Article | Deep Environmental Thinking In The Poetry Of Kalidas | Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh | Central Chronicle

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Deep Environmental Thinking In The Poetry Of Kalidas

     -    Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh

Writer, Author & Social Activist

Blogger - "Climate Diary Of Dr (Ms) Sharad Singh"

 

           There is a wonderful description of human emotions and tendencies in Meghdoot, Raghuvansh, Ritusanharam, Kumarasambhava, the poetry of the great Sanskrit poet Kalidas. In the same way thought displayed towards the environment and its protection in these epics is also unique. While reading the epics of Kalidasa, we often ignore the environmental aspect and concentrate on the main plot. While attention is also paid to other aspects of these epics, we will find that Kalidasa has written about the environment in each of his poems showed great love for. Along with this, attention has also been drawn to the preservation of the environment and the natural sufferings caused by the imbalance of the environment.

 

Kalidas is called the poet of nature. The great poet and dramatist Kalidas has an important place in the field of Sanskrit literature. The eternal beauty of his creations and their peerless greatness earn him the well deserved title of 'Poet of Nature' not only in India but across the world. The entire literature of Kalidas is imbued with the spirit of environmental protection. The complementary form of human life and seasons is described in Ritusamharam. Kalidas has expressed by his love for nature and his awareness towards environmental protection by his poetries.

The renowned poet of Sanskrit literature, great poet Kalidas appears to have special love for nature in his texts.  In the natural  descriptions of his epics, Kalidas has not only revealed the beauty of nature, but also has given a message to the general public not to harm them through his heroes and heroines while showing awareness towards nature conservation. In rendering the characteristics and importance of nature, he has written in 'Ritusamhar', 'Kumarasambhava' and 'Raghuvansh'. While praising the basic elements of nature (water, fire, sun, moon, sky, earth, air) in the form of Ashtamurti Dev, in the invocation of his world-famous play 'Abhigyanshakuntalam', he has also rendered the godliness of nature.

Kalidas begins 'Kumarasambhava' with the natural description of the Himalayas –

Astyuttarasyan dishi devatma Himalayao naam nagadhirajah.

Purvaparau toynidhivgahya sthitah prithivya iw mandandah..

It is described in Kumarasambhava that Parvati went to Gauri Shikhar mountain and built her cottage to do penance to get Shiva as her husband. Then there she first planted the saplings and like her own children, irrigated them daily with water-like milk and kept cultivating them. This Vedadhyayan was an act of his penance routine just like Yagya etc. Similarly, on the occasion of dialogue between Singh and Dilip in the Raghuvansh epic, Singh introduces Dilip to a tree and says that O king! This is the same Deodaru tree which Shiva and Parvati together brought up as their own son. And when the elephant had removed its bark by rubbing it, Parvati felt the same pain as seeing her son Kartikeya injured in a fight with the demons. Kalidas has written that Parvati herself used to take the fallen leaves from the tree as food so that the tree would not have to suffer by plucking the green leaves.

Poet Kalidas's affection for plants is proved by the fact that he says that if a poisonous tree grows by itself, it should not be cut - 'Vishvrikshopi samvardhya Swayam Chettumsampratam'. He further says that this poisonous tree will be beneficial to the living beings instead of harming them. 

In 'Raghuvansh', there is a description of sage wives taking care of deer like their children. On the other hand, Kalidas writes in Kumarasambhava that as a result of the penance of Parvati, even the opposing animals in Tapovan gave up their mutual enmity and they started lovingly living together in Tapovan without enmity. Coming to Tapovan, Brahmachari asks Parvati whether the bud break is happening in a proper way in the vines and trees, isn't there any kind of obstruction? Is the water of the forest fit for your bath? Aren't they contaminated? Describing a summer season of Kalidas, showing the inevitable need of water in the life of animals and the horrors of animal life in its absence, he writes that 'what a fierce summer, the one who receives water points from a dry gorge, the fierce sun of the sun. Hot from the rays and extremely thirsty, the elephants desiring water also forget that the lion will kill them. They are not even afraid of a lion in search of water distraught with thirst.

The 'Rtusamharam' is a collection of six seasons which are different seasons viewed by a lover. Kalidasa’s Rtusamhara is divided into six parts; all the parts are connected to six seasons with 144 stanzas. The poem has six cantos for the six Indian seasons: Grisma (summer), Varsa(rainy), Sarat (autumn), Hemanta (cool), Sisirs (winter), Vasanta (spring). Each season is divided in two months; all seasons are connected to each other as a cycle of nature. This following table is chronological of season, which is divided into six seasons of Indian 12 months in Hindu lunar Calendar.

In Meghdootam, Kalidas has presented almost all the components of the environment – fire, air, water, sky, earth, sun, moon, medicine and vegetation etc. They always help us without any desire to reciprocate, hence they are like gods. In most of its verses, environmental elements have been remembered and the message has been given that one should not act against nature. The most beautiful form of external nature has been depicted in the east cloud. On the one hand there are rivers like Gandhavati, Gambhira, Charmanvati, Reva, Jahnavi, Mandakini, Yamuna, Devganga, Saraswati and on the other hand Alka, Avanti, Vidisha, Kurukshetra and Ujjayini are lofty cities. Somewhere mountains and plateaus like Ramgiri, Amrakut, Devagiri, Nichargiri are visible and somewhere the vast Himalayas, Vindhyas and Kailasa. Somewhere there is the sacred water-filled lake of Ramgiri and somewhere the world-famous Mansarovar, beloved of swans. Hermitage, Mountains, Clouds, Rivers, Waterfalls, Gardens, Dense and shady trees, Creepers, Cane, Kamalnal, Mushroom, Flowers, Chatak, Balaka, Fragrance of soil, Forest of berries, Saffron, Kadamba, Deer, Peacock, Kapot, Gaz , Juhi's bud, rock shelter, reed forest etc. In this way, Kalidas's poetry appears to be conscious about the environment and its protection, we just need to understand it.

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 (06.08.2023)

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