Raghuvamsha Sarga 1 | Shloka 3

This shloka continues with Kalidasa's modesty:

मन्दः कवियशःप्रार्थी गमिष्याम्यपहास्यताम् |

प्रांशुलभ्ये फले लोभादुद्बाहुरिव वामनः ||

mandaH kaviyashaH praarthii gamiSyaamyapahaasyataam |
praa.nshulabhye phale lobhaadudbaahuriva vaamanaH ||

Continuing his modesty from the previous verse, Kalidasa says that his ambitions are like that of a dwarf [ वामनः ] trying to pluck a fruit that is high-up the tree [ प्रांशुलभ्यम् फलम् ] with stretched out arms! [उद्बाहुः] He calls himself a dunce [मन्दः] who fantasizes himself in the ranks of legendary poets [कवियशः]  at the risk of being mocked [अपहास्यताम् गमिष्यामि ] by the world.

ಹಿಂದಿನ ಶ್ಲೋಕದಲ್ಲಿನ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯವನ್ನು ಮುಂದುವರಿಸುತ್ತಾ, ಕಾಳಿದಾಸನು ತನ್ನನ್ನು, ಚಾಚಿದ ಕೈಗಳಿಂದ [उद्बाहुः] ಎತ್ತರದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ಹಣ್ಣನ್ನು [ प्रांशुलभ्यम् फलम् ] ಕೀಳಲು ಯತ್ನಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಕುಬ್ಜ/ಕುಳ್ಳನಿಗೆ [ वामनः ] ಹೊಲಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ತನ್ನ ಈ ಕಾರ್ಯದಿಂದ, ಮಹಾಕವಿಗಳ ಸಾಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸೇರುವ ಆಸೆಯಲ್ಲಿ (ಭ್ರಮೆಯಲ್ಲಿ?) ಜನರಿಂದ ಅಪಹಾಸ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಗುರಿಯಾಗಬಹುದು  [अपहास्यताम् गमिष्यामि ] ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾನೆ, ಕಾಳಿದಾಸ! (ಇನ್ನು ನಮ್ಮಂತಹವರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹೇಳಬೇಕೇ? )

लम्बी कद के व्यक्ति के हाथ में आ सकने योग्य वृक्ष पर लगे फल की प्राप्ति की इच्छा वाले बौने व्यक्ति के द्वारा हाथ को उठाने पर भी असफलता ही हाथ लगती हे और वह उपहास का पात्र बनता हे । उसी प्रकार महान कविजन द्वारा प्राप्त करने योग्य कीर्ति की इच्छा से प्रवृत्त मेरी भी यह चेष्टा उपहास पात्र ही होगी | 

Some thoughts:

- As we do the next couple of shlokas, this shloka's context will become very clear.

- Also, the metaphor of a dwarf trying to get a fruit high up the tree is very appealing to me. Most of us have felt the very same thing many times! However, we should probably give it a try like how kalidasa did! After all this modesty, raghuvamsha went on to become one of the greatest works ever written in Sanskrit! This feeling came up when I had this idea of starting this blog too - kalidasa showed the way! And of course as krishna says - do your work and leave the results to god/destiny.