- Meghaduta
Meghadūta (literally "cloud messenger") is a
lyric poem written by Kālidāsa, considered to be one of the greatestSanskrit poets.A short poem of only 111
stanzas , it is one of Kālidāsa's most famous works. It recounts how a IAST|yakṣa, or attendant ofKubera (the God of Wealth) after beingexile d for a year to central India for some unknowntransgression , convinces a passingcloud to take a message to his wife on Mount Kailāsa in the Himālaya mountains. The IAST|yakṣa accomplishes this by describing the many beautiful sights the cloud will see on itsnorth ward course to the city of Alakā, where his wife awaits his return.In 1813, the poem was first translated into English by
Horace Hayman Wilson ."'An excerpt is quoted in Canadian directorDeepa Mehta 's film, Water.The poem was also the inspiration for Gustav Holst's 'The Cloud Messenger Op. 30' (1909-10).
ee also
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Sanskrit literature
*Sanskrit drama External links
* [http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gretil/1_sanskr/5_poetry/2_kavya/meghdk_u.htm Meghaduta - Transliterated text at GRETIL]
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