Which one of the following books is NOT written by Kalidas ? 1. Meghaduta 2. Raghuvamsam 3. Shringar Shatak Select the correct answer from the code given below : Code :
- (a)1 and 2
- (b)2 and 3
- (c)Only 3
- (d)Only 1
Correct — C, Only 3. Shringar Shatak — the Śṛṅgāra Śataka — is not Kalidasa's. It is one of the three 'centuries' of Bhartrihari, whose Śatakatraya gathers a hundred verses each on niti (worldly wisdom and ethics), shringara (love) and vairagya (renunciation). The other two titles are squarely inside Kalidasa's accepted corpus. Meghadutam is his lyric of a banished yaksha who asks a passing monsoon cloud to carry a message to his wife in Alaka, and it founded the whole later sandesha-kavya or 'messenger poem' genre. Raghuvamsam is his mahakavya in nineteen cantos on the dynasty of Raghu, running from Dilipa and Raghu through Rama down to Agnivarna. So only item 3 names a work Kalidasa did not write.
- (a)1 and 2 — This picks out Meghaduta and Raghuvamsam as the non-Kalidasa works, which reverses the truth exactly: after Abhijnanashakuntalam these are his two most celebrated compositions, one lyric and one epic.
- (b)2 and 3 — Half right. Shringar Shatak is indeed not Kalidasa's, but Raghuvamsam is. Candidates hesitate over Raghuvamsam because its subject matter overlaps the Ramayana and the Ikshvaku-Raghu line, but the poem itself is Kalidasa's mahakavya, not Valmiki's epic.
- (d)Only 1 — This makes Meghaduta the odd one out. Meghadutam is in fact among the most securely attributed of all Kalidasa's works and the model every later Sanskrit 'messenger poem' imitates.
Kalidasa, traditionally placed at the Gupta court of Chandragupta II 'Vikramaditya' around the 4th-5th century CE, is credited with seven works: three plays (Abhijnanashakuntalam, Vikramorvashiyam, Malavikagnimitram), two mahakavyas (Raghuvamsam, Kumarasambhavam) and two lyric poems (Meghadutam, Ritusamharam). Bhartrihari is a different figure altogether — the poet of the Śatakatraya, traditionally identified with the grammarian-philosopher of the Vakyapadiya, though scholars still debate whether the poet and the grammarian were one person. Learn Kalidasa's list of seven as a closed set and every 'which is NOT by Kalidasa' item becomes mechanical.
There is a usable tell in the title itself. In Sanskrit a shataka is 'a century' — a hundred verses — and shataka-titled works belong to the anthology tradition: Bhartrihari's three shatakas, Amaru's Amarushataka, Mayura's Suryashataka. Kalidasa's titles never take that form; his are -dutam, -vamsam, -sambhavam, -samharam and the -iyam/-am plays. Also read the code options before answering: the stem says 'which one of the following books', but the codes allow multiple items, so the question is really 'which of these is/are not by Kalidasa'.
- Kalidasa's accepted corpus: Abhijnanashakuntalam, Vikramorvashiyam and Malavikagnimitram (plays); Raghuvamsam and Kumarasambhavam (mahakavyas); Meghadutam and Ritusamharam (lyrics)
- Shringara Shataka is one of Bhartrihari's Śatakatraya — three sets of a hundred verses, on niti (ethics), shringara (love) and vairagya (renunciation)
- Bhartrihari is also credited with the Vakyapadiya, a foundational text on the philosophy of language and the sphota doctrine
- Meghadutam founded the sandesha-kavya genre: the exiled yaksha sends a cloud north from Ramagiri to Alaka in the Himalaya
- Kalidasa is traditionally associated with Chandragupta II of the Gupta dynasty — the association UPSC tested directly in 2020
- Reading 'which one of the following' literally and hunting for a single item, when the code options actually allow more than one
- Assuming any famous Sanskrit poem must be Kalidasa's — shataka-titled works belong to Bhartrihari, Amaru or Mayura
- Confusing Raghuvamsam (Kalidasa) with the Ramayana (Valmiki) because both follow the Raghu and Ikshvaku line
UPPSC asks work-to-author head on, as a 'which is NOT written by' item or a match-the-list; UPSC prefers to embed the author in a court — 'Kalidasa is associated with Chandragupta II' — or to test pairs of literary works and authors and ask how many are correctly matched.
With reference to the scholars/litterateurs of ancient India, consider the following statements: 1. Panini is associated with Pushyamitra Shunga. 2. Amarasimha is associated with Harshavardhana. 3. Kalidasa is associated with Chandra Gupta – II. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(c) 3 only
The same author-attribution concept from the other side: UPSC asks which court Kalidasa belongs to rather than which book. Together the two questions fix Kalidasa's identity — Gupta-age poet of the Meghaduta and Raghuvamsam, at Chandragupta II's court.
With reference to ancient Indian History, consider the following pairs: Literary work — Author 1. Devichandragupta — Bilhana 2. Hammira-Mahakavya — Nayachandra Suri 3. Milinda-panha — Nagarjuna 4. Nitivakyamrita — Somadeva Suri How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) Only three
- (d) All four
Answer(b) Only two
Pure work-to-author matching on Sanskrit texts, which is exactly what the UPPSC item is testing. Note how UPSC builds the same trap — attaching a real work to the wrong real author (Devichandragupta to Bilhana instead of Vishakhadatta).
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Śatakatraya — comprising the Niti Shataka, the Shringara Shataka and the Vairagya Shataka — is attributed to
- (a)Kalidasa
- (b)Bhartrihari
- (c)Bhavabhuti
- (d)Banabhatta
Answer(b) Bhartrihari — three sets of a hundred verses each, on ethics, love and renunciation.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following pairs of Sanskrit work and author is correctly matched?
- (a)Mrichchhakatika — Kalidasa
- (b)Mudrarakshasa — Vishakhadatta
- (c)Harshacharita — Bhavabhuti
- (d)Kumarasambhavam — Bhartrihari
Answer(b) Mudrarakshasa — Vishakhadatta. Mrichchhakatika is Shudraka's, Harshacharita is Banabhatta's, and Kumarasambhavam is Kalidasa's.