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Re: Hamsa Sandesham and Megha Sandesham

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Mani Varadarajan • April 27, 2001 


Sri Malolan wrote:
> I have a small doubt, which is not exactly on the topic of
> Visisthadvaitam, but more so in Samskrutham.
> 
> I understand that Megha Sandesham of Mahakavi Kaalidasa was rather
> "infulenced by Hamsa Sandesham", this would mean that kaalidasa would
> have been a figure somewhere in the 5th - 6th Centuries CE. This is
> not the traditional date ascribed to kaalidasa?

Sorry for the late reply on this topic. 
Regarding your question, it is the other way around.
Acharya Vedanta Desika was markedly influenced 
by the poetry of Kalidasa. He modeled the hamsa-sandeSa
("the messenger swan") on the megha-dUta or megha-sandeSa
("the messenger cloud") and replaced the anonymous 
separated lovers of Kalidasa's original with with Rama 
and Sita.  It is worth noting that Desika here is
more playful and poetic than didactic, lending some
scholars to speculate that he wrote the work in his
youth.

Kalidasa is dated to the early centuries CE. 

Mani



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