The book presents a fascinating inquiry into the authorship of the works attributed to Mahakavi Kalidasa, universally regarded as a hallmark of excellence in ancient Indian literature.
For the first time, it challenges the accepted narrative of Kalidasa's authorship by examining the circumstances, social conditions, personalities, and traits of two central figures: the ignorant and unrefined Devadutt, who rose to become Kalidasa, and his learned wife, Vidyottama, the princess of Kashi, renowned as an intellectual giant in Kashi's scholastic traditions. This inquiry is grounded in the phenomenal research of Dr. Kamal Kishor Mishra, whose extensive study tours spanned locations associated with Kalidasa and Vidyottama, both in India and Sri Lanka. The book incorporates an analysis of legends and narratives from both regions, references to archival manuscripts, architectural evidence, and psychological studies.
DR. KAMAL K MISHRA, is the Head of the Department of Sanskrit at the University of Calcutta. He holds a Ph.D. in Sanskrit Epigraphy from the University of Delhi and completed ICSSR Post-Doctoral research at JNU, Delhi. His expertise spans Sanskrit studies, particularly epigraphy, paleography, manuscriptology, and the Indian diaspora.
Mahakavi Kalidasa is recognized as one of the great figures in world literature, who lived probably in the 4th or 5th century A.E. His seven great works, four poems and three plays, are masterpieces of classical world literature, the poem Rtusamharam covering six sections, the lyrical Meghadūtam in two parts, the epics Kumarasambhavam in eight cantos and Raghuvamśam in 19 cantos, and the three plays Malavikagnimitram, Vikramorvaśiyam and Abhijñanaśakuntalam. Shakuntala in particular attained worldwide appreciation after its translation into German, English and many other European languages. A popular Sanskrit verse says: "of poetic creation the play is most beautiful, and of plays Sakuntalam is the most beautiful".
While his work is well known, curiously little is known about Kalidasa's life. Strangely enough he was believed to have been an illiterate wood cutter who married the Princess Vidyottama, a great scholar in her own right, through an intricate intrigue by pandits of the Kingdom, all of whom the Princess had defeated in shastric debate. To get their revenge on her, the pandits presented the very handsome Kalidasa as a great pandit who would challenge the Princess to a silent debate. Thereafter followed the well-known five finger contest through which the Princess was tricked into marrying a man who was looked upon as being so foolish as to be cutting the branch of the tree upon which he was seated. How an illiterate person could become one of the world's great litterateurs is a mystery.
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