01The king of mountains
Kalidasa begins with the Himalaya, and he means it as a person. In the north stands Himalaya, whose very self is divine, plunging into the eastern and western oceans like a rod laid across the earth to measure it. The first sarga lingers there: the mountains milking the earth with Himalaya as the calf, the siddhas climbing above the rain to sit in sunlight, the bhurja bark on which vidyadhari women write their letters, the caves lit at night by glowing herbs. Of the snow that might have spoiled such a mountain, he says one flaw sinks out of sight among many virtues, as the mark sinks into the moon’s rays.
02Uma is born
Sati, who gave up her body at Daksha’s yajna, is born again to Himavan and his queen Mena. She grows like the crescent moon, and is called Parvati, the mountain’s daughter. When as a girl she sets her heart on tapas, her mother cries out ‘U, ma!’, ‘Oh, don’t!’, and from that cry she takes the name Uma. Narada visits and foretells that she will be the wife of Bhagwan Shiva. So when Shiva comes to a Himalayan peak to sit in tapas, Himavan sends his daughter with two companions to serve him, bringing flowers and kusha grass and water for his worship each day.
03The devas before Brahma
The asura Taraka has won a boon from Bhagwan Brahma and now holds the three worlds. The sun shines on his gardens only as much as the lotuses need; the wind blows no harder than a fan; Indra’s elephant has gone to his stables. In the second sarga the devas go to Brahma, and their hymn to him as the one who becomes three, creating, keeping and dissolving, is among the finest stotras in kavya. Brahma tells them he cannot undo his own boon. Only a son born to Shiva can lead the devas against Taraka, and Shiva’s heart must first be turned to Parvati.
04Kamadeva burnt
Indra sends Kamadeva with his friend Vasanta. Spring breaks out of season on the mountain; the ashoka flowers without waiting for a woman’s foot, the bees and the deer pair off, and Nandi at the door of the bower lifts a finger to his lips to hush the ganas. Parvati arrives with flowers for worship at the moment Shiva rises from samadhi. Kama draws his bow. For an instant Mahadev’s composure wavers, and he looks for the cause. He sees Kama, and from the third eye a flame leaps out that leaves only ash. Parvati is led home by her father, ashamed that her beauty had failed where it was meant to win.
05Rati’s lament
The fourth sarga belongs to Rati, Kama’s wife, who wakes from her faint and finds a man-shaped heap of ash. She speaks to it as if he could hear: of the way he used to please her, of the spring that has lost its purpose, of the cuckoo that will now sing for no one. She asks Vasanta to build her a pyre. As she is about to enter it, a voice from the sky stops her. When Shiva weds Parvati, Kama will have his body again. Rati waits. The lament became a model for every viraha passage in later Sanskrit.
06Aparna
Parvati decides that what beauty could not win, tapas will. She puts away her ornaments, takes the bark garment and goes to the peak that is still called Gaurishikhara after her. She stands among four fires under the summer sun, stands in water through winter nights, and at last gives up even the leaves that fall of themselves, so that the old sages call her Aparna. A young brahmachari with matted hair comes to her ashram, asks after her health with the line every Sanskrit student knows, that the body is the first means of dharma, and then mocks the husband she has chosen. She defends Shiva in fury and turns to go. The brahmachari takes his own form and says from this day he is her servant, bought by her tapas.
07The wedding at Oshadhiprastha
Shiva sends the Saptarishis, with Arundhati, to Himavan’s city of Oshadhiprastha to ask for his daughter. Himavan looks at Mena, as householders do in such matters, and she agrees with her eyes. The seventh sarga is the wedding. Parvati is dressed by the women of the house; Shiva’s own ornaments of snakes and ash turn into the finery of a bridegroom; Brahma and Vishnu come with the devas. The women of the city crowd the windows to see him pass, half-dressed in their hurry. The couple walk around the fire, and Brahma blesses Parvati to be the mother of a hero.
08Where Kalidasa stops
The eighth sarga follows the divine couple through their first days together on Kailasa, Mount Mandara and the Gandhamadana, and ends with an evening scene of great beauty. Mallinatha wrote his commentary on these eight sargas only, and most editions end there. The nine sargas that follow, telling of Kumara’s birth, his consecration as commander of the devas and Taraka’s death, are generally held to be by a later hand. An old tradition says Kalidasa stopped because readers felt the Mother and Father of the world should not be shown so closely, and the poem’s own title is fulfilled only by the continuation.
09Read at Shivaratri and in every classroom
The first verse is the classic Sanskrit picture of the Himalaya, quoted on school walls, in speeches and on the signboards of mountain towns. The fifth sarga is set in most Sanskrit syllabuses for Parvati’s tapas and her answer to the brahmachari, and the line about the body as the first means of dharma has become a proverb. Shaiva households read the poem at Shivaratri and at weddings, where Parvati’s tapas is held up to brides. Painters in the Pahari courts made whole series on its sargas, and Griffith’s translation of 1879 brought it to English readers as The Birth of the War-God.
What it contains
- 1Sarga 1: Himalaya and Uma
The Himalaya described, the birth of Parvati to Himavan and Mena, and how she came to be called Uma. Narada’s prophecy, and Parvati sent to serve Shiva in his tapas.
- 2Sarga 2: Brahma’s counsel
The devas, oppressed by Taraka, praise Brahma in a great stotra. He tells them only a son of Shiva and Parvati can defeat the asura.
- 3Sarga 3: The burning of Kama
Indra commissions Kamadeva, who brings an untimely spring to Shiva’s mountain. As Parvati approaches with her offerings, Kama shoots, and is burnt by the fire of the third eye.
- 4Sarga 4: Rati’s lament
Rati mourns over her husband’s ashes and prepares to follow him into the fire. A voice from the sky promises that Kama will live again when Shiva marries.
- 5Sarga 5: Parvati’s tapas
Parvati’s austerities through the seasons, and her name Aparna. Shiva comes disguised as a brahmachari, tests her by mocking himself, and reveals his form when she will not waver.
- 6Sarga 6: The Saptarishis’ embassy
Shiva sends the seven rishis and Arundhati to Oshadhiprastha. Himavan receives them with honour and gives his consent, and the wedding day is fixed.
- 7Sarga 7: The wedding
The bride adorned, the bridegroom’s procession with the devas, the women at the windows, and the rites before the fire. Brahma blesses the bride.
- 8Sarga 8: On Kailasa
The divine couple together on Kailasa and the mountains around it, closing with a long description of evening and moonrise. Mallinatha’s commentary ends here.
- 9Sargas 9–17: The continuation
Agni carries Shiva’s tejas, Kumara is born and raised, consecrated as senapati of the devas, and slays Taraka in battle. These sargas are generally held to be by a later poet, and are printed separately in many editions.
Famous verses
अस्त्युत्तरस्यां दिशि देवतात्मा हिमालयो नाम नगाधिराजः । पूर्वापरौ तोयनिधी विगाह्य स्थितः पृथिव्या इव मानदण्डः ॥
In the north stands the king of mountains named Himalaya, whose very self is divine; plunging into the eastern and western oceans, he stands like the measuring rod of the earth.Kumarasambhava 1.1 (GRETIL text; many printed editions read वगाह्य)
स्वयंविशीर्णद्रुमपर्णवृत्तिता परा हि काष्ठा तपसस्तया पुनः । तदप्यपाकीर्णमतः प्रियंवदां वदन्त्यपर्णेति च तां पुराविदः ॥
Living on leaves that fall from the trees of themselves is the furthest limit of tapas; yet she gave up even that, and so those who know the old accounts call her, so sweet of speech, Aparna.Kumarasambhava 5.28
अपि क्रियार्थं सुलभं समित्कुशं जलान्यपि स्नानविधिक्षमाणि ते । अपि स्वशक्त्या तपसि प्रवर्तसे शरीरमाद्यं खलु धर्मसाधनम् ॥
Are fuel-sticks and kusha easy to find for your rites? Is the water fit for your bathing? Do you practise tapas only as far as your strength allows? For the body is surely the first means of dharma.Kumarasambhava 5.33
अद्यप्रभृत्यवनताङ्गि तवास्मि दासः क्रीतस्तपोभिरिति वादिनि चन्द्रमौलौ । अह्नाय सा नियमजं क्लममुत्ससर्ज क्लेशः फलेन हि पुनर्नवतां विधत्ते ॥
‘From today, O gentle one, I am your servant, bought by your tapas,’ said the moon-crested Lord; and at once she shed all the weariness of her vows, for hardship, once it bears fruit, makes one new again.Kumarasambhava 5.86
One of the five Sanskrit mahakavyas; its first verse is the classic Sanskrit description of the Himalaya, quoted in textbooks and at public functions.