Raghuvamsha of Kalidasa
Video Lectures in Kannada
Raghuvamsha by Kavikulaguru Kalidasa in the foremost in the list of the 5 great poems (Pancha Mahaakaavyas) of Sanskrit. It is one of the first kaavyas taught to Sanskrit students in traditional learning.
Raghuvamsha describes the glorious feats of the kings of Suryavamsha, starting with Dileepa and proceeding with his son Raghu, Raghu’s son Aja, Aja’s son Dasharatha and Dasharatha’s son Srirama. The kaavya is as glorious and noble as the heroes portrayed within – Kalidasa’s creativity and beauty of expression are at it’s height in Raghuvamsha, and the kaavya exemplifies the 2-fold derivation of the term Mahaakaavya as महतां काव्यम् (Poem about Great People) and महत् काव्यम् (A poem which is great in it’s stature).
These lectures on the Raghuvamsha are in Kannada language, by Mahamahopadhyaya So.Ti.Nagaraja Sharma. Fondly referred to as STN by all his disciples, he is a stalwart scholar well-versed in multiple streams like Veda, Vedanta and Vyakarana. His favourite quote is, “Study of Literature is useless without studying Shaastra; Study of Shaastras is useless without studying Literature”. With this as the backdrop, he beautifully brings out the salient aspects of Raghuvamsha in multiple dimensions.
