /

 jagataḥ pitarau vande pārvatīparameśvarau /

I offer my prayers to Parvati and Parameshvara, the two deities who are said to be the parents of the world and who are joined together like the word and its meaning. I ask them for the gift of speech that is in harmony with its intended meaning.

— translation

Following a few stanzas that emphasise the poet’s modesty and the illustriousness of the family, the narrative shifts to focus on King Dilipa and his reign. The fact that Dilipa does not have any children is his greatest source of regret. He travels to the hermitage of the wise Vasiha, accompanied by his queen Sudakshina, in order to seek the wise man’s counsel. Vasiha confesses to King Dilipa that he had offended the heavenly cow Surabhi, which resulted in him receiving a curse from her. She then advises King Dilipa to take care of Surabhi’s daughter calf, Nandini.

Conclusion

The celebrated poet Kalidasa is credited with penning the epic play Raghuvamsa as his crowning achievement. It is a history of the Raghu dynasty that spans 19 sargas and tells the story of the family of Dilipa and his descendants all the way up to Agnivarna. These descendants include Raghu, Dasharatha, and Rama (cantos). It narrates the tale of several of the greatest warrior kings who were born on Indian territory while they ruled that land.