KĀLIDĀSA AND THE GUPTAS The poem begins with a brilliant piece of description of the Himalaya, the abode of Çiva. Kālidāsa, unlike many a classical and even modern poet, had no hatred of mountains; his fancy makes them the dwelling of merry sprites who play in their caves, round which eddy the clouds, affording welcome screens for the maidens when they undress; the wind, wet with the drops of the streams of the Ganges as it descends from heaven, beats on the trunks of the deodars, and bends the peacock feathers, the scanty dress of the gnomes who chase the antelope. In marked contrast to this innocent frolic sits Çiva, sunk in deepest meditation, and on him with other maidens waits Umā, born of the mountain god himself, plucking flowers to offer to him, and fetching water and grass for his service. Canto ii shows us the gods in deep distress, for a demon Tāraka has arisen to menace them, and Brahman himself can afford no aid, for he has accorded him his protection, and even a poison tree cannot be cut down, if one has reared it oneself. Only Çiva can aid, Çiva who surpasses Brahman and Vişņu in glory, and, if Umā can win him, from them will spring a deliverer. Indra then seeks the aid of Kāma, god of love, to win Çiva's heart for Umā. The next Canto shows Kāma ready and willing to effect the end desired if Spring will be his comrade as well as his dear wife Rati. There follows a brilliant picture of the new life and love awakened in nature by the advent of Spring with Kāma, but the sight of Çiva seated still as a flame when no wind blows, a cloud without rain, daunts even Kāma's heart and he quails. But Umã with her friends appears, and Çiva is begged to hearken to their devotions; he feels himself strangely moved, and glan- cing sees Kāma on the point of discharging at him his deadly arrow. One fiery glance from the god's eye reduces him to ashes. Then follows (iv) a brilliant and touchingly pathetic picture of the lament of Rati for her dead husband; she will not accept the consolation urged on her by Spring; instead she bids him heap the pyre so that she may follow him in death. But her fatal purpose is stayed by a voice from on high, which assures her of reunion with her beloved when Çiva shall have relented and taken Umā to spouse. In sorrowful hope Rati con- tinues her life. 3 The first throw has failed and Umā is bitterly disappointed, 88
