author
Kālidāsa
Often celebrated as ancient India’s greatest poet and playwright, this Classical Sanskrit master turned myth, love, and nature into works that have lasted for centuries. His writing is admired for its musical language, vivid imagery, and emotional grace.
5 Audiobooks
Sakoontala; Or, The Lost Ring: An Indian Drama
by Kālidāsa
Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works
by Kālidāsa
Hindu literature : Comprising The Book of good counsels, Nala and Damayanti, The Ramayana, and Sakoontala
by Toru Dutt, Kālidāsa, Valmiki
The Birth of the War-God: A Poem by Kálidása
by Kālidāsa
About the author
Much about his life remains uncertain, but Kālidāsa is usually placed around the 4th to 5th century CE and is closely associated with the great flowering of classical Sanskrit literature. Even with so little firmly known about the man himself, his reputation has remained enormous across the centuries.
His surviving works include three plays, two epic poems, and two shorter poems. Among the best known are Abhijñānaśākuntala (The Recognition of Shakuntala), Meghadūta (The Cloud Messenger), Kumārasambhava, and Raghuvaṃśa. These works draw on Indian myth and tradition, but they are also deeply human, filled with longing, beauty, wit, and a close attention to the natural world.
Kālidāsa’s influence spread far beyond Sanskrit literature. Shakuntala became especially famous around the world through translation, helping introduce many readers to classical Indian drama. Today he is still read as a writer of extraordinary elegance and feeling, whose poetry can be grand and intimate at the same time.