Mahakavi Kalidasa we all have heard this name is one of the major Sanskrit poets that India could have ever had. The classical and the master as poet and dramatist. And today in this article, we will talk more about him, his life, and his works.
Table of Contents
Time and Place of Birth
Mahakavi Kalidasa lived from the 4th-5th century CE.
Early Life
There is not much known with certainty in the life of Kalidas but if we see according to the great legends by birth Kalidas was a Brahman. While in his childhood his behavior was quite ignorant and he was also uneducated but he got married to a princess because of some tricks of some people.
As Kalidas wasn’t educated and when people discovered him a fool he left his house and everyone and went on a hunt of getting educated and learning about the world and through the grace of the goddess he succeeded in his life and now we know him as a celebrated Sanskrit poet.
Kalidasa Personal Life
Legends have also said that Kalidas had been blessed with good looks and as a poet, he used to write poems that included epic proportions. Kalidas used to write his poems in classical Sanskrit and also his creations were so amazing that they were used as fine arts in the form of dance and music.
It’s also said that because of Kalida’s good looks the Princess married him but later when it was known that Kalidas wasn’t very intelligent and clever the princess rejected him and that’s when he started to worship Goddess Kali and he got very intelligent.
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And then in the court of Chandragupta Kalidas became one of the “nine gems”.
Major Works of Kalidas
The most famous dramas by Kalidas were “Shakuntala” and “Malavikagnimitra”. Kalidas used to like writing in Kavya style and poems in classical Sanskrit.
Malavikagnimitra
This was the first drama by Kalidas in this drama he wrote about the love theme between Princess Malavika and Prince Agnimitra.
Shakuntala
This is the second drama by Kalidas and if you will read it you would remember that this is a story we all heard once in our lifetime but this one is considered one of the most beautiful works by him.
This drama tells a beautiful love story of King Dushyant and he falls in love with the daughter of a saint named Shakuntala. As both of them lead a happy married life once the King had to travel somewhere and in the absence of him Shakuntala was cursed as she unknowingly offended a Sage by not acknowledging his presence.
This curse affects Dushyant as he loses his memory and doesn’t remember anything neither his marriage nor Shakuntala. After seeing Shakuntala in such pain the Sage feels pity for her and tells her a solution of how Dushyant can get his memory back.
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The Sage said the King would remember everything if he saw the ring which he gave to Shakuntala but she lost the ring one day when she was bathing in the river. After a lot of searches, a fisherman finds the ring inside a fish and gives it to the King and then after seeing the ring Dushyant remembers everything and rushes to meet Shakuntala and apologizes for his actions and they live happily after that.
Apart from this Kalidas also worked on two epic poems known as “Kumaarasambhava ” which meant the birth of Kumara and Raghuvamsha which also means the dynasty of Raghu.
The great Kavya of Kalidas is also very well known. The most famous is “the cycle of seasons or Ritusamhara” and the second one is “cloud messenger or Meghaduta”.
The Cycle of Seasons onderfully describes nature and all the rhythms that are related to human sentiments and moods. The Cloud Messenger describes all about Yaksha’s exile and its emotion; he sends all his messages towards his wife through clouds.
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Conclusion
The extreme beauty of Kalidas style and the poetic emotions which connect you towards nature, life, and his serenity of different themes and human mind melted the works of Kalidas and made him immortal.
The contribution of Kalidas had made world literature richer and then the western culture came to know about his works as how excellent Kalidas’s work is.
This was all about Mahakavi Kalidasa and about his life and works. If you like literature then you should check out all his works.
I hope this article was helpful and informative! Thank you.
