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96
Appointment with Kalidasa
reader of Kālidāsa's literature cannot afford to forget that the poet treats of love and of the relations between man and woman with uninhibited frankness and the care of a profound artist. The critics of this class seem to think that if Kālidāsa had treated love only on the level of physical necessity and pleasure he would have been a writor of the common run. Ordinary men and women love the pleasures of life. If literature were to cater to this necessity and taste, it would serve to nourish only the common tendency of enjoyment of pleasures and fail to raise man on to the higher level of noble life. It means that the approach implies another tendency of thought which demands from literature the uplifting of human life and sublimation of pleasureseeking emotions either in a suggestive manner of art or even openly if necessary. In suggesting that Kālidasa describes rati without any reserve, but he also lifts his readers to the higher planes of spirituality, there is an implicit defense of Kālidāsa's art, whether these critics intended it or not.
This Vedānta-coloured criticism is very pleasing to the ear and the heart. It has saved Kālidāsa from being a common poet in spite of his frank and open pictures of human love; it has also sublimated Kālidāsa whom we all love. And so, the approach is bound to delight us. We too have to gain something from this approach as readers. We may not be sure of what 'sublimation' exactly means. Our mind may linger, like that of Duşyanta, over the cane-bower on the bank of Mālini; the picture of Duşyanta getting jealous of the bee hovering round the lotusfragrant face of Śakuntalā may make a deep and pleasant impression on us; but we are free to enjoy the poetic and dramatic art of Kālidäsa according to our capacity; because some great critics have assured us that there is something very noble in Kālidāsa's treatment of love. In other words, this critical approach has saved the common readers as well!
The basic question, however, is what precisely does Kālidāsa intend by his poetic pictures to convey. An examination of this critical approach in depth is necessary not only to understand Kalidasa's writing but also to understand the approach of true art.
In the light of the above critical approach, the Yakṣa in the Meghadūta, and Agnimitra and Purüravas, the two heroes of Kālidāsa's plays, will appear to be common men given to pleasures of sex and enjoyment of life. The ideal character in this critical approach is Umā in the Kumārasambhava. Umā practised very hard penance. Disregarding the frailty and tenderness of a woman's body, she abstained from eating food; lived on air; did the tapa with five fires blazing round her in hot summer; even seasoned yogis could not have done the penance Umā actually practised. Umā materialised in her life the noble values of spiritual existence. That is why she got Śiva; she was merged in the body of Siva. The love of Duşyanta and Sakuntalā went through the trying test of sorrow. Their first mutual attraction was physical. But Sakuntalā was brought up in the hermitage of Kaņva, under his care and teaching. And so, she was immediately aware of an emotion contrary to tapo
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