From his works, it is clear that Kālidāsa had extensive knowledge of dance, music and painting. His knowledge of dance can be estimated from his play Mālavikāgnimitram. At the very beginning, he makes his famous remark about the stage.
नाट्यं भिन्नरुचेर्जनस्य बहुधाप्येकं समाराधनम् |
The stage is a one-stop entertainment solution for people of varied tastes and orientations.
ವಿಡಂಬನೆಯೆಂಬುದು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದ ಒಂದು ವಿಶಿಷ್ಟಪ್ರಕಾರವಾಗಿದೆ. ವಿಡಂಬನೆ ಅಥವಾ ಅಣಕುವಾಡು ಎಂದರೆ ಮೂಲ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧವಾದ ಒಂದು ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಆಶ್ರಯಿಸಿ ಅದೇ ಶೈಲಿಯನ್ನು ಅನುಕರಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯವಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಲಘುವಾಗಿಸುವ ಉದ್ದೇಶವಿದೆ ಎಂದಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧವಾದ ಮಾರ್ಗದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಲಘುವಾದ ಹಾಸ್ಯಸಾಹಿತ್ಯವನ್ನು ತಂದಾಗ ಹುಟ್ಟುವ ಆಸ್ವಾದನೀಯತೆ ಅವರ್ಣ್ಯ! ಹೀಗೆ ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ಕೃತಿಯನ್ನು ಆಶ್ರಯಿಸಿ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಅಣಕುವಾಡನ್ನು ರಚಿಸುವುದು ಬಹಳ ಹಿಂದಿನಿಂದಲೂ ನಡೆದುಬಂದಿದೆ. ಕಾಳಿದಾಸನ ಮೇಘದೂತವನ್ನು ಕಂಡು ಅದರಂತೆಯೇ ಬಂದ ದೂತಕಾವ್ಯಗಳ ಪರಂಪರೆಯನ್ನು ಅವಲೋಕಿಸಿದರೆ ಸಾಕು ಅದರ ವೈಶಾಲ್ಯವನ್ನು ತಿಳಿಯಬಹುದು.
The subsequent sarga contains descriptions of a counsel between Taṭātakā, Malayadhvaja’s daughter and her minister, Sumati, followed by a description of the evening –
यः किलानुशरदं विजयार्थी पार्थिवं त्वरयसे गमनाय |
स प्रवर्तयसि मां न कथं त्वं बालिकेयमिति किं विशयानः ||
‘You would, in every autumn, encourage the king, my father, to go on a military expedition. Then why don’t you do the same with me this time? Is it because you fear I am just a young girl?” (8.9)
As noted earlier, Kālidāsa has been the greatest yet most graceful exponent of Indian values. He has upheld the highest values of our tradition at the individual, societal and universal levels. He advocates an austere but aggressive pursuit of prosperity. Likewise, he advocates a moral but intense pursuit of desires. It is summed up in one verse describing how King Dilīpa was.
The fifty-seventh adhyāya of the Ādi-parva starts with the story of King Uparicara. Some scholars opine that this is the real beginning of the Bhārata epic because Uparicara’s daughter Matysagandhī (also called Satyvavatī, Kālī, Yojanagandhī, and Gandhavatī) is the mother of Vyāsa, who is the ancestor of both the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas. This section narrates the incidents that led to her becoming the daughter of a fisherman and the birth of Vyāsa through Parāśara; several fantastic explanations have been given to support these episodes.
In the Indian tradition, the deities Shiva, Rama, and Krishna have been revered by the learned and the lay for millennia. While Rama and Krishna were historical figures, Shiva is a mythological ideal. Whether one is a believer or a non-believer in the Supreme, one will greatly benefit from realizing the values that these three greats embody. Such is the conception of Shiva-Rama-Krishna.
The personalities of Chanakya and Chandragupta were of similar eminence, similar spirit; the supreme testimony to this fact is that such a large empire was managed efficiently for several years and the onslaught of the ambitious, war-hungry Alexander was quelled without leaving even a trace of its memory. From this we learn how sharp their developmental strategy must have been. We see how bright that patriotism must have been, which found inspiration from their strong sense of identity.
Kālidāsa has probably provided us with the finest pictures of the pure life led by sages in hermitages. It is among the many things that he has pioneered. From his description of life in hermitages, it is clear that a sage is one who is more humane than most humans. It is because of this that he becomes divine in the larger sense. It is not as if he has no concerns; it is just that he is concerned about everything around him. And it is not as if he has given up everything; it is just that he accommodates everything.