40 G. A. Grierson— Are Kalidasa's Heroes monogamists ? [No. 1, 
for tlieir bearing arms, and even if there was, such a profession does not 
explain their carrying garlands at the same time. 
As this passage is, however, liable to discussion. I now quote another 
in the same act (the second), which occurs just before the 43rd verse 
(M. W.’s Edition). The Yidushaka says to the king, speaking of his 
longing for S'akuntald , “ Just as a man who is sated with dates may 
desire the tamarind, so your highness, slighting the jewels of women in 
your Zenana, has fixed his desires upon S'akuntald 
There is one more jfiay by a Kalidasa , which is by some ascribed to 
the author of the S'akuntald —the Mdlavikdgnimitra. The hero in this 
piece is certainly not a monogamist, in fact Agnimitra is represented as 
being “ very much married” indeed. He has a first Queen Khar ini, and 
then a second Queen Irdvati, who is the chief villain of the piece. Not 
only are these both prominent characters, but the king, not satisfied with 
only two, finishes the play by marrying Mdlavikd, which is the conclusion 
to which the whole course of events of the piece has been tending. 
It thus appears that it can hardly be considered an accurate statement 
of facts that “ the greatest of” Kalidasa's “ heroes are either monogamists 
or may be taken to be so for all purposes of his epic narrative.” KiUpa 
was a polygamist, about Baghu we know nothing, and the only great heroes 
of Baghu's line, who bear out the above remarks, so far as we can tell, were 
Aja and Bama. 
Every one of the dramatic heroes is a polygamist, and the subject of 
marriage, so far as it relates to one or to a plurality of wives, is not men¬ 
tioned either in the Bitu-Sanhdra, the JSLegha-duta, or the Kumdra-Sam- 
hhava. 
