A History of Sanskrit Literature c11.s8.7

c11.s8.7

From such a philosophy it would be idle to seek any solution for essential conflicts in the heart of man, or to demand any independent criticism of man's aims and fate. India knew atheists enough, but their works have all but perished, and we must rather be grateful that we have preserved in such perfection the poetic reflex of the Brahmanical ideal both in its strength and in its weakness. Nor, let us remember, does such an ideal shut out deep human feeling such as we may suspect in the longing of the *Meghadūta*, the lament of Aja over the dead Indumatī, of Rati for Kāma slain. But it does demand resignation, and if in perfection of form Kālidāsa's poems proclaim him the Virgil of India, we may admit that he was incapable of the vision and imagery of the sixth book of the *Aeneid*.