Kalidas was a Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language of India. His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Vedas, the Mahabharata, and the Puranas.

Kalidas wrote three plays. Among them, Abhijnanasakuntalam ("Of Shakuntala recognized by a token") is generally regarded as a masterpiece.

Abhijnanasakuntalam tells the story of King Dushyanta who, while on a hunting trip, meets Shakuntala, the adopted daughter of a sage, and marries her. A mishap befalls them when he is summoned back to court: Shakuntala, pregnant with their child, inadvertently offends a visiting sage and incurs a curse, by which Dushyanta will forget her completely until he sees the ring he has left with her.

On her trip to Dushyanta's court in an advanced state of pregnancy, she loses the ring and has to come away unrecognized. The ring is found by a fisherman who recognizes the royal seal and returns it to Dushyanta, who regains his memory of Shakuntala and sets out to find her. Goethe was fascinated by Kalidasa's Abhijnanasakuntalam, which became known in Europe, after being translated from English to German.

मेघदूत महाकवि कालिदास द्वारा रचित विख्यात दूतकाव्य है। इसमें एक यक्ष की कथा है जिसे कुबेर अलकापुरी से निष्कासित कर देता है। निष्कासित यक्ष रामगिरि पर्वत पर निवास करता है। वर्षा ऋतु में उसे अपनी प्रेमिका की याद सताने लगती है। कामार्त यक्ष सोचता है कि किसी भी तरह से उसका अल्कापुरी लौटना संभव नहीं है, इसलिए वह प्रेमिका तक अपना संदेश दूत के माध्यम से भेजने का निश्चय करता है।.