Basanta Kumar Samanta
Published: 2023-04-12
Total Pages: 72
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Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, a scholar of Sanskrit, remarked that if the great poet Kalidas had not composed any other epic, he would still be considered the unparalleled poet of Sanskrit in India. Kalidas was born in the third or fourth century A.D. in Ujjaini, now in Madhya Pradesh, India. In his epic, Kalidas brings to life the natural world, including rivers, rivulets, hills, forests, villages, cities, trees and flowers to bring relief to Yaksha, who has been banished. He also depicts the lifeless cloud taking on the consciousness of Yaksha and running to deliver a message to Yaksha’s wife. When a cloud appears, the hills weep, the rivers respond, and Kalidas describes the cloud’s path in vivid detail. His epic is full of beautiful descriptions, such as the sweet smell of wet soil, the beauty of the Kadamba forest, and the buds of the land Champa, all of which transform the reader into a dream world. Kalidas did not set a specific precedent for future poets; instead, he was immersed in his own world of genuine creativity. His epic is described as “eyes becoming pleasant upon seeing, hearts becoming happy, the world becoming a happier abode, a stream of honey pouring into the ears, drawing out the heart like honey.” It is peerless work. In the Raghubangsha epic, Kalidas said, “At the end of yoga I shall leave my body. When my body becomes old, through yoga-like torn clothes, it can be thrown out and then achieve a new body.” So this yoga was in vogue at the time of Kalidas. It is presumed that the great poet Kalidas practised “yoga” which helped him know and analyse the mind of matter as well as humans and non-humans, thus success came to him.