On the banks of the river Malini, a deer stops by to look at its
reflection.... The hermitage of Kanva is an abode
of peace where man and the natural world coexist in harmony. As Sakuntala
is about to depart for the palace leaving behind all that she holds dear,
her friend Priyamvada says: "…As the
time of separation approaches, the whole grove seems to share your
anguish/In sorrow for thy loss, the herd of
deer/Forget to browse; the peacock on the lawn/ Ceases its dance; the very trees
around us/Shed their pale leaves, like tears, upon the ground."
Kalidasa casts a giant shadow over the literary firmament with just
six surviving works: three plays and three poems. The three plays
include Malavikagnimitra, Vikramorvasiya, and Abhijnanasakuntala. The poems include a lyric monologue of
nature, Meghaduta (The Cloud Messenger) and two long lyric narratives, Raghuvamsa (The Lineage of Raghu) and Kumarasambhava (The Birth of Siva's Son). Composed in the early fifth
century AD, Sakuntala is considered a masterpiece of classical Indian
literature. With its humor, fairy tale situations, mixture of supernatural
elements, reflection of the ancient Indian ethos and its infinite charm, the
play has never failed to inspire: poets, composers, dramatists—all have come
under its spell. The play presents glimpses of life in the court and life
in the forest—"In palaces such charms
are rarely ours;/The woodland plants outshine the garden flowers"—the
contrasting spheres of action and renunciation.
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