Kalidasa

KALIDASA, kii-II-cla'sa, the greatest poet and dramatist of India and one of the great world poets. Native tradition assigns him to the 1st century a.c., but western scholars place him as late as the 6th century A.D. He was one of the nine or poets, at the court of King Vikramanditya, in Ujjain, but the fact that several monarchs were so named makes his date no more definite. The present tendency of scholars is to place him earlier than the 6th century but not so early as the traditional date. His most famous work is the drama talk) translated by Sir William Jones in 1789 and highly praised by Goethe. This translation helped to call the attention of the Occidental world to Sanskrit studies. Kalidasa wrote two other plays, the and in 18 cantos, and the 'Raghuvamsa,) a eulogy of the great house of Rama, Prince of India. Many other works have also been attributed to him with various degrees of probability. His literary value has long been conceded. He excels in artistic form and his conceptions are full and rich. Edi tions and translations of Kalidasa have come forth in great number within recent years.

Consult Schuyler, of the San skrit Drama' (New York 1906) ; Foulker, 'Ka lidasa: A Complete Collection of the Various Readings of the Madras Manuscripts' (4 vols., Madras 1904-07) ; Pansikar, 'Kumarasamb hava,> with the commentary of Mallinath and Sitaram (5th ed., Bombay 1908); Cappeller, 'Sakuntala, kiirzere Textform mit Anmer kungen) (Leipzig 1909); Hultzsch, (London 1911). Of the English ver sions of the the following are of importance: Jones, Sir William, (Colombo 1901); Ray, 'Age of Kalidasa,> in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Vol. IV, Calcutta 1908).