Appointment with Kalidasa

Author(s): G K Bhatt
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 61

Appointment with Kalidasa
Kālidasa was exceptionally gifted; and yet he must have done his apprenticeship as a poet. Sanskrit and Prakrit languages and their grammar; study of prosody and poetics; the poet's grammatical similes which naturally come to the mind, the rhymes and alliterations in the 9th canto of Raghuvamsa, the Vedic Triştubh which Kaņva uses to worship the sacrificial Fire, all these clever and skilled exercises in versecomposition; imbibing deep influences of ancient poets, particularly of the Adi-kavi Valmiki, as a guide to literary creations; deep study of Rāmāyaṇa, Mahābhārata and the Purāņas; perfect knowledge of the modes and conduct of love as outlined in the Kāmasūtra : these and such acquisitions can be legitimately inferred from the writings of Kālidasa.
And so, in stead of believing the miracle that learning and poetic ability came to Kālidāsa suddenly through the blessing of a goddess, it is more reasonable to accept that Kalidasa must have studied in some ‘gurukula' or hermitage, of which he has given striking descriptions in his literature. It is possible that Kalidāsa was endowed with brilliant intellect so that he completed his formal education sooner than other pupils could do, like "Kuśa and Lava for instance. Bhavabhūti describes a pupil Atreyi, who could not keep pace with the intellectual grasp of Kuśa and Lava, and who, therefore, left the Aśrama of Valmiki and joined that of Agasti in order to complete her course in Vedānta philosophy." It is said about the famous philosopher and social thinker Carlyle that he was very dull as a child; he could not articulate any words till he was three or four years old; and then he suddenly started speaking, using complete and accurate sentences like an intelligent adult. Such an exceptional happening may have occured in Kālidāsa's own life. But when it is given the form of divine intercession and a miracle, one can understand it only as a symbol of hero-worship. The story of Vālmīki's poetic inspiration and the birth of Rāmāyaṇa comes in the same category. The miracle of reciting two fulllength epics and a lyric in answer to a simple question must have, therefore, happened only in the mind of some dazzled admirer of Kālidāsa. The invented story looks like a charming effort of imagination to link up the three poems in a poetic connection; it is also an attempt to install a divine halo round the poet to extol his extra-ordinary creative powers. The poet's connection with Kali is similarly a result of clever punning on the name.
The skill attributed to Kālidāsa in completing a verse from a given line, and his supposed association with courtesans, the two details from the legendary stories, have a curious connection with each other which is impossible to be imagined by any one not familiar with the old classical tradition. The courtesan of ancient India was a woman in a separate category of her own. Though born in a family and profession which compelled her to earn her living by selling her body, the ancient courtesan was a gifted woman, well educated and accomplished in fine arts. The contemporary elite (vidagdha) gathered in her luxurious residence or in public