The Ramayana is one of the two great Indian epics,the other being the Mahabharata. The Ramayana tells about life in India around 1000 BCE and offers models in dharma. The hero, Rama, lived his whole life by the rules of dharma; in fact, that was why Indian consider him heroic. When Rama was a young boy, he was the perfect son. Later he was an ideal husband to his faithful wife, Sita, and a responsible ruler of Aydohya. "Be as Rama," young Indians have been taught for 2,000 years; "Be as Sita."
The original Ramayana was a 24,000 couplet-long epic poem attributed to the Sanskrit poet Valmiki. Oral versions of Rama's story circulated for centuries, and the epic was probably first written down sometime around the start of the Common Era. It has since been told, retold, translated and transcreated throughout South and Southeast Asia, and the Ramayana continues to be performed in dance, drama, puppet shows, songs and movies all across Asia.
From childhood most Indians learn the characters and incidents of these epics and they furnish the ideals and wisdom of common life. The epics help to bind together the many peoples of India, transcending caste, distance and language. Two all-Indian holidays celebrate events in the Ramayana. Dussehra, a fourteen-day festival in October, commemorates the siege of Lanka and Rama's victory over Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. Divali, the October-November festival of Lights, celebrates Rama and Sita's return home to their kingdom of Ayodhya
Prince Rama was the eldest of four sons and was to become king when his father retired from ruling. His stepmother, however, wanted to see her son Bharata, Rama's younger brother, become king. Remembering that the king had once promised to grant her any two wishes she desired, she demanded that Rama be banished and Bharata be crowned. The king had to keep his word to his wife and ordered Rama's banishment. Rama accepted the decree unquestioningly. "I gladly obey father's command," he said to his stepmother. "Why, I would go even if you ordered it."
When Sita, Rama's wife, heard Rama was to be banished, she begged to accompany him to his forest retreat. "As shadow to substance, so wife to husband," she reminded Rama. "Is not the wife's dharma to be at her husband's side? Let me walk ahead of you so that I may smooth the path for your feet," she pleaded. Rama agreed, and Rama, Sita and his brother Lakshmana all went to the forest.
When Bharata learned what his mother had done, he sought Rama in the forest. "The eldest must rule," he reminded Rama. "Please come back and claim your rightful place as king." Rama refused to go against his father's command, so Bharata took his brother's sandals and said, "I shall place these sandals on the throne as symbols of your authority. I shall rule only as regent in your place, and each day I shall put my offerings at the feet of my Lord. When the fourteen years of banishment are over, I shall joyously return the kingdom to you." Rama was very impressed with Bharata's selflessness. As Bharata left, Rama said to him, "I should have known that you would renounce gladly what most men work lifetimes to learn to give up."

1. Dasharatha, King of Aydohya, has three wives and four sons. Rama is the eldest. His mother is Kaushalya. Bharata is the son of his second and favorite wife, Queen Kaikeyi. The other two are twins, Lakshman and Shatrughna. Rama and Bharata are blue, perhaps indicating they were dark skinned or originally south Indian deities.
2) A sage takes the boys out to train them in archery. Rama has hit an apple hanging from a string.
3) In a neighboring city the ruler's daughter is named Sita. When it was time for Sita to choose her bridegroom, at a ceremony called a swayamvara, the princes were asked to string a giant bow. No one else can even lift the bow, but as Rama bends it, he not only strings it but breaks it in two. Sita indicates she has chosen Rama as her husband by putting a garland around his neck. The disappointed suitors watch.
4) King Dasharatha, Rama's father, decides it is time to give his throne to his eldest son Rama and retire to the forest to seek moksha. Everyone seems pleased. This plan fulfills the rules of dharma because an eldest son should rule and, if a son can take over one's responsibilities, one's last years may be spent in a search for moksha. In addition, everyone loves Rama. However Rama's step-mother, the king's second wife, is not pleased. She wants her son, Bharata, to rule. Because of an oath Dasharatha had made to her years before, she gets the king to agree to banish Rama for fourteen years and to crown Bharata, even though the king, on bended knee, begs her not to demand such things. Broken-hearted, the devastated king cannot face Rama with the news and Kaikeyi must tell him.
5) Rama, always obedient, is as content to go into banishment in the forest as to be crowned king. Sita convinces Rama that she belongs at his side and his brother Lakshman also begs to accompany them. Rama, Sita and Lakshman set out for the forest.
Bharata, whose mother's evil plot has won him the throne, is very upset when he finds out what has happened. Not for a moment does he consider breaking the rules of dharma and becoming king in Rama's place. He goes to Rama's forest retreat and begs Rama to return and rule, but Rama refuses. "We must obey father," Rama says. Bharata then takes Rama's sandals saying, "I will put these on the throne, and every day I shall place the fruits of my work at the feet on my Lord." Embracing Rama, he takes the sandals and returns to Aydohya.
6) Years pass and Rama, Sita and Lakshman are very happy in the forest. Rama and Lakshman destroy the rakshasas (evil creatures) who disturb the sages in their meditations. One day a rakshasa princess tries to seduce Rama, and Lakshmana wounds her and drives her away. She returns to her brother Ravana, the ten-headed ruler of Lanka (Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon), and tells her brother (who has a weakness for beautiful women) about lovely Sita.
Ravana devises a plan to abduct Sita. He sends a magical golden deer which Sita desires. Rama and Lakshman go off to hunt the deer, first drawing a protective circle around Sita and warning her she will be safe as long as she does not step outside the circle. As they go off, Ravana (who can change his shape) appears as a holy man begging alms. The moment Sita steps outside the circle to give him food, Ravana grabs her and carries her off the his kingdom in Lanka.
7) Rama is broken-hearted when he returns to the empty hut and cannot find Sita. A band of monkeys offer to help him find Sita.
Ravana has carried Sita to his palace in Lanka, but he cannot force her to be his wife so he puts her in a grove and alternately sweet-talks her and threatens her in an attempt to get her to agree to marry him. Sita will not even look at him but thinks only of her beloved Rama. Hanuman, the general of the monkey band can fly since his father is the wind, and Hanuman flies to Lanka and, finding Sita in the grove, comforts her and tells her Rama will soon come and save her.
8) Ravana's men capture Hanuman, and Ravana orders them to wrap Hanuman's tail in cloth and to set it on fire. With his tail burning, Hanuman hops from house-top to house-top, setting Lanka afire. He then flies back to Rama to tell him where Sita is.
9) Rama, Lakshman and the monkey army build a causeway from the tip of India to Lanka and cross over to Lanka. A might battle ensues. Rama kills several of Ravana's brothers and then
Rama confronts ten-headed Ravana. (Ravana is known for his wisdom as well as for his weakness for women which may explain why he is pictured as very brainy.) Rama finally kills Ravana.
10). Rama frees Sita. After Sita proves here purity, they return to Ayodhya and Rama becomes king. His rule, Ram-rajya, is an ideal time when everyone does his or her dharma and "fathers never have to light the funeral pyres for their sons

رامايانا
(دڤناگري: Rāmāyaṇa, रामायण) هي ملحمة شعرية هندية قديمة بالسنسكريتية تـُنسب إلى الشاعر ڤالميكي. وتعتبر من التراث الهندي وتكاد تكون نصا مقدسا وهي ملحمة لا يزيد طولها على ألف صفحة قوام الصفحة منها ثمانية وأربعون سطراً ؛ وعلى الرغم من أنها كذلك أخذت تزداد بالإضافات من القرن الثالث قبل الميلاد إلى القرن الثاني بعد الميلاد ، فإن تلك الإضافات فيها أقل عدداً مما في الماهابهاراتا ، ولا تشوه الموضوع الأصلي كثيراً ؛ ويعزو الرواة هذه القصيدة إلى رجل يسمى "فالميكي" ، وهو كنظيره المؤلف المزعوم للملحمة الأخرى الأكبر منها ، يظهر في الحكاية شخصية من شخصياتها ولكن الأرجح أن القصيدة من إنشاء عدد كبير من المنشدين العابرين ، أمثال أولئك الذين لا يزالون ينشدون هاتين الملحمتين ، وقد يظلون يتابعون إنشادهما تسعين ليلة متعاقبة ، على مستمعين مأخوذين بما فيها من سحر. وكما أن "المهابهارتا" تشبه "الإلياذة" في كونها قصة حرب عظيمة أنشبتها الآلهة والناس ، وكان بعض أسبابها استلاب أمة لامرأة جميلة من أمة أخرى ؛ فكذلك تشبه "رامايانا" "الأوديسية" وتقصّ عما لاقاه أحد الأبطال من صعاب وأسفار ، وعن انتظار زوجته صابرة حتى يعود إليها فيلتئم شملها من جديد ، وترى في فاتحة الملحمة صورة لعصر ذهبي ، كان فيه "دازا- راذا" يحكم مملكته "كوسالا" (وهي ما يسمى الآن أودا) من عاصمته "أيوذيا":
مزداناً بما تزدان به الملوك من كرامة وبسالة، وزاخراً بترانيم الفيدا المقدسة
أخذ (دازا- راذا) يحكم ملكه في أيام الماضي السعيد...
إذ عاش الشعب التقيُّ مسالماً، كثير المال رفيع المقام
لا يأكل الحسد قلوبهم ؛ ولا يعرفون الكذب فيما ينطقون ؛
فالآباء بأسْراتهم السعيدة يملكون ما لديهم من ماشية وغلة وذهب
ولم يكن للفقر المدقع والمجاعة في (أيوديا) مقام.

mā niṣāda pratiṣṭhāṁ tvamagamaḥ śāśvatīḥ samāḥ
yat krauñcamithunādekam avadhīḥ kāmamohitam[7]
You will find no rest for the long years of Eternity
For you killed a bird in love and unsuspecting[8]

About Valmiki
Maharishi (the great sage) claims the distinction of being the author of the holy epic 'Ramayana', consisting of 24,000 verses. He is also believed to be the author of Yoga Vasistha, a text that elaborates on a range of philosophical issues. There are different versions regarding the time period and life of Valmiki. The Valmiki Ramayana is believed to be dated variously from the period 500 BC to 100BC. But at the same time Valmiki is also said to be the contemporary of Lord Rama. Sita took refuge in her Ashram where Lava and Kusa were born. Against this backdrop, the period of Valmiki is likely to date back to thousand of years.

There is much controversy regarding the life of Maharishi Valmiki. There is a age old belief th;at before turning into a sage Valmiki was a highway robber called Ratnakara. This widely accepted story has been explained in detail below. But a judgement given by Justice Rajive Bhalla of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the year 2010 could change an age-old belief about Maharsihi Valmiki. Justice Bhalla quoted the research done by the head of the Maharishi Valmiki Chair of the Punjabi University, Patiala, Manjula Sehdev, and said that,"actual facts appear to be lost in the mists of antiquity." The judge stated the salient features of the research, saying that "from Vedic literature up to 9th century AD, there is no reference as such that Maharishi Valmiki led a life of a dacoit or highwayman." It was also stated that in his own work 'Ramayana', Valmiki is called Bhagwan, Muni, Rishi and Maharishi and no reference of his highwaymanship is available there.

Early Life
Maharishi Valmiki was born as Ratnakara to sage Prachetasa. At a very young age, Ratnakara went into the forest and got lost. A hunter, who was passing by, saw Ratnakara and took him under his own care. Under the love and care of his foster parents, Ratnakara forgot his original parents. Under his father's guidance, Ratnakara turned out to be an excellent hunter. As he approached marriageable age, Ratnakara was married to a beautiful girl from hunter's family.

Turning into a Robber
As his family grew larger, Ratnakara found it next to impossible to feed them. As a result, he took to robbery and began looting people passing from one village to another.

Meeting with Narada and Transformation
One day, the great sage Narada, while passing through the jungle, was attacked by Ratnakara. As Narada played his Veena and sang praises of the Lord, he saw a transformation coming over Ratnakara. Then, he asked Ratnakara whether the family, for whom he was robbing others, will partake in his sins also. Ratnakara went to ask the same question to his family and on being refused by all his family members, he went back to sage Narada. Narada taught him the sacred name of 'Rama' and asked him to sit in meditation, chanting the name of Rama, till the time Narada came back.

Ratnakara followed the instructions and kept sitting in a meditative posture for years, during which his body got completely covered by an anthill. At last, Narada came to see him and removed all the anthills from his body. Then, he told Ratnakara that his tapasya (meditation) paid off and the God was pleased with him. Ratnakara was bestowed with the honor of a Brahmarshi and given the name of Valmiki, since he was reborn from the Valmika (the ant-hill). Sage Valmiki founded his ashram at the banks of River Ganga.

Receiving Lord Rama
One day, Valmiki had the fortuity of receiving Lord Rama, His wife Sita and brother Lakshman at his ashram. On Valmiki's suggestion, Lord Rama built his hut on Chitrakuta hill, near the ashram.

Writing Ramayana
Narada visited Maharishi Valmiki in his ashram once and there, he narrated the story of Lord Rama. Thereafter he received a vision from Brahma in which the Lord instructed him to write Ramayana in slokas, which the sage readily followed.

Birth Name
Ratnakara
Nickname
Adikavi
Mini Biography
Valmiki was the composer of the first Sanskrit poem (the Adikavya) known the world over as the epic Ramayana (Story of Lord Rama), hence he is called the Adikavi or First Poet - the Poet of Poets of India. He was born along the banks of the Ganges in ancient India to a sage by the name of Prachetasa. His birth name was Ratnakara. He apparently got lost in the jungles as a child and was found by a hunter who raised him as his own son. When he grew up he became a hunter like his foster father but also took to being a bandit to supplement his livelihood. Once it so happened he met the Maharishi Narada and tried to rob him. However Narada convinced him of the evil of his ways and converted him into a 'Brahmarishi' or religious scholar. He narrated the story of Rama (Ramayana) to him and asked him to write it down for posterity. Ratnakara did penance for many years and an ant-hill grew around him. Hence his new name 'Valmika' which in Sanskrit means an ant-hill. He came out of the anthill and penned the great epic sometime between the 4th and the 2nd century BC. "As long as there are rivers and mountains in the world, people will read the Ramayana

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يُعرف فالميكي (Valmiki) (باللغة السنسكريتية:)،वाल्मीकि, vālmīki) (الذي عاش خلال عصر اللورد راما)[1] بالشاعر المُنذر في الأدب السنسكريتي. وهو مؤلف الملحة الشعرية رامايانا (Ramayana)، على أساس التوزيع في نص الملحمة نفسها.[2] تم تكريمه بإعطائه لقب آدي كافي، التي تعني الشاعر الأول، وذلك لأنه صاغ أول شلوكا (śloka) آي إي. أول بيت شعري ملحمي الذي يُعد حجر الأساس في تحديد شكل الشعر السنسكريتي.
مع بداية القرن الأول الميلادي، اشتهر فالميكي وذاع صيته كمؤسس الشعر السنسكريتي الكلاسيكي. كتب الشاعر والفليسوف الهندي آشفاجوشا (Ashvagosha) قصائده على طريقة اسلوب القصيدة الملحمية بودهاكاريتا: (Buddhacarita)

تتألف Rāmāyaṇa ملحمة فالميكي الشعرية رامايانا، من أربعة وعشرين ألف بيت مزدوج[10]، في سبعة فصول (يزعم البعض بأنهم ستة فصول فقط دون الخاتمة) (kāṇḍas). تصف الملحمة قصة البطل الأسطوري راما (Rama) من مدينةأيوديا (Ayodhya)، واختطاف زوجته سيتا (Sita) من قبل المُنتمي لقبيلة (راكشا) Rākshasa حاكم مملكة لانكا (Lanka) الشيطان رافَنا (Ravana). يتراوح تاريخ كتابة فالميكي للملحمة الشعرية رامايانا بين 500 عام إلى 100 عام قبل الميلاد وهو تقريبًا نفس الوقت الذي كُتبت فيه الصيغ الأولى من الملحمة الشعرية مهابهاراتا (Mahabhārata)‏.[11] كما أن شأنها شأن العديد من القصائد الملحمية التقليدية، حيث تكونت عبر قرون طويلة وعمليات من المراجعة والإضافة فأصبح من المستحيل معرفة تاريخ كتاباتها بالتحديد.
على الرغم مما سبق ذكره، عندما تُذكر ملحمة راما يُذكر فالميكي باعتباره مؤلفها الرئيسي لأنها صيغت صياغة نهائية على يده. التقى راما فالميكي عندما كان منفيًا ودار حوار بينهما. عاشت سيتا تحت رعاية الناسك فالميكي، وفي صومعته رزقت بابنين توأمين؛ كوشا (Kusa) ولافا (Lava). تتلمذ كلٍ من كوشا ولافا على يد فالميكي حيث قص عليهم ملحمة رامايانا ثم لاحقًا روا التوأمان القصيدة أثناء إقامة طقس التضحية بحصان، لتسلية الحضور ومِن ثَمّ دعاهم الحاكم راما إلى قصره الملكي. ومرة ثانية روى الطفلين قصة راما هناك، وأكد راما أن كل ما تغنى به هذان الطفلان صحيحًا.

ومن هنا صيغت أول شلوكا في تاريخ الأدب السنسكريتي وكان تكوينها تلقائيًا عفويًا منبثقًا من جوف حزنه وغضبه. لاحقًا أكمل فالميكي باقي الملحمة، مع حصوله على مباركة براهما (Brahma)، وصاغها على نفس وزن الأبيات السابقة التى تم اعتبارها كأول شلوكا. ومن ثم تم اعتبار هذه الشلوكا "أول شلوكا" śloka في الأدب الهندوسي (Hindu). وفالميكي أول شاعر، أو آدى كافي (Adi Kavi)، وملحمة رامايانا، أول قافية (kavya).
أول من تعلم ملحمة رامايانا على يد فالميكي هما طفلي راما (Rama) كوشا ولافا.

قررت الحكومة الهندية بأن يكون يوم 29 أكتوبر من كل عام عطلة رسمية في جميع أنحاء البلاد.

مجهول الطفولة.

The Recognition of Sakuntala is a play written in Sanskrit by the Indian poet Kalidasa. It tells the story of the Indian King, Dushyanta, and his marriage to the maiden Sakuntala. Here's a brief rundown.
According to the myth, Sakuntala is abandoned by her parents at birth and grows up in a small hermitage (sort of like a monastery) belonging to the sage Kanva. One day, while Kanva is away from the hermitage, King Dushyanta stumbles upon Sakuntala while hunting. Dushyanta falls immediately in love. He approaches Sakuntala, courts her, and then marries her. (Why waste time?)
The two are crazy happy and in love with each other, but Dushyanta has to return to the capital to fulfill his duty as king. He gives Sakuntala a ring to use as proof of their marriage when she comes to the palace to join him.
Dushyanta returns to the palace at Hastinapura. Meanwhile, an old sage stops at the hermitage where Sakuntala lives. Sakuntala is so caught up in thoughts of her new husband that she fails to offer the old man food. In retaliation, the old man curses her. (Stinky old men and their curses.) The man claims that he has caused Sakuntala's husband to forget her: the only way Dushyanta can be made to remember is if Sakuntala offers some token as proof.
Confident that she already has such a token—the ring—Sakuntala sets off for the palace. Along the way she is forced to cross a wide river. And wouldn't you know it, when she dips her hand into the water she loses the ring. She freaks out, but she presses on anyway. But true to the old man's word, Dushyanta no longer recognizes her. Sakuntala is thrown out of the palace, and her adopted father Kanva abandons her.
Sometime later a fisherman discovers the king's ring in the belly of a fish. The fisherman returns the ring to the palace, and when Dushyanta sees it, his memory of Sakuntala returns. Too late. Sakuntala is gone from the palace, and Dushyanta is engaged in war.
After Dushyanta defeats his enemies, he is offered a tour of the Hindu heavens that lasts several years. Only after his return to earth is he given the chance to reunite with Sakuntala who becomes his queen and bears him a son.
Obviously this isn't an exact copy of the Echo and Narcissus story—especially with the whole happy ending thing—but there some major similarities. The lovers meet in the forest, just like Echo and Narcissus. Dushyanta is hunting in the evening, just like Narcissus. Sure, they fall in love (not like Echo and Narcissus—at all). But after the curse is introduced Dushyanta rejects Sakuntala, just as Narcissus rejected Echo. Love and rejection go hand in hand in both of these myths. Parallel? Maybe not. Reminiscent? For sure.

Abhijñānashākuntala or Abhijñānaśākuntalam (Devanagari: अभिज्ञान शाकुन्तलम्), is a well-known Sanskrit play by Kālidāsa. It is considered to be the best of Kalidasa's works. Its date is uncertain, but Kalidasa is often placed in the period between the 1st century BCE and 4th century CE.
The Sanskrit title means "pertaining to token-recognized-Śakuntalā", so a literal translation could be Of Śakuntalā who is recognized by a token. The title is sometimes translated as The Recognition of Śakuntalā or The Sign of Śakuntalā.

Although Kalidasa makes some minor changes to the plot, the play elaborates upon an episode mentioned in the Mahabharata. The protagonist is Shakuntala, daughter of the sage Vishwamitra and the apsaraMenaka. Abandoned at birth by her parents, Shakuntala is reared in the secluded, sylvan hermitage of the sage Kanva, and grows up a comely but innocent maiden.
While Kanva and the other elders of the hermitage are away on a pilgrimage, Dushyanta, king of Hastinapura, comes hunting in the forest and chances upon the hermitage. He is captivated by Shakuntala, courts her in royal style, and marries her. He then has to leave to take care of affairs in the capital. She is given a ring by the king, to be presented to him when she appears in his court. She can then claim her place as queen.
The anger-prone sage Durvasa arrives when Shakuntala is lost in her fantasies, so that when she fails to attend to him, he curses her by bewitching Dushyanta into forgetting her existence. The only cure is for Shakuntala to show him the signet ring that he gave her.
She later travels to meet him, and has to cross a river. The ring is lost when it slips off her hand when she dips her hand in the water playfully. On arrival the king refuses to acknowledge her. Shakuntala is abandoned by her companions, who return to the hermitage.
Fortunately, the ring is discovered by a fisherman in the belly of a fish, and Dushyanta realises his mistake - too late. The newly wise Dushyanta defeats an army of Asuras, and is rewarded by Indra with a journey through the Hindu heaven. Returned to Earth years later, Dushyanta finds Shakuntala and their son by chance, and recognizes them.

Kālidāsa (Devanāgarī: कालिदास "servant of Kali") was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language. His floruit cannot be dated with precision, but most likely falls within the 5th century CE.[1]
His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Hindu Puranas and Hindu philosophy.

Location</SPAN>

Scholars have speculated that Kālidāsa may have lived either near the Himalayas, in the vicinity of Ujjain, or in Kalinga. The three speculations are based respectively on Kālidāsa's detailed description of the Himalayas in his Kumārasambhava, the display of his love for Ujjain in Meghadūta, and his highly eulogistic descriptions of Kalingan emperor Hemāngada in Raghuvaṃśa (sixth sarga).

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Kalidasa (Devanāgarī: कालिदास "servant of Kali") was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language. His floruit cannot be dated with precision, but most likely falls within 4th Century AD.



His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy.



Life



Nothing apart from his works is known with certainty about the life of Kālidāsa, such as his period or where he lived. Little is known about Kālidāsa's life. According to legend, he was known for his beauty, which brought him to the attention of Princess Vidyottama and she married him. However, as legend has it, Kālidāsa had grown up without much education, and the princess was ashamed of his ignorance and coarseness. A devoted worshipper of Kali (by other accounts of Saraswati), Kālidāsa is said to have called upon his goddess for help when he was going to commit suicide in a well after he was humiliated by his wife, and was rewarded with a sudden and extraordinary gift of wit. He is then said to have become the most brilliant of the "nine gems" at the court of the king Vikramaditya of Ujjain. Legend also has it that he was murdered by a courtesan in Sri Lanka during the reign of Kumaradasa.



Date



A terminus ante quem is given by the Aihole Prashasti of 634 AD, which has a reference to his skills; and a terminus post quem can be presumed from his play Mālavikāgnimitra in as much as the hero, King Agnimitra of the Shunga dynasty, assumed the throne of Magadha in 152 BC. The linguistic features of the Prakrit dialects used by some of the minor characters in his plays have been adduced to suggest that he could not have lived before the 3rd century AD. There has been great ambiguity regarding the exact date of Kālidāsa but in 1986, Sanskrit scholar Ramchandra Tiwari of Bhopal claims to have conducted a thorough research on Kalidasa and after analysing 627 archaeological evidences which included 104 sculptures, 30 pictures and 493 scriptural words determined that Kalidasa lived in the period 370-450AD.



In his works, Kālidāsa did not mention any king as his patron, or any dynasty other than the Shunga dynasty, but several historians have credited the traditional account of Kālidāsa as one of the "nine gems" at the court of a king named Vikramāditya. There were, however, several kings in ancient India by that name. One among them was the emperor Vikramaditya of Ujjain who founded the Vikrama Samvat following his victory over the Sakas in 56 BCE. Scholars have noted other possible associations with the Gupta dynasty, which would put his date in the range of 300-470 AD:



* His play about a couple in Vedic Puranas, Pururavas and Urvashi, being titled Vikramorvashīya, with "Vikram" for "Pururavas", could be an indirect tribute to a patron possibly named Vikramāditya.



* Kumār Gupta I was the son of Chandragupta II Vikramāditya. The title of Kālidāsa's epic poem, Kumārasambhava, about the begetting of Kartikeya, the god of war who was the son of Siva and Pārvati, could be an indirect tribute to either of these royal patrons.



* The mention of Huns in his epic poem, Raghuvaṃśa, could be a veiled reference to the victory over them in 455 of Kumāragupta's son and successor, Skandagupta. Alternatively, the campaign of Raghu in this poem may have been modeled on the celebrated campaigns of Chandragupta II Vikramāditya's father, Samudragupta.



M R Kale in the introduction of his translation of Kumarasambhava and Saradaranjan Ray in his introduction to the translation of Abhijnana Sakunthalam places the date of Kalidasa to be about 56 BC or earlier. The main evidence comes from the works of philosopher-poet Aśvaghoṣa whose date is in 1st century AD. Aśvaghoṣa has used many passages similar to that of Kalidasa. Since Kalidasa was an original poet, it is extremely unlikely that he borrowed from Asvaghosha being a philosopher and mostly considered an artificial poet, and with a much more chance would have done so. Kale also adds that some aspects of language used by Asvaghosa seem to be later and the similarities in the styles suggest that their dates are not widely separated. Kale also gives much additional evidence that can be found internally from Kalidasa's works to substantiate his claims. These claims, together with the facts of king Vikrama, Kalidasa's love and knowledge of the city of Ujjain, suggests that Kalidasa was probably with Vikramaditya of 1st century BCE.



Location



Scholars have speculated that Kālidāsa may have lived either near the Himalayas or in the vicinity of Ujjain or in Kalinga. The three speculations are based respectively on Kālidāsa's detailed description of the Himalayas in his Kumārasambhava, the display of his love for Ujjain in Meghadūta and his highly eulogistic quotes for Kalingan emperor Hemāngada in Raghuvaṃśa (sixth sarga).



Works



Kālidāsa wrote three plays. Among them, Abhij&ntilde;ānaśākuntalam ("Of Shakuntala recognised by a token") 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.



Mālavikāgnimitram ("Mālavikā and Agnimitra") tells the story of King Agnimitra, 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 legitimizing the affair.



Abhij&ntilde;ānaśākuntalam ("Of Shakuntala recognised by a token") tells the story of King Dushyanta who, while on a hunting trip, meets Shakuntalā, the adopted daughter of a sage, and marries her. A mishap befalls them when he is summoned back to court: Shakuntala, pregnant with their child, inadvertently offends a visiting sage and incurs a curse, by which Dushyanta will forget her completely until he sees the ring he has left with her. On her trip to Dushyanta's court in an advanced state of pregnancy, she loses the ring, and has to come away unrecognized. The ring is found by a fisherman who recognizes the royal seal and returns it to Dushyanta, who regains his memory of Shakuntala and sets out to find her. After more travails, they are finally reunited.



Vikramōrvaśīyam ("Pertaining to Vikrama and Urvashi") tells the story of mortal King Pururavas and celestial nymph Urvashi 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 Urvashi's temporary transformation into a vine, the curse is lifted, and the lovers are allowed to remain together on the earth.



Kālidāsa is the author of two epic poems, Raghuvaṃśa ("Dynasty of Raghu") and Kumārasambhava ("Birth of Kumāra"). Among his lyric poems are Meghadūta ("Cloud Messenger") and Ṛtusaṃhāra ("The Exposition on the Seasons").



* Raghuvaṃśa is an epic poem about the kings of the Raghu dynasty.


* Kumārasambhava is an epic poem which narrates the birth of Kartikeya, Parvati being sent by her father to serve the meditating Siva, Manmadha attempting to create love in Siva for Parvati, Siva destroying Manmadha in his fury, Parvati's penance for Siva, Siva agreeing to marry Parvati, Siva and Parvati living in marital bliss, etc.


* Ṛtusaṃhāra describes the six seasons by narrating the experiences of two lovers in each of the seasons.


* Meghadūta or Meghasāndesa is the story of a Yaksha trying to send a message to his lover through a cloud. Kalidasa set this poem to the 'mandākrānta' meter known for its lyrical sweetness. It is one of Kalidasa's most popular poems and numerous commentaries on the work have been written.



Style



Kālidāsa's poetry is celebrated for its beautiful imagery and use of similes. The following are some specimen verses from his works.

The plays and poems of Kālidāsa (कालिदासः), "Servant of Kālī", are classics of Indian and world literature. His life is not well documented, but historians date his work around fifteen hundred years ago, and textual evidence suggests that he lived in the kingdom of Ujjayinī (Ujjain) in central India.

Kālidāsa is especially remembered for his play Abhij&ntilde;āna Śākuntala, which is a love story based on material from the Mahābhārata. Its central characters are Śakuntala, a young woman raised in a forest hermitage, and the king Duṣyanta, who meets her while he is hunting deer.

Kālidāsa also wrote Kumārasaṃbhava, about the courtship of Śiva and Pārvatī; Raghuvaṃśa, about Rāma and his kindred; and Meghadūta, in which a lonely male spirit (yakṣa) asks a raincloud to journey across India, bearing a message to his lady.

As I suggested in Ferment several years ago, 1 Kālidāsa’s name says something about the way Kālī has been perceived in India. If a great creative writer declares himself to be Kālī’s servant, is it not natural to think of Kālī as a goddess of creative writers?

A twentieth century Indian scholar, Govinda Gopal Mukherjee, writes of "...the name of the great poet Kālidāsa, which clearly indicates that during his time Kālī must have assumed an honoured position in the Hindu pantheon, for otherwise he could not have been so named." 2 Thomas B. Coburn, author of a study of the Devī Māhātmya, is impressed by the fact that the author of the Kumārasaṃbhava "the peerless Kālidāsa, should call himself 'the slave of Kālī.' " 3 (The Devī Māhātmya is a Goddess-oriented work which modern scholars think was written around the time of Kālidāsa.)

A note of caution is sounded in a letter I received from Geoffrey Samuel of the University of Newcastle (Australia):

What does Kālidāsa himself tell us about his understanding of his name? One verse in Kumārasaṃbhava mentions a Kālī garlanded with skulls, whose appearance reminds the poet of a rain cloud with cranes flying in front of it. This Kālī is pictured as distinct from Pārvatī. She walks at the back of Śiva’s wedding procession, but the lightning of her radiance flashes far in front of her.5 Can we conclude from this verse, as David Kinsley does, that Kālī "was still quite a minor deity" at the time of Kālidāsa? 6

A fuller picture emerges when we remember that the name Kālī consists of two elements: the noun stem kāl (काल्) and the suffix ī (ई). The first of these has a double meaning: "blue-black"; or "time, destiny, death". The second denotes feminine gender.

Does Kālidāsa recognize ī (ई), the feminine principle, as an integral part of the divine? Consider the first verse of Raghuvaṃśa, which invokes Pārvatī and Parameśvara as the jagataḥ pitarau, Mother and Father of the world. They are said to be inseparably united like the word and its meaning, a unity the poet seeks to realize in his work. 7

What about kāl (काल्)? In Meghadūta we find a series of verses about the temple of Mahākāla in Ujjayinī. The name Mahākāla consists of mahā (महा) "great", kāl, (काल्) and the masculine suffix a (अ). The god worshipped in the temple is introduced as the master of the three worlds. He has a blue throat and a spear, implying that he is Śiva (though that name is not used). There is also a feminine power in the temple, named in one verse as Caṇḍī, and in another as Bhavānī. Fragrant gardens surround the temple. At sunset there is drumming, and courtesans (veśyā-s) dance. The master of the three worlds is a dancer too. He likes to wear an elephant’s hide wet with blood, but other red things also please him: hibiscus flowers, a cloud at twilight... 8

The sober lexicographer V.S.Apte describes the verses about Mahākāla's temple as "very beautiful". 9

Association between the words or names Kālī (feminine) and Kāla (masculine) is found in the Mahābhārata 10 (several centuries before Kālidāsa) and also in the Devī Māhātmya 11 (which is roughly contemporary with him). In the Devī Māhātmya there is the idea of a single world-pervading Goddess, who can also appear as multiple goddesses.

Perhaps the most likely reasons that the poet and playwright signed himself "Kālidāsa" are...