Rituu-samhaara-KALIDASA Part -4

KALIDASA, (kaalidaasa), India's greatest Sanskrit poet and dramatist. In spite of the celebrity of his name, the time when he flourished always has been an unsettled question, although most scholars nowadays favor the middle of the 4th and early 5th centuries A.D., during the reigns of Chandragupta II Vikramaaditya and his successor Kumaaragupta. Undetermined also is the place of Kaalidaasa's principal literary activity, as the frequent and minute geographic allusions in his works suggest that he traveled extensively.

Numerous works have been attributed to his authorship. Most of them, however, are either by lesser poets bearing the same name or by others of some intrinsic worth, whose works simply chanced to be associated with Kaalidaasa's name their own names having long before ceased to be remembered. Only seven are generally considered genuine.

Rituu-samhaara, (Seasonal Cycle), a poem describing the six seasons of the year in all their changing aspects.. It is a genuine work of Kaalidaasa, must surely be regarded as a youthful composition, as it is distinguished by rather exaggerated and overly exuberant depictions of nature, such as are not elsewhere typical of the poet. It is of tangential interest, however, that the Ritusamhaara, published in Bengal in 1792, was the first book to be printed in Sanskrit.

In This issue we are publishing the poems related to winter seasons

*


Charming is the florescence and fresh flowers sprout

Paddy is ripe and beauteous lodhra blossoms.

Lotus blooms have faded struck by the cold touch of snow

And lustful round breasted damsels

          adorn their plump curves with kumkum,

Pearl necklaces whiter than frost

          quiver on their teats

sweet heart ! now Hemanta has come.


*
No more are bracelets bright on the arms of women

nor lovely raiments on their rumps exist,

nor gauzy vests cup their well shaped breasts,

And lotus beauty is no more in their feet,

Bejewelled girdles of gold apart no more

their lustre to their lovely lips,

Aye! The jingling, nupuras have lost

their swan's lovely cackling at every step,

           as they are no more on their feet.

*
Cupid's festival enthralls the hearts of women,

with kaliyaka they besmear their persons,

and paint their fair lotus faces with musk,

and perfume their tresses with kala guru fumes.

*
Deep indulgence in Cupid's game

           has exceeded its limits,

Lo, now y-oung and lovely faces

are pale and wan with undue exultation.

Toils of love have left the lips so bitten,

that the damsel accomplice in youthful secrecy l

aughs not aloud for fear of pain

in the lips.

*

The whole night ripe round breasts

               have been crushed with a wild delight,

winter's heart laments the damsels plight.

Bright snow drops on the edges of leaves in the dawn

are the tears of his sorrow for others' gri ef.

*

                                             looks lovelier,'

Herds of doe meander to and fro and add to the beauty,

The sweet cackling of krounchas floats in the air and

and travels far beyond the beyond.
 

*
Blue lotus flowers bloom on the waters

Snow-white swans echoing their enchanting songs

float on the crystal clear water of the ponds.

Sweetheart ! the lovely Priyangu creeper love-lorn

                                                      is pale and worn

and incessantly shivers at the touch of the

                                                      frost cold winds.
*

Lovelorn women, there, gaze at the lover's paths

Tears trickle down, memory sighs and

                                                    the hearts bemoan,

And here in ardent deep embraces of warm delight

The lovers sleep in erotic ecstasy drunk;

Their scented breaths are perfumed with liquor sweet,

distilled from the sweetest flowers.

*

Kissbites bruise the lips,

The eyes are full of intoxication's joy

cruel crushing of round breasts

                       removes all powders and leaves the

                       scratches of finger nails

young damsels wear the amorons toils'

                       impressions on their young bodies.
 

*

When the warm rays of the winter's sun

                      descend on the earth

Some lovely women with mirrors in hands

Scrutinize their deep sucked kiss bitten lips,

                      and laligh with a silent joy.

And some with tired bodies after night long

                     lustful cupid's sports

With sleepy eyes for want of slumber, rosy red

sleep in the soft warmth of the rising sun

with open shoulders covered by luxuriant hair.