Post No. 14,905
Date uploaded in London – 26 August 2025
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Kalidasa is the greatest poet of India. He lived 2100 years ago in North India. His seven great works survived until this day. No poet in the world excelled him until this day. He used over 1500 imageries, similes, metaphors and allegories in his books. Not even Shakespeare in his 37 plays and over 154 sonnets used such imageries. In fact, Shakespeare even copied him and created Miranda (The Tempest) in the model of Shakuntala. He copied the Vidushakas of Kalidasa and created Caliban (The Tempest).
Like all great Hindu poets Kalidasa left no personal details. Of all the historical Hindu dynasties, he used only Magadha dynasty’s name. it proved that he lived during or immediately after the Magadha rule. In his Raghuvamsa we see Raghu conquering all countries up to Iran. We know that Vikramaditya was the one who ruled such a vast empire. Kalidasa is associated with the great ruler Vikramaditya and even Chandragupta II took that title later.
Kalidasa’s work Kumara sambhava made a big impact on the Vaishnavite Gupta empire and they suddenly switched over to Saivite names such as Kumara Gupta and Skanda Gupta. Three Gupta Kings named themselves as Kumaragupta.
First Mystery
He lived in the first century BCE. Bhasa, another great playwright credited with 13 plays, lived before him. He used stories from Ramayana and Mahabharata for his dramas. Kalidasa took Lord Skanda (also known as Kumaara) for his work. This shows he lived before the Parama Bhagavathas, i.e. The Gupta kings. Gupta kings used title Parama Bhagavathas in their coins and inscriptions to say that they are followers of Vishnu.
But why did Kalidasa choose Lord Skanda/ Kartikeya/Kumara rejecting Vishnu and Siva? It is a mystery. The legend is that he was blessed by Kali. His very name suggested that he was blessed by Kali. But he never did any work on Kali. But in all his seven works he praised Brahma, Vishnu and Siva and said all are one and the same. In most of his works he used Siva in the initial Prayer song. All these show that he lived before Vaishnavite/ Parama Bhagvathas Gupta kings.
The reason for him choosing Lord Skanda may be the Yaudheya Kings who produced coins with the image of Lord Skanda.
Second Mystery
Why didn’t he finish Kumarasambhava, the birth of Lord Kumara/Skanda? What happened to him? Where did he go? Did he die suddenly? No clue is available in any Hindu literature. But Gupta inscriptions and sculptures show his great influence. Most famous art historian Sivaramamurti rightly pointed out that Kalidasa must have lived long before the Gupta rule, because sculptures and paintings follow what is written in literature not vice versa. This has been proved around the world.
Third Mystery
In Kumarasambhava Kavya, we see the role of Sapta Rishis- Seven Great Seers. Even today Brahmins worship Sapta Rishis three times a day in their Sandhyavandana, in the order Atri, Brhu, Kutsa, Vasishta, Gautama, Kashyapa and Angirasa. The surprising thing is that Panini used them in the same order 2700 years ago. But Kalidasa gave importance to the junior most Angiras in the list. He is the one who requests Himavan to give his daughter Uma to Lord Siva in marriage. Traditions of the Seven Rsis by John E. Mitchiner says saint Valmiki refers only to six seers and Mahabharata has two different lists. He added that Kalidasa and Varahamihira used the new list and so this new list must be in use between 300 BCE and 300 CE. But why did Kalidasa choose junior most or the last one (Angiras) to head the representation to Himavan? It remains as an unsolved mystery.
Another interesting point is 2000 year old Sangam Tamil literature mentioned Sapta Rishis in two poems saying Tamils worshipped them (Natrinai 231 and Pari.5-43)
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UMA Mystery in Tamil Literature
One more mystery is there, but it is from Tamil literature.
Sangam Tamil literature, mostly secular, but refers to all Hindu Gods, both Vedic and post Vedic gods. Among the goddesses Lakshmi , Durga , and Kali are mentioned but with Tamil names only. Uma is the only Goddess name used with Sanskrit name UMA (in Tamilized form UMAI). It shows that Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava has made a big impact on Tamils and so they copied Uma from his book.
And this is not the only place. Even the description of Muruga/Skanda has many similarities ( I have written about it in articles on Skanda/Muruga)
–subham—
Tags- three mysteries, Kalidasa plays, Uma mystery, in Sangam Literature
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