Raghuvamsha
Raghuvamsha — 12 chapters, 120 questions. Kalidasa's Raghuvamsha (from M. R. Kale's English translation, with Mallinatha's commentary).
The Raghuvamsha is the Sanskrit great poem (mahakavya) by Kalidasa, in nineteen cantos, on the kings of the solar line: Dilipa, Raghu, Aja, Dasharatha, Rama, Kusha, Atithi, down to the last king, Agnivarna. It does not repeat Valmiki's Ramayana: about half the poem is the kings before Rama, and a good part of the rest the kings after him. The story here is told in our own words from a direct reading of Kale's English translation; speeches and laments are paraphrase, not word for word. Where Kalidasa's Rama story differs from Valmiki's, Kalidasa's text is what is given. For some passages (cantos 11–15 in particular) the scanned source was not clear, and such places are told briefly.
- Dilipa and Nandini — A king who had everything except a son — and a cow he followed, without once stopping, for twenty-one days
- The Birth of Raghu — The son whose name means "the one who goes" — and who fought Indra himself, and asked for his father's sacrifice instead of the horse
- Raghu and Kautsa — The king who conquered the quarters and then gave away everything — and when a young scholar came asking, begged gold from Kubera out of a clay pot
- Aja and Indumati — On the Narmada an elephant took an arrow and turned into a gandharva — and in Vidarbha a princess walked past a row of kings and garlanded Aja
- Indumati's Loss — A garland fell from the sky and the queen was gone — the king carried his grief for eight years, then laid down his body where the Ganga and Sarayu meet
- Dasharatha: Curse and Boon — A king shot an arrow into the dark and killed the only son of a blind old couple — and in the curse he received, he found the boon he had longed for
- The Bow and Parashurama — The prince who broke Shiva's bow at Mithila and won his bride was stopped on the road home by the man who had cleared the earth of kshatriyas twenty-one times
- Exile, Lanka and the Pushpaka — The Rama whose whole story Kalidasa compresses into one hundred and four verses — and then, flying home in the Pushpaka, shows Sita every place she had walked on foot
- Sita Is Sent Away — The king who had found Sita pure in fire sent her to the forest after a spy's report of what the city said — and in the message she sent back there was not a word of complaint
- Lava and Kusha, and Rama's Departure — Two sons who sang their father's own story before his face — and the king who then walked into the Sarayu, with his whole city behind him
- Kusha, the Naga Princess and Atithi — The city Rama left behind came to Kusha at midnight as a widowed woman — and a naga princess was married for a lost jewel
- The Last Kings — A line that went on for many generations after Rama — and whose last king Kalidasa leaves at the moment a pregnant queen sits on the throne
Questions about Raghuvamsha
How is Raghuvamsha divided here?
This retelling of Raghuvamsha has 12 chapters: Dilipa and Nandini, The Birth of Raghu, Raghu and Kautsa, Aja and Indumati, Indumati's Loss, Dasharatha: Curse and Boon, The Bow and Parashurama, Exile, Lanka and the Pushpaka, Sita Is Sent Away, Lava and Kusha, and Rama's Departure, Kusha, the Naga Princess and Atithi, The Last Kings.
What is Raghuvamsha about?
A line born of the Sun — Dilipa, Raghu, Aja, Dasharatha, Rama — sung by one poet with such love that when it ends, you still do not feel the story is finished.
What is the source of this retelling?
Kalidasa's Raghuvamsha (from M. R. Kale's English translation, with Mallinatha's commentary).
Is there a quiz on Raghuvamsha?
Yes. Each chapter ends with 10 questions, and behind every right answer there is a short story that explains it. In all, 120 questions.