Part 5 - A chronological survey of Kalidasa's works

If we trace the gradual evolution of Kalidasa's religious ideas in bis works then we can also arrive with some amount of certainty at the sequence of order in his well-known works. Man is naturally led by his senses in his very early life, so we see our poet depicting love-scenes only in his first work the 'Ritusambara'. Gradually as his religious ideas evolved and superseded his senses, he thought it adequate to write a book with a befitting laudation of his * Thus he (perhaps) next began the Vikramorvasiya, beginning with the line "vedanta su yamahurekapurusa vyapyasthita rodasi " etc. The poet also knew that wordly knowledge cannot be fully developed in young ages, thus he began now with affairs divine. The poet's love for Siva grew in intensity with the rolling of years and as his mind was already occupied with the ideas of aga, his next work was Haga containing lavish eulogies of his pet god Siva. See foot-note pp 57-58.

Even while composing fantasia, Kalidasa's mifid must have been occupied with the subject matter of for he writes in this drama - "anena punarnihatanamapupratkantakarina meghodayenapra- taukarobhavisyati, " "gamitena khelagamana vimanatam naya mam navena vasati payomuca " etc; the subject of Meghaduta being his favourite was repeated later also. But the poet's Meghaduta could neither give him true success nor was he satisfied with his praise of a here. Thus he now undertook wrting Kumarasambhavam which he thought will give him scope enough to belaud Siva and thereby also gain public praise by producing a beautiful poem. But the result was otherwise than happy. Siva's love etc., depicted in the light of ordinary human being, shocked people's religious faith. The work was thus not much apprecaited in spite of its merits. Kalidasa was mortified at this but his intellectual and religious culture advanced in rapid strides with the advance of time. [Thus now sanguine of success he came down in mundane affairs and wrote the drama entitled the "malavikagnimitram" * where in a verse he evinces his previous failure- "puranamityeva na sadhu sarva na capi kavya navamityabadyam | " &c. ] gained and being With selfconfidence and self-knowled successful to some extent he hoped to rise to the pinnacle of perfection and then determined to take salvation-for fasfa is good after af At this juncture he gave out his immortal * Other reasons also lead us to place this just before Vikramorvasiya. (See our Evolution of Gita-appendix). Thus while having admiration for his the poet thought it worth while to belaud his patron first (and thereby his as well), to gain wordly success and achievements; -the result was perhaps malavikagnimitra followed by vikramivam sauya etc. 5

poem, the Raghuvamsam where all his poetic skills are manifest. The poem swayed all and Kalidasa's success was overwhelming but still to regale the poetic sense of the learned he cannot but write his last monumental glory-the Sakuntalam. Here he was all-confident but all- modest; with the end of this drama his active life ended-he was now solely engrossed in the divine and his only aim then was i. e. avoidance of re-birth. Thus his utterance at the end of the Sakuntala, eg. mamapi ca ksapayatu nolalohitah punabha va parigatasaktiratmabhuh - " is a befitting saying of a viragau | tikakrto mangalacaranam vanim sivanca janakanca gurunca natva purvoktimarma ca maya vahudha vibhavya | sakuntalasya vivrtih kriyate prayatnat balaprabodhajanani mitabhasiniyam || 1 || gudhasayam kila vacah kavikunjarasya pathantarairiha punah pihitasvarupam | mogha srama matimatamapi pasyato me duscestitam jada़dhiyo vibudhah ksamadhvam ||2|| sadhu vidhatumasakya ' yadi krtya yatate janastathapi | mamiha tena sudurga saradaranjano vitanoti ||3||