कालिदास [ kālidāsa ] [ kāli-dāsa ] m. ( fr. [ kālī ] , the goddess Durgā , and [ dāsa ] , a slave , the final of [ kālī ] being shortened ; cf. Lit. Pāṇ. 6-3 , 63) , N. of a celebrated poet (author of the Śakuntalā , Vikramôrvaśī , Mālavikâgnimitra , Megha-dūta , and Raghu-vaṃśa ; described as one of the nine gems of Vikramâditya's court , and variously placed in the first , second , third , and middle of the sixth century A.D. ; the name is , however , applied to several persons , especially to two others who may have written the Nalôdaya and Śruta-bodha ( hence the N. is used to denote the number , " three " ) , and seems , in some measure , to have been used as an honorary title) .