Appointment with Kalidasa

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

Page 72

Glimpses of Personality
of ghee is rising up from the sacrificial altars; the narrow footpaths are marked with drops of water fetched from reservoirs; wet bark-garments are suspended from the branches of trees; grains of wild rice dropped from bird-nests have collected at the foot of some trees; small stones besmeared with ingudi--oil are to be seen here and there.67. The usual sounds are those of the recitation of Vedic mantras during the performance of the daily rituals, or the mild conversation of the hermitage girls watering the creepers and trees. Dustlifted up in clouds by the hooves of Duşyanta's horses or the wild confusion created by an elephant frightened by the sight of Dusyanta's chariot 68 are occurrences of the moment, accidents that happen once in a while. The pupils also are like their teachers, thoughtful and sober. On the whole, therefore, the governing note of the asrama is tranquillity. 69
The comparison between the two poets is not intended to suggest the relative poetic merit of one or the other. It is significant only for understanding the difference in outlook, temperament and mental attitude between the two.
Describing the background which he intends to paint for the portrait of Sakun. talā Dusyanta says :70
'I will draw the river Mālini. On its sandy beach there will be a pair of swans reclining closely. All around will be the holy slopes of the Himalaya, with deer squatting on them. Bark-garments hanging down from the branch of a tree (will be shown) and under the tree I will paint a doe scratching her left eye on the tip of a black antelope's horn.'
Duşyanta's concept of the picture very probably indicates the mental frame of Kālidasa himself. The description, of course, shows the appreciative, artis cic and aesthetic attitude of Kalidasa. But there are indications also of the preferences of his mind and heart. There is love, symbolised by the pair of swans, the deer and the doe, a love not verbal but instinctive and filled with mutual trust. The river Mālin and the Himalaya signify the feeling for holiness and grandeur. And a profound, wordless tranquillity which envelopes life is the keynote of the picture. The doe is scratching her eye on the antelope's horn-tip. Even the slightest movement of the antelope's neck would pierce the doe's eye. That this does not happen and the female is not injured is as much due to their mutual trust as it is due to the nature of the atmosphere from which any sense of fear or the possibility of danger to the life of the innocent, loving animals has been completely removed. Trust and peace rule the atmosphere.
So, holiness and certainty of divine presence, love blossoming through mutual trust, and peace and tranquillity covering consciousness like a silken cloak : these are qualities that Kālidāsa seems to like of life. He does not want noisy confusion, turbulence or violent conflict. These preferences seem to be a striking trait of Kālidāsa's personality. They indicate, perhaps, a limitation also of the literary and artistic personality of this great poet.