HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE
8.
Kavyas & Kalidasa
by Dr. V.C. Govindarajan
Introduction: Kavyas are the third stage of development in
the history of Sanskrit literature.
Kavyas are divided into three. 1)
Kavyas (poetry), 2) Natakas (dramas) 3) Champu kavyas (like dance drama). Kavyas are further divided into two. 1) Padya Kavyas (poem) 2) Gadya Kavyas (prose
texts). There varieties of works in
Poetry section like 1) a. Kalidasa b.5
great Kavyas (poetry) c. other poetries 2) Historical kavyas 3) Lyrics 4) Devotional lyrics 5) Subhashitas 6) Anthology 7) Prose Romance
8) Champu Kavyas and 9) Tales.
Valmiki Ramayanam is considered as
the first poetry work in Sanskrit. So it
is called “ADI KAVYAM”. Next Poet known was Vyasa and his work Mahabharatham.
Next to that there were many early works but they are now lost. The
known famous author is Kalidasa. The gap
between Veda Vyasa and Kalidasa was very big.
When we go through many other works we come to know that the great
grammarian Panini had written a work called Patala Vijayam or Jaambavati
vijayam. This was mentioned by Patanjali
(not yogic), his successor in grammar. Other than that Vararuchi, Saumilla,
Kaviputra and other poets were there.
Aswagosha:- Next to all these we come to know about Aswagosha,
who was a Buddhist lived in 1st BC or AD. He was contemporary of king Kanishka of 57
AD. He wrote two works called Buddha
charitam and Saundaranandam.
Kalidasa.
Kalidasa: He is the author 3 dramas, 2 maha kavyas and 2
lyrics. His whereabouts were not
known. But when we go through his works
we can come to know that he lived in Ujjain.
We come to know through Aihole inscriptions that he was the court poet
of King Vikramaditya of Ujjain and one among 9 great poets. Others were
1) Dhanvanthari (physician) 2)
Kshapanaka (Buddhist)
3) Amarasimha (author sanskrit
lexicon) 4) Sanku (not known)
5) Vethalabhatta (poet) 6)
Ghatakarpara (poet)
7) Varaha mihira (great astronomist)
8) Vararuchi (grammarian).
His date: There was a lot of controversy in fixing the
date of Kalidasa. Scholars fix Three dates with their arguments 1) Sir William
Jones placed Kalidasa in the 1st BC.
2) Prof. A.B.Keith and Vincent Smith assigned him to the 4th
AD. 3) Prof. Max Muller placed him in 6th
AD. People take his stay with King
Vikramaditya as strong evidence.
Note: We would have noticed about Vikrama
saka (era) in the Panchangam. Now 2060th
year is on. If we accept this then we
can fix the date of Kalidasa in the 1st BC.
His Birth place: His birth place and whereabouts are
not found. But there was a story told
about him that he was a shepherd and ignorant.
He was married to a princess called Vidyavathi by the trick of other
scholars defeated by her. Then after the
marriage with the blessings of Goddess Kali he became a great scholar, but he
did not live with her. When she met her
husband she asked him “asthi kaschit vaak-viseshah”. That time he was uneducated so could not
answer her. When he became Kalidasa he
composed three works for those three words. Asthi – the beginning word
of Kumarasambhava, Kaschit – is the beginning word of Megadut and Vaak
is the beginning word of Raghuvamsa.
In Meghaduta he has explained the city Ujjain in detail. So the researchers fixed that he lived in
Ujjain.
Greatness of Kalidasa: Kalidasa was considered as the head of all
poets “Kavi Kula Guruh”. He was great in
simile (Upamalankara). They accepted
him as ‘Ideal Poet’. It is said there
were three Kalidasas in three different times.
One among them lived with King Bhoja Raja of Ujjain and he was mentioned
in Bhoja Prabanda. Many poets followed his style. Swami Venkatanatha @ Vedanta Desika had
composed some works, which were equally praisable with some of Kalidasa’s work. He was the only poet who was praised by many
Sanskrit poets and quotated in as many as 40 slokas.
His works: Kalidasa’s works are: 3 dramas 1)
Malavika-agnimitram 2)
Vikram-Urvasiyam 3) the great Abhijnana
Sakuntalam. 2 poetry 1) Raghuvamsa
2) Kumarasambhava. and 2 lyrics
1) Meghadutam 2) Ruthu
Samharam.
According
to Indian theories, of all the arts, drama is the best, out of the drama,
Sakuntala is the best, out of the drama of Sakuntala, the fourth Act is the
best and out of that Act, the verses in which Kanva bids farewell to his
adopted daughter is the best. In
Sakuntala, Kalidasa’s genius attains its highest position “Kalidasasya
Sarvaswam Abhijnana Sakuntalam”. The
Raghuvamsa is the work of his maturity.
Malavikagnimitram was his first work.
He poems are famous for its grace, simplicity, sentiments and figures of
speech. His similies are beautiful,
appropriate and of different varieties.
He has no equal in characterisation.
He is superb in describing the emotions of love and pathos. His language was very beautiful.
The poets who praised Kalidasa:
SriKrishna praising his figure of speech. Rajasekara praising that he was the best
poet. Unknown author compare Kalidasa as
a great mountain and others are atom in front of him. Vallabhadeva, a great commentator says that
his each every word is beyond commentaries.
Mallinatha, a great commentator says his words are full of knowledge and
Goddress Saraswathi’s speech. Soddala is
praising his fame and words. Banabhatta
says his words are bunch of love and sweetness. Like this Purna saraswathi,
Rajasekhara(again), Mallinatha (again), Halayudha (author of lexicon),
Venkatadwarin, Hemachandra, Jayadeva, Dandin, Govardhanacharaya and other many
unknown authors praised in his style, figure of speech and descriptions.
My word: I went through all the works of Kalidasa and
found that the way he had used the names of Siva is unique. There are 70 names of Siva used in different
situations and conditions in his works.
He used the names in appropriate places to show the wait of the
plot. For example in Kumarasambhava,
when Manmatha looks at Lord siva, the author used the name “TRYAMABAKA” to
denote Siva, means one who has three eyes (this word has lots of meaning). It shows that the future incident. Like this all the names can be commented. (4-12-03)
Next: The Great Five Epic
Kavyas.
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In the fourth section of this Puranam it is beautifully described about Krishna
and Radha. Krishna is the
Supremem God and Radha is Maya (illusionary power of God), who is inseparable
from him but always controlled by Him.
Goloka (world of cows) is their abode which is far beyond Vaikunta
(Mokshalokam) and the great devotees who have attained sameness of form with
Lord Krishna stay here. This is the
source of Jayadeva’s Gita-Govindam.
9)
Brahmaanda Puranam: The popular Adhyatma Ramayanam is part of it. This is in the form dialogue between Siva and
Parvathi.
10)
Markandeya Puranam: Elaborate descriptions of creation and deluge, stories of Vedic Gods
like The Sun, Fire God etc., are available in this. This is close to Vedic Philosophy. The Devi Mahatmyam or Durga Saptasati
is a part of it.
11)
Bhavishya Puranam: Talking about future particularly Kaliyuga. Duties of four castes and methods to worship
the Sun, Agni and Nagas.
12)
Vamana Puranam: Starting with the description of Vamana Avatar and proceeds to the
worship of Sivalinga and pilgrimage to Siva temples.
13)
Siva Puranam: This forms part of Vayu Puranam and hence many lists include
Vayupuranam in the place of this Puranam.
Banabhatta refers this (Vayu) purnam as it was recited everyday in his
village. The Gupta kings are mentioned
in this. This glorifies the worship of
Lord Shiva and is narrated by Vayu, the wind God.
14)
Linga Puranam: Describes the 28 incarnations of Lord Siva.
15)
Skanda Puranam: This is a big puranam consisting of 81,000 slokas. Birth Skanda the war God is described in
this. Based on this Kalidasa composed
Kumarasambhava.
16) Agni Puranam: Agni, the fire God to sage
Vasishta, narrated this. It is
describing Siva and Durga cult. This
Purana contains many modern topics. It
is almost an encyclopaedia in its contents dealing with subjects like Ayurveda
(Indian Medicine), Silpa Sastra (Architecture), Jyothish (Astrology and
Astronomy), Poetics etc.
17) Matsya Puranam: Lord Vishnu narrated this in the
form Fish to Manu, the first King after the deluge (pralaya). Holy places, festivals, omens and rites to be
observed by Saivaites and Vaishnavaites are described. References of South India and South Indian
Architecture are available.
18) Kurma Puranam: This is the last in series narrated by Vishnu
in his incarnation as a tortoise about Siva worship and his incarnations.
19) Devi Bhavatam: Some Scholars include Devi Bhagavatam among the
Puranas and treat Srimad Bhagavatam as 19th one. The reason given as follow – Vyasa had no
peace of mind even after composing the 18 Puranas and the great Epic
Mahabharatham. So he asked by Narada to
write a work dealing with the incarnations of Lord Vishnu and extoiling Vishnu
Bhakti (Devotion on Lord Vishnu). This
way Vyasa composed Srimad Bhagavatam.
Conclusion: On the
whole Puranas are the backbone of our Culture, tradition, Custom, Philosophies,
without which we cannot establish our ideology. The language used in these Puranams is very
simple and easy understanding. (Sunday, 30
November 2003).
Next: The great Five Maha Kavyas and other Kavyas.
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