tre shed upon it by that splendid
court. Among the eminent men gathered there, nine were particularly
distinguished, and these nine are known as the "nine gems." Some of
the nine gems were poets, others represented science--astronomy,
medicine, lexicography. It is quite true that the details of this late
tradition concerning the nine gems are open to suspicion, yet the
central fact is not doubtful: that there was at this time and place a
great quickening of the human mind, an artistic impulse creating works
that cannot perish. Ujjain in the days of Vikramaditya stands worthily
beside Athens, Rome, Florence, and London in their great centuries.
Here is the substantial fact behind Max Mueller's often ridiculed
theory of the renaissance of Sanskrit literature. It is quite false to
suppose, as some appear to do, that this theory has been invalidated
by the discovery of certain literary products which antedate
Kalidasa. It might even be said that those rare and happy centuries
that see a man as great as Homer or Vergil or Kalidasa or Shakespeare
partake in that one man of a renaissance.

It is interesting to observe that the centuries of intellectual
darkness in Europe have sometimes coincided with centuries of light in
India. The Vedas were composed for the most part before Homer;
Kalidasa and his contemporaries lived while Rome was tottering under
barbarian assault.

To the scanty and uncertain data of late traditions may be added some
information about Kalidasa's life gathered from his own writings. He
mentions his own name only in the prologues to his three plays, and
here with a modesty that is charming indeed, yet tantalising. One
wishes for a portion of the communicativeness that characterises some
of the Indian poets. He speaks in the first person only once, in the
verses introductory to his epic poem _The Dynasty of Raghu_[1].
Here also we feel his modesty, and here once more we are balked of
details as to his life.

We know from Kalidasa's writings that he spent at least a part of his
life in the city of Ujjain. He refers to Ujjain more than once, and in
a manner hardly possible to one who did not know and love the city.
Especially in his poem _The Cloud-Messenger_ does he dwell upon the
city's charms, and even bids the cloud make a detour in his long
journey lest he should miss making its acquaintance.[2]

We learn further that Kalidasa travelled widely in India. The fourth
canto of _The Dynasty of Raghu_ des