Kumārasaṃbhava
Sign in to saveKumārasambhavam ( ) (transl. - "The Birth of Kumāra") is an epic poem by Kālidāsa. It is widely regarded as the finest work of Kalidasa as well as the greatest kāvya poem in Classical Sanskrit. The style of description of spring set the standard for nature metaphors pervading many centuries of Indian literary tradition. Kumārasaṃbhavam narrates the birth of Kumāra (Kārtikeya), the son of Shiva (Śiva) and Pārvatī (Umā). The period of composition is uncertain, although Kalidasa is thought to have lived in the 5th century.
Book · Open Library
- Author
- Kālidāsa
- First published
- 1838
- Editions
- 38
- Subjects
- Works by individual poets: classical, early & medieval, Literature: Classics, Fiction - Fantasy, Literary Collections, Poetry, Fantasy - General, Ancient, Classical & Medieval, Kåarttikeya (Hindu deity)
via Open Library
Article
16 sectionsContents
- Contents
- Canto I (Uma's Nativity)
- Canto II (The Address to Brahma)
- Canto III (The Burning of Kama)
- Canto IV (Rati's Lament)
- Canto V (Uma's Reward)
- Canto VI (Uma's Espousals)
- Canto VII (Uma's Bridal)
- Canto VIII (The Description of Uma’s Pleasure)
- Dispute and criticisms
- Authenticity of Canto IX-XVII
- Censorship of Canto VIII
- Adaptations
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
Kumārasambhavam ( ) (transl. - "The Birth of Kumāra") is an epic poem by Kālidāsa. It is widely regarded as the finest work of Kalidasa as well as the greatest kāvya poem in Classical Sanskrit. The style of description of spring set the standard for nature metaphors pervading many centuries of Indian literary tradition. Kumārasaṃbhavam narrates the birth of Kumāra (Kārtikeya), the son of Shiva (Śiva) and Pārvatī (Umā). The period of composition is uncertain, although Kalidasa is thought to have lived in the 5th century.
A fierce debate has raged over the question as to whether the whole of the seventeen cantos came was penned by Kālidasa. Vitthala Śastrin, who in 1866, published Cantos VIII to XVII in The Paṇḍit, took them as genuine work of Kālidasa while scholars like Hermann Jacobi took Cantos IX to XVII as a later interpolation. Stylistic inferiority of these cantos, rarity of manuscripts, silence on the part of early commentators and lack of citation in Alaṃkārasutra are often presented as reasons for rejecting this latter cantos of the poem.