MINOR FEMALE CHARACTERS OF KALIDASA

Devaky, E S. “Feminist Readings in Kalidasa's works ,” Thesis. Department of Sanskrit, University of Calicut, 2006.

CHAPTER V

MINOR FEMALE CHARACTERS OF KALIDASA

In continuation of the last chapter, the minor characters of

Kalidasa who were not projected, like previously discussed ones are

dealt with in this chapter. This includes the princess, maids, sakhi,

female ascetics, celestial beings, goddesses, artists, cetis, datis, women

connected with other countries etc.

Princess

Vasulaksrni is the only princess in his works. She, an innocent girl

in MAL, is a rare character in Sanskrit play. When the king saw the

picture of Malavika, he asked about the picture. Dharini, who knew the

nature of the king well, refused to reply. Then the girl with a child-like

innocence identified the picture as that of Malavika familiar to all.

Another reference is when an ape frightened her while playing.

Maids

Maid or sakhi in Sanskrit literature is a friend, a companion and a

well-wisher of heroine or similar characters and are introduced aiming

at uniting heroines with heroes. The maids of pratinayikas try their best

to get the heroes with their mistresses. Among women characters, these

maids or female friends catch attention of the readers. Thus

Bakulavalika, Menaka, Sahajanya etc. come under the first group and

Nipunika in both MAL and VIK belong to the second group. But in

krTvyas of Kalidasa, due to the absence of pratinlfyikas, the second group

of maids is generally not seen. In SK also, as there is no direct conflict

between nlfyilca and pratinlfyika this grouping is not seen. All maids are

in oblivion after attaining their aim. The best example is Anasuya and

Priyamvada in SK. The companions of Indumati, Parvati etc are only

wellwishers and followed them up to the consummation.

Bakulavalika

Bakulavalika ' is a maid of Dharini and a friend of Malavika in

MAL. She is a pupil of the king Agnimitra in fine arts.* Her task was to

unite Malavika with Agnimitra, as appointed by the latter. Her presence

in the play is from the very beginning from viskambhaka itself as a

messenger of Dharini. She expressed her happiness, as she knew from

the dance master that in dance, Malavika excels hva t i . She remained

always with Malavika to win her mind favorable to the king. While

decorating Malavika's foot, she praised it as the one fit for dohada, which

is obvious from her appointment by the queen herself for dohada3 and

advised her to become the beloved of the king Agnimitra using this

chance. Though Malavika expressed her fear of Dharini, she encouraged

and persuaded her assuring help for their union and also added that

' MAL.I.4. 10,111. 66. 68,7446, 124. 130, IV. 108-116,124-126,13O,V154

MAL. 111. 12-64. p.74 MAL. 111. 6-17, P62,II. 10-12, P.68,III. 10. 16

Malavika is as dear as her body to her. The king Agnimitra praised her

for her ability to make Malavika favorable towards him.4 When

Malavika was suspicious of the blossoming of asoka, Bakulavalika

consoled her.5 Iravati accused her for her effort for the union of

Malavika with Agnimitra6 and later when mockingly congratulated in

her success as a messenger, she boldly denied her fault attributing it to

the king7 On blossoming of asoka she became delighted with Malavika

as she succeeded in her venture8. She became happy when Dharini

presented Malavika to the king. She is a wise, clever and resourceful

character. As the name suggests, she gets energy when crushed or in

adverse situations. Unlike other maids, who are appointed for the

heroines, she was appointed for and by the hero and acted as a female

counterpart of vidiisaka.

Nipunika

Nipunika in MAL is the maid and companion of Ir~vati, the

second wife of the king Agnimitra with unfairly affection. She might be

the mediator in joining her mistress fravati with Agnimitra. She is

referred to by vidasaka as the messenger of Iravati to enjoy swinging in

the company of the king. Nipunika a realist in thought corrected the

intoxicated fravati, who thought that intoxication is a special ornament

M A L . 111. 13-33,111. 13. 38-39,111. 10-33,111. 14 S MAL.111 16.1-6 6 M A L . 111. 19-9, IV. 15-86 7 M A L . IV. 15.80-90 ' M A L . IV-15.42-43

to make women attractive as a popular saying only and not a reality9.

On not seeing the king there, when they hid themselves, they happened

to notice Bakulavalika creating passion in Malavika while preparing her

for dohada.1° When king met Malavika as planned, Nipunika led fravati

to there to interfere the meeting of the lovers. Again, when she took - Iravati to Sarnuduagrha, where the king was waiting for a meeting with

Malavika, she saw vidii~aka waiting aside and sleeping, Nipunika

pledged a joke throwing her crooked stick on him. Mistaking it as a

snake he frightened and cried.'' Thus, she could break the conspiracy of

union of the king and Malavika. As she failed in her attempt, she had to

appear with consent of fravati for Agnimitra's marriage with

Malavika.12 Though she tried to wean the king or help to win his mind

she could not win.

Nipunika in V I K is the maid companion of AuSinari. She appears

in the play seeking the reason for the absent mindedness of the king.

She cunningly approached the foolish vida~aka, who being innocent

could not hide secret, revealed the king's relation with UrvaSi and

informed the queen. She with the queen witnessed the condition of the

king in the arbour-the Iajagrha13and listened to his confidential talk with

vidii~aka. She could also convince the queen of the king's love with

UrvaSi by a letter in bharjapatua written by UrvaSi to the king. She had to

M A L . 111. 2. 12 , IIl.12-14, 11, I11 12. 99 'O MAL.111. 12. 30 , I11 14-15 l1 MAL.IV. 15-39, IV 19-48,111. 70-74, 78, IV. 18, 128, V1. 64

l2 MAL. V. 164,II. 56. 60,111. 82. 86/11. 26-28,18-16, 18-20, I. 38-54,

111. 76-86,90-96, IV. 100-104 l3 VIK. 11. 19. 12,II. 19. 28/37-58

accompany the queen for fulfilling the vow of priy~nuprasiidana". Unlike

Nipunika in MAL, she did not try to revert the king from his relation

with UrvaSi. Her only contribution is causing to leak the secrets from

vidu~aka.

Anasaya and Priyamvada

Anasaya and Priyamvada are maid companions and friends of

~akuntala. They are equal in beauty15 so that Dusyanta and vidti~aka

could not distinguish them. They pervade in the first half of the life of

~akuntala in the hermitage of Kanva in the first half of the play.

Anasaya was the help to Sakuntala in distress, logically handling every

situation while Priyamvada, as the name suggests was pleasing and

sweet spoken and as such entrusted by Anasfiya to speak with

Dusyanta and to pacify the raged sage Dur~asa '~, who succeeded in her

task.17 Priyamvada optimistically encouraged the relation between

Dusyanta and sakuntala.I8 She persuaded Dusyanta to ask more about

Sakuntal~'~ as he can take more freedom towards them being ascetics.

She warned about the absence of freedom to Sak~ntala. '~ They made a

chance to Dusyanta to appear before herz1 in the guise of protection

l4 VIK. 111. 11-17 l5 SK. I. 15 .6 , IV. 14. 3 l6 S K . IV. 1 . 7 l7 SK. IV. 1.15 l8 SK. I. 10.0. 11 l9 SK . I. 23.4, I. 23. 7. 144 20 SK . I. 24. 1

SK . I. 21. 8

from the bee.22 Anasaya begs pardon politely for not receiving and

engaging Dusyanta properly." She inquires about the cause of

~akuntala's illness so as to provide proper treatmenp4 ~akuntala

opened her heart before her real friends25 Anasuya consoled that grief

would be easy to bear if shared with loving person^.'^ As real friends,

they thought it is their duty to take remedial action against the

irresistible condition of ~akuntala. Anasaya seeks ~akuntala's opinion

in writing a love letter to Dusyanta, which was suggested by

Pr iyarnvad~~.~~ Being a well wisher, she obtained assurance of the king

not only to bewail her" by kinsmen but also to cause glory to his

dynasty through ~akuntala, as kings are having many wives." Only

after getting such an assurance, they left the lovers alone. When the

king had delayed, Anasuya suspected that he might have forgotten her

on seeing other ladies in the harem3' and Anasaya censured ~akuntala's

alliance with Dusyanta. Priamvada was confident enough on his

credibility, but feared3' the response of Kanva. However, Anasiiya was

confident that 32 Kanva as a father would be happy in giving her to a

suitable person. As a solution, she thought of sending a hermit boy to

the palace, but they were helpless and could only pray for the well

22 S K . I. 21.5

23 SK . I. 30. 10 24SK. 111. 7. 13 " S K . 111. 3. 1 26 S K . 111. 8. 4 27 S K . 111. 11. 1 , 111. 1. 4

S K . 111. 18 29 SK. 111. l 8 3 0 S K . IV. 7 31 S K . IV. 3.6, IV. 0.1.120 32 S K . IV. 0 . 9 , IV. 0.11

being of ~ a k u n t a l a . ~ ~ She is more matured than Priyamvada, so she is

anxious about the future of her friend, and though lived in forest, she

knew well about the lokasvabhava. Both the friends hide the news of the

curse, not to hurt Sakuntala thinking that she had the signet ring with

her." Meanwhile Priyamvada rushes with the news of sending

Sakuntala to the palace with ascetics, which made them happy.35 They

decorated ~ a k u n t a l ~ using materials available there.36 Priyamvada

astonished by the ornaments and silk garments sent by sage Kanva.j7

On her departure, they felt that they are orphans and cried, when

KaSyapa reminded them of their duty to console ~akuntala because

being maids they are supposed to have no emotions of their own. When

they gave the ring to show, if required, ~akuntala got worried. Then she

consoled her.38 Priyamvada is the only maiden to speak in Sanskrit even

though imitating the words of K a n ~ a . ~ ~

The difference made by Kalidasa in the characterization of these

two maids is to be noted. Unlike other maids Kanva assured a good

future to them giving them marriage, though they are not appear in the

play after her departure. Kanva, who knows the king well, thought that

sending them along with Sakuntal~ would not be proper."

33 SK. IV. 0.18 SK. IV. 3.9-7

35 SK . IV. 3. 22; 111. 1. 22 36SK. IV.4.6; IV. 3.22, IV. 3. 22,IV. 3. 6 37 SK. IV. 5.1 38SK. IV. 19. 11, IV. 19. 11, IV. 13. 4

39 SK. IV. 4

40 SK. IV. 18. 7

Citralekha

Citralekha, a friend and well wisher of UrvaSi, appears on the

scene along with UrvaSi4l congratulating the king Puraravas for their

rescue from demon KeSin, who had captured them. She with UrvaSi

remained concealed by the power of tiraskarini and witnessed the

ardent love through listening his conversation with vidii~aka. She met

the king with the message from UrvaSi to protect her from the capture

of Kama and had to return as a messenger of the king. While appearing L

as abhisariMs, she made UrvaSi angry and desperate by jokingly saying

that the king is enjoying the company of his beloved, but all on a

sudden corrected and made her happy4' and satisfied her, listening to

the confidential talk of the king and vidiisaka. When the king showed

high respect and courtesy to UrvaSi she reading her mind said 'mugdhe

nrigarikah adhikam daksiniih bha~ant i .~~ She, as a friend, became happy to

see that all the obstacles in the love of UrvaSi had goneM and then only

she left UrvaSi. Later, Citralekha who knew from meditation that UrvaSi

had transformed into a creeper on entering Kumaravana, prohibited to

women, worshiped the Sun as remedy." Before her return to heaven,

her abode, she entrusted UrvaSi to the king." As suggested by

Citralekha herself, UrvaSi deserted her on her union with the king.

41V1K.I.3.20,11.4.19, 1.7.7,1.15.8.14 42 VIK 111. 9.24.-30 43 VIK. 111. 13. 4

VIK. 111. 0. 39 45 VIK. IV. 0.36 46 VIK 111. 17. 6, 11. 16. 7

Sunanda

In RV, the female characters are very few. The important

characters are Indumati and Sita, the former being famous for bhoga and

the latter for tyaga. Sunanda is depicted as a pratihdri in the court of

Bhoja and is the dhatri and sakhi of Indumati. A sakhi was mentioned as

accompanied Indumati at the time of Aja conquering the rival kings.

When Indumati saw Aja's victory, she could not congratulate him due

to the social restrictions, but did so through her.

Sakhi

Female friends of Sudaksina are mentioned in RV." The signs of

pregnancy appeared in Sudaksina made her female friends happy like

kaumudi festival, in getting a successor to the dynasty.

Jaya and Vijaya

In KS, Parvati had two friends Jaya and Vijaya being her

corn pan ion^.^^ They accompanied Parvati when she went to the service

of Siva, doing penance in Himalaya5' and helped her for getting his

consent. It is the maid who spoke to Siva about the aim of Parvati's

47 RV. VII. 69 48 RV. 111. I 49 KS 1.58 50 KS. I .58, 111. 61

penance5' and the authority of Himalaya, her father in her marriage.

There is a reference to friends in childhood, who entertained her after

marriage with words of rasikatva as per KS.52

Female ascetics.

In almost all works, Kalidasa had introduced young or old

ascetics as refuge in all crises. The ascetics, giving them a family

atmosphere and working for their welfare by their timely interference,

undertook the protection of ~akuntala in SK, Sita in RV, and UrvaSi in

VIK. Generally, when due to uncontrollable passion mind misleads to

faults, they correct them and take back to their life. The principle of

Kalidasa is 'sukham hi duhkhanyanubhaya s'obhate gundndhakaresviva

dipadars'anam' i.e. happiness after undergoing severe misfortune shines.

The inmates of hermitage include young and aged members; some of

them are housewives or relatives. In RV, Kalid2sa describes wives of

sages, blocked by deers in the entrance and young women watering the

trees in the hermitage of family teachers. Aditi in SK is the wife of

KaSyapa while Gautarni is only a senior ascetic, helping the inmates. It

is interesting to note that ascetics corrected the faults of only female

characters.

In VIK, there is only a female ascetic, whose name was not

referred, as an inmate of the hermitage of Cyavana. She rescued UrvaSi

from her separation from Puraravas by protecting her son Ayuh. When

51 KS. V. 59 , V. 52, Vl-l 52KaS. I, 2. 14,1.2.13

he grew up she brought him before the king, in the pretext of violation

of hermitage rules by shooting a vulture. In the palace, she wanted the

boy to salute his father and wished to obey and respect him, and UrvaSi

to be respected by her husband and d i~appeared .~~

PanditakauSiki

Parivrajika or PanditakauSiki is a female ascetic54 and sister of

Sumati, minister of Madhavasena. She concealed her story aiming at

making Malavika as the wife of Agnimitra. She was appointed as the

judge to examine the performance of the royal dance masters. Her wish

to the king to be the lord of queen Dharini as well of the earth for

hundred years indicates his victory over the queen in attaining

Malavika. She was compared to three Vedas and is described as

pithamardifi, who assists the heroine to secure her lover. She is a friend

of Malavika and not of Dharini though she pretends so.55 She accepted

the post of the judge politely, which was conferred considering her

impartial it^,^^ though she did not act accordingly and advised reluctant

Dh~rini to witness the perf~rmance.~~She knew that vidiisaka was not

really bitten by a snake; even then prescribed first aid for snakebite58 to

53 V I K . V. 13. 136; V. 9. 3, V. 10. 6, V.10,.6

M A L . 1.12.16 MAL. I . 13. 2

56 MAL. I. 15. 6, I. 15. 8 5 7 M A L . I. 12. 31, 11. 0. 5,11.8, 11. 7. 6 58 M A L . IV. 3.21 , IV. 4

help Malavika. She became happy on the union of the king and

Malavika as she wished, overcoming the obstacles.

Gautami

Gautami, a wise old female ascetic, was acted as the matron in the

hermitage of Kanva. As an affectionate mother she visited Sakuntala

when she fell ill59 and wished a speedy recovery. When Kanva sent

precious ornaments and costumes to ~akuntala on her departure,

Gautami became happy like a helpless mother, who is unable to give

wealth herself to her daughter, but satisfied by the wealth given by

father as mandatory. She interfered and reacted when Dusyanta

discarded Sakuntala rejecting all arguments. She accused both

~akuntala and Dusyanta for getting married themselves without the

consent or even consulting with elders. She wanted ~akuntala to

remove her veil, which will never be removed before a man other than

husband and show the signet ring as to identify her. When Sakuntala

failed to show the ring, Gautami consoled her that it might have lost in

Sakravatara and mockingly said to the king 'mahabhaga narhasyevam

mantrayitum /tapovanasamvardhito/yam janah nabhijiro/yam kaitavasya' (you

the civilized are not fit to say so; this poor fellow, brought up in the

vegetarian background of hermitage is ignorant of this cruelty and

deceitfulness, which she intended, inherent in ~a~arikas)." When all

ascetics left, discarding her alone, she requested them to allow her also

59 M A L 111. 22. 11,111. 22. 13. 0 SAK. V.21.29

to follow them knowing the seriousness of the situation. She used the

word putrie, the adopted daughter, which denotes her affection

towards ~akuntala. This character is a reflection of a failed mother to

rescue her daughter from the cruelty of father, husband and also the

patriarchal society.

Aditi

Aditi is the daughter of Daksaprajapati and wife of sage KaSyapa

also known as Marica. ~akuntala and also her son, as abandoned by

Dusyanta, were confined to the care of her nirama up to the arrival of

Dusyanta with Matali. Kalidasa introduced Aditi and Marica, who were

considered as sage-parents, in the play to render legal sanction for the

relation between Dusyanta and ~akuntala. Aditi on the first sight

noticed the prowess of Dusyanta. When bowed, the revered ascetic

blessed Dusyanta to be a matchless hero and ~akuntala to become a

wife honoured by husband. Before leaving, she as a grand mother,

wanted the king to inform Kanva about this, and reminding his fault

pointed out that he obtained back ~akuntala and his son (even his

lineage) only by the grace of Menaka, her mother who was attending

his family there in the hermitage.

Another example of peaceful and friendly treatment of hermitage

can be seen in Anasaya, wife of Atri, who was mentioned only in one

Sloka. During exile, she with Atri received Sita and gave her divine

costumes and ornaments. When Ganga was dried up and a famine

occurred due to drought, it is described, she by her divine power

flowed the Ganga again and produced fruits and flowers.

Arundhati

Arundhati, an ascetic and wife of Vasistha, one among the 'seven

sages' is the embodiment of chastity. In her previous birth she was born

as Sandhya, daughter of Brahma. She attained her youth as soon as she

was born. While Prajapatis as well as Brahma were attracted on the

sight of her unworldly beauty, she became shy. Repenting on this, she

performed severe penance as Visnu appeared before her and blessed

the boon of austere chastity. Then she was born as the daughter of

Medhaditi, who named her as Arundhati. After education under

famous teachers like Savitri, Sarasvati and Gayatri at Manasasams, she

married Vasistha and had seven sons. Her pdtivratya was tested and

certified by Siva by staying with her for twelve years in the absence of

her husband, after which she became the personification of p~tivratya.~~

Arundhati followed Vasistha in death, who was burnt in the sacrificial

fire of Yaksa along with numerous gods and they both transformed into

stars. Showing this star (Arundhatidars'anam) is a custom in India to have

RV. XIII. 51 Puranic Encyclopedia by Vettam Mani. First Edn. 1988. Current Books, Kottayam. P77,1085

the firm devotion to the husband. Raghd3 and Siva showed the star

for such firm relation. Siva wanted her to be present and initiate his

marriage with Parvati. The derivation of the word is as dhardn dharitrim

vasudhdm bhartusti~thdmyanantaram/ mano/rundhati bhartuh itimdm

vidhyarundhatim. The position of Arundhati is always behind Vasistha

and violation of this, it was believed, would cause misfortunes to the

world. This is evident in the words of the priest in The intentional

creation of this belief may be to stress the male superiority.

Ascetic Girls

There is mention in SK and RV of some ascetic girls, who were

depicted as those giving refuge and as helping hands in need. In the life

of ~akuntala and Dusyanta the ascetic girls had played an important

role. They are Anastiya and Priyamvada in Kanvdirama, the girls present

during their re-union in the hermitage of KaSyapa, and those two who

accompanied Gautami when she appeared to wish departing ~ a k u n t a l ~ .

In Kaiyapdirama, where discarded ~akuntala lived with Sarvadamana,

there were two girls to protect him; one was ~ u v r a t a . ~ ~ These two girls

paved the way to ~akuntala's second union with the king and

disappeared. In RV, when Sita was left alone near the hermitage,

Valmiki approached and assured refuge and led her to the dirama and

entrusted her to the female ascetics there. They lived collecting fruits,

63 RV. 11. 56 " KaS. VII. 85 65 KS VII. 83-84

SK. VII. 14, VII. 16. 1. 268

flowers, and grains from uncultivated lands. This self- dependence

made them simple, bold, noble, and agreeable in speech and character."

This atmosphere is suitable to lead a peaceful life even to an afflicted. It

is said that they gave a warm welcome and a separate cottage and a

lamp fed by ingudi oil, which proves their hospitality. Thus, Sita got a

peaceful life there.68

Celestial Beings.

Apsaras is the common celestial character in the works of

Kalidasa. They are supposed to possess several supernatural powers

like tiraskarini and the power to move through the sky like birds. They

are famous as celestial artists and helpers of Indra in crisis.

Menaka and Sanumati are the two nymphs in SK. Menaka is the

mother of ~ a k u n t a l ~ . She did not appear on the scene, but felt her

presence. When ~akuntala was discarded by the king and ascetics and

tried to ruin her, she appeared as a flash in the sky and rescued and

took her to the M~ricii~rama.~~ She sent Sanumati, an apsams, to the

palace to observe the separated king and protected ~akuntala as a kind

mother, who knows the cruelty of patriarchy. Sanumati, went to the

palace of Dusyanta as directed by Menaka and reported with respect

the pity condition of the separated king, who prohibited vasantot~ava.~~

67 RV. XIV. 77 68 RV. XIV. 80-82 69 SK. VII. 29. 9 70 SK. VI. 1. 66 , VI. 4. 1

In VIK, being the story of an apsras, there are more celestial beings

than in other works of Kalidasa. Menaka, 71 Rambha" and Sahajanya, "

friends of UrvaSi, explained the incident of abduction to the king and

expressed her gratitude and congratulated him for the timely help.

They have only a short role in the play. Sahajanya, who had a respect to

the king (durjayah khalu rajanah) inquired about him when she heard the

sad news of transformation of UrvaSi into a creeper.

In KS, Vidyadharis, Kinnaris, Vanecaris are mentioned74 in stray

verses. Vidyadhara ladies in Himalaya are described as satisfied by the

bhurjatvak, in which they wrote letters using dh~turasa available there.

For Vanecara couples, the au~adhis served the purpose of lamps.75 The

cloud in the mountain, which hangs on the entrance of houses, became

curtains to Kinnara couples. An apsaras, who reported to Indra about the

penance of Parvati and another one dancing before newly wedded ~ i v a

and Parvati are also referred to in the text.76

RV contains rare reference to punyajanas or yak~inis.~?

Goddesses.

In the works of Kalidasa, some goddesses like Saptamatarah,

Kali, Sarasvati, Laksmi etc are mentioned. They appeared usually as

-- -- -

71 V I K . I. 1. 13-17, I. 10. 12 72 V I K . I. 4. 12 , I. 10. 6, I. 12. 10, I. 12. 10 73 V I K I. 6. 3. 14 74 KS I. 7-12

75 KS. 1.10 76 KS. 111. 7, VIII. 91

R V . 111. 60

helping hands to heroes or heroines and benedictors especially during

marriage.

Saptamatrs and Kali

Among the goddesses mentioned, Saptamatarah and Kali

followed Siva on his journey for wedding ceremony. Their origin was

associated with Siva. According to one legend, it is associated with

killing of the demon Andhaka by Siva. Another one connects them with

the killing of the furious demon Raktabija produced in the battle of

goddess ~ a k t i with Canda and Munda, who's each drop of blood

transformed into a demon. Then for helping the Goddess Sakti, these

war-goddesses were produced from the body of gods like Brahma,

Visnu, ~ i v a and others.

In KS, they appear serving Siva in connection with his marriage.

Before he started his journey, they presented the costumes and

ornaments suited for a bridegroom. Siva only touched them due to

respect towards them. They followed him in his journey for marriage.

The halo of their golden face by moving ornaments made the

atmosphere as if filled with lotuses. They became brighter when

followed by black Kali.78

Kali is a huge black blood fierce goddess, with skeleton ornament

followed Siva behind the seven MdtrEs. She was born from the jatd of

78 KS. VII. 30-3, VII. 31, VII. 38

~ i v a beaten by him on the floor when he heard the news of entry of Sati

into fire.

Sarasvati

Sarasvati is referred to in KS79 as pleased and felicitating the

couple using dignified and apt words as part of the marriage ceremony.

She is also described as a river and goddess of learning, speech, and

aerial speech as well in She praised the prince Raghu by

significant words.

Laksmi

Laksmi is the consort of Visnu and represents beauty and

~ e a l t h . ~ ' Her physical formg2 is described as sitting on the lotus with a

lotus in hand and bearing kaustubha. She is fickle in nature and

generally associated with royal gloryg3 and as such she is also

considered as wife of king.84 It can be noted that Kelidasa has not given

much importance to her though referred to in a number of places. In KS,

she appears with Visnu to bless the couple.

KS. VII. 90 80 RV. IV. 6, VIII. 77, X. 40, VI. 29, XV. 46 '' RV..I. 32

RV. IX. 1 9 , X. 64, KS. I. 43, RV. III.33,36; V. 38, XIV. 24,86; IV. 14, X. 8; VI. 14,29,41,58; VII.70; VIII.11,70; IX.19,30,32,45; X.80,10,62,75,83,80; XI.15,40; XIII.65,67,72; XIV.24,6; XVII.46; XVII.69; XVIII.16, 47,53; XVI.16; XVIII. 8 83 RV. XVII. 4

R.V. XIV.24

G h g a and Yamuna

Ganga and Yamuna the two famous rivers have a celestial

conne~tion.~' Kalidasa recognized them as rivers. But in KS, they are

represented in the human form as female attendants of Siva bearing

camaris. They are fancied as the flight of swans and standing on the

crocodile and tortoise, being symbols of adequate animals

predominantly in Ganga and Yamuna respectively. Though Ganga is

popularly considered as wife of Siva, Kalidasa never depicted Galiga as

wife of Siva, who is a strict monogamist.

Saci

~ a c i is the consort of Indra and remaining as a wife in perpetual

covertures. So she is remembered in the beginning of marriage as part

of custom for a successful married life. It is said,86 in the marriage hall

during Indumati svayamvara, when she chose Aja as her husband the

jealous kings did not obstruct it, due to the presence of Saci. Kalidasa

showed respect towards Saci, who helps to make the conjugal relation

firm.

KS. VII. 42,72

86 RV. VII. 33

Trijata is an inmate in the palace of Ravana, who is partial to Sita.

So when Ravana frightened Sita showing the head of Rama in war, she

consoled her convincing it as an illusion or maya only."

Tadaka

Tadaka, a yak~ini transformed Raksasi, is pictured as teasing rsis

trembling the forests due to her pride in her physical power, possessing

the power of ten elephants. Kalidasa described the legend of Tadaka in

eight versesg8 out of which four verses devoted to describe her fierce

form. She was as black as night, with human skulls as earrings and

human intestine as mekhala. She advanced to Rama and Laksmana with

high speed shaking trees on the way. Rama shot an arrow, with

hesitation, for killing the woman, though it was prohibited. Kalidasa

says that arrow paved the way to enter her body, which caused her fall,

shaken, not only the forest, her land but even the fortune of Ravana, the

conqueror of three worlds. It is implied that this woman was the

strength behind Ravana, a man to conquer the three worlds. Kalidasa a

follower of varnrtSramadharma justified her death as auspicious, since she

caused obstruction to the life of rsis in forests.

87 RV. X. 11. 74

RV. XI. 14-21

The episode of Stirpanakha 89 is dealt with by Kalidasa in about 20

slokas. When she approached Rama, who was in company with Sita,

being love-smitten, he sent her to Laksmana as Rama had wife with

him. She approached Rama as rejected by Laksmana and sit^ laughed

loudly joking at her, which raged her. Stirpanakha threatened her and

warned Sita and resumed her original form with sharp nails. Laksmana

drew the sword and caused deformity by mutilating her limbs. Then

she threatened her standing in the sky and reported this to Khara and

Dtisana. They attacked Rama, who fought against them righteously,

without violating the rules of war, though were wicked demons. Just

like T~daka ~ t i r~anakha also inferior both in gender and race. So she

being an aborigine expressed her emotion openly but was not

acceptable to civilised and cultured Rama. That is why Rama employed

Laksmana to drive away her and finally mutilated her. Her gender and

racial inferiority caused this humiliation and even critics avoided her.

Kumbhinasi

Kumbhinasi, a sister of Ravana and mother of Lavana whom

Satrughna killed, has a solitary reference in RVg0

89 RV. XII. 32-51 RV. XV. 5

Artists

Women as professional artists are not rare in Sanskrit literature.

They include dancers, actors, beauticians etc. In rich and royal families,

artists were appointed permanently.

Nati

Nati, the helper in the prologue of a drama generally, will be the

wife of satradhara and well versed in singing, acting and dancing. They

introduce the drama through their conversation. In SK, she sang a song

on gri?ma~tu, which caught up the audience. In other two plays the

helper is ParipdrSvika.

Rajanika and jyotsnika are two singers presented to king

Agnimitra by the king of Magadha.91 They are experts in singing.

Malavika and Dhsrini shared them. Malavika herself is a dancer

presented to Dharini by her brother. This indicate to the concept of

woman as an object of enjoyment and a commodity sold in open

market, especially artists whose loose moral was recognized in society.

In the KS, on the occasion of the marriage of Parvati there was a

description of bridal make-up. Kalidasa introduces there, beauticians, as

experts in bridal make-up. They seated Parvati turning east in front of a

mirror and amazed by her beauty, which brought shame to the

cosmetics and ornaments or prasadhanas. He gives a picture of

beautifying her both by professional beautician and in traditional way.

~ i v a also had, Saptamaws as beauticians, who brought costumes and

ornaments, suitable to the bridegroom. Another instance, in the

description of city women, who on the sight of bride grooms, ~ i v a in KS

and Aja in RV, drew their foot decorating by a bea~t ic ian .~~ In MAL,

Bakulavalika qualifies herself as the student of king Agimitra, while

decorating the foot of Malavika for dohada

dhatri is the stepmother in royal families. The duties assigned to

them include feeding, caring, nourishing and so on. She is expected to

be a friendly nurse, a common mother, who sees pleasure in them. Sons

of DaSaratha were entrusted to the dhatris, after completion of the birth

ceremony, who fed and brought up the children under their

p r~ tec t ion .~~ Rama remembers his dhdtri, according to which there was a

common nurse, who finds pleasure in children moving on her lap and

brought up by abundance of milk.94 K~lidasa describes, dhdtri of Raghu

who trained him, to utter words and also taught good manners like

saluting elders, which made Dilipa happy.95 Sunanda, the dhdtri of

92 RV. VII. 7 and KS. VII. 58 93 RV. X. 78 94 RV. XIII. 62 95 RV. 111. 25

Magadha96 was as bold as a male, well versed in the history,

knowledge, race and individual character of the kings and introduced

the kings assembled there during the marriage of Indumati. She was a

wise eloquent speaker and expressed discriminative power in her

introduction without hurting any one's feeling. When Indumati chose

Aja as her husband and appeared shy, she took her away. She also

helped Indumati to put the wedding garland on Aja's neck. dhatris were

appointed by kings to look after the children in royal families. The

appointment of dhatri, is thus intended to train the children in a

patriarchal way by keeping the mothers away in the pretext of helping

them.

Pratikdri

pratihari or doorkeeper is a common character in Sanskrit drama.

Their duty is to act as an orderly especially to the king. Jayasena, in

MAL and Vetravati in SK are the main characters in this group. They are

doing their duties mechanically and suppose to have any emotions of

their own. But Vetrvati in SK expresses her admiration on his decision

to discard beautiful ~akuntala, which indicates to the then practice and

attitude of kings towards beautiful women. Jayasena, in MAL helped

the king by bringing the ring with snake seal to release Malavika

bandi is defined as a captive woman of others, brought by

stealing, arresting or by force: 'bandi parasya nari hrtva baddhva balena

vd197 . They were appointed in service of enemy kings. While describing

the exploits of Taraka, gods reveal that their wives were taken as

captives and made bandis by conquering gods. They fanned him too

mildly equal to breath, accompanied by tears not to disturb Taraka.98

Others were employed in handicrafts. In RV Kalidasa describes ladies

of gods kept as bandis by Ravana." As they were away from husbands

they did not comb their hair and avoided all decorations. When Ravana

tortured them, Nalakabara, son of Kubera, cursed Ravana to split into

thousand pieces, if he touched their hair.

Cetis or Female attendants

In SK,loO Madhukarika and Parabhrtika, friends with one life,

were appointed in the garden by the king. They, intoxicated by the

spring with flowers like are ready to worship Kamadeva and

enjoy singing song. But when they knew from the Kancuki about the

prohibition of the festival by king, considering his state on seeing the

token ring, they repented their fault. Caturika, the female attendant of

Dusyanta enters with a portrait of ~ a k u n t a l ~ drawn by him for the

97 KS. 11.42 saiijivani comm.

98 KS. 11. 42, KS. 11. 41 99 RV. X. 47 loo SK. 204-206, VI. 1. 78. p204, VI. 2. 3. 206, VI. 2. 10,3.206, VI. 3. 3. 208

entertainment."' She nursed and consoled the fainted king on the news

of the death of the childless merchant. The attendants acted as nurses

and well wishers.

In MAL, Kaumudika and Nagarika'" appeared in the beginning

of the drama. Kaumudika with a ring with snake seal to Dharini and

nagarika with a message to iravati from Dharini prisoning Malavika.

Madhukarika and Parabhrtika were the garden keepers of

pramadavana.

Diitis

datis or female messengers were appointed to do the work, which

can not be done oneself and their duty is to know and win the mind of

the lover secretly and are of three types: nisrstartha, parimitartha and

patrahara.lo3 Bakulavalika in MAL, a female attendant and a student of

Agnimitra in fine arts and appointed by Agnimitra is an example, who

wins Malavika and joins her with the king. In VIK, Citralekh8 acted as

a messenger. Ladies in the harem of Agnivarna appointed female

messenger but they prevented him from going to other women.'"

In KS, ~ a t i ' ' ~ lamenting on the death of Kama, requesting her

husband to wake up who was turned to ashes by ~ i v a .

'O' SK. VI.13. 5, VI.22.4, VI. 22. 12. 23 '02 MAL. IV. 15. 27

'03 Kas. v. 4. 2 lo4 RV. XIX. 18 .3 'OS KS. IV. 16

Sal igop yas

~flligopyas'" are the children or young ladies appointed to protect

crops from the birds and animals in the paddy fields. In RV there is a

reference to them singing songs about the exploits of Raghu, sitting in

the shadow of sugar cane.

Women in the army

RV mentions participation of women in army. Kalidasa describes

that soldiers could not protect the ladies''? accompanied in the tent,

during Aja's journey to marriage with Indumati. There is a description

of Kumudvati, wife of KuSa, accompanying him in his march to assist

Indra in battle with demon Durjayal" and on his victory, she was

treated as sakhi (friend) by Saci, sharing a portion of pflrijdta.

Women in groups

Description of the women assembled to see newly wedded

couple is common in Sanskrit literature. In KS and RV, there are

descriptions of women watching through the windows of their houses,

though the verses are the same. While in KS, it was the city women of

O~adhiprastha looking bridegroom ~ i v a , in RV, it was of Magadha

watching the bridegroom ~ja. '@ Throwing laja (fried paddy) by women,

'06 RV. IV. 20 '07 RV. VII. 5-7 '08 RV. XVII. 5-7 log RV. V. 5-13, KS. VII. 56-68

on the king or person when he proceeds to war or victorious journey

was a custom in India. In RV, when Raghu preceded his journey, the

elderly women threw laja.l'o

Harem

Harem is the place where women are kept in palaces. In the

schedule of the construction itself harem or antahpuram is in the inner

parts of the palace. It was well protected by guards, female officers,

doorkeepers, karicukis, and pratih~ris. Generally, the officer in charge of

protection is karicukis who was entrusted with the care and service to

ladies. pratiharis are appointed to assist them. Hamsapadik~"' was

introduced to give a picture of the harem. She was depicted as jealous

towards queen Vasumati. She expressed her passion through a song, in

which she hinted Dusyanta's love with ~akuntala, but Dusyanta

interpreted it as jealousy towards Vasumati. But being a nagarika the

king, who is an expert in KaS and in managing the harem, handled it

cunningly. King who is compared to a bee seeking fresh honey depicts

the character of heroes and this episode was included by Kalidasa to

point out to the inconsistency of love of heroes.

Courtesans

Prostitution was approved in ancient India and a separate

department was there in the government. Under DaSaratha's rule they

"O RV. 11.10, IV. 27 "' SK. V. I. 0

could move through the street freely with out fear."' Devadhsis or

dancing girls are referred to in M D also."3

Apart from these human characters elephants, cities, rivers etc are

also seen in personified form. Nandini, the celestial cow and daughter

of Kamadhenu was served by Dilipa to get rid of the curse of

Kamadhenu, caused by the insult done by him. She talked to the king

using human words Ayodhyadevath also appeared before KuSa in his

bedroom assuming human form and told human words.

Women connected with other countries

Kalidasa refers to women of different countries with their

peculiarities. Yavanis, Persian, Keralite and Hunas were mentioned in

his works. Yavana girls were referred to in Sanskrit literature as

attendants to warrior kings. In SK and VIK, where the heroes had

yavanis as attendants, carrying weapons especially bow and arrow.

They accompanied heroes with weapons and supplied on demand.

Thus in VIK, she brought bow and arrow to shoot the vulture, which

carried away the sarigamaniya jewel.'141n SK the female attendant yavani

comes when pratihhri reported that vidii~aka was attacked by an unseen

power. She brought bow and arm guard.115 In the second act of SK,

there is a reference to yavanis, in the army as the attendant. She is

RV. XI. 20, XVII. 69

"3MD.I .8 .35 .25,RV. 11.5 'l4 VIK. 111. 3. 3 "5 VIK. VI. 26.9-10

described as carrying bows and seats and was decorated with wild

garland flowers.

Persian girls were pictured in RV as enjoying drinking wine with

youths and when they saw Raghu on the victory march, youths ran

away for fear of attack giving up drinking thereby loosing the company.

Women of Kerala are also referred to in the exploits of Raghu during his

victory march. It is well known that men in army, though are protectors

of people involve in anti social activities like attacking women and

looting wealth of enemy countries. Kalidasa describes it in the

description of Kerala women, who covered and abandoned their

ornaments from the sight of soldiers. The coloured dust raised by army

formed the saffron on their forehead.

On the loss of their husbands in the battle, Htina women in

harem, bit their cheeks due to grief. They censured the heroism of

Raghu. Kalidasa here reveals the psychology of women.'l6

RV. IV. 68