Once in the court of King Bhoja, a samasyA was presented. GuLu gugguLu gugguLu = गुळु गुग्गुळु गुग्गुळु! But there was a problem: those words have no meaning. How can the other three paada-s be completed when the fourth paadam is nonsensical ?
The court poets took it home as their home work. The next morning some poet courtiers walked to the court with complex pooraNa-s on their palm leaves or in their memory. Some had no solution: how can a nonsensical fourth pAdam be completed ?
KALidAsa alone walked to the court with his eyes and ears and nose and feet fully in touch with the surrounding NATURE. He had no solution in his mind although he had sought for on in the night.
The genius poet believed in poetry that was the best (varA) -- svayam EvAgata = naturally born. Therefore on the way, his keen observational powers were in action and his deep avadhAnam (concentrated focusing of mind) fully working, and thereby he saw a few monkeys seated on a Jamboo (cherry ?) tree full of ripe fruits. Instead of ignoring that ordinary sight, KALidAsa focused his PRatibhaa on it.
He saw the monkeys' movements on the branches in search of fruit and the shaking caused by their activity making the tree's over-ripe fruit fall off. As the tree branches were hanging low into the nearby stream, the fruit fell into water. With sensitive ears, the poet heard the cherries fall into the clear water with a peculiar sound -- the same sound as in the samasya's last line!
Lo ! and behold! a stanza was born in KALidAsa PRatibhaa from that lived experience -- a muktaka poem full of simplicity and concreteness and an accessibility that allows even a child into the loft precincts of samskr^ta poetry!
जम्बूफलानि पक्वानि पतन्ति विमले जले |
कपि-कम्पित-शाखाभ्यां -- "गुळु गुग्गुळु गुग्गुळु "||
jambūphalāni pakvāni patanti vimalē jalē /
kapi-kampita-śākhābhyāṁ -- "guḷu gugguḷu gugguḷu "//
The ripe cherries falling into clear waters from the branches of a tree shaken by the monkeys produced the sound, guLu, gugguLu, gugguLu (BhojapRabanndham 272)!
After listening to the pedantic verses of other other court poets, King Bhoja and the entire court were thrilled to hear KALidAsa's simple stanza vivid with the image of jumping monkeys on a fruit tree and the sound of the falling fruit.
Undoubtedly, KALidAsa walked home with the customary 1008 gold coins as reward!