About the Book Vikramorvasiya is a famous play composed by Kalidasa in five Acts which describes the love of Pururavas, the king of Pratishthana, and Urvasi, a heavenly nymph (apsaras). In this play, Kalidasa seems to have concentrated more on characterisation than on plot-construction as he has done in the Malavikagnimitra. But the most debated portion of the play is Act IV where the hero, distracted by separation, gives vent to his feelings in short, sweet and pathetic lyrics. It is not a long narrative or descriptive poem which can be read with chosen intervals or breaks. With a true dramatic instinct Kalidasa turns this long-drawn pathetic scene into a musical ballet, and he makes a dexterous use of Prakrit suitable for music as well as the lonesome state of the hero. About the Author Kalidasa is one of the greatest classical Sanskrit poets and dramatists of ancient India, but very little is known about his life and time. The writings of Kalidasa reveal that he was a pious Brahmana of Ujjain, and had acquired a knowledge of the various branches of Brahmanical learning. His versatile genius, his acquaintance with court etiquette, his shrewdness, his modesty, not without a due sense of self-respect, and his poetic talent are very well reflected in all his works, which are: Malavikagni-mitra, Vikramorvasiya, Abhijñana-Sakuntala (dramas) and poems like Raghuvamsa, Kumarasambhava and Meghaduta. Both in drama and poetry, Kalidasa stands not only unsurpassed but even unrivalled.
