India, more than would be the case in Europe, the extent of his
writing is an indication of originality and power; for the poets of
the classical period underwent an education that encouraged an
exaggerated fastidiousness, and they wrote for a public meticulously
critical. Thus the great Bhavabhuti spent his life in constructing
three dramas; mighty spirit though he was, he yet suffers from the
very scrupulosity of his labour. In this matter, as in others,
Kalidasa preserves his intellectual balance and his spiritual
initiative: what greatness of soul is required for this, every one
knows who has ever had the misfortune to differ in opinion from an
intellectual clique.


III

Le nom de Kâlidâsa domine la poésie indienne et la résume brillamment.
Le drame, l'épopée savante, l'élégie attestent aujourd'hui encore la
puissance et la souplesse de ce magnifique génie; seul entre les
disciples de Sarasvatî [the goddess of eloquence], il a eu le bonheur
de produire un chef-d'oeuvre vraiment classique, où l'Inde s'admire et
où l'humanité se reconnaît. Les applaudissements qui saluèrent la
naissance de Çakuntalâ à Ujjayinî ont après de longs siècles éclaté
d'un bout du monde à l'autre, quand William Jones l'eut révélée à
l'Occident. Kâlidâsa a marqué sa place dans cette pléiade étincelante
où chaque nom résume une période de l'esprit humain. La série de ces
noms forme l'histoire, ou plutôt elle est l'histoire même.[4]

It is hardly possible to say anything true about Kalidasa's
achievement which is not already contained in this appreciation. Yet
one loves to expand the praise, even though realising that the critic