HISTORY OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE 8.

Kavyas & Kalidasa 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 dan e drama). Kavyas are further divided into t!o. 1) "adya Kavyas (poem) 2) #adya Kavyas (prose te$ts). %here varieties of !orks in "oetry se tion like 1) a. Kalidasa &.' great Kavyas (poetry) . other poetries 2) (istori al kavyas 3) )yri s *) +evotional lyri s ') Su&hashitas ,) -nthology .) "rose /oman e 0) Champu Kavyas and 1) %ales. 2almiki /amayanam is onsidered as the first poetry !ork in Sanskrit. So it is alled !A"I KA#YA$%. Ne$t "oet kno!n !as 2yasa and his !ork $a&a'&arat&a(. Ne$t to that there !ere many early !orks &ut they are no! lost. %he kno!n famous author is Kalidasa. %he gap &et!een 2eda 2yasa and Kalidasa !as very &ig. 3hen !e go through many other !orks !e ome to kno! that the great grammarian "anini had !ritten a !ork alled "atala 2i4ayam or 5aam&avati vi4ayam. %his !as mentioned &y "atan4ali (not yogi ), his su essor in grammar. 6ther than that 2araru hi, Saumilla, Kaviputra and other poets !ere there. As)a*os&a + Ne$t to all these !e ome to kno! a&out As)a*os&a, !ho !as a 7uddhist lived in 1st 7C or -+. (e !as ontemporary of king Kanishka of '. -+. (e !rote t!o !orks alled 7uddha haritam and Saundaranandam.

Kalidasa.
Kalidasa (e is the author 3 dramas, 2 maha kavyas and 2 lyri s. (is !herea&outs !ere not kno!n. 7ut !hen !e go through his !orks !e an ome to kno! that he lived in 844ain. 3e ome to kno! through -ihole ins riptions that he !as the ourt poet of King 2ikramaditya of 844ain and one among 1 great poets. 6thers !ere 1) +hanvanthari (physi ian) 2) Kshapanaka (7uddhist) 3) -marasimha (author sanskrit le$i on) *) Sanku (not kno!n) ') 2ethala&hatta (poet) ,) #hatakarpara (poet) .) 2araha mihira (great astronomist) 0) 2araru hi (grammarian). His dat, %here !as a lot of ontroversy in fi$ing the date of Kalidasa. S holars fi$ %hree dates !ith their arguments 1) Sir 3illiam 5ones pla ed Kalidasa in the 1 st 7C. 2) "rof. -.7.Keith and 2in ent Smith assigned him to the * th -+. 3) "rof. 9a$ 9uller pla ed him in ,th -+. "eople take his stay !ith King 2ikramaditya as strong eviden e. Note: We would have noticed about Vikrama saka (era) in the Panchangam. Now 2060th year is on. ! we acce"t this then we can !i# the date o! $alidasa in the %st &'. His -irt& .lac, (is &irth pla e and !herea&outs are not found. 7ut there !as a story told a&out him that he !as a shepherd and ignorant. (e !as married to a prin ess alled 2idyavathi &y the tri k of other s holars defeated &y her. %hen after the marriage !ith the &lessings of #oddess Kali he &e ame a great s holar, &ut he did not live !ith her.

3hen she met her hus&and she asked him :ast&i /asc&it vaa/+vis,s&a&%. %hat time he !as unedu ated so ould not ans!er her. 3hen he &e ame Kalidasa he omposed three !orks for those three !ords. Ast&i ; the &eginning !ord of Kumarasam&hava, Kasc&it ; is the &eginning !ord of 9egadut and #aa/ is the &eginning !ord of /aghuvamsa. <n 9eghaduta he has e$plained the ity 844ain in detail. So the resear hers fi$ed that he lived in 844ain. 0r,atn,ss o1 Kalidasa Kalidasa !as onsidered as the head of all poets :Kavi Kula #uruh=. (e !as great in simile (8pamalankara). %hey a epted him as ><deal "oet?. <t is said there !ere three Kalidasas in three different times. 6ne among them lived !ith King 7ho4a /a4a of 844ain and he !as mentioned in 7ho4a "ra&anda. 9any poets follo!ed his style. S!ami 2enkatanatha @ 2edanta +esika had omposed some !orks, !hi h !ere eAually praisa&le !ith some of Kalidasa?s !ork. (e !as the only poet !ho !as praised &y many Sanskrit poets and Auotated in as many as *B slokas. His )or/s Kalidasa?s !orks areC 3 dramas 1) 9alavikaDagnimitram 2) 2ikramD 8rvasiyam 3) the great -&hi4nana Sakuntalam. 2 poetry 1) /aghuvamsa 2) Kumarasam&hava. and 2 lyri s 1) 9eghadutam 2) /uthu Samharam. - ording to <ndian theories, of all the arts, drama is the &est, out of the drama, Sakuntala is the &est, out of the drama of Sakuntala, the fourth - t is the &est and out of that - t, the verses in !hi h Kanva &ids fare!ell to his adopted daughter is the &est. <n Sakuntala, Kalidasa?s genius attains its highest position :Kalidasasya Sarvas!am -&hi4nana Sakuntalam=. %he /aghuvamsa is the !ork of his maturity. 9alavikagnimitram !as his first !ork. (e poems are famous for its gra e, simpli ity, sentiments and figures of spee h. (is similies are &eautiful, appropriate and of different varieties. (e has no eAual in hara terisation. (e is super& in des ri&ing the emotions of love and pathos. (is language !as very &eautiful. T&, .o,ts )&o .rais,d KalidasaC SriKrishna praising his figure of spee h. /a4asekara praising that he !as the &est poet. 8nkno!n author ompare Kalidasa as a great mountain and others are atom in front of him. 2alla&hadeva, a great ommentator says that his ea h every !ord is &eyond ommentaries. 9allinatha, a great ommentator says his !ords are full of kno!ledge and #oddress Saras!athi?s spee h. Soddala is praising his fame and !ords. 7ana&hatta says his !ords are &un h of love and s!eetness. )ike this "urna saras!athi, /a4asekhara(again), 9allinatha (again), (alayudha (author of le$i on), 2enkatad!arin, (ema handra, 5ayadeva, +andin, #ovardhana haraya and other many unkno!n authors praised in his style, figure of spee h and des riptions. My word: went through all the works o! $alidasa and !ound that the way he had used the names o! (iva is uni)ue. *here are +0 names o! (iva used in di!!erent situations and conditions in his works. ,e used the names in a""ro"riate "laces to show the wait o! the "lot. -or e#am"le in $umarasambhava. when /anmatha looks at 0ord siva. the author used the name 1*234/4&4$45 to denote (iva. means one who has three eyes (this word has lots o! meaning). t shows that the !uture incident. 0ike this all the names can be commented. (*D12DB3) Ne$tC %he #reat Eive Fpi Kavyas.