Meghadūta
This poem written by Kalīdāsa, is known to be a classic in Sanskrit literature.
It speaks about a monologue the main character (a yaksha) has with a cloud,
It speaks about a monologue the main character (a yaksha) has with a cloud,
requesting it to send a consoling and heartfelt message to his wife, whom he misses dearly.
Concept Note
The idea to work on Kalīdāsa's poem came from the intention to make Sanskrit literature more accessible to young minds. The poem is a beautiful but long description of the sights the cloud will see. Hence, keeping in mind the short attention span of today's generation, I created this visual comic to prompt people to take interest in Sanskrit literature, specifically this poem.
The story
The part of the poem I chose speaks about the reason why he’s been separated from his wife.
He had a daily duty of collecting fresh flowers for Lord Kubera’s worship to Lord Shiva.
Once out of laziness, he had collected flowers the previous day, for the following morning,
and it severely backfired. A bee in the closed buds of the Lotus stung Lord Kubera.
As a result, the poor yaksha was exiled to Ramagirī, losing his powers and being forced to live
away from his wife for an entire year. While he’s remembering his wife, he sees a rainy cloud,
shaped like an elephant stooping down to a river close to him.
Hence followed his monologue describing everything the cloud would see on his way to Alkapurī.
The Final Output
