कुमारसम्भवम् (महाकवि कालिदास - संस्कृत मूल एवं हिन्दी अनुवाद)

INTRODUCTION
1 KÂLIDÂSA —THE AUTHOR.
It is a matter of great pity that we possess practically no
(1) His Life trustworthy account of the personal life of
Kâlidâsa, the greatest Indian poet. Like most
of the other poets of Sanskrit he has observed complete silence
about himself, and following his example, later writers too have
abstained themselves from throwing any light on his personal
history Therefore the only sources to know something about
him are, first, a number of traditions prevalent in the later period
of classical Sanskrit, and, secondly, a few direct and indirect
references contained in his works The traditions associate too
many interesting incidents with his name At one place, for
instance, he is said to have been a dunce in his youth and later
on to have got his enlightenment through the grace of the
goddess Kâlî, whence he is known Kâlidâsa Another tale says
that he owes his skill in poetry to his wife A third one describes
him as a shepherd by birth and a contemporary of King Bhoja
of Dhârâ (1200 A D) One more asserts that he met with his
death at the hands of a courtesan in Ceylon But it is doubtful
if any of these and other allied tales are of any real worth in
studying Kâlidâsa What seems probable is that the incidents
of some other Kâlidâsa have been ascribed to the Kâlidâsa of
the Raghuvansham and the Kumârasambhavam, who was the
most famous of them That there have been a number of poets
of Sanskrit, who bore the name, Kâlidâsa is proved by the