One of the finest Sanskrit poets, Kalidasa, is credited with writing the lyric song Meghaduta. It tells the story of a yaka (or nature spirit) who begged a cloud to deliver a message of love to his wife after being banished by his lord for a year to a faraway area. The poem rose to prominence in Sanskrit literature and served as an example for other poets who went on to create Sandesha Kavya, or “messenger-poems,” on related subjects. A follow-up to Meghduta, Ghanavrttam, was written by Korada Ramachandra Sastri.
It is one of Kalidasa’s most well-known compositions and has 120 stanzas. There are two sections to the work: Purva-megha and Uttara-megha. It describes how a yaka, a subject of King Kubera (the god of riches), persuades a passing cloud to deliver a message to his wife at Alaka on Mount Kailsa in the Himalaya mountains after being exiled for a year to Central India for failing to do his responsibilities. In order to do this, the yaka describes the several lovely views the cloud would encounter on its northward journey to the city of Alak, where his bride is waiting for him to return.
The Meghaduta’s literary device gave rise to the Sandesa Kavya or messenger poetry genre in Sanskrit literature, most of which are modelled after it (and frequently written in the Meghaduta’s Mandkrnt metre). Examples include the Hamsa-sandesha, in which Rama requests the help of a Hansa Bird to send Sita a letter outlining the sites they will pass.
Books Info
| Books name | Meghadutam / ମେଘଦୁତମ୍ |
| Author | Kalindi Charan Panigrahi |
| No Of pages | 10 |
| Publisher | The Utkala Sahitya Press |
| Publication | 1906 |
| Printed At | NA |
| Distributor | NA |