Appointment with Kalidasa

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

Page 79

Appointment with Kalidasa
permissible only to Brahmins. This was a violation of the Vedic code. It was supposed to result in the untimely death of a Brahmin boy. The Brahmin came complaining to Rama demanding justice. Rama went to Pañcavati in search of Sambuka and killed him. The Brahmin's son came back to life. This incident is presented in the Ramakatha of Kalidasa's Raghuvamia,3 and Rama is shown as a true defender of the ancient religious faith. It is also presented in the Uttara-rama-carita of Bhavabhuti. And though Bhavabhuti was born in an orthodox Brahmin family that had the prestigious right to a Soma drink in a Soma sacrifice, his Rama is terribly shaken by this religious belief and the demand it makes on a ruling king. Bhavabhuti's Rāma executes his religious duty, killing the Sadra Sage 'somehow', against his will, and confessing to his own 'cruelty', wondering what connection there could ever be between the death of a Brahmin's son and the penance of a Sudra! Kālidāsa does not appear to be touched to the quick by such social inequalities and religious beliefs that have lost their meaning over the passage of time. It will be seen, on the other hand, that Kalidasa only reiterates the orthodox and traditional precepts of religious philosophy in his poems and dramas without commenting on them. That is why, it is not correct to assume that Kalidasa's writing advocates positively any particular creed or philosophy. Whatever ideas we may gather have to be deduced indirectly from his literature.
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It must also be remembered that the stand that Kālidāsa takes in his writing is that of an artist. The old lilerature was didactic and was produced to preach and teach. But even after the aesthetic principle of rasa came to hold its own in literature, some poeticians still expected the fulfilment of the four goals of human life (puruşārtha) from poetry and literature. The literary opinion thus seems to waver continuously between pure aesthetic delight and wholesome advice as the purpose of literary art. The stand that Mammata has taken seems to be more correct. Literary art is principally concerned with aesthetic relish and delight; the advice or author's philosophy should come indirectly, like the advice given by a charming wife, never at the cost of art. Kalidasa's literature exemplifies this literary principle. So, even from this point of view, any opinions or philosophy of life that Kalidasa's literature presents will be indirect', a matter of inference and deduction.
(2)
The centuries under consideration seem to have changed to some extent the general aspect of the old Vedic religion. The Brahmanic religion based on the observance of rituals and performance of sacrifices, what is known as karmakanda, came into glory once again. The philosophical thought in the Upanisads had really diverted the peoples' minds from ritual action to knowledge, and had taught that pursuit of jħana or knowledge with its emphasis on austerities and renunciation, although difficult, was a better way to spiritual liberation than the way of karma which promised only material rewards and kept man bound to existence. But the needs of common men