Vishwavandya poet of Sanskrit language and great playwright Kalidas was born in Kaviltha village in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, famous by the name Devbhoomi. Kalidas received his early education here and it was here that he composed epics like Meghdoot, Kumarasambhava and Raghuvansh. There is disagreement among the scholars due to lack of clear information regarding the date of birth, time of birth, place of birth, parents, date of death etc. of Kalidas. Due to the very beautiful description of Ujjain written in the book named Meghdoot written by Kalidas, some scholars guess that he was born in Ujjain. Scholars try to prove him to a place called Uchchaith in Madhubani district of Bihar as well as many other places including Bengal, Orissa.
Like his birth, there is no evidence of Kalidas’s death. Some people say that Kalidasa was murdered in Sri Lanka, but many scholars consider this also to be fiction. It is also believed that after insulting and scolding his wife Vidyotama, Kalidas stayed in Gurukul located at Uchchaith in Madhubani district of Bihar. Kalidas got the blessing of knowledge from Bhagwati here in Uchchaith and he became a great sage. Some scholars say that the great poet Kalidas was born in Uchchaith. After that he went to Ujjain.
The word Kalidas means slave of Kali, servant of Kali. But Kalidas was also a great devotee of Shiva. It is said that the image of Kalidas was very beautiful and charming. And he had a strong body. He used to attract everyone towards himself. He was one of the Navratnas in the court of Maharaja Vikramaditya, the founder of Vikram Samvat, which started 57 years before Christ. It is also believed that Kalidas, who was illiterate, foolish and had no understanding of things in his childhood, later became a scholar of Sanskrit literature.
Before becoming a famous Sanskrit poet and writer, in his early life people considered him very foolish and illiterate. It is also said that till the age of 18, he was ignorant, and while doing any work, he used to show his stupidity in it. But by chance he got married to the highly learned princess Vidyotama, hurt by whose insult he left the house and returned to Vidyotama only after becoming a scholar through rigorous penance.
According to popular belief, the learned princess Vidyotma (Vidyotma) had vowed that she would marry only the one who defeated her in debate. Hearing this promise, many scholars came to study the scriptures. But when Vidyotama defeated all the scholars in the Shastraratha, then being saddened by the insult, to take revenge, some cunning scholars by deceit made Kalidas conduct a Shastraratha for Princess Vidyotama and declared Kalidas the winner and got Kalidas married to Princess Vidyotama. A few days after the marriage, when Princess Vidyotama came to know about Kalidas’s dim intelligence, she became extremely sad and scolded Kalidas. And saying this, she threw them out of the house and said that if they return after gaining knowledge and fame, she will accept them.
Insulted by his wife, Kalidas resolved to become a scholar with a true heart and with this resolution he left home. And started worshiping Mother Kali with true heart. Soon, with the blessings of Mother Kali, he became highly knowledgeable and a scholar of literature. When he returned home after attaining enlightenment, he knocked on the door and said – Kapatam Udghatya Sundari! Meaning: Open the door, beautiful. Vidyottama was astonished and said – Asti Kashchid Vaagvishesh: That means someone seems to be a scholar. Vidyotma understood as soon as she heard the door that some learned person had come. She was extremely surprised to see her husband Kalidas at the door. In this way, after being scolded by his wife, he attained supreme knowledge and became a great poet.
That is why Kalidas, who returned after gaining knowledge and fame, considered Vidyotama as his guiding guru and also included his wife’s sentence at the time of returning home in his poetry. Over time, the great poet Kalidas created a distinct identity for himself by displaying his amazing creative power in the fields of drama, epic and lyric poetry. Due to the works written by Kalidas with his visionary thinking and extraordinary intelligence, even today he is counted among the best poets and playwrights of the world. And due to the recognition of his birth on the Ekadashi date of Shukla Paksha of Kartik month, Kalidas Jayanti is celebrated on Kartik Shukla Ekadashi.
Kalidas’s works have literary as well as historical importance. There is a long list of his works, but Kalidasa has gained the most popularity due to his seven works, which include four poetic texts – Raghuvansh, Kumarasambhava (epic) and Meghdoot, Ritusamhar (Khandkavya) and three plays – Abhigyan Shakuntalam, Malavikagnimitra, Vikramorvashiya. Are included. Due to the enchanting and emotional beautiful language of these works, the expression of love and separation and the depiction of nature, he was called the best and greatest poet of the world. Various forms and basic elements of Indian life and philosophy are depicted in the works written by Kalidas on the basis of Indian mythology and philosophy. The sounds of his poetry crossed the boundaries of time and place and became universal.
Due to these characteristics, Kalidas is considered a poet who gives voice to the overall national consciousness of the nation. Kalidas is especially known for his ornamental but simple and melodious language. Being overwhelmed by the poetic specialties of Kalidas, he has been given praiseworthy titles like Kavikulguru, Kanishtikadhishit and Kavitakaminivilas. Kalidas is considered a poet of Vaidarbhi style, who has used a fine word scheme full of Prasad quality in his works. Just like the fire that suddenly ignites in dry fuel wood, the quality of immediately expressing what comes to mind in one’s own language is considered to be a sign of Prasad quality. And this is the specialty of Kalidasa’s language. Kalidasa’s language, which is full of melodious sounds, has flow and elegance due to the qualities like less use of compound words, investment of words at appropriate places, natural use of figures of speech etc. Kalidas has made natural use of figures of speech. This is the reason why he is considered adept in the use of similes and his similes are considered the best.
Apart from being a playwright and poet, Kalidas is also considered an expert in astrology. Kalidas is given the credit for the creation of an astrology book named Uttara Kalamritam. It is believed that he gained knowledge of astrology by worshiping Goddess Kali. The predictions made in this booklet proved to be true. Kalidas also has the credit of composing small texts related to astrology – Shrutabodham, Shringaar Tilakam, Shringaar Rasashtam, Setukavyam, Pushpaban Vilasam, Shyama Dandakam, Jyotirvidyabharanam etc. But there is disagreement among scholars on this also. Due to the long list of texts written by Kalidas, scholars are of the opinion that there were other poets of this name whose creations could have been attributed to him.