result of prolonged and diverse efforts extending over a stretch of time. In Kalidasa, we are introduced at once to something new which no one hit upon before, something perfect which no one achieved, something incomparably great and enduring for all times. His outstanding individual genius certainly accounts a great deal for this, but it appears in a sudden and towering glory without being buttressed in its origin by the intelligible gradation of lower eminence. It has however the effect of the tyrannical dominance of a great genius that it not only obscures but often wipes out by its vast and strong effulgence the lesser lights which surround it or herald its approach.
“The Date of the Poet."
Eleventh Century A. D.:
There is a set of ancient scholars who believed that Kalidasa must have lived in about the 11th Century A. D. on the following grounds: (i) In Kalidas's writings, the word यवन is found which means à Mohammedan who appeared in India after the 7th Century A. D. And naturally it follows, that Kalidas must have lived some time after the advent of the यवनाः! But as the meaning of the term is not fixed, as it may even denote the Greeks or the Ionians, the reasoning of this sort seems unsound. (ii) The tradition speaks that Kalidas was patronised by the king Bhoja of Dhara (11th cent. A. D.) But if Bhoja were his patron, Kalidasa must have extolled him to make his name immortal. Again, भामह who, by king Bhoja himself is said to be living in the early centuries of the Christian Era quotes कालिदासा. Moreover, a Kanerese translation of Vikromorvasiayam which was found in the 9th cent. A. D. shows that Kalidasa lived long before the 11th Century A. D.
Sixth Century A. D.:
Then there is a common belief that Kalidas lived in the 6th century A. D. The evidence which is laid down to prove this, though not conclusively, may be summed up thus:
(1) Jinasena the author of the पार्श्वाम्भुदय who has contrived to imitate Kalidasa's Meghaduta lived about 850. A. D. Mr. Pathak thinks, therefore, that Kalidas must have lived before him.
(2) The poet Pomna who lived about 945 A, D, asserts his superiority to Kalidasa. It shows that he was born before 945. A. D.
