The Book of Lost Books (13 page)

In the absence of any firm biographical facts, a gloriously apocryphal body of legends has entwined itself with his name. K
lid
sa means “Servant of the Goddess Kali,” and the fact that the -
da
sa
suffix was thought pejorative by orthodox Hindus has been taken to suggest that he was a foreigner and convert. He was, by all accounts, very handsome, and some traditions claim he was also inordinately stupid as a child. They say he was seen up a tree, cutting off the bough on which he was sitting.

He was inveigled into marrying a haughty princess, who had decreed she would only marry her intellectual superior. Some wags at court persuaded her to take part in a silent debate with K
lid
sa. She put up one finger, to state that “Shakti is one,” Shakti being the personification of primal energy, and the consort of the god Shiva. He thought she was going to poke him in the eye, so he put up two fingers, which she accepted as the answer “Shakti is in duality as well.” She extended her palm, to symbolize the elements earth, water, fire, air, and void. Fearful of getting a slap, he put up his fist. The princess agreed to marry him, as he had successfully shown that the elements constitute the body. When the ruse was discovered, he was banished, and, mortally ashamed, he offered his tongue to Kali, who in return made him a poet.

Although the titles of five hundred Sanskrit plays have been recorded, only three can be attributed to K
lid
sa with any certainty. In addition he is known to have written the aforementioned lyrical poem, a meditation on the seasons, and “The Birth of the War God.” He also left unfinished an epic poem entitled
Raghuvam
am
, or
The Dynasty of Raghu,
on the genealogy and descendants of Rama, comprising material also found in the
Ramayana.

It was principally as a playwright, though, that K
lid
sa became known in Europe. Sir William Jones translated his play as
Sacontala, or
the Fatal Ring
in 1792, coining the epithet “the Sanskrit Shakespeare.” Goethe was deeply impressed when it was translated from English into German, and lauded it for “blending youthful blossoms with the fruits of maturity, uniting heaven and earth in one.” Goethe began his
Faust
with a debate between the author and the theater manager, after the model of K
lid
sa, such prologue scenes being a notable feature of Sanskrit drama.