Kalidasa

thumb|Trees laden with fruit bend low to the earth; clouds laden with water hang low. So do good people when they become rich; they bend low to make themselves accessible and shower prosperity on others. Kālidāsa (Sanskrit: कालिदास "Servant of Kali") fl. 4th–5th century AD, was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy. His surviving works consist of three plays, two epic poems and two shorter poems. Quotes न रत्नमन्विष्यति मृग्यते हि तत् A jewel is sought after and has not to seek. Kumārasambhava, canto 5 (tr. M. R. Kale, 1917) If a professor thinks what matters mostIs to have gained an academic postWhere he can earn a livelihood, and thenNeglect research, let controversy rest,He's but a petty tradesman at the best,Selling retail the work of other men. Mālavikāgnimitram, act 1 (tr. John Brough, 1968) There in the fane a beauteous creature stands, The first best work of the Creator's hands; Whose slender limbs inadequately bear A full orbed bosom, and a weight of care; Whose teeth like pearls, whose lips like Bimbas show, And fawn-like eyes still tremble as they glow. Meghadūta, pt. 2, st. 19 (tr. H. H. Wilson, 1814) — the Yaksha's bride Cf. Herrick and Campion, "Cherry-Ripe" O my good fortune, please subdue the anguish of your Soul. Nobody is destined only to happiness or to pain. The wheel of life takes one up and down by turn. Meghadūta (tr. C. R. Devadhar, 1984) No trust in Fortune's favour should'st thou feel, When least expected, lo! she whirls her wheel. (tr. H. H. Wilson, 1814) God Shiva and his mountain bride,Like word and meaning unified,The world's great parents, I beseechTo join fit meaning to my speech. Raghuvaṃśa, canto 1 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) O thou who didst create this All,Who dost preserve it, lest it fall,Who wilt destroy it and its ways—To thee, O triune Lord, be praise. Though many different paths, O Lord,May lead us to some great reward,They gather and are merged in theeLike floods of Ganges in the sea. Raghuvaṃśa, canto 10 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) — the incarnation of Rama Shakuntala (Abhijñānaśākuntalam, The Sign of Shakuntala) Strange how one acts sometimes as if mad, spurning even one’s good fortune! You throw a garland round the neck of a blind man and he shakes it away frightened, thinking it a snake. As quoted in Kalidasa's Similes, Purasu Balakrishnan, Triveni Journal, June 1944 We have watered the trees that blossom in the summer-time. Now let's sprinkle those whose flowering-time is past. That will be a better deed, because we shall not be working for a reward. Act 1 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) A thought is as vivid as an act, to a lover. Act 1 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) Did the great Creator first draw her in a masterpiece, And then touch life into his art? Or did he make her in his mind alone, Drawing on beauty’s every part? No—considering her singular perfection And her maker’s true omnipotence, I suppose her some quite unique creation In femininity’s treasure house. Act 2 (tr. W. J. Johnson, 2001) A blossom yet unsmelt, A tender shoot unpinched, A gem uncut, Untasted, fresh-fermented honey-wine, The fruit of proper actions Still intact— A beauty without fault or flaw. Act 2 (tr. W. J. Johnson, 2001) Grief must be shared to be endured. Act 3 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) What is intended to be said, if left unsaid, becomes a matter of regret later. Act 3 (tr. Chandra Rajan, 1989) Be brave, and check the rising tears That dim your lovely eyes. Act 4 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) A bee may be born in a hole in a tree, but she likes the honey of the lotus. Act 4 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) May lily-dotted lakes delight your eye;    May shade-trees bid the heat of noonday cease; May soft winds blow the lotus-pollen nigh;    May all your path be pleasantness and peace. Act 4 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) Because your heart, by loving fancies blinded,    Has scorned a guest in pious life grown old, Your lover shall forget you though reminded,    Or think of you as of a story told. Act 4 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) Trees laden with fruit bend low to the earth; clouds laden with water hang low. So do good people when they become rich; they bend low to make themselves accessible and shower prosperity on others. 5:12, as quoted in The Similes of Kalidasa, N.V. Nayudu, 1977 The mind of age is like a lamp    Whose oil is running thin; One moment it is shining bright,    Then darkness closes in. Act 5 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) अनुभवति हि मूर्ध्ना पादपस्तीव्रमुष्णं ।शमयति परितापं छायया संश्रितानाम् ॥ For the tree bears the intense heat on its head while it allays by its shade the scorching heat of those seeking its shelter. Act 5 (tr. L. V. Ramachandra Iyer, 1905) It is just such women, selfish, sweet, false, that entice fools. Act 5 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) I cannot taste the sweet, and cannot leave it. Act 5 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) To be a king, is to be a disappointed man. Act 6 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) A good man never lets grief get the upper hand. The mountains are calm even in a tempest. Act 6 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) I treated her with scorn and loathing ever;    Now o’er her pictured charms my heart will burst: A traveller I, who scorned the mighty river,    And seeks in the mirage to quench his thirst. Act 6 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) A graceful arch of brows above great eyes;Lips bathed in darting, smiling light that fliesReflected from white teeth; a mouth as redAs red karkandhu-fruit; love’s brightness shedO’er all her face in bursts of liquid charm—The picture speaks, with living beauty warm. Act 6 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) The tear drop that once stood trembling on your lower lip —and I watched uncaring, lost in delusion— while it still clings to your gently-curving lashes, I shall now wipe away, my beloved, to free myself of remorse. Act 7 (tr. Chandra Rajan, 1989) May kingship benefit the land,And wisdom grow in scholars’ band;May Shiva see my faith on earthAnd make me free of all rebirth. Act 7, last lines (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) Disputed The autumn comes, a maiden fair    In slenderness and grace, With nodding rice-stems in her hair    And lilies in her face. In flowers of grasses she is clad;    And as she moves along, Birds greet her with their cooing glad    Like bracelets' tinkling song. Ṛtusaṃhāra, pt. 3 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912) Misattributed Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!Look to this Day!For it is Life, the very Life of Life.In its brief Course lie all theVarieties and Realities of your Existence:The Bliss of Growth,The Glory of Action,The Splendour of Beauty;For Yesterday is but a DreamAnd Tomorrow is only a Vision;But Today well lived makesEvery Yesterday a Dream of Happiness,And every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope.Look well therefore to this Day!Such is the Salutation of the Dawn! Apparently based on an anonymous Sanskrit text, in Alleyne Ireland (ed.) Masterpieces of Religious Verse (Harper & Bros., 1905) p. 301 Quotes about Kalidasa Where find a soul that does not thrill    In Kalidasa’s verse to meet The smooth, inevitable lines    Like blossom-clusters, honey-sweet? Bāṇabhaṭṭa, as quoted in Arthur W. Ryder, Kalidasa (1920 [1912]) p. 8 Kalidasa, the immortal poet and playwright, is a peerless genius whose works have won world-wide fame. The matchless qualities of his work have been lavishly praised both by the ancient Indian critics and modern scholars. ... In modern times the translations of Kalidasa's works in numerous Indian and foreign languages have spread his fame all over the world and now he ranks among the few topmost poets and playwrights of the world. Ram Gopal, Kālidāsa: His Art and Culture (1984) Goethe seems to have taken from Kalidasa the idea of a prologue for Faust. Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage (1935) The first time I came upon this inexhaustible work, it aroused such enthusiasm in me and so held me that I could not stop studying it. I even felt impelled to make the impossible attempt to bring it in some form to the German stage. These efforts were fruitless but they made me so thoroughly acquainted with this most valuable work, it represented such an epoch in my life, I so absorbed it, that for thirty years I did not look at either the English or the German version. It is only now that I understand the enormous impression that work made on me at an earlier age. Goethe, Letter to A. L. de Chezy, 9 October 1830, in praise of Shakuntala. M. von Herzfeld and C. A. M. Sym (eds.) Letters from Goethe (New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1957) p. 514, no. 568 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 Shakuntala! and all at once is said. Goethe, as quoted in Will Durant, Our Oriental Heritage (1935) In the whole world of Greek antiquity there is no poetical representation of beautiful love which approaches even afar. Friedrich Schiller, letter to Wilhelm Humboldt, in praise of Sakuntala. Damodar P. Singhal, India and World Civilization (Calcutta: Rupa and Co., 1993) p. 230 I cannot easily find a product of human mind more pleasant than this [Shakuntala] ... a real blossom of the Orient, and the first, most beautiful of its kind! Something like that, of course, appears once every two thousand years. J. G. Herder, as quoted in N. L. Gupta, An Introduction to Eastern Ways of Thinking (2003) I advance an opinion that we have few specimens either in classical or modern poetry of more genuine tenderness or delicate feeling. H. H. Wilson, on Kalidasa's Megha Dutt (Cloud Messenger), quoted in W. Ibn, Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said's 'Orientalism' (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2009) External links Kālidāsa Author:Kālidāsa Category:Poets from India Category:Playwrights from India Category:5th century deaths Category:Epic poets Category:Hindus