The work opens with the foundational life and background of Kālidāsa, the greatest of Sanskrit poets, whose exact biography remains lost to history while his peerless artistry endures. Set in the brilliant fifth-century court of King Vikramaditya in Ujjain, the volume presents seven authentic masterpieces, comprising three dramas, two epics, an elegiac poem, and a descriptive poem.
The central dramatic masterpiece, Shakuntala, tells of a secret woodland marriage between King Dushyanta and the foster-child of a sage, followed by a cruel separation caused by a hermit's curse and the loss of a token ring. After years of bitter remorse, a miracle restores the ring, leading to a tearful reunion in the heavenly mountains where the king finds his wife and their heroic son Bharata.
The poetry sections explore the legendary solar dynasty of Raghu, tracing the noble lineage from King Dilipa through Aja and Rama. The narrative details Aja's romantic choice of his bride Indumati, his deep grief at her sudden death, and Rama's heroic struggles against giants, culminating in his sorrowful exile and ultimate restoration.
Another major poetic work, The Birth of the War-god, narrates the wooing of the god Shiva by the mountain maiden Parvati through ascetic devotion, their divine marriage, and the birth of their son Kumara, who leads the heavenly hosts to victory over the demon Taraka.
The volume concludes with The Cloud-Messenger, an exquisite elegiac poem wherein an exiled demigod implores a passing cloud to carry a message of unchanging love across half of India to his grieving wife in the Himalayas. Throughout all these works, the prose and verse balance precise rhetoric, vivid observation of living nature, and profound psychological insight into romantic love.
