'Kalidasa and Bhoja Raja, the king of 'TARA'

As we see dark clouds in the sky, we rush to a place of shelter since heavy downpour is likely.

A devotee asked a Pandit why Lord Vishnu is compared to the dark water bearing cloud or in other words as " Kala Megham " in Sanskrit or ' Dark Cloud' in English.
The Pandit cleared his throat first, and the devotee moved forward with increased attention as he was sure something very interesting was in the offing from the Pandit. The erudite scholar began the story of Kalidasa and Bhoja Raj. Kalidasa was the chief and distinguished poet in the Kingdom of Bhoj, 'TARA' , being its capital. The citizens of Tara were well versed in singing classical poetry.

The king knew well the talent of Kalidasa as a poet especially the innumerable ways of bringing simile in his poems. He developed a strange interest, knew not why, but he desired Kalidasa to sing the last song for him before he died. Normally the ' charama sloka' is sung only after a person is dead. Kalidasa, therefore made it clear to the king that as he was blessed by Kali Devi if he sang the song, the king 's life would come to an end immediately. Bhoja raja got angry with Kalidasa for disobeying his order and banished him from the capital of ' Tara'.

Kalidasa wandered in the city of Tara in the disguise of a hermit . But the King could not get over his strange wish. He launched a search to find Kalidasa's whereabouts and for this purpose he disguised himself as a ' Sooth Sayer ' . The king spotted the sanyasi near a mutton shop and to make sure that he was none other than Kalidasa he enquired him, " You are a Sanyasi, how come you are seen near a mutton shop , Is it not unbecoming of a true sanyasi?"

Kalidasa, impulsively reacted to the remarks of thr Sooth Sayer but unfortunately let the cat out of the bag by saying, " Where else a person can go after his banishment by the king?". On hearing this, the king became sure that he was Kalidasa only. The King decided to play a strategy to make Kalidasa to sing the last song for him. He continued the conversation with Kalidasa.

In due course Kalidasa also enquired the Sooth Sayer where from he hailed. The Sooth Sayer replied " Tara" .

Kalidasa with genuine interest in the welfare of King Bhoj enquired him for the news of Tara and whether the King Bhoj was keeping sound health. The Sooth Sayer replied ," Oh, what a calamity, Bhoj King is dead as he was unable to bear the separation from his best friend and poet Kalidasa". Kalidasa was shattered to hear the sad news about his friend and with great grief sang the ' charama sloka' in praise of the departed soul!!

" ATHYA TARA NIRATARA NIRALAMBA SARASWATHI;
PANDITHAHA KANDITHA SARVE BHOJRAJA DIVAM GATHE "
( meaning :- The Kingdom of Tara is now deserted due to the demise of Bhoj Raj. The learned poets would get punished anywhere now as Goddess Saraswathi has lost the grip and interest.)
The moment Kalidasa sang the charama sloka, the King in thedisguise of the' Sooth Sayer ' fell down on the ground and died. Kalidasa was quick to realise that it was none other than his best friend and the King himself who acted as the Sooth Sayer to hear the charama sloka from him.

Kalidasa prayed to Kali Devi to spare his friend by singing the same sloka to give the opposite meaning:-

" ATYA TARA SADHA TARA SADALAMBA SARASWATHY
PANDITHA MANDITHA SARVE BHOJ RAJA DIVAM GATHE "



Kali Devi was moved by Kalidasa's poetry and gave a new lease of life to the King but restricted it to a time of 3.75 Nazhi. ( a very short time only)

Kalidasa embraced the King and told about the short life at his disposal. King Bhoj urged to compose Kalidasa an epic and Bhoj also joined him to make it.The kavya is well known as" Bhoj Sambu " .
The epic work describes Vishnu as ' Kala Megham '.




The Pandit explained to the devotee why Kalidasa described Vishnu as ' Kala Megham '.

1) Colour:- The Cloud appears black when it is about to rain. Vishnu is also dark.
2) There is rainbow in the sky. Vishnu bears the weapon " Saranga" which is also a bow .
3) Lightning strikes as a thread in streaks. Vishnu's consort Laksmi is slender and a sparkling beauty
4) The birds in sky long for the rain from the clouds. Here devotees look for Vishnu's Grace.
5) The cloud when it showers, cools the Earth. The Grace of Vishnu helps the devotee to overcome his troubles.
The Pandit also explained why 'Rama Nama' is a Mantra.


The letter "Ra" gets emphasis in the name ' NaRAyana '. If you remove the letters "RA" in Narayana, it becomes ' Na Ayana" which means there is no Vishnu.
Similarly in the name " naMAsivaya', MA gets the emphasis. When MA is taken off, the name reads as 'na siva' which means there is no Siva. Thus RA from Narayana and MA from Namasivaya makes the mantra " RAMA " which is known as Taraka Mantra. There is a temple for " Sankara narayana" in Trinelveli district in the place called "Sankaran Koil" where the main deity is half Siva and half Narayana combined.


The list of famous devotees of Vishnu may stand long. But the names that come upmost are:-
1) King Parikshith who enjoyed hearing Vishnu Purana.
2) Sage Vyasa who sang Vishnu's greatness thru' his works.
3) Prahlada considered Vishnu as his whole life and his thoughts were always with Vishnu.
4) Laksmi was at Vishnu's feet always in service to the Lord.
5) Brugu Maharaj worshipped Vishnu with intense devotion.
6) Akrurar entertained Vishnu in an eloborate manner
7) Hanuman worshipped Rama in his heart and performed all duties for the his Lord.
8) Arjuna was Krishna's comrade and had an easy rapport with Krishna.
9) Bali Chakravarthi surrendered to Lord and sacrificed his life to keep up his word.
10). Sage Narada is the foremost of theVishnu bhaktas who popularised ' namasangeerthanam ', the simplest but most effective form of bhaktirasa .

The quote below is taken from the famous poem
' Christabel ' by Coleridge and suitably modified to fall in line with the topic:-

" Gods Will Help if Men May Call
For the Blue Sky Bends Over All. "