Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works | Page 2

Kalidasa to meet his death at
the hands of a woman. At a later date, the story continues, this curse
was fulfilled. A certain king had written a half-stanza of verse, and had
offered a large reward to any poet who could worthily complete it.
Kalidasa completed the stanza without difficulty; but a woman whom
he loved discovered his lines, and greedy of the reward herself, killed
him.
Another legend represents Kalidasa as engaging in a pilgrimage to a
shrine of Vishnu in Southern India, in company with two other famous
writers, Bhavabhuti and Dandin. Yet another pictures Bhavabhuti as a
contemporary of Kalidasa, and jealous of the less austere poet's
reputation. These stories must be untrue, for it is certain that the three
authors were not contemporary, yet they show a true instinct in the
belief that genius seeks genius, and is rarely isolated.
This instinctive belief has been at work with the stories which connect
Kalidasa with King Vikramaditya and the literary figures of his court. It
has doubtless enlarged, perhaps partly falsified the facts; yet we cannot
doubt that there is truth in this tradition, late though it be, and
impossible though it may ever be to separate the actual from the
fanciful. Here then we are on firmer ground.
King Vikramaditya ruled in the city of Ujjain, in West-central India. He
was mighty both in war and in peace, winning especial glory by a
decisive victory over the barbarians who pressed into India through the
northern passes. Though it has not proved possible to identify this
monarch with any of the known rulers, there can be no doubt that he
existed and had the character attributed to him. The name

Vikramaditya--Sun of Valour--is probably not a proper name, but a title
like Pharaoh or Tsar. No doubt Kalidasa intended to pay a tribute to his
patron, the Sun of Valour, in the very title of his play, Urvashi won by
Valour.
King Vikramaditya was a great patron of learning and of poetry. Ujjain
during his reign was the most brilliant capital in the world, nor has it to
this day lost all the lustre shed upon it by that splendid court. Among
the eminent men gathered there, nine were particularly distinguished,
and these nine are known as the "nine gems." Some of the nine gems
were poets, others represented science--astronomy, medicine,
lexicography. It is quite true that the details of this late tradition
concerning the nine gems are open to suspicion, yet the central fact is
not doubtful: that there was at this time and place a great quickening of
the human mind, an artistic impulse creating works that cannot perish.
Ujjain in the days of Vikramaditya stands worthily beside Athens,
Rome, Florence, and London in their great centuries. Here is the
substantial fact behind Max Müller's often ridiculed theory of the
renaissance of Sanskrit literature. It is quite false to suppose, as some
appear to do, that this theory has been invalidated by the discovery of
certain literary products which antedate Kalidasa. It might even be said
that those rare and happy centuries that see a man as great as Homer or
Vergil or Kalidasa or Shakespeare partake in that one man of a
renaissance.
It is interesting to observe that the centuries of intellectual darkness in
Europe have sometimes coincided with centuries of light in India. The
Vedas were composed for the most part before Homer; Kalidasa and
his contemporaries lived while Rome was tottering under barbarian
assault.
To the scanty and uncertain data of late traditions may be added some
information about Kalidasa's life gathered from his own writings. He
mentions his own name only in the prologues to his three plays, and
here with a modesty that is charming indeed, yet tantalising. One
wishes for a portion of the communicativeness that characterises some
of the Indian poets. He speaks in the first person only once, in the

verses introductory to his epic poem The Dynasty of Raghu[1]. Here
also we feel his modesty, and here once more we are balked of details
as to his life.
We know from Kalidasa's writings that he spent at least a part of his
life in the city of Ujjain. He refers to Ujjain more than once, and in a
manner hardly possible to one who did not know and love the city.
Especially in his poem The Cloud-Messenger does he dwell upon the
city's charms, and even bids the cloud make a détour in his long
journey lest he should miss making its acquaintance.[2]
We learn further that Kalidasa travelled widely in India. The fourth
canto of The Dynasty of Raghu describes a tour about the whole of
India and even into regions which are beyond the borders of a narrowly
measured India. It is hard to