Nepal, the birth place of Kalidas; [synopsis

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Birth Place of Kalidasa

( Synopsis )

By
PT. MURAL1DHAR BHATTARAI

NEPAL

( The Birth Place of Kalidas }

by
FT. MURALIDHAR BHATTARAI

Me ( 3, )

Printed by Manohar Press, Varanasi, ( India. )

B *

FOREWORD

Shri Harsha, the celebrated poet of 12th
century, has mentioned the name of Nepal in
Naishadiya Charitam, as we read on
12/43.

But at the time of Kalidasa 1st century B. C.
it seems to me that Nepal was not in the same
political form as she is at present. Then
the Western Nepal was in .Uttarakoshala and
the Eastern was in Mithila, as is learnt from
the Sarayumahatmya and Mithilamahatmya.
It is vividly seen fhat Nepal in those days was
divided into the several petty states, as we
find in the above quoted stanza.

But the case of Kalidasa is different from
that of Shri Harsha. Kalidasa was thoroughly
acquainted even with an ordinary grass of
Nepal, though he has not given the name of
Nepal as Shri Harsha did. It was partially
from his un-selfish nature and partially out of
the non-existence of a particular kingdom known
as Nepal separate from the other ones at the
time of Raghu.

The Plots of the Poet's Works

The story of Kumarsambhava

The Gods annoyed by the demon Taraka
tried to unite Shiva and Parvati, the daughter
of king Himalaya in marriage in the hope of
having a son from the father of the Universe
as a commander for their army in the war
against the demons. They had been successful
in their scheme. Kumara, the son of Shiva,
killed the demon and restored the kingdom of
the heaven to the Gods. The plot is borrowed
from the Skanda Purana.

Raghuwamsa

In this work the ideal characters of the
kings of the solar lineage are depicted. The
story is extracted from the Ramayan.
Vikramorvashia

In this drama the extreme affair of love
between the king Pururaba and Urvashi, a
celestial nymph, is described. This story is
taken from the Mahabharatam.
Malvikagnimitram

This drama is a social one. Here the love

between Malavika and Agnimitra is expounde
and the importance of music too is exhibited.
Meghadutam

In this Kavyam a Yachhya, who owing
to the curse of his lord Kuvera had to
stay for a year in the mountain of Ramagiri,
being separated from his beloved wife, sends
his painful message to her through the
cloud. This plot also is taken from the
Ramayana, where Ram sends his pathetic news
through Hanumana to his wife Sitaji. in Lanka.
Ritusamhara

Here are beautiful poems describing the
six-seasons. In this Kavyam the description of
nature is unique.

The age of Kalidasa

Kalidasa. did not refer to his birth place,
date of birth and the king by whom he was
supported. For the great men who have dedi-
cated themselves to the service of mankind
have very little time to look at themselves.
This is the duty of his countrymen to trace
out when and where he flourished. To decide
his age the evidence of the Archaeological
survey of India for 1909-10 will be undisputed
proof, The coin found from the excavation of

( 7 )

Bhita near Allahabad has the inscription of a
scene from the Shakuntala which is decided
by the specialist to be of the Sunga period.
The Sungas ruled from 187 B. C. to 72 B. C. So
our poet must have existed in 1st century B. C.
And in the last stanza of the Malavikagnimitra
we find the line rforn; srforfire, where the present
tense is used, therefore it can be boldly said
that Kalidasa flourished at the time of Agni-
mitra, the son of Pukhyamitra. According to
Hilbrade, a German scholar Kalidasa was
•before ( SRSRfa ) Ashwaghosha.

Nepal

The Birth place of Kalidasa

Scholars of the east and the west alike differ
from each other in their opinions regarding the
time and place of the great poet of the world,
Kalidasa. All of them seem to have endeavou-
red to bring into light the date and place
of his birth. But very few of them seem to
have succeeded even to a little extent in
their efforts. Some of the learned men
are of the opinion that the poet was
born at Ujjayini. The first and foremost
thing, on which they are firmly determined
for their resolution of Ujjayini to be the
birth place of our poet, is the great affection
shown by the poet towards her. Some erudites
ascribe Bengal to be the birth place of Kalidasa
on the evidence his mentioning frequently the
cultivation of paddy crops in his works. And
there is not a small number of thinkers who
believe Kalidasa to be an inhabitant of Kashmir
on the ground of his exposition of the dance of
ever green creepers in his literature. In this way

a lot of people have tried to make Kalidasa
their own, but not in a very successful manner.
The most popular critic Rajashekhar in his
Suktimuktawali says that there had been three
poets know as Kalidasa,

Here I am concerned only with the author
of Shakuntala, Malavikagnimitra, Vikramor-
vassiya, Raghuwansha Kumarssambhava,
Meghaduta and Ritusambara and not with the
name of Kalidasa at all. It can also be said
that out of the many one or two Kalidas as
could have belonged also to Kashmir, Bengal,
and other provinces. But the thorough study
of the above mentioned books of Kalidasa
bears the testimony to the truth that the real
Kalidasa was born nowhere but in Nepal. By
the critical investigation through the literary
works of Kalidasa, at the same time Ujjayini
would be probed to be the place for his
literary performances and the land of his father-
in-law.

Similarity between Nepal and Ujjayini

Both, Nepal and Ujjayini have been the
famous Hindu holy places from the Vedic up

( 11 )

to the pressent time. Chhipra, in Ujjanini, is
held upon as holy as the Gandaki, Koshi, and
Bagmati of Nepal. In Nepal the temple of
Pashupatinath has been the centre of Hindu
attraction from time immemorial, so is the
temple of Mahakalashiva in Ujjayini. Both of
the places have been centers of hermitage for
ascetisism to the warriors of Mahabharata. It
is seen in the Mahabharata that Pandawas,
the great heroes of Mahabharat had been
frequently visiting Pashupatinath, in Nepal and
Mahakala in Ujjayini.

Kalidasa, moreover, praised now and then
the quiet and calm region near the temple of
Pashupatinath and Mahakala far from the din
and dust of the world. Near the temple of
Mahakala there is a temple of Saptarishis in
Ujjayini. The traces of their Ashramas are
found on the banks of Kali, Trishuli, and
Koshi, in Nepal. There is a famous cave of
Rishiswara near Palung on the road to Tribhu-
ban raj path in Nepal. Mela is held on the
occasion of Shivaratri in Pashupatinath temple
and in Mahakala of Ujjayini. As in Nepal so in
Ujjayini a grand temple of Harisiddhi is to be
seen. In both the country Harasiddhi is said:

to be family diety of king Vikramadittya. As
in Ujjayini there is a story of cutting his head
to please the Goddess prevalent in Nepal
too. Thousands of people go every year to see
the head of Vikrama lying near the temple of
Tara Layanny a Puri in Nepal. As in Nepal
there is a temple of Dakhinkali on the outskirt
of the city in Ujjayini as on the top of the
Farping hill in Nepal. As the Bhairabhgarh
( fortress ) of Kirtipur in Nepal, we have
similarly a fort called Bhirahgadh at a
distance of three miles from the city of
Ujjayini. Kalabhairava is worshipped in both
the countries as a terrible as well as a powerful
God of war. As in Kageastami in Nepal the
Bhairabastami is celebrated with great devo-
tion by the people of Ujjayini. The Bhairava-
yatra of Ujjayini has very little difference with
the Bhairavayatra of Nuwakot in Nepal. The
worship of Ganesh in Nepal and Ujjayini is
popular alike.

Even the images of the five headed Hanuman
and sixteen-handed Ganesh are found in the
same style in both the countries. As the
Navagrahas are worshipped within the camp of
JPashupatinath, so also exactly in Ujjayini,

( 13 )

also there is a grand teinple of Matsendranath
in Ujjayini as in Nepal. Kautilya, the great
Hindu economist also had mentioned the name
of Nepal and Ujjayini along with the names of
other cities.. According to Bhagawata Purana
Lord Krishna had gone to Ujjayini to acquire
the knowledge of the Shastras from a Brahamin
preceptor, Sandeepini by name. In the same
book, in the same way it is seen that Shri
Krishna came to Nepal and dedicated a temple
of Shiva at the confluence of Wagamati and
Visnumati to gain power to conquer the enemy>
called Banasura. The Pradumneswara and the
Gorkeshwar are the witness of the truth. In
the Mahabharat the name of a king of Nepal
and a king of Ujjayini are found, who fought
against the army of the Kaurawas, in favour
of the Pandawas.

Nepal for thousand of years had been closed
and cut off from the world. No body could
give attention in this direction and at the
same time similarity between Nepal and
Ujjayini had made the scholars confused to
distingush the place wherein our poet was born;
nor could they clearly understand his emotion
an light of which he had expressed it in his

( 14 )

works. Now Nepal also is out of the darkness
in the history of the world. So we should
widen our outlook.

There is a renowned story told in
every roof of Nepal in respect of the
early life of Kalidasa. About one thousand
and two hundred years ago there was a wonder-
ful throne near Pashupati temple. It lay
buried under the ground, which was some-
what raised above the general level. For a
long time it had been a play-ground of the
cow-herd boys who went there daily to tend
their cattle. They used to elect a man from
their group and make him their king to rule
over them for that day. The king was chosen
in an election of a peculiar type. The can-
didates had to run a race from a fixed
point to the place under which the throne was
kept. And he who could reach first of all was
made a king to rule for that day. Such was
the influence of the divine throne that the cow-
herd's king was obeyed even by the people,
who happend to come near him, and what ever
he told came to be true due to the power of
the throne and the judgment given by him
went never wrong.

( 15 )

By virtue of these things the place as well
as the cow-herd king had earned great repu-
tation in the country.

Once a man living in a service of a
king in Ujjayini sent a precious gem through
the hand of his co-worker to give to his
wife in Nepal. The bearer being enticed with
the gem did not hand it over to the wife
of his friend. The man, on the other hand,
arranged a group of witnesses as to give testimony
in the court if needed. Ater a long time the
man came from Ujjayini to his home in Nepal.
By and by, he asked his wife about the gem he
had sent, on which she said, "I have not got it
yet, I do not know who brought it when, and
what is it for ?» The man came to know that he
had been cheated, So, he immediately went to
the home of his friend and asked him to return
the gem soon. Thereupon that fellow said, "It
was handed over to your wife the very day I
arrived here." uBe careful" he said and went to
the court of the king of the country and filed
a suit against him. The witnesses having been
bribed by the cheat gave false evidence and as
a result the king gave the judgement against
his fate. Being cheated of the gem and having

2

( 16 )

been deprived of the justice he went sad to his
home while he saw the cow-herd king,
his ministers and soldiers, on the way, playing
their parts. The man noticed it standing
near by. The king also heard from him all
the matters of his sadness. The cowherd king
promised him to give a correct judgement
for his case. On being told the matter from the'
very beginning, the cow-herd king summoned alL
of them. On comming they were ordered to sit;
separately ;ind draw a sketch of that gem on
the piece of paper without knowledge of the
others. None of them except the sender and the
bearer of the £em could draw the correct
picture of it. The cow-herd king seated on the
raised level of a ground under which the throne
was hidden giving decison said that the gem was
undoubtedly sent and it was brought by that
man, but neither it wras handed over to the
wife of the plaintiff nor was even seen by the
witnesses. The judgement given by the cow-
herd king, was accepted by the court of Nepal
and so the cheat was compelled to give back
the gem to the owner of it.

The king being amazed at his genius gave
an order to his ministry to excavate the ground

( 17 )

sitting whereon the cow-heard boy could
ve the correct judgement to his subjects.
Excavation was done and a throne inscribed
with the thirty two figures of the celestial
damsels was discovered and then there had
been a thorough investigation of it. From this
the king and his court came to the conclusion
that it was the throne of the world renowned
king, Vikramaditya. By order of the king
a grand temple was built and an image of
Shree Ramchandra was installed on that
throne. The temple of Ramaji is called
Battishputali. From the story we can draw the
:onclusion that Vikramaditya was the common
king of Ujjayini and Nepal. There is another
story of Vikrama told in connection with the
Narayanhiti, a water spring near the royal
palace of present Maharajadhiraja. (Hiti means
natural water spring in Newari language.) Once
there happened a drought for twelve years in
Nepal. Due to the want of water men and animals
began to breathe their last. The king sent for
the wise men of his country and asked them the
cause and the remedy of this calamity. The
wise men advised the king to sacrifice a young
man of spotless character as the remedy of the

( 18 )

terrible drought. The king sent his men to
seek for such a young man of spotless character
for the solution of the drought problem. The
men, in search of such a man, roamed far and
wide but in vain. At last they found a hand-
some young man entirely of spotless character
and body. He was not a son of an ordinary
man but of King Vikramaditya himself.
Hearing this, the eyes of the prince shone with
delight and he made up his mind to sacrifice
his life in order to save the country from the
calamity of the drought. He liked to go to
the Hity every day to enjoy the fresh and pure
air of the holy place. One day he heard the
wise men say that the ;Muhurta of sacrifice
had come. Having heard this he could hardly"
go back to his palace. On returning any how to<
his palace he sent a royal order to the
soldiers in charge of the Hiti-temple to
slaughter the man who would be found
sleeping covered with a white sheet to that
night. At night the prince stealthily came
out of his palace and went direct to the temple
and slept without the knowledge of the soldiers
on the duty at that place. At the given time
the soldiers slew their prince as they were

< 19 )

rdered. As soon as the sacrifice of a spotless
oung man was done the water began to flow
i abundance. The sky was immediataly
overed with the dark clouds and rained in
rrents. Now the Hiti is known as Narayan
liti and Vikrama Hiti as well. It is separated
>y a circuit wall from the main road to the
oyal palace. It might have been clear that
ne of the sons of Vikramaditya had given up
is life to save the Neples from being doomed.

From these stories a thoughtful man can
atisfactorily conclude that Vikrama, a king of
Jepal, ruled even over the country of Ujjayani.

Now, it can be asked, what the story has
o do with the birth place of Kalidasa. From the
ibove mentioned story it can be infered that
he king Vikrama probably took some Brahmin
)oys from Nepal to Ujjayini ; among whom
Salidas and Amar Singh were prominent. Before
jiving decision of the birth place of our poet,
t also is necessary to ponder upon the incidents
f his life.

There are hermitages of the sage Kandu
md Bharata on the bank of the Malini ( Madi )
iver in the western Nepal. And not in a long

( 20 )

distance from Reedi or Rireetirth, is a village
known as Alaka ( Argha ), where our poet was
born. On the first day of Ashadha, in the
first century B. C. His father lived a holy life.
He was not so poor as generally Brahmins are
seen. But he was not much happy because
he had no son. So he used to go to the bank
of the Kali, and prayed her daily to bless
him with a son. One night his wife dreamed
a dream in which she saw the Kaliganga
blessing her with a smile. In the morning she
told her dream to her husband. On hearing it
his joy knew no bounds. She became pregnant
and gave birth to a son, who being given by
goddess Ganga Kali, was named Kalidasa. It
was that boy who was later on known as poet
Kalidasa.

The boy grew up to be a very arrogent
young man. He was very strong and staut but
in his early age he was quite distitute of
intellect. Once, it is said that he went to gather
the leaves of the trees for the fodder of the
cattle, as the hill people generally do, began to
cut down the'branches of a tree on which he was
seated. At the very time one of the Men of the
"king Vikramaditya happened to come to the

spot. He was surprised to see the wonderful
boy cutting down the branches of the tree on
which he sat, not minding of the falling d( v>n
with the branch. '1 he person, who thought to
take revenge upon the daughter of the king who
had refused to become his wife, promised the
thick brained boy to cause the king to marry his
beloved daugher to him provided the later would
keep silence till the marriage would take place.
The boy agreed to do so and then was taken
to the palace of the king Vikrama Who liked
him very much for his oeauty, strength and
health. He was married to a beautiful princess
named Viddyottama a very learned girl. Till
the marriage ended Kalidas uttered no word.
In the night of honey moon he broke his silence
with tears in his eyes.

"What is the matter with you'' said she to
him. "My 'ka' has become very lean and thin/'
He said with a stammering voice.

She again enquired cf her husband to
explain what he meant by becoming lean and
thin of the *ka'. "It was bigger when I read it
in the board of my home, now poor 'ka' is
reduced very small" he said.

( 22 )

On hearing this, she became very much dis-
appointed and sad. She came to know also the
mischief done by the unsatisfied minister. Then
she said "oh, fool, you do not recognize even the
<ka' the first letter of Devanagari character ?
Be at once out of this palace."

He was turned out of the home by his wife.
He asked her where should he go and what
should he do. In response of it she said. You
illiterate fool, go to the temple of the Kali,
near Ruruterth, ( now known as Ridi ) and do
some Upasana to propetiate her. Do not turn
your face any more, until you become a
learned man".

He thought, a man without the knowledge
of the scripture is as useless as an overcoat in
Bombay. For days together he kept wondering
•hither and thither at random as a hotel boy's
of Nepal in India. One day he was told that on
the bank of the Kali Ganga there is a temple of
Goddess Kali within a forest, some distance
away from Ridi. He became as happy to know it
as a minister in a party. He entered the temple
and propiciated Kali within a week. Kali
being very pleased with his insisting devotion
appered before him and blessed him with a

( 23 )

boon. By the grace of .mother Kali the veil of
obstacle for knowledge had been removed from
his mind. His "brain became as clear as crystal
ready to receive what ever was seen, heard and
thought. His sorrow ended. Again one night
mother Kali blessed him by putting her hand on
his head and ordered him to go to Mithila, the
birth place of king Janaka and Yagnyavalkya,
Satananda and Seeta.

In those days Janakpur had been the centre
of learning. So he went to Mithila, Janakpur.
There he canie to know of the place where an
Upadhya, a great teacher lived. Kalidasa went
to the Acharya who accepted him as a disciple.
Within a short time he completed the course
of study and became a great. erudite. There is
a temple of Kali in a village named Uchcha in
Durbhanga' district. It is told that Kalidasa
during the time of his study used to go to this
temple of Kali. Even now the temple is known
to be of the Kali of Kalidasa where the students
go every day to be benefited in their study.

After completing his study, he went Ujjayini
where his wife with his father were waiting for
him with a great impatience. Vidyawati, the
wife of the poet Kalidasa was in her room

( 24 )

making preparation to receive her husband.
As soon as she saw him said 3TRcf ^ra^cnq^
firtfa:, that is "I think, there is a progress in
your learning" Then the poet smiled slightly
and sat by her side and promised her to present
the books beginning with the words spoken by
her in the sentence said above. He spoke this
in n cultured and lucid Sanskrit.

He thought it, his duty to pay homage to
his mother country on whose bosom he was
brought up. So he wrote at the set up the
Kumar Sambhava.

— There is an abode of Gods named Himalaya
in the north direction, the king of the mountains,.
whose two ends are merged into the ocean and
is standing as the measuring rod of the Earth.
By this stanza every thoughtful person can
automatically make an inference for the fact
that the lap of the Himalaya was the birth place
of Kalidasa. Becouse the patriot, whenever he
may have lived, being compelled by the

( 25 )

circumstances, recalls his birth place now
and then. Our poet felt it his bounden duty
to make the world know his birth place
Himalaya. So he beginies by the sentence
"there is Himalaya/' etc. He wants to express
his hidden joy before the people of the world.
The sublimity of the Himalaya is known
to the world. For this reason the kings of
Nepal, from the time immemorial are honoured
with the eoithet of Adhiraja or the kings of
kings — supreme rulers. As the king of Nepal
today are given the title of Adhiraja. In this
stanza, adhering the tradition of Nepal the poet
gives the title of supreme ruler to his beloved
Himalayas. The Gauri Shanker or the Mount
Everest in Nepal is the highest plateau of the
mother earth. That is why the poet says that
Himalaya is the spinal cord of the Earth.

The world renowened Kirat Pradesh is in
Nepal which is given a considerable room in
the book of the both poets Kalidasa and Bharavi.
Bharavi has a general knowledge of Kiratas
while Kalidasa seems to have a particular knovv-
lege of it, The description of the Kiratas in
Kumar Shambhava can be told by no means that
it was a mere imagination of the poet. It will be

( 26 )

clear from the following stanzas that the know-
ledge that he had of the Kirat Province can
not at all be called derived from the books of
geography only. No man who had not seen it
with his own eyes can describe it so clearly.
For example, Kalidasa, expounding the natural
beauty of the Kirat region says,

n

For the better understanding of the nature of
the hill men the underlined words in the above
given stanzas of Kumar Shambhava are worth
studying with a great attention srt^T. ^TT —
lights without oil etc. Some kinds of woods are
seen in the forest of Nepal, shining at night as
bright as the day light, known as Ujeli Kath in
.Nepali words. People wonder to see the trees

( 27 )

emitting bright rays at night enough to read,
books in it.

The poet seems very proud to be a hill man,
so he expresses his noble pride in this stanza.

— Our Himalaya is very proud to give shelter
to an afraid as he protects the darkness afraid
of the rays of the sun giving shelter in his caves.
This is the nature of the noble ones to embrace
the refugee however mean he may be".

Let us proceed a little further and look what
an attractive picture is put before us by this
"fa^ft^ sr^T wrfcf" it means the clouds have
served the purpose of a screen for the doors
of the Himalayan-caves-dwelling-Kiratas. A
man without living in a place for a long time
can never describe so actually as the poet in
the 1/14 stanza of Kumar-Shambhava. An
inexperienced man can, however campare the
cloud with the canopy not with the screen,
as seen in the folk tales of Nepal "^ST ^t §;K
3ft 3T?<$ ^t ^R€t ^f &B *f$Tl" O' sport of lord,
door of cloud, do not hide me, ( the stanza is
sung every where in the hill side of Nepal. )
Kalidasa's favowrite flower 'Shirish' and the

( 28 )

Niwari corn which he prefers above all ate
grown in good deal in the soil of Nepal. Shirish
is colled Shiru in Nepali and there is a Hindu
tribe named Niwara after the name of Niwar
corn and Niwari flowers here. The Himalya
is termed as Gauri guru by Kaljdas in his
'Shakuntala'. There is Gouri Shanker summit
of the Himalaya in Nepal about which very
little was and is known to the people of Bengal,
Bihar Kashmir and Ujjayini. In the stanza 22
Kumar and 2/65 in Raghubansha, for the break
fast of Uma the word parana is used by our poet.
In the Magari and Nevari language the same
words are used, Uma for the mother and Parana
for eating after the religious fast respectively.
Ume (^t ) in Magari and 'palan5 ( qj3? ) in
Newari is an etymological proof of his beeing
a Native of Nepal. Again the day in which Uma
took the vow of austerity to attain Shanker as
her husband and gained the name Uma is held

very auspicious and is observed fast in this
day by every woman of Nepal. It was therefore

his charecterstic to call up the fasting of the

female members of his house of whose he
depicted the picture in the name of Uma.

5/32
ft[ ^ 5/S5

( 29 )

"Body is the first thing amongst the means
of Dharma-duty : the gems do not seek man
but it is sought by him." This is a great respect
towards the Hindu woman. From the first line
it is also hinted that the people living in the
bossom of Gauri Shanker, which is puryfying
by nature, penance is not necessary at all. In
this way Kalidasa expresses his deep sentiment
towards his mother land Nepal.

In the 6th canto of Kumar Shambhava we
come across the word Koshi for the river
Koushika flowing in Nepal. But in every books
of the Sanskrit literature the word Koushika
alon is found except in Nepal Mahatmya. If
Kalidas had not been a Nepali by birth he
\vould have used the word Koushika for Koshi
as other Sanskrit writers have done.

: 6/33

The great commentator Mallinath says
""JTfTlNft ?JW 3SR2TT ^Tf^nft" rre^TT means ^TK^n.
A river of that place means the river of Nepal,
because the river Koshi flows in her eastern
part. Again the sages fixed the very place of
the bank of Koshi for their further meeting.
From this it has been clearly proved that the

30

marriage of Gaurishankar had taken place ir
Nepal, not in Kashmir and other places.

India is widely regarded and accepted as
the instructor of the world fa^p, but Nepal
is held by the poet to be the instructor even
of the instructors— "wr N^Jjd^" 5 — 6\

See Kumar Sambhava : —

: n

In this way we see Kalidasa respecting his
mother land estimating the glory of her above
all. And in the last stanza of this canto
Pashupatinatha, the famous diety of Nepal is
remembered by the poet with a great reverence..
The birth-day celebration of Kumara>
Kartikeya is observed no where with such
preparation as in Nepal. And it also is a thing
to be considered that Kartikeya, the son of
Pashupatinath is called nowhere Kumara but
in Nepal. Kalidasa also is seen habituated to
call him by the name of Kumara. If he was
born in other countries, he would have given
the tittle of Kartikeya janma etc. to his
Kabyam — Kumarasambhava. Shithi, the birth-
day of Kumaraji is also celebrated by the
Newars is Nepal with a great pump and show.

( 31 )

It is called Shithinakha in their dialect From
this it can easily be guessed that Kalidasa was
mostly influenced by this traditional festival of
Nepal; which without being a Nepali was not
possible. How the poet like Shree Rama-
chandra expresses his heartly homage to his
mother-land Nepal, will be more clear from the
comparative study of the two verse from the
Ramayan and Kumarasambhava.

II— ^m

is? ^T^FPT: II (

"Even the golden Lanka has no charm for
me, Mother and mother country are greater
than heaven/' Rama.

"It is futile to long for heaven for the
province of your father itself is the abode of
the gods" Kalidasa.

Amples of examples of this sert can be given
to prove him Nepali from the Shlokas found in
his books.

Evidences from the Raghuwansha also can
be given here for firmly establishing the fact
that the great poet of the world was a son
of Nepal.

3

It is interesting to note here that our poet
at the beginning of the Raghuwansha, which
commeness with the second word ( OTT=R ) of the
sentences uttered by his wife, makes an
abescience to Parwati the daughter of King
Himalaya of Nepal, the mother of the universe.
It is not a thing of a little pride for us that
the daughter of Nepal is the mother of the
world.

The word arfsrcR or Supreme ruler, a very
much favourite word to the Nepalese, is used
two times in one stanza in Raghuwansha.

Bhutan, which is geographically a part of
Nepal, was called Bhutasthanam in the days
of Kalidasa. This place is believed even to day
to be the abode of the Bhutas of Pashupatinath.
It will be quite clear from the statement given
below that our poet was fully acquainted with
the Bhutas and their lord.

The hermitage of Bashistha where the King

( 33 )

Raghu with his queen, Sudakshina, stayed to
tend the Cow, Kamadhenu, is found on the
bank of Koshi in the tarai of Nepal. As to the
nature of the language of Kalidasa have been
already given an account from his Verse in the
explanatory remark of Kumar Sombhava.
Hence I try to give some satisfactory examples
to make clear the prooves given above. It is
the nature of Nepali language that two words
are not used separatly to denote eating and
•drinking. For example they say. *TKT ^T«J,
^5 ^Tg? f5 ^T«J, <JTCt ^rrg etc, ie— rice,
fruits, milk and water are all eaten not drunk.
In Sanskrit, as mostly in other languages there
are two words used separately for eating and
drinking as ^T^fcf, mRf — are separately used
for the separate things. But our poet, Kalidasa
being habituated with the nature of Nepali
language, uses sometimes Bhuncho ( g^3" )
verb from a root to eat even for milk as we
read in Raghuwansa.

TO: w& *nftf gsrtagwelfa crorfc^r 2/85
The cow said to the king "0 son, extract
my milk in a vessel of leaves ( ^Nt ) and drink
it up ( eat it up ) 5^- fqq - JT^frrra Milk is not
€aten but drunk. Nowhere except in Nepal

( 34 )

water and milk are eaten. Though in Maithili
and Bengali language the words «ra?gf and <TTO|
too are used but with the *raq?r or water-there
must be something eadible, such as chyura an
bread. Only for water is fqRT - PINA to
drunk not ^T^T-KHANA to be eaten.

From these stanzas we can infere that the
nature of Nepali Language was deeply inrooted
in the heart of Kalidasa. It is perfectly plain
to every intelligent persons who is interested
in where about of the great man of the world
that the birth-place of Kalidasa must decided!
be Nepal.

The Bengalese claim Kalidasa to be th

native of their province, but to quote a stanza
from the fourth canto of the Raghuwansha
will be enough to disprove the claim of them.

nC§ *T. II tf — 35

Having uprooted the kings of Bengalese who
were ready to face him, by his skill the leader
( Raghu ) erected the Jaya Stambha, a pillar
as the sign of his victory in the islands
surrounded by the current of the Ganges. If
Bengal was the birth-place of the poet he
would never have tolerated the victory of a
king from outside over his birth place.

( 35 )

Raghu went up to the back of OXUS or
Banshu eFU, the river in Pamir Platue, which
meets the Oral Sea.

Then he defeated Hunaj as is seen in four/
sixty-eight 4/68 stanza of Raghuwansha and
conquering the princes of Kamboja returned
towards the Everest.

On the way to it the gentle breeze charged
with the particles of the water of the Gangese
served him. The poet showing his forvent affec-
tion for his birth-place — says, "In the shade
of Nameru trees the army of Raghu took rest,3'
The fact is not in dispute that every-body having
returned from his adventured journey takes
rest in his own home-land. And at the time of
Raghu the western part of Nepal was regarded
as a part of Avadha that is why he took rest
"there. The evidence of his taking rest here
endicates clearly that Nepal must had
been the home of Kalidasa. To make the fact
clear I quote some of the stanzas here from
the Raghubansha.

: 4/74.

r: 4/57.

They rested, the herbs ( si^ft 3TO ) served
their purposes of lamps without oils at night.

The shining herbs are found profusely in the
region from Kumayoo to Kirat province only.

Talking rest for some days in his home-land,,
Nepal, he again left his haunting abode and
proceeded towards Kirat Pradesh. ^r^4 ST^L—
4177. There a battle had been fought between
the armirs of Raghu and Kirats and defeating
whom the King Raghu marched towards Asam
where the foot of Raghu had been worshiped by
the king Kama Roopa of Asam. Thus conquer-
ing the quarters of the earth the victorious
Raghu returned back to his birth place back to
again. From these accounts there will be left not
the slightest ground to distrust the views that
Kalidas was one of the* worthy sons of Nepal.

It can be said that at the occasion
of the *epI3T or the choice of a husband
by the princess of Vidarva, where suitors
assembled for that purpose, no name of a prince
of Nepal is mentioned there, therefore it is
emproper to say that Kalidasa was a native
of Nepal. But an adequate froof can be given;

( 37 )

here to verify the certainty of his being
a Nepali. It was even already said that the
time of Ramayan Nepal was included in Utter
Koshala. Frcm Gandaki (Saryu) Mahatmya we
can get ample of evidence for this.

Muktichetra lies on the foot of Himalaya in
western Nepal which even now is visited by
the thousands of pilgrimes every year. This is
even now said Koshala. Raghu the prince of
Koshala or Nepal was elected by the princess
of Vidharva. The genious of our poet Kalidas
never failed to bring the truth into light.
He says : —

qft

The Prince of Uttara Koshala — Northern
Koshala ? that is the son of Western Nepal, was
garlanded by the princess. The World ( ^or rfk* )
red-auspicious powder is widely used on the
occasion of marriage ceremony particularly in
Nepal.

If we impartially judge the thoughts given

( 38 )

in Meghaduta by the poet, it will not be
difficult for us to decide vividly the birth
place of the poet.

As the month of Ashadha is of very impo-
rtance in the life of Nepali. Seeing the claud
above their head in the month of Ashadha,
every Nepali dances with joy. The Nepalies
hold it to be an auspecious matter and to be
besmeared with the mud of this month.

They eat and as well feed their keeth and
kinnes the curd and bitten rice as the sign of
rejoycing at its arrival. And in this accession
every Nepali wants to be in house and enjoy the
cheerful month with his family. Being a Nepali
Kalidas naturally remembers his beloved wife
living in his house Alaka in Nepal.

The passionate Yachchya in the separation
of his wife spent several months in that
mountain. His wrist began to seem empty due
to the slipping away of the golden bangle from
it. At the first day of the Ashadha month he

( 39 )

-saw the cloud on the top of the hill as an
elephant engaged in butting the ground.

It is obvious to all that the cloud on the
top of a mountain resembles an elephant and
-seems very pretty to be looked at. It is an old
belief among the Nepali people that the
cloud dripping in their auspicion days is a good
omen. From this also it can be guessed that
the 1st day of Asar was the birth day of our
poet which reminded him his darling and home.
The newly appeared cloud made him more
passionate than usual.

The village of Alaka now known Argha is
in western Nepapl near Reedi, as has been said
in the begining of this book. Kalidas himself
.says it to be his Birth place : —

35T there ^FRRf^T^^1^ to the North from
the house of Kubera arwfW our STFIR home is.
In this sloka Kali Das is telling us his house
openly.

The expressions chandeshwara in the 33
;Stanza Pashupati in 36, and Brahmavarta in

48, are worth to be contempleted upon. In
Pauranic period the name of Nepal was
Brahmavarta. "3fTR^ fe ^T^T 3^t ?TOTR5 SiRJ
as seen in Gandaki Mahatmya. — The holy

place of Brahmavarta has been changed [into
Nepal with the change of time. The temple
of Chandeshwara situated on the bank of
Punyamati in Nepal is world renowned.
Kailasha, the fovourite term of the poet
is near Pashupati Nath. About six miles
north from Kathmandu, there is a temple of
Gokerneshwara sitting in the cave of which

Ravana cut his heads to propetiate Lord Shiva.
Having receined the boon from Shiva he tried
to test his strength by lifting up the mountain

Kailash. The samething is said by the poet in
this stanza.

To confirm the idea said above a Sloka
can be quoted from an inscripton of Lichchavi
time, which is written in commemoration of
Kailas.

( 41 )

If these lines of the poet are studied by
with an unbased mind there would be no trace
of doubt left to say that Nepal was not his
birth place.

Kalidasa, of course, praised Ujjayini from
the bottom of his heart. This implies to the
best that he was matrimonially connected with
her and he spent a long period of his life there
and he made her the field of his literary
perfermances. The main thihg to be noted is
that the poet's method of expressing the-feelings
towards Nepal and Ujjeyini differs not only in
style but also in tenor.

As a psychological proof : —

Describing Alka, his home, his eyes are filled
with tears and paying homage to Ujjayini he
seems to be fired by passion. The two different
sentiments in describing the two countries

show how much he is clear about his father
land and father in-law'sland —

The word STOHT is used specially for the
carnal love as spipft, srowft means one who loves
ior the sake of carnal pleasure. Here the poet
becomes a sentimental and suggests his friend
Megha to go to Ujjayini and enjoy the side
long glances of the ladies of there. This is the
psychological truth that even the memory of
the house of father-in-low makes a man un-
- consciously jolly.

He seems quite different when he advises
his friend to see his wife in Alaka. ( Argha )

Even the entry to his house .is forbidden to
his friend. His friend is asked to stay on the
window of his house. Here the poet does not
advise Megha to enjoy the side-glance of her, on
the contrary he orders his friend to narrate his
message to his wife from a distance. And he
praises the chastity of his wife before him. He

( 43 )

believes his wife as chaste as Seetaji — '
iftt cR^I Sfcrat sfcg^t *TT". It is resounded from
the word qqfficR ( Mahabeer ) that he wants his
friend to be as holy as Hanuman ; because
every body wants a man sent near his wife to
be chaste.

If we take a little effort to think over the
words used by the poet above we can easily
decide that this miraculous expression is not
mere hypothesis on the part of the poet.

Let us cast a glance again at the Shakunta-
lam, the masterpiece of Kalidasa. The fourth
act of this drama is anonymously held as an
unique act before the existing dramas of the
world. Here we find a compound word ( ^T-
iferr ) used for the time of offering the oblations
which is exactly Nepali in character. The Nepalis
never say gcffi gjT^r as the people in all the other
provinces of India do. The Nepalise use always
^fT %$T and ijf^T f°r time and §fa for oblation
which arffrised without any change by Kalidasa.

KanduAshram is stationed on the bank of
Madi in jthe Western Part of Nepal, where
Shakuntala was brought up. The word s^rrRnRt
3jfo also denotes that the place must had been
a hilly one and not a plain. There is a place

( 44 )

known as 'Apsarakunda or Shachitirth on the
way to Muktichhetra wherefrom Shakuntala
was taken off by her mother Menaka ( See
Himabat Khand ). Again in the 6th act of
Shakuntala we see a picture of mother Nepal
drawn by our poet Kalidasa through the hands
of King Dushyanta : —

§TCOIT

In this very stanza the Ashrama of the Sage
IKandu is depicted to be on the bank of Malini
or Madi river on the holy foot of Himalaya
within the Kingdom of Nepal. See, Kasyapeswar
in Himavat Khand.

The hermitage of Kashyapa also has been
recently discovered, It is on a mountain
near Gosaikund, on the foot of Himalaya,
where Shakuntala, with her Son Bharat, was
met by king Dushyanta, on returning back
from Trivistapa ( TIBBET ). Here Matali,
the charioteer, was asked by the king what
mountain was that. In reply he said "tr^ ^^
%*Hg£t WT ^3^T qefa:" this is the mountain of
Kimpurusha named Hemokuta. According to

( 45 )

Bhagvat Puran, Kimpurush is a part of Tibbet,
the Nothern part of it was in Nepal then.

One part of the Kimpurush which is now
-within the territory of Nepal, was in those
days under the reign of Dushyanta, which is
seen. ^TTfTgt^^^^Tf^BTC^ 3frfo?t You will
be shortly in the region governed by you, O,
long lived king" said Matali.

Kalidasa is not so clear in the discription of
the other countries as is seen that of Nepal.
This is evident from the said statements. It is
another fact to proof that Kalidasa was brought
up in Nepal, otherwise it was not possible for
him to describe so minutely every details of
Nepal. So it is not an exgaggeration to think
that Kalidas had inigreted to Ujjayini from
Nepal with King Vikrama.

There are other incidents worth to be men->
tioned from Ritusamhara, Vikramorvashiya,
and Malavikagnimitra and the other works of
Kalidasa. Our poet being an inhabitant of a
cold country feels much hot in Ujjayini. For
that reason he begings his Ritusambara
with the discription of the hot region sftsn and

( 46 )

naturally there comes out of his mouth the
word 5RO^-terrible as an adjective for the sun of
summer and at the same time he sings for the
rays of the moon.

There are other proofs in his being a NepalL
•We find some miracles in his poems for the
discription of Hemanta as well as Shishira,
which are saturated with the sap of the-
Nepalese life.

The first month of Hemanta, — marga is the
harvest season of Nepal. In this season the
peasents of Nepal reap and gather the corn^

( 47 )

especially the shall paddy, the crop of this
season. Every child of Nepal knows that the
rice of shali paddy is the most tasteful grain and
therefore held holy. %The Lodhra flower begins
to bloom in this season and also a little frost
begins to fall. This is seen only in Nepal in

this season. Shali, Lodhra, tushara are in vogue
in Nepali without any defermation. The
Kraunch birds are seen over the sky flying
from South to North in rows then In Nepal. We

pass bence to some stanzas in which the cold
season is described.

Here the words f^RR£ eTETPR closed window
of the houses of the country is note worthy.
Because in the cold season very few windows
of the houses of Nepal are left open. The
picture of cold season drawn by Kalidasa is
also a proof of his toeing a Nepali.

The fifth act of Vikramorvashiya is also
important regarding the birth place Kalidasa.
The drama ends with the union of the king

Pururava with his bereaved wife Urvashi and
her son.

( 48 j

The forest of Ambika, where Sudirnna had
been Changed into a woman named Ilia, is near
Bhaktapura. The forest is known a Phulchoki.
The son of Ilia was Pururaba, who fell in love
with Urvashi. The mythological story from
Mahabharat is adopted in the drama. The scene
and scenaries of the drama are mostly taken from
the Natures available inNepal. The meeting
place of Pururaba with his beloved son and wife
Urvashi happened to be near the hermitage of
sage Chyevana-^Tor^T^WT^f^R 1l)^T <TR*ft ^W
The female hermit reached here from Chyeva-
nashram ( 5th act of B. U. ) This Ashrama is
now found on the bank of "Betrabati'' neai
west-number 1, Nuvakota, where the celestial
saint Narada had come to give the message oi
Indra to king Pururava. There is also another
proof to confirm this idea. It is this that we
read here

u

) Kirats is a tribe of old times living
in the eastern part of Nepal on the foot of
Himalayas. The tribe even now devotes with
the business of Kasturi, Chauri, and Rubbies.
The word Kirti is used no where but in Nepal.

( 49 )

In Nepal the people say Kirati no Kerata to
donote both sex of that tribe. Thus the thoughful
men are naturally compelled to believe that
the poet was a nattive of Nepal. It is surprising
that Kalidas has miraculously woven a net of
literature with the warp and waft of thematerials
of Nepal. His love for Ujjayini and geographi-
cal knowledge of the world was vast and what he
wiote wrote correctly but not so minutely, that
is why it has become very difficult with the
critics to say difinite by about his native place.

The style of Malavikagni mitra is some what
different from those of his other works. This
drama is social in character. In this drama the
poet warns to those who have made their
habits of giving their judgements indiscri-
minately. Here Paribrajica Kaushika, an asce-
tic woman is given the authority to distinguish
a better student from the two students. In
those days the fine art, dance, music, and
stage crafts had developed a lot in Nepal. Even
now Nateswara Shiva and Nateswari Parvati
are worshipped in every quarters of Nepal with
the hope gaining efficiency in music and dance.
Every girl of Newar family attaining the stage
of puberty is called Lyashe for their efficiency

( 50 )

in the dance of lasyam. This very fact is stagec
in Malabikagnimitrarn by the poet. He wants
to give a new colour to the old spirit of the
dance in this drama. So he say : —

"Everything can not be said to be good
because of its antiquity, niether the new
literature can be said all perfect due to its
newness. A man of discrimination uses his
own wisdon, while the fools blindly follow
others". The drama Malavikagnimitrarn was
staged on the occasion of the coming of the
spring. Even now the custom of Vasantotsava
is in vogue in Nepal. This festival is accom-
panied by dances and musics. In this way
allmost all the plots in the books of Kalidasa are
miraculously derived from the book of nature
of Nepal. Though this drama is doubted to
be a composition of that very Kalidasa because
there are few things that can be said of Nepal.

KCI 16375