
''Meghadūta'' (, literally ''Cloud Messenger'')
is a
lyric poem
Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, th ...
written by
Kālidāsa
Kālidāsa (, "Servant of Kali (god), Kali"; 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy. ...
(c. 4th–5th century CE), considered to be one of the greatest
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
poets. It describes how a ''
yakṣa'' (or nature spirit), who had been banished by his master to a remote region for a year, asked a cloud to take a message of love to his wife. The poem became well-known in Sanskrit literature and inspired other poets to write similar poems (known as "messenger-poems", or
Sandesha Kavya) on similar themes.
Korada Ramachandra Sastri wrote ''Ghanavrttam,'' a sequel to ''Meghaduta''.
About the poem
A poem of 120
stanzas
In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...
, it is one of Kālidāsa's most famous works. The work is divided into two parts, Purva-megha and Uttara-megha. It recounts how a
yakṣa, a subject of King
Kubera
Kubera (, ) also known as Kuvera, Kuber and Kuberan, is the god of wealth, and the god-king of the semi-divine yakshas in Hinduism. He is regarded as Guardians of the directions, the regent of the north (''Dikpala''), and a protector of the ...
(the god of wealth), after being
exile
Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...
d for a year to
Central India
Central India refers to a geographical region of India that generally includes the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
The Central Zonal Council, established by the Government of India, includes these states as well as Uttar Prades ...
for neglecting his duties, convinces a passing
cloud
In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...
to take a message to his wife at
Alaka on
Mount Kailāsa in the
Himālaya mountains. The accomplishes this by describing the many beautiful sights the cloud will see on its northward course to the city of
Alakā, where his wife awaits his return.
In Sanskrit literature, the poetic conceit used in the ''Meghaduta'' spawned the genre of ''
Sandesa Kavya'' or messenger poems, most of which are modeled on the Meghaduta (and are often written in the ''Meghaduta''s
Mandākrāntā metre). Examples include the
Hamsa-sandesha, in which
Rama
Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...
asks a
Hansa Bird to carry a message to
Sita
Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...
, describing sights along the journey.
In 1813, the poem was first translated into
English by
Horace Hayman Wilson. Since then, it has been translated several times into various languages. As with the other major works of Sanskrit literature, the most famous traditional commentary on the poem is by
Mallinātha.
The great scholar of Sanskrit literature,
Arthur Berriedale Keith, wrote of this poem: "It is difficult to praise too highly either the brilliance of the description of the cloud’s progress or the pathos of the picture of the wife sorrowful and alone. Indian criticism has ranked it highest among Kalidasa’s poems for brevity of expression, richness of content, and power to elicit sentiment, and the praise is not undeserved."
It is believed the picturesque
Ramtek near
Nagpur
Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...
inspired Kalidasa to write the poem.
Visualisation of Meghadūta
''Meghadūta'' describes several scenes and has inspired many artists, including the drawings by Nana Joshi. An excerpt is quoted in Canadian director
Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta, (; born 15 September 1950) is an Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, best known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire (1996 film), ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth (1998 film), Earth'' (1998), and ''Water (2005 film), Water'' (2 ...
's film,
''Water''. Simon Armitage appears to reference Meghaduta in his poem "Lockdown".
The composer
Fred Momotenko wrote the composition 'Cloud-Messenger', music for a multimedia performance with
recorder, dance, projected animation and electronics in surround audio. The world premiere was at Festival
November Music, with Hans Tuerlings (choreography), Jasper Kuipers (animation),
Jorge Isaac (blockflutes) and dancers Gilles Viandier and Daniela Lehmann.
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
set the ''Meghadūta'' to music in his 1910 composition "The Cloud Messenger", Opus 30.
The Indian filmmaker
Debaki Bose adapted the play into a 1945 film titled ''Meghdoot''.
In 2019, Priti Pandguangan re-created ''Meghadūtam'' as an
electronic literature
Electronic literature or digital literature is a genre of literature where digital capabilities such as interactivity, multimodality or Generative literature, algorithmic text generation are used aesthetically. Works of electronic literature ar ...
piece for the
Electronic Literature Organization Collection 4.
See also
*
Mandākrāntā metre
*
Hamsa-Sandesha
*
Sanskrit literature
Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some ...
*
Sanskrit drama
The term Indian classical drama refers to the tradition of dramatic literature and performance in ancient India. The roots of drama in the Indian subcontinent can be traced back to the Rigveda (1200-1500 BCE), which contains a number of hymns in ...
*
Sandesh Rasak
*
Sandesa Kavya
*''
Ashadh Ka Ek Din''
Editions
*
2nd ed 1843Introduction, text with English verse translation, and assorted footnotes.
*
Kalidasae Meghaduta et Çringaratilaka: additum est glossariumhttps://books.google.com/books?id=XzApAAAAYAAJ Meghaduta ; et, Çringaratilaka] Sanskrit text, with introduction and some critical notes in Latin.
* With Sanskrit text, English translation and more extensive notes separately.
*
The Megha Dūta: Or, Cloud Messenger A prose translation.
* German translation.
* Hayman's translation, with notes and translation accompanying the Sanskrit text.
*
Exhaustive Notes on the Meghaduta: Comprising Various Readings, the Text with the Commentary of ... Text with
Mallinātha's commentary Sanjīvanī. Separate sections for English translation, explanation of Sanskrit phrases, and other notes.
*
Kalidasa's Meghaduta*
*
*
Translations
The ''Meghadūta'' has been translated many times in many Indian languages.
* The Bengali poet
Buddhadeva Bose translated ''Meghadūta'' into Bengali in 1957.
* Dr. Jogindranath Majumdar translated ''Meghaduta'' in Bengali keeping its original 'Mandakranta Metre' for the first time published in 1969.
*
Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, a notable literary critic, translated ''Meghadūtam'' to Hindi prose in 1924.
*Three different translations into rhyming Hindi poetry were done by Shyamala Kant Varma, Bijendra Kumar Sharma, and Navin Kumar 'Nischal'.
* Acharya Dharmanand
Jamloki Translated ''Meghduta'' in
Garhwali and was well known for his work.
*
Moti BA translated ''Meghduta'' in
Bhojpuri Language
Bhojpuri (IPA: ; Devanagari: , Kaithi: ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bhojpuri region, Bhojpur-Purvanchal region of India and the Terai region of Nepal.:ethnologue:bho, Bhojpuri Ethnologue World Languages (2009) It is chiefly spok ...
.
*Many Nepali poets such as Jiwanath Updhyaya Adhikari, Shiva Kumar Pradhan, Biswa Raj Adhikari have translated ''Meghduta'' in
Nepali language
Nepali (; , ), or ''Gorkhali'' is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official and most widely spoken Languages of Nepal, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a ''lingua fr ...
* Mukhathala G.Arjunan translated Meghaduta in Malayalam keeping its original 'Mandakranta Metre'
*
Uthaya Sankar SB retold ''Meghaduta'' in
Bahasa Malaysia prose form in ''Thirukkural dan Megha Duta'' (2018)
References
External links
; Text
''Meghaduta'' - Transliterated textat
GRETIL
; Translations
Translationby
Arthur W. Ryder at The
Internet Sacred Text Archive
The Internet Sacred Text Archive (ISTA) is a Santa Cruz, California-based website dedicated to the preservation of electronic public domain religious texts.
History
The website was first opened to the public on March 9, 1999, by John Bruno Hare ...
Translationby C. John Holcombe (Available a
Partial text of the ''Megadhuta'' with word-for-word translation
by Jaffor Ullah and Joanna Kirkpatrick
Translating Kalidasa with examples from Meghaduta.
''Megadhuta'' in GarhwaliTranslation by Acharya Dharmanand Jamloki.
;Recordings
Dr. Bipin Kumar Jha Chanted recitation.
Sung to music composed by Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Als
hereRecitation of first verseby Sangeeta Gundecha. (Two other verses, 1.5 and 2.26, are recited from minute 5:50 onwards.)
; About the work
Illustrating the ''Meghaduta'' "Illustrated catalogue of the plants and trees of Kalidasa’s ''Meghaduta''".
by Chandra Holm
by Holcombe
of a book of translation.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meghaduta
4th-century poems
5th-century poems
Works by Kalidasa
Sanskrit poetry
History of Nagpur
Poems adapted into films
Ancient Indian poems
Hindu poetry