Ṛtusaṃhāra, often written Ritusamhara, (Devanagari: ऋतुसंहार; ऋतु, "season"; संहार , "compilation") is a medium length Sanskrit poem. While the poem is often attributed to Kalidasa, modern scholars disagree with this traditional attribution. According to Siegfried Lienhard "the Ṛtusaṃhāra is almost certainly the work of some poet whose name has not come down to us and was probably written sometime between Asvaghosa (about 100 A.D.) and Kalidasa (4th to 5th century)." The poem has six cantos for the six Indian seasons- (summer), (monsoon/rains), (autumn), (cool), (winter), and (spring). The word Ritu (seasons) with the word saṃhāra is used here in the sense of "coming together" or "group". Thus, Ritusamhara has been translated as Medley of Seasons or Garland of Seasons, perhaps more aptly as the "Pageant of the Seasons", but also mistranslated as "birth and death" of seasons, which arises from the alternate meaning of samhāra as destruction. The evocative poetry is in the popular Anustubh Chanda form of four line stanzas- a total of 144 stanzas. Collated by William Jones, this was the first Sanskrit text to be printed and published in Calcutta (Kolkata) in 1792. The changing seasons are portrayed in acute details using the thematic backdrop of how lovers react differently to the changing landscapes- the two themes beautifully accentuating each other. This imbues the poem with distinctly amorous taste (shringara) rasa. The predominant emphasis on a single rasa has been criticized by some, however it showcases the latent virtuosity of the neophyte poet, as he explores the range of flavors (Svad) within the single rasa rasa- an exuberant exposition of joie de vivre, conveyed through the interplay of changing nature and steady romance. Sometimes his authorship has been challenged on the grounds of weak poetic imagination. As an example, here is verse 1.4 of Grishma, where the lovers are struggling against the heat: Of these verses (4-9 of Grishma canto) the Mysore scholar K. Krishnamurthy says: However, others have cited the primacy of shringara rasa (considered as a primeval source for other rasas), and also the balance the poet seeks to achieve by setting the lovers against the background of nature, as redeeming features of the work. Simple evocations of changing seasons intersperse the more colorful ones: Old Sanskrit texts' commentators like Mallinatha of 15th century ignored this work, along with dozens of other commentators. This has contributed to the doubts about the authorship of this work. But scholars like Keith argue that excepts from this work are quoted in several Sanskrit anthologies, hence it must be that commentators like Mallinatha didn't like simple works. Academics like V.V. Mirashi and N.R Navlekar conclude that Ritusamharam is indeed Kalidasa's work, albeit from his younger days.

Adaptations

Playwright and theatre director, Ratan Thiyam, stage his production based on the poem as closing production of 4th Bharat Rang Mahotsav in 2002.

Translations

Ritusamhara was translated into English by R. S. Pandit, published in 1947. Ritusamhara was translated into Tamil and published in 1950 by T. Sathasiva Iyer. Ritusamhara has been translated into Marathi Poetry by Dhananjay Borkar and published by Varada Prakashan in 2012. It has also been translated to Kannada by Bannanje Govindacharya titled "Rutugala henige". Ritusmahara has been simultaneously translated into Hindi and English, as well as illustrated by Rangeya Raghav, published by Atmaram and Sons in 1973. Ritusamharam A Gathering of Seasons translated to English by A.N.D Haksar, published in 2018, Penguin Classics