the masters of Sanskrit Poetry

 

दण्डिनः पदलाळित्यं भारवेः अर्थगौरवम्

उपमा काळिदासस्य माघे सन्ति त्रयोः गुणाः॥

daṇḍinaḥ padalāḻityaṁ bhāraveḥ arthagauravam |

upamā kāḻidāsasya māghe santi trayoḥ guṇāḥ||

The lucidity and simplicity of Dandin, the depth of expressions and ideas of Bharavi, and the dexterity in presenting apt similes as shown by Kalidasa-all the three qualities are found in the poet Magha..

This is an old couplet known to all students of Sanskrit. Of course the person who coined it must have been partial to Magha since Dandin, Bharavi and the great Kalidasa were the greatest by themselves and even though Magha is great too, he cannot be given, by any stretch of imagination, a positions superior to these three..

However, I take this opportunity to introduce concisely what the four poets were.

Dandin was a great writer of prose and a grammarian too.. His magnum opus, the greatest work was Dashakumara charitam, a creation in prose ( in Sanskrit literature, people used to write prose too in such a great way that their works could be equated to sublime poetry.. and the writers were accepted as poets).. His simplicity of expression makes his stand out. Nevertheless, I have to give a word of caution. His simplicity is not simple enough for us, the prophets of Sarala Samskrutam. Anyway, he was simple in his expressions and sublime at his work too.

Bharavi, the author of Kiratam or Kirataarjuneeyam, was a serious writer. He packed his poetry with words of eternal moral significance. The storyline for his great Mahakavyam was the episode in Mahabharatham were Arjuna did penance in honour of Lord Shankara, and the Lord, in the guise of a hunter, appeared before Arjuna, and even fought him and finally blessed him with the most potent weapon, the Paashupata astram.

Kalidasa needs no introduction.. He was greatest among the greats.. The great poets created KumaraSambhavam, Raghuvamsham, Abhijnaana Shakuntalam, Vikramorvasheeyam, Malavikaagnimitram, Meghadootham, Ritu Samhararam ( and some say the Shyamala Dandaka too).. He is the textbook, He is the model, He is the yardstick for anything in Sanskrit literature. So we He cannot describe or evaluate him in a few words.

And Magha, the great poet, who appear to have lived later than the above three is the great author of the Mahakavyam--Shishupalavadham also called Maaghakavyam. In this the episode in Mahabharatham, where Lord Krishna had to kill his cousin Sisupala is explained.. Various poetic functions like Dhvani Kavya, Shabda alankara etc., are applied with consummate dexterity by this poet.

Of course, when we talk of five Mahakavyams in Sanskrit, we have to list them as follows.

Raghuvamsham and KumaraSambhavam of Kalidasa

Kirataarjuneeyam of Bharavi

Sisupala Vadham of Magha

And

Naishadeeya Charitam of Sree Harsha.