कालिदासकृतरूपकाणि - Plays of Kalidasa

         Kalidassa is the author of three plays namely ‘maalaivakaignaima~ma\’ ‘ivaËmaaova-SaIyama\’ ‘AiBa&anaSaakuntlama\’.     

maalaivakaignaima~ma\ (Malavikagnimitram):

Malavikagnimitram is a drama in five acts. It deals with the love of ‘Aignaima~’ for a princess called Malavika. It may be considered to be an historical play as contemporaneous events like the horse sacrifice performed by Pushyamitra, feud between ‘ya&saona:’ and ‘maaQavasaona:’ and Agnimitra’s intervention are referred to. Though love is the dominant sentiment of this play Kalidasa has handled the Vidushaka character beautifully that humour also stands on par with love.

ivaËmaaova-SaIyama\ (Vikramorvasiyam):

Vikramorvasiyam is a drama in five acts. It depicts the love of King ‘pu$rvasa\’ for the celestial nymph ‘]va-SaI’ (Urvasi). The source of this play could be traced to the ‘?gvaod’ ‘ivaYNaupuraNama\’ ‘pd\mapuraNama\’ and ‘Mma%syapuraNama\’. Kalidasa has introduced several changes in this play. Act IV of this play is a lyrical monologue describing pu$rvasa\ as a madman searching for ]va-SaI in the mountainous region.

AiBa&anaSaakuntlama\ (Abhij`nanasakuntalam):

Abhij`nanasakuntalam is drama in seven acts depicting the love of ‘duYyant:’ and ‘Sakuntlaa’. The episode ‘Sakuntlaaopa#yaanama\’ in the Mahabharatam is the basis for this play. By introducing the ring of Dushyanta and the curse of Durvasas, Kalidasa has changed the course of the play in an altogether different direction. Since the loss of the ring given by the hero to the heroine as a token of remembrance ³AiBa&anama\´ plays a leading part in ennobling the characters of the hero and heroine, the play came to be called as ‘AiBa&anaSaakuntlama\’. There is not a scene in the play, which is devoid of charm and attraction. It used to be said that the IV act of the play is most attractive.

‘kavyaoYau naaTkM rmyaM t~ rmyaa Sakuntlaa.t~aip ca catuqaao-=\k: t~ SlaaokcatuYTyama\..

Kalidasa’s style in the dramas is easy flowing, chaste and elegant. It is absolutely free from elaborate and laboured constructions. Words are chosen in large numbers from common usage. The dialogues in the dramas are short and simple.