1879.] G. A. Grierson—Some Further Notes on Kalidasa. 83 
and introduced him to his daughter, as her future husband. The daughter, in 
order to test Kalidasa’s knowledge, asked him if he was learned in Sanskrit. 
Kalidasa in his ignorance replied “ 3raT arf Ha,’ meaning, of course, 
“sta aife.” The daughter was highly offended at this ignorant answer 
and told her parent that he ought to have known better than to bring for- 
ward such a dolt as her future husband. But her father was not in the least 
taken aback and replied that, by saying as she had just said, she had 
shown her inferiority to Kélidasa in Sanskrit learning, in that she was not 
able to understand the excellence of the idiom with which he spoke,—“ For,” 
said he, “‘qt’ means ‘ knowledge,’ ‘#1’ means ‘of us,’ 7. e., ‘of me,’ 
‘aif’ means ‘there is not’; ‘@a’ is compounded of ‘ar and ‘za,’ of 
which ‘ar’ means ‘ Lakshmi,’ and ‘<a’, ‘like.’ The whole phrase ‘ #1 aT 
atfe Ha’ therefore means ‘I am not as learned as Lakshmi.’”* On hearing 
this explanation, the daughter was compelled to confess herself vanquished 
and agreed to marry Kalidasa. After the performance of the ceremony, 
Kalidasa hastened to meet his bride in the wedding-chamber ; but she, 
being strong-minded, refused to allow any familiarities, until she had cate- 
chised him in the soundness of his knowledge of the Sdstras. Of course, 
poor Kalidasa was utterly confounded and so incensed his wife that she 
gave him a sound drubbing with a broom-stick. 
He fled from the chamber and passed the rest of the night wandering 
about in a neighbouring wood, and erying with the pain of the broom-stick. 
In the morning he resolved to deserve his wife, by at least learning to read 
and write at a path-s‘dld in Uchait. 
He attended the péth-s’é/d regularly, but in vain. He was a bye-word 
amongst the pupils and an example of stupidity continually held up to the 
other boys by the gurw. 
At Uchait, there is a famous Durgasthan situated in the midst of the 
jangal: and one rainy stormy evening, his school-fellows dared Kalidasa to 
visit it at midnight. Out of his innate stupidity, Kalidasa was perfectly 
indifferent in the matter of ghosts and readily undertook to perform the 
venturesome action. As it was necessary for him to show some token of 
his visit, he smeared the palm of his hand with ashes, that he might leave 
the impress of his hand on the image. 
Now, it must be observed, that it is the custom in Mithila, when any 
one has committed a grievous sin, for the people to smear his face with 
ashes and to parade him in this state before the town. Therefore it is a 
“ yat paro nasti” insult to cast ashes on the face of an innocent man. 
* T fear this story did not originally apply to Kalidasa, though I have heard it 
attributed to him. I have met it in the Purusha Parikshé, but no mention of Kalidasa 
is made in that version. 
E 
