THE MEGHA-DUTA OF KALIDASA THE M E G H A - D U T A OF K A L I D A S A CRITICALLY EDITED BY SUSHIL KUMAR DE M.A., LL.B. (Calcutta), D.Lit. (London) Honorary Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, Professor of Sanskrit Language and Literature m the Post- graduate Research Department, Sanskrit College, Calcutta. WITH A GENERAL INTRODUCTION BY Dr. S. RADHAKRISHNAN Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies Vniversity of Ca'ifomia 4115 Du'ir.cUe liall Berkeley, Ca,: fornix (H7\?0 SAHITYA AKADEMI NEW DELHI First Edition : 1957 PUBLISHED ON BEHALF OF THE SAHITYA AKADEMI BY THE DIRECTOR, THE PUBLICATIONS DIVISION, MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AiND BROADCASTING, DELHI-8. Printed by Shriniketan Dhawalb at the Karnatak Printing Press, Karnatak House, Chira Bazar, Bombay 2. "PK 37 <((0 l i 5 PREFACE # JO. For the honour of being invited to prepare an auth of Kalidasa's Megha-duta, it is my pleasant duty to thank the members of the Sanskrit Advisory Board of the Sahitya Akademi and its distinguished Vice-Chairman, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan. As far as possible, within certain limits of time, all available materials have been utilized and it is hoped that nothing important has been overlooked. The extent of materials, as well as the method of editing, has been indicated in the Introduction and even at the risk of a little lengthiness the critical footnotes to the text are meant to give a general view of the text-tradition. What the new features of this edition are the reader can easily find out, if he cares; but I should like to think that the one thing he cares for is the poem itself, and not the comparative merits of different editions. Let me hope that this edition will not only stimulate further research into the text-problem, but also help further study and enjoyment of this masterpiece of the great poet, which should be its ultimate object. Among those friends who readily assisted me by loan of rare books and manuscripts, I return my sincere thanks to Dr. S. K. Belvalkar, Dr. V. Raghavan, Dr. P. K. Gode, Dr. V. G. Paranjpe, and Dr. J. B. Chaudhuri. I also thank Sri Krishna Kripalani, Secretary, Sahitya Akademi, for uniform courtesy in rendering whatever assistance I required. To my former pupil, Mrs. Sibani Dasgupta M.A., D.Phil. I am indebted for help in many ways in preparing this edition and its press-copy. Sincere thanks are also due to my former pupil and present colleague, Dr. R. C. Hazra, for his kindness in looking over the final proofs. Calcutta 15th June, 1956 S. K. DE I C O N T E N T S GENERAL INTRODUCTION 5 INTRODUCTION i i Editions of the Text Adaptations and Translations iv Commentaries vi M anuscripts xiii The Problem of Reconstitution xvii T he Question of Recensions xxiii Interpolated Verses xxiv Authenticity of Readings xxvi T heme, Source and Characteristics xxix THE TEXT 35 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 81 1. Editions : (a) Text only 81 (b) Text in Anthologies (c) Text with Commentaries 2. Adaptation, Translation and Paraphrase 83 3. Modern Translations 4. Manuscripts 84 (a) Text with occasional glosses 85 (b) Commentaries and Commentators 86 5. Critical and Literary Notices 91 INDICES 93 Pada-index of Stanzas 95 Index of Interpolated Verses 109 Index of Geographical Names Index of Proper Names 110 GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 111 Geographical Notes on Places mentioned ts the Text 113 ERRATA In spite of all care in proof-reading, it is to be regretted that some misprints still linger, especially in the footnotes and indices. Most of these are due to the breaking down of repha, anusvdra and visarga, or of the vowel-signs for t, e and o. As these can be easily made out, they are not listed h6re, but there are a few serious mis prints, which are listed below and which the reader may kindly correct Page Line For Read 7 16 fflnant kim banafjt kim 18 his of Jamitra his use of Jamitra »» ten seven 8 8 8 21 After the word * cloud' read: (The present text has 111 stanzas; see however, page xv.) 10 14 kavi yasah prariht kavi-yasah-prarihi 11 16 kiranesvivankak kiranesvivankak #» 24 yuje rSmadivad yuje; ramadivad 14 15 purasBd parasiad >» 20 -kagni- -kdgni- 16 7 sfsteh sfsteh » 8 pascdd pasc&d 18 15 ksiftsdnam ksiftsdt&m 18 30 purvsmin purvasmin 19/*. 37 bharati bharata 24 5 -kanti-vadanam -kanti vadanam » 7 -varcilanguli -varctfangtdi tr 8 nartayittur nartayitur 25 12 vignita- vighnita- 26 9 avintta hrdayo' avtnita-hxdayo9 26 15 vyddhajana- vyadhajana-gUa- 26 20 The nun Delete ‘nun’ *> 10 from bottom nendyaputram -fteriaryaputrath io *«- oA . cJtu x, A . T Page Line ^ For Read ff it it „ nirvrtasarixam ntrvrtasariram 27 3 „ „ bhavo bahvyo vaikldbyam vaiklavyam 28 10 sinnners sinners 29 15 5 from bottom -nivafa- -nivata- am I am 30 18 prabhrty prabhrty » 22 -carini -carini 31 17 Svafia eva Svahayeva 99 f.n. 64 havirabhujam havirbhujam 32 last line magadhi magadhi xii f.n, 48 JOR, Madras AOR, Madras University 41 4 fa** 10 from bottom 3a§vata SaSvata 99 8 „ 3PJ 43 16 46 2 „ IWiI* 46 10 ~*Nr S*i- 51 3 55 9 -3 $ - 55 4 from bottom 59 11 61 11 -srcsnftg- »> 15 »» 17 ftcq*4lcWI-. it 17-18 tt 4 from bottom % r - 62 15 “f e - » 16 „ 63 2 „ SSI ” C| cf 64 4 » 14 „ „ -35- » 12 „ „ Kavyamimamsa. Kavyamimamsa. 66 13 67 8 -Sfc- -gss- t* 10 Page Line For Read 67 8 from bottom 68 11 Wlfctl: »> 13 99 99 >» tt 99 99 iisroM »» 10 99 99 &$dE. N \-- 72 8 -WfKpilH 73 8 99 99 84 6 99 99 Nadargikar Nandargikar 86 19 Kanakakirt! Kanakakirti 88 22 Kurkur Kurur » 7 99 99 Kalyaija- Kalyaija- 91 last line Brestau Breslau 96 10 t» n tt 14 a 22 -sn<fai- -srfoi- tt 26 101 9 a 3 from bottom cROI- *& - 103 4 Sfe: fs r/ \ t 106 2 » 18 s p jp - 3° % - H 9 99 99 -g^sun -gdbrat ii 7 99 99 tf& n- ?i& n- 107 7 108 8 99 99 -W «l+- 115 5 CAKfcJA— CARABIA