A History of Sanskrit Literature c11.s7.12

c11.s7.12

Vālmīki, of course, is the chief creditor² of Kālidāsa in this poem. Here and there one certainly surpasses the other; though normally the advantage lies with the younger poet, yet there are exceptions. Fine as is Kālidāsa's picture of Rāma's meeting with the sons who know him not, it yet is still more affecting in the leisurely march of the epic, and Kālidāsa has failed to improve on the scene of Sītā's vindication. But his merit shines out in such cases as his description of the return to Ayodhyā; future poets were to imitate it, but not one to equal it.