Kalidasa

Kālidās (Devanāgarī: कालिदास) was an Indian Sanskrit playwright and the author of Meghadoot, Shākuntal and other Sanskrit works. He has a similar place in Sanskrit as a poet and a dramatist, as Shakespeare in English.There have been a few other authors in Sanskrit of lesser statures having the same name, Kālidās; the authors of Nalodaya and Shrutibodha were two among them.

Kālidās's plays and poetry are based on Hindu mythology and philosophy.

 Life 

There is very little known for certain about the life of Kālidās. It is not clear where he lived, and the time he might have lived is anywhere from 130 BC to 600 CE.

Kālidās did not mention in his works any king as his patron.Some historians think he was a poet-dramatist at the court of a king named Vikramāditya. But there were several kings in ancient India who took the name Vikramāditya. One among them was the famous Chandragupta II Vikramāditya of the Gupta dynasty, who took the throne of Magadh around 378 CE.

 Works 
 Plays 

Kālidās wrote three plays: Mālawikāgnimitra ("Mālavikā and Agnimitra"), Abhijñānashākuntala ("The Recognition of Shakuntala"), and Vikramorwasheeya ("Pertaining to Vikram and Urwashi"). Abhijñānashākuntala, that is regarded as a masterpiece was the first to be translated into English and German.

Mālawikāgnimitra 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 a servant girl, she becomes very angry and orders that this girl is sent to prison; but it turns out that the girl is a princess, therefore the affair is accepted in the end.

Abhijñānashākuntala tells the story of a king, Dushyanta, who meets in the forests Shakuntalā, the adopted daughter of a wise man who lives with him in a cottage in the forests. 
Dushyanta and Shakuntalā fall in love with each other and get married. Dushyanta stays with Shakuntalā in the forests for while until he gets called back to his court for some pressing matter. After many difficulties there follows a happy end.

Vikramōrwasheeya is more mystical than the above two plays.

 Poetry 

Kālidās wrote two very good epic poems, Raghuvamsha ("Dynasty of Raghu") and Kumārasambhawa ("Birth of Kumar Kartikeya"), and the lyrical Meghadoota ("Cloud Messenger") and Rutusamhāra ("The Exposition on the Seasons").

Some historians credit Kālidās with a few other works, including the following; however, scholars commonly believe that they were the creations of some other authors writing under the name Kālidās:

 ShrungaraTilaka
 ShrungaraRasāshta
 SetuKāwya
 KarpuraManjari
 PushpabānaWilāsa
 ShyāmalaDandaka
 PrashnottaraMālā
 JyotirWiddyābharana

 Notes 

 Further reading 
 K.D. Sethna. Problems of Ancient India, p. 79-120 (chapter: "The Time of Kalidasa"), 2000 New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.  (about the dating of Kalidasa)

 Other websites 
 Kalidasa: Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works by Arthur W. Ryder
 Biography of Kalidasa
 Kalidasa and Ancient India 

 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.
 Kalidasa  at The Online Library of Liberty

Category:Indian writers
Category:Indian poets
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:Year of death unknown
Category:Sanskrit
Category:Ancient writers
Category:5th-century deaths
Category:4th-century births
Category:4th-century people