The Sanskrit Drama in its Origin, Development, Theory & Practice c12.s3.10

c12.s3.10

Kālidāsa excels in depicting the emotions of love, from the first suggestion in an innocent mind to the perfection of passion; he is hardly less expert in pathos; the fourth Act of the *Çakuntalā* is a model of tender sorrow, and the loving kindness with which even the trees take farewell of their beloved one contrasts with the immediate harsh reception which awaits her at the royal court. Kālidāsa here, as in the fourth Act of the *Vikramorvaçī* and in the garden scenes of the *Mālavikāgnimitra*, displays admirably his love for nature and his power of description of all the stock elements of Indian scenery, the mango, the Bimba fruit, the Açoka, the lotus, and his delicate appreciation of the animal world of India. In the last Act of the *Çakuntalā* also we have the graceful picture of the appearance of the earth viewed in perspective from the celestial car of Mātali.