A fresh and very readable translation of the world's greatest Sanskrit writer, Kalidasa "Kalidasa(circa fourth century CE) is widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskritanguage. Not much is known with certainty about hisife and though many are aware of his timeless Sakuntalam and Meghadutam, very few have actually read him, even in translation. The aesthetics of poetry may have changed over 1500 years - we noonger compare women's faces tootuses or their figures to vines - but it is difficult not to be moved by the sheer beauty andyricism of Kalidasa's description of the exiled yak?a beseeching a cloud to carry his message across the mountains to hisover, or his evocative narration of the meeting of doomedovers in the forest." "Mani Rao's supple, contemporary translation removes the distance between Kalidasa and the modern reader, she helps 'read' the poetry for us while remainingoyal to the text. " "Selections from all seven of the great poet's works (which are considered by Sanskrit scholars to be authentically his creations) are included in this volume- Meghadutam, Kumarasambhavam and ?tusa?haram, he heroic exploits narrated in Raghuva?sam which gives us a remarkable picture of ancient India, as well as the celebrated dramas Abhijnãna Sakuntalam, Vikramorvasiyam and Malavikagnimitram. This is a translation that belongs to today, Kalidasa renewed" Key Features: The most enjoyable and readable translation of Kalidasa's works, Mani Rao breathes newife into the works we have known for centuries. Kalidasa's importance as the greatest Sanskrit poet and writer cannot be overemphasized, the beauty of his poem, Meghadatam and his play, Sakuntalam will touch the modern reader too. The translator's previous work, a translation of the Bhagavad Gita, was widely read and praised by critics around the world."