''Pavanadūta'' (पवनदूत) or ''Wind Messenger'' is an historical

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 ...

poem. It was composed by Dhoyin or Dhoyī, a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

at the court of the Sena king Lakshmana who ruled Gauda, in what is now

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, during the latter part of the twelfth century CE. His Pavanadūta is probably the earliest surviving example of the many messenger poems which were written in imitation of the ''

Meghadūta ''Meghadūta'' (, literally ''Cloud Messenger'') is a lyric poem written by Kālidāsa (c. 4th–5th century CE), considered to be one of the greatest Sanskrit poets. It describes how a '' yakṣa'' (or nature spirit), who had been banished by ...

'' or Cloud Messenger 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. ...

. It tells the story of Kuvalayavatī, a gandharva maiden from the south who falls in love with King Laksmana when she sees him during his victory tour of the world. She asks the south wind to take her message to the king at his court. The theme, as of all messenger poems, is viraha, separation in love. Allusions to romance are never far away. While Dhoyin devotes 48 out of 104

stanza 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. ...

s of Pavanadūta to describing the wind’s journey from Sandal mountain in the south to king Lakshmana’s palace in Vijayapura in Bengal, he spends nearly as long a time (38 stanzas) on the message, in which the lovelorn condition of Kuvalayavatī and the wonderful qualities of the king are described in detail.

English translations

The

Clay Sanskrit Library The Clay Sanskrit Library is a series of books published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation. Each work features the text in its original language (transliterated Sanskrit) on the left-hand page, with its English translation on the ...

has published a translation of ''Pavanadūta'' by Sir James Mallinson as a part of the volume ''Messenger Poems''.

References

Sanskrit poetry {{poetry-stub