अस्ति कश्चिद्वाग्विषयः
(Is There Any Special Knowledge?)
Poorvaashramakaalidaasa: Legend of Kalidas's earlier life. The princess of kingdom was proud of her erudition and refused the hand of prime minister's son who was no match to her, she thought. The minister decided to teach her a lesson.
One day , the minister was on his morning walk at the outskirts of the city. He saw a man cutting down a branch of a tree by sitting on the very branch on the wrong side. I have got him , the minister decided. You will fall down, he told the man and soon he did come down along with branch that was cut . The man saluted the minister, saying -You are great. How could you predict I will fall down. The minister coaxed him to accompany him to his home.
The man was a shepherd. The minister told the man that, if he tries, he can marry the princess. I will take you to the court. You do not open your mouth and I will answer all questions put to you by the princess.
The minister managed to convince the princess that the man is fit to be her husband. The night of the wedding the princess found out the truth and asked him - asti kaschidvaagviShayaH? On his failure to answer, she threw him out of the palace.
The poor man went to a Kaali mandir and prayed. Goddess was pleased with him and made him wise. That gave birth to Kaalidaasa.
Kaalidaasa's three poetic works begin with the three words of the question the princess had posed to him. Kumaarasambhava begins with Asti, Meghadoota with Kaschit and Raghuvamsha with Vaag (I remember by heart all the three verses).
When a silly fellow is spotted, he is called Poorvaashramakalidasa.
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