Kālidāsa (Sanskrit:कालिदास, "Servant ofKali"; 4th–5th century CE) was aClassical Sanskrit author who is often consideredancient India's greatest poet and playwright.[1][2] His plays and poetry are primarily based on HinduPuranas and philosophy. His surviving works consist of three plays, two epic poems and two shorter poems.
Much about his life is unknown except what can be inferred from his poetry and plays.[3] His works cannot be dated with precision, but they were most likely authored before the 5th century CE during theGupta era. Kalidas is mentioned as one of the sevenBrahma avatars inDasam Granth, written byGuru Gobind Singh.[4]
Kalidasa was of shepherd orGadaria caste[5][6][7][8][9] Scholars have speculated that he may have lived near theHimalayas, or in the vicinity ofUjjain, or inKalinga. This hypothesis is based on Kālidāsa's detailed description of the Himalayas in hisKumārasambhavam, the display of his love forUjjain inMeghadūta, and his highly eulogistic descriptions of Kalingan emperorHemāngada inRaghuvaṃśam (sixthsarga). He is also believed to be born in Kaviltha,[10][11] Rudraprayad, Uttarakhand based on the monument established in Kaviltha by the Uttarakhand Tourism Department of the Uttarakhand Government. In theMithila region, the birthplace of Kalidasa is considered at theKalidas Dih in theUchchaith village of theBenipatti block in theMadhubani district.[12]
Lakshmi Dhar Kalla (1891–1953), a Sanskrit scholar and aKashmiri Pandit, wrote a book titledThe birth-place of Kalidasa (1926), which tries to trace the birthplace of Kālidāsa based on his writings. He concluded that Kālidāsa was born inKashmir, but moved southwards, and sought the patronage of local rulers to prosper. The evidence cited by him from Kālidāsa's writings includes:[13][14][15]
Description of flora and fauna that is found in Kashmir, but not in Ujjain or Kalinga: thesaffron plant, thedeodar trees,musk deer etc.
Description of geographical features common to Kashmir, such astarns andglades
Mention of some sites of minor importance that, according to Kalla, can be identified with places in Kashmir. These sites are not very famous outside Kashmir, and therefore, could not have been known to someone not in close touch with Kashmir.
Reference to certain legends of Kashmiri origin, such as that of theNikumbha (mentioned in the Kashmiri textNīlamata Purāṇa); mention (inAbhijñānaśākuntalam) of the legend about Kashmir being created from a lake. This legend, mentioned inNīlamata Purāṇa, states that a tribal leader named Ananta drained a lake to kill a demon. Ananta named the site of the former lake (now land) as "Kashmir", after his fatherKaśyapa.
According to Kalla,Śakuntalā (protagonist character inAbhijñānaśākuntalam) is an allegorical dramatisation ofPratyabhijna philosophy (a branch ofKashmir Shaivism). Kalla further argues that this branch was not known outside of Kashmir at that time.
Another old legend recounts that Kālidāsa visitsKumāradāsa, the king ofLanka and, because of treachery, is murdered there.[16]
Several ancient and medieval books state that Kālidāsa was a court poet of a king namedVikramāditya. A legendary king namedVikramāditya is said to have ruled from Ujjain around the 1st century BCE. A section of scholars believe that this legendaryVikramāditya is not a historical figure at all. There are other kings who ruled from Ujjain and adopted the titleVikramāditya, the most notable ones beingChandragupta II (r. 380 CE – 415 CE) andYaśodharman (6th century CE).[2]
The most popular theory is that Kālidāsa flourished during the reign of Chandragupta II, and therefore lived around the 4th-5th century CE. Several Western scholars have supported this theory, since the days ofWilliam Jones andA. B. Keith.[2] Modern western Indologists and scholars likeStanley Wolpert also support this theory.[17] Many Indian scholars, such asVasudev Vishnu Mirashi and Rāma Gupta, also place Kālidāsa in this period.[18][19] According to this theory, his career might have extended to the reign ofKumāragupta I (r. 414 – 455 CE), and possibly, to that ofSkandagupta (r. 455 – 467 CE).[20][21]
The earliest paleographical evidence of Kālidāsa is found in a Sanskrit inscription datedc. 473 CE, found atMandsaur's Sun temple, with some verses that appear to imitateMeghadūtam Purva, 66; and theṚtusaṃhāra V, 2–3, although Kālidāsa is not named.[22] His name, along with that of the poetBhāravi, is first mentioned the 634 CEAihole inscription found inKarnataka.[23]
Some scholars, including M. Srinivasachariar and T. S. Narayana Sastri, believe that works attributed to "Kālidāsa" are not by a single person. According to Srinivasachariar, writers from 8th and 9th centuries hint at the existence of three noted literary figures who share the name Kālidāsa. These writers include Devendra (author ofKavi-Kalpa-Latā),Rājaśekhara and Abhinanda. Sastri lists the works of these three Kalidasas as follows:[24]
Kālidāsa alias Kotijit: author ofṚtusaṃhāram,Śyāmala-Daṇḍakam andŚṛngāratilakam among other works.
Sastri goes on to mention six other literary figures known by the name "Kālidāsa": Parimala Kālidāsa alias Padmagupta (author ofNavasāhasāṅka Carita), Kālidāsa alias Yamakakavi (author ofNalodaya), Nava Kālidāsa (author ofChampu Bhāgavata),Akbariya Kalidasa (author of severalsamasyas or riddles), Kālidāsa VIII (author ofLambodara Prahasana), and Abhinava Kālidāsa alias Mādhava (author ofSaṅkṣepa-Śaṅkara-Vijayam).[24]
According to K. Krishnamoorthy, "Vikramāditya" and "Kālidāsa" were used as common nouns to describe any patron king and any court poet, respectively.[25]
Kālidāsa is the author of twomahākāvyas,Kumārasambhavam (here 'Kumāra' meaningKartikeya, and 'Sambhavam' meaning possibility of an event taking place, in this context a birth. Kumārasambhavam thus means the birth of a Kartikeya) andRaghuvaṃśam ("Dynasty of Raghu").
Kumārasambhava describes the birth and adolescence of the goddessPārvatī, her marriage toŚiva and the subsequent birth of their sonKumāra (Kārtikeya).
Raghuvaṃśa is an epic poem about the kings of the Raghu dynasty.
Kālidāsa also wrote theMeghadūtam (The Cloud Messenger), akhaṇḍakāvya (minor poem).[26] It describes the story of aYakṣa trying to send a message to his lover through a cloud. Kālidāsa set this poem to themandākrāntā metre, which is known for its lyrical sweetness. It is one of Kālidāsa's most popular poems and numerous commentaries on the work have been written.
Kālidāsa wrote three plays. Among them,Abhijñānaśākuntalam ("Of the recognition of Śakuntalā") is generally regarded as a masterpiece. It was among the first Sanskrit works to be translated into English, and has since been translated into many languages.[27]
Śakuntalā stops to look back at Duṣyanta, byRaja Ravi Varma (1848–1906).
Mālavikāgnimitram (Pertaining to Mālavikā and Agnimitra) tells the story of KingAgnimitra, who falls in love with the picture of an exiled servant girl named Mālavikā. When the queen discovers her husband's passion for this girl, she becomes infuriated and has Mālavikā imprisoned, but as fate would have it, Mālavikā is in fact a true-born princess, thus legitimising the affair.
Abhijñānaśākuntalam (Of the recognition of Śakuntalā) tells the story of KingDuṣyanta who, while on a hunting trip, meetsŚakuntalā, the adopted daughter of the sage Kanha and real daughter ofVishwamitra andMenaka and marries her. A mishap befalls them when he is summoned back to court: Śakuntala, pregnant with their child, inadvertently offends a visitingDurvasa and incurs a curse, whereby Duṣyanta forgets her entirely until he sees the ring he has left with her. On her trip to Duṣyanta's court in an advanced state ofpregnancy, she loses the ring, and has to come away unrecognised by him. The ring is found by a fisherman who recognises the royal seal and returns it to Duṣyanta, who regains his memory of Śakuntala and sets out to find her.Goethe was fascinated by Kālidāsa'sAbhijñānaśākuntalam, which became known in Europe, after being translated from English to German.
Vikramōrvaśīyam (Ūrvaśī Won by Valour) tells the story of KingPururavas and celestial nymphŪrvaśī who fall in love. As an immortal, she has to return to the heavens, where an unfortunate accident causes her to be sent back to the earth as a mortal with the curse that she will die (and thus return to heaven) the moment her lover lays his eyes on the child which she will bear him. After a series of mishaps, including Ūrvaśī's temporary transformation into a vine, the curse is lifted, and the lovers are allowed to remain together on the earth.
Montgomery Schuyler, Jr. published a bibliography of the editions and translations of the dramaŚakuntalā while preparing his work "Bibliography of the Sanskrit Drama".[N 1][28] Schuyler later completed his bibliography series of the dramatic works of Kālidāsa by compiling bibliographies of the editions and translations ofVikramōrvaśīyam andMālavikāgnimitram.[29] Sir William Jones published an English translation ofŚakuntalā in 1791 CE andṚtusaṃhāra was published by him in original text during 1792 CE.[30]
A large number of long and short poems have incorrectly been attributed to Kalidasa, for instance the Bhramarastaka, the Ghatakarpara, the Mangalastaka, the Nalodaya (a work by Ravideva), the Puspabanavilasa, which is sometimes also ascribed toVararuci or Ravideva, the Raksasakavya, the Rtusamhara, the Sarasvatistotra, the Srngararasastaka, the Srngaratilaka, the Syamaladandaka and the short, didactic text on prosody, the Srutabodha, otherwise thought to be by Vararuci or the Jaina Ajitasena. In addition to the non-authentic works, there are also some "false" Kalidasas. Immensely proud of their poetic achievement, several later poets have either been barefaced enough to call themselves Kalidasa or have invented pseudonyms such as Nava-Kalidasa, "New Kalidasa", Akbariya-Kalidasa, "Akbar-Kalidasa", etc.[31]
Kālidāsa's influence extends to all later Sanskrit works that followed him, and onIndian literature broadly, becoming an archetype of Sanskrit literature.[1][22]
Notably in modern Indian literatureMeghadūta's romanticism is found inRabindranath Tagore's poems on the monsoons.
Bāṇabhaṭṭa, the 7th-century CE Sanskrit prose-writer and poet, has written:nirgatāsu na vā kasya kālidāsasya sūktiṣu, prītirmadhurasārdrāsu mañjarīṣviva jāyate. ("When Kālidāsa's sweet sayings, charming with sweet sentiment, went forth, who did not feel delight in them as in honey-laden flowers?").[32]
Jayadeva, a later poet, has called Kālidāsa akavikulaguru, 'the lord of poets' and thevilāsa, 'graceful play' of the muse of poetry.[33]
The Indologist SirMonier Williams has written: "No composition of Kālidāsa displays more the richness of his poetical genius, the exuberance of his imagination, the warmth and play of his fancy, his profound knowledge of the human heart, his delicate appreciation of its most refined and tender emotions, his familiarity with the workings and counterworkings of its conflicting feelings - in short more entitles him to rank as the Shakespeare of India."[34]
Willst du die Blüthe des frühen, die Früchte des späteren Jahres,
Willst du, was reizt und entzückt, willst du was sättigt und nährt, Willst du den Himmel, die Erde, mit Einem Namen begreifen; Nenn’ ich, Sakuntala, Dich, und so ist Alles gesagt.
— Goethe
Wouldst thou the young year's blossoms and the fruits of its decline
And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed, Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine? I name thee, O Sakuntala! and all at once is said.
"Here the poet seems to be in the height of his talent in representation of the natural order, of the finest mode of life, of the purest moral endeavor, of the most worthy sovereign, and of the most sober divine meditation; still he remains in such a manner the lord and master of his creation."
Philosopher and linguistHumboldt writes, "Kālidāsa, the celebrated author of the Śākuntalā, is a masterly describer of the influence which Nature exercises upon the minds of lovers. Tenderness in the expression of feelings and richness of creative fancy have assigned to him his lofty place among the poets of all nations."[36]
Many scholars have written commentaries on the works of Kālidāsa. Among the most studied commentaries are those byKolāchala Mallinātha Suri, which were written in the 15th century during the reign of theVijayanagara king,Deva Rāya II. The earliest surviving commentaries appear to be those of the 10th-century Kashmirian scholar Vallabhadeva.[37] Eminent Sanskrit poets likeBāṇabhaṭṭa,Jayadeva andRajasekhara have lavished praise on Kālidāsa in their tributes. A well-known Sanskrit verse ("Upamā Kālidāsasya...") praises his skill atupamā, orsimiles.Anandavardhana, a highly revered critic, considered Kālidāsa to be one of the greatest Sanskrit poets. Of the hundreds of pre-modern Sanskrit commentaries on Kālidāsa's works, only a fraction have been contemporarily published. Such commentaries show signs of Kālidāsa's poetry being changed from its original state through centuries of manual copying, and possibly through competing oral traditions which ran alongside the written tradition.
Kālidāsa'sAbhijñānaśākuntalam was one of the first works of Indian literature to become known in Europe. It was first translated into English and then from English into German, where it was received with wonder and fascination by a group of eminent poets, which includedHerder andGoethe.[38]
Kālidāsa's work continued to evoke inspiration among the artistic circles of Europe during the late 19th century and early 20th century, as evidenced byCamille Claudel's sculptureShakuntala.
Koodiyattam artist andNāṭya Śāstra scholarMāni Mādhava Chākyār (1899–1990) of Kerala choreographed and performed popular Kālidāsa plays including Abhijñānaśākuntala, Vikramorvaśīya and Mālavikāgnimitra.
Surendra Verma's Hindi playAthavan Sarga, published in 1976, is based on the legend that Kālidāsa could not complete his epicKumārasambhava because he was cursed by the goddessPārvatī, for obscene descriptions of her conjugal life with Śiva in the eighth canto. The play depicts Kālidāsa as a court poet of Chandragupta who faces a trial on the insistence of a priest and some other moralists of his time.
Asti Kashchid Vagarthiyam is a five-actSanskrit play written by Krishna Kumar in 1984. The story is a variation of the popular legend that Kālidāsa was mentally challenged at one time and that his wife was responsible for his transformation. Kālidāsa, a mentally challenged shepherd, is married to Vidyottamā, a learned princess, through a conspiracy. On discovering that she has been tricked, Vidyottamā banishes Kālidāsa, asking him to acquire scholarship and fame if he desires to continue their relationship. She further stipulates that on his return he will have to answer the question,Asti Kaścid Vāgarthaḥ" ("Is there anything special in expression?"), to her satisfaction. In due course, Kālidāsa attains knowledge and fame as a poet. Kālidāsa begins Kumārsambhava, Raghuvaṃśa and Meghaduta with the wordsAsti ("there is"),Kaścit ("something") andVāgarthaḥ ("spoken word and its meaning") respectively.
Bishnupada Bhattacharya's "Kalidas o Robindronath" is a comparative study of Kalidasa and the Bengali poetRabindranath Tagore.
Ashadh Ka Ek Din is a Hindi play based on fictionalised elements of Kalidasa's life.
^Pai, Anant.Aatmvishwas Kaise Prapt Karien [How to gain self-confidence] (in Hindi). Diamond Pocket Books (P) Ltd. p. 35.ISBN978-81-7182-597-4.Hindi: "कालिदास भेड़-बकरियां चराने वाले एक मामूली गड़रिया थे"। जब उनकी पत्नी ने उनका मजाक उड़ाया कि वे अंगूठाछाप हैं तो वे ज्ञान प्राप्ति के लिए निकल पड़े। और आज कौन नहीं जानता कि वे कितने बड़े विद्वान बने! उनकी प्रसिद्धि समय की सीमाओं से परे है। आज भी 'अभिज्ञान शाकुंतलम्' और 'मेघदूतम्' जैसी उनकी कृतियां पूरी दुनिया में प्रसिद्ध हैं। English: "Kalidasa was an ordinary Gadaria" who herded sheep and goats. When his wife mocked him for being illiterate, he set out in search of knowledge. And today, who doesn't know what a great scholar he became! His fame has transcended the limits of time. Even today, his works like Abhijnanashakuntalam and Meghadutam are celebrated across the world.
^Bhushan; Sachdeva (2012).Samaajshastra (Hindi) (in Hindi). Pearson Education India. p. 174.ISBN978-93-5394-201-4.Hindi: गड़रिया (Gadaria): गड़रिया गाय, भैंस, बकरी एवं भेड़ आदि पशुओं को पालता है। वे दूध बेचते हैं, तथा नकद भुगतान पाते हैं। कटाई के पश्चात् वे पशुओं को खेतों में ले जाते हैं, ताकि भूमि उर्वर हो सके। गड़रिये भूमि भी जोतते हैं। English: गड़रिया (Gadaria): The Gadaria rear animals such as cows, buffaloes, goats, and sheep. They sell milk and receive cash payments. After the harvest, they take their animals into the fields so that the land can become fertile. Gadarias also plough and cultivate land.
^"Kalidas".www.cs.colostate.edu.Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved7 April 2021.
^Schuyler, Montgomery Jr. (1901). "The Editions and Translations of Çakuntalā".Journal of the American Oriental Society.22:237–248.doi:10.2307/592432.JSTOR592432.
^Schuyler, Montgomery Jr. (1902). "Bibliography of Kālidāsa's Mālavikāgnimitra and Vikramorvaçī".Journal of the American Oriental Society.23:93–101.doi:10.2307/592384.JSTOR592384.
^Lienhard, Siegfried (1984).A History of Classical Poetry: Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit (A History of Indian Literature Vol. III), p. 116. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden.
^Rao, Kamalakara Kameshwara,Mahakavi Kalidasu (Drama, History, Musical), Akkineni Nageshwara Rao, S. V. Ranga Rao, Sriranjani, Seeta Rama Anjaneyulu Chilakalapudi, Sarani Productions,archived from the original on 8 February 2017, retrieved7 April 2021
^আহমেদ, ফরিদ."কুমারসম্ভবের কবি".মুক্তমনা বাংলা ব্লগ (in Bengali). Retrieved3 April 2025.
Raghavan, V. (January–March 1968). "A Bibliography of translations of Kalidasa's works in Indian Languages".Indian Literature.11 (1):5–35.JSTOR23329605.
Gopal, Ram (1 January 1984).Kālidāsa: His Art and Culture. Concept Publishing Company.Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved15 November 2015.
Kale, M.R. (1969).The Abhijñānaśākuntalam of Kālidāsa. Motilal Banarsidass.ISBN978-8120802834.
Clay Sanskrit Library publishes classical Indian literature, including the works of Kalidasa with Sanskrit facing-page text and translation. Also offers searchable corpus and downloadable materials.
