Excerpt from Meghadutam (Cloud Messenger) by Kalidasa
(Translated by Mani Rao in Kalidasa for the 21st Century Reader)
Yaksha, a supernatural being, requests a cloud to carry a message of love and longing to his beloved, who lives in Alaka, a city on the Himalayas. He has been exiled from home for a year, and the separation proves too long to endure. Yaksha tries to urge the cloud to take his message to his lover by describing all the wonderful sights en route to Alaka.
Meghadutam turned out to be even more beautiful than I had thought it would be. Mani Rao’s translation is smooth and flowy; it has a richness to it that just made me want to keep reading. The poem is vivid with imagery and abundant with personifications. All of the descriptions just made me want to go back in time and wander through the forests, the kingdoms and the palaces. Meghadutam is, in a word, exquisite.