Rituu-samhaara-KALIDASA Part -5

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 spring seasons

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With sharp shafts of mango-blossoms in his hand,
       and the bow-string of humming black beas,
Aye! rending asunder the heart with love-darts,
       Sweet heart! Warrior spring has come.

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Donating new flowers to trees, lotus blooms to ponds,
      Beauty to nights, and fragrance to the breeze,
      Loveliness to days, and voluptuous
                                        lust to the damsels,
Rendering girdle's-Iuster to the quivering ripples,
Sweet moon's resplendence to the woman's face,
              And blossom's thrill to the mango trees,
Spring comes bestowing new life to all.
 

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The harems are cooled by the mist,
Fresh champakal lends fragrance to
                                       the heads of women,
             And damsels wear garlands of lovely flowers,
             On their hips are scarlet kusumbha2 skirts,
             And kumkum hued vests cover their breasts,
Lustfully they adorn their ears with karnikara3,
And curly long bluish tresses with Asok,
New blossoms of mallika add to their beauty
                                             beyond reproach.

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Pearl strings quiver on white-sandal pasted breasts.
Bracelets on the arms and girdles on the thighs tinkle,
Now bestow more beauty to the lustful
                                                heavy-hipped damsels.
Patra Rachana enchants beauty on the
                                                golden lotus faces,
Drops of perspiration amidst the paints
              glitter like pearls and make the eyes lambent.

1. Sandal paints on the face. Marks which women make on the face to beautify it.

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Lustful bodies voluptuously sigh and loosen the clothes,
Young women's hearts are enraptured by their
                                       lovers' nearness.
Cupid makes them lazy, pale and thin,
Adds beauty as they yawn in a drowsy lust.
Making drunken eyes frisky and the temple's pale,
Slimming their waists and indurating
                                       their breasts and thighs,
The love god seats himself in every limb of the damsels.

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Putting off heavy garment from lustful drowsy bodies,
Voluptuous men wear fine clothes scented by
                                                kalaguru fumes,

           and dyed by Laksha paints.
Drunken with mango juice happy male kokil,
           kisses his beloved amorously.
Now the black bee buzzes on the lotus
           to woo his paramour sweet.
Copper coloured mango blossoms are swayed
           by the breeze of the spring.
 

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Blossomed mango branches wave in the breeze,
Coral hued flower laden Asok swings slowly
           and excites the damsels,
Black bee-kissed-lovely-flowers,
and tender leaves shaken by the breeze,
And sprouting mango trees engulf the hearts
           and set the lovers eager for Cupid's sports.

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They who look at the damsel's beautiful face,
and then behold the kurubaka groves,
How can their hearts escape from cupid's darts ?
Wearing flower laden kinrukas like deep red flames
shaken by the breeze,
The earth appears a bride decked in scarlet robes

1. kinrukas -trees.

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Lovely blossoming mango groves are his
                                             lovely arrows,
Kinshuka is the bow and black bees its string.
Bright moon is his imperial canopy,
           And the spring breeze is his mighty elephant.
           Kokils sing like minstrels,
Behold! He has conquerred the worlds.
May that victorious Cupid shower benefaction on all.


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