meghata

Meghata is a Sanskrit term that can function as an adjective or noun formed from megha, meaning “cloud,” with the suffix -ta. As a linguistic form, meghata can describe something cloud-like, cloud-covered, or related to clouds. The construction exemplifies how classical Sanskrit often derives descriptive words by attaching suffixes to a base noun.

In Sanskrit literature, cloud imagery is prominent, and words derived from megha appear frequently in descriptions of weather, sky, and atmosphere. Meghata itself is not widely known as the title of a canonical work; the best-known cloud-themed work in Indian literature is Kalidasa’s Meghaduta, the Cloud Messenger, which uses cloud imagery to convey a message across distances. While Meghaduta is the more famous cloud-related text, meghata as a form may appear in broader poetic and grammatical contexts as a descriptive term rather than as a standalone work.

Beyond literature, meghata may be encountered as a linguistic or poetic descriptor in scholarly discussions of Sanskrit diction, epithets, and compound formation. It is distinct from megha, the noun for “cloud,” and from Meghaduta, the specific Kavya by Kalidasa. In modern usage, as with many Sanskrit-derived terms, meghata may appear in names or titles where cloud imagery is symbolically intended, but such uses are contextual and not part of a fixed literary canon.

See also: Megha, Meghaduta, Kalidasa, Sanskrit poetry, Kavya, Sanskrit grammar.

References: standard Sanskrit lexicons and grammar references for megha and suffix -ta; discussions of cloud imagery in classical poetry.