Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t18.16

v2.c10.s2.t18.16

Kalidasa is not only the greatest poet in classic Sanskrit literature but also the greatest dramatist ever in the entire history of Sanskrit literature. His position in the Indian dramatic literature is no inferior to that of Shakespeare in British dramatic literature. It is still not clear how many plays he wrote but in terms of long epic poems, he was a diligent and prolific poet. In terms of his love and talent for dramas as well as keeping in mind the respect and demand that society had for these, he could have written a considerable number of plays, however, now there are only three plays that can be attributed to him, including *Malavikagnimitra*, *Vikramorvasiya* and *Sakuntala*, and the rest are already lost. His plays, which account for no more than one tenth of Shakespeare’s, are enough to demonstrate that his talent was not inferior to the latter.