- 



354 



Prannath Pandit — Morals of Kalidasa. 



[Ko. 3, 



and this is exemplified in the case of Aja. # One of the reasons that led 

 the sage councillors of Dasharatha to approve of his hunting expedition is 

 its bracing effects on the constitution. f The Messenger Cloud is requested 

 to rest his wearied feet and quench his thirst on the lofty mountains and in 

 the cooling rills which abound in his path ? J and the request to rest himself 

 is repeated further on.§ 



Wealth.— The duty of accumulation of wealth flows from that of 

 preserving our health, as wealth accumulated is but energy conserved. It 

 was not lost sight of by Kalidasa. He puts into the mouth of one of his 

 characters the reflection that even a thirsty Ohdtaha cares not to solicit 

 rain of the autumnal cloud whose aquatic stores have been drained to the 

 dregs. || But knowing withal how to guard against its degenerating into 

 a selfish miserliness, he subordinated it to the higher moral duty of benevo- 

 lence. As he himself tells us, the good, like the clouds, take but to give.*|[ 

 The princes of the solar race, accumulated treasures, in order to be able to 

 give them away, ## and of Dilipa we are told that he amassed wealth though 

 devoid of avarice. ff Of another king, Atithi, we are told that he collected 

 treasure only because that lies at the root of patronage, as the Chdtakas 

 greet only the cloud that carries a store of water in its bosom. J £ To use 

 the language of the Meghaduta : 



" Of all the fruits that fortune yields, the best 



a Is still the power to succour the distrest.§§" 



Humility. — Humility lies at the root of self- culture, the second sub- 

 division of Individual Morality, for surely, ere one labours for self -improve- 

 ment, he must be impressed with a sense of his own shortcomings. 

 Kalidasa never grudged humility. He begins his Eaghuvansa with the 

 following confession : 



" How men will mock the humble bard who sings 

 " The ancient glories of sun-born kings ; 



* Eaghu., V, 65. 



t ^TO^SWqmjf ^XT^qtT rP?T^?m^eP ^f*c!w || Raghu., IX. 49. 



X Purva Megha., 13. 



§ Purva Megha., 27. 53. 



II f^f%rTC^3W\ "iRXf *f *nf % ^TTcWttfal Raghu., V. 17. 

 11 m^J^ f% fWrre W ^TfTi^Tfrre I Raghu. ? IV. 88. 

 ** HttJTTO WfTT^TTTH I Raglm., I. 7. 



tf ^rarcn^ ifr$«ra v i Kagim., i. 21. 



ft Kaghu., XVII. 60. 



