Vikramorvashiya

(“Urvashi won by valor”) Drama written
by the poet Kalidasa, generally considered the greatest classical Sanskrit poet.
The Vikramorvashiya is a musical play in
five acts, whose mythic theme is the liaison of King Pururavas and the celestial
nymph Urvashi, a story mentioned both
in Rg Veda 1.95 and in the Shatapatha
Brahmana. In both these earlier sources
the story ends unhappily, with the separation of Urvashi and Pururavas, but in
Kalidasa’s version the estranged lovers are
finally happily reunited. This change may
have been prompted solely from the
desire for a happy ending, which is one of
the most characteristic features of
Sanskrit drama.