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Literature
Kalidas
The brilliant star of Sanskrit
An introduction to the Indian Shakespeare, born more than
2000 years ago. By Durga Dutt Gaur
Who Was Kalidas?
Kalidas was a great classical Sanskrit writer. He
was known as the greatest poet and dramatist
in Sanskrit language in India. Kalidas had great
imaginative powers and knowledge about the
natural behaviour of humans, animals and even
plants. This is clearly reflected in his various
mega poems and plays he has written. His most
popular play Abhigyan Shakuntalam has been
translated in various international languages.
The other popular mega poems are Ritusanhar,
King Dushyant with Shakuntala and her friend in the Meghdoot, Kumarsambhav and Raghuvansh.
ashram of the Rishi Though they are all in Sanskrit, they have
If Sanskrit were the lingua franca, Kalidas been translated into various Indian languages.
today would have been the most popular poet However, the translated ones sometimes do not
and playwright in the world. Unfortunately, convey the exact meaning and lose some of their
due to lack of Sanskrit knowledge in India and charm (as explained later in a scene in Abhigyan
abroad, he is known only to a small percentage Shakuntalam).
of people. He was such a popular and versatile After reading few of his mega poems, I felt
writer that over the centuries, it is said that that he is no doubt a great poet, dramatist,
many subsequent Sanskrit writers adopted his philosopher and an outstanding Sanskrit
name to gain popularity. scholar and his writings are so good and
In the ancient times, Sanskrit used to be the versatile that they can be easily compared to
language of conversation and discussions those of William Shakespeare. However, some
amongst the elite. The 8th century great scholar of his writings have some degree of mysticism
and Hindu philosopher Mandan Mishra had and are difficult to understand in spite of your
so frequent discussions in Sanskrit about the having profound knowledge of Sanskrit. In case
Indian scriptures that even the parrots in his you cannot make out anything, just remember
garden used to talk in Sanskrit. The decline of what the Jain Teerthankar and Sanskrit scholar
Sanskrit in this materialistic world was quite Mullinath said about the writings of Kalidas. He
obviously due to its inability to provide good job said, “only three people can understand the real
opportunities. Both my father and father-in-law meaning of his writings: Lord Brahama, Godess
were great Sanskrit scholars but I was told by Saraswati and Kalidas himself”.
my father to become a doctor to help alleviate There is a lot of controversy about his early
the miseries of millions of poor ailing people childhood and place of abode. However,
including himself. most believe that he was a courtier of king
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