KALIDASA THE GREAT

                                                              KALIDASA THE GREAT

                                                                                              CH. DURGA PRASADA RAO

तु-हि -च -वै- पादपूरणे इति नियम:

According to the rule, mentioned above , the words tu hi cha and vai are used to fill the gap in poetry , and they are not of much prominence,how ever there are some  great poets who used them very significantly.

There is an interesting story regarding this. Once, the great poet Kalidasa visited Kasi. He bowed before the statue of Vyasa . He penetrated his finger in the navel of Vyasa and insulted by calling him as chakaara kukshi चकार कुक्षि: which means that his stomach is filled with the word cha as he used the same word for a number of times unnecessarily in the Mahabharata. Vyasa appeared before Kalidasa and challenged him to write a poem with out using the word cha explaining the relation between Draupadi and Pandavas. Kalidasa at once composed a verse

द्रौपद्या: पाण्डुतनया: पतिदेवरभावुका:

न देवरो धर्मराज: सहदेवो न भावुक:

To Draupadi, Pandavas become husbands,younger brothers in- law as well as elder brothers -in- law. But Dharmaraja can never become younger brother in law and Sahadeva can not become elder brother in law. is the meaning of the verse. Even though Draupadi married five of them at once she never stayed with all of them simultaneously. she used to stay only one of those five for one year. if she stays with Dharmaraja, all the others become her younger brothers -in law.if she stays with Sahadeva all the others become elder brothres in law. Similarly , If she is living with Arjuna , Dharmaraja and Bheema become elder brothers -in -law and Nakula and Sahadeva become younger brothers in law. But under no circumstances,Dharmaraja becomes younger brother -in -law and Sahadeva the elder one . Kalidasa could compose and explain this without using the word cha. . Vyasa was very much pleased with his answer and blessed him.