Abhigyan Shakuntalam
Abhigyan Shakuntalam by the ancient Indian poet Kalidasa is a timeless masterpiece that combines the realms of love, fate, and human emotions. Believed to have been composed in the 4th or 5th century AD, this Sanskrit drama is noted for its poetic beauty, philosophical depth, and exploration of profound themes.
At its core, Abhijanan Shakuntalam tells the enchanting story of Shakuntala, a virtuous and beautiful young woman who grew up in Sage Kanva's ashram. Fate intertwines her life with King Dushyanta, leading to a magical encounter and a deep love between them. However, circumstances conspire to tear the couple apart, testing their loyalty, devotion, and resilience. The play deals with the complexities of love, the conflict between duty and desire, and the consequences of choices.
Kalidasa's poetic genius shines through his lyricism, vivid descriptions of nature, and succinct portrayals of characters. With its timeless appeal, Abhijan Shakuntalam continues to captivate audiences across cultural and linguistic boundaries and reminds us of the enduring power of love and the human spirit.
About the Author (Life and Works):
MahakaviKalidasa is one of the greatest poet and dramatists in the Classical Sanskrit Literature. In spite of the celebrity of his name, the time when he flourished bhas been an unsettled question, although most scholars nowadays favor the middle of the 4th and early 5th centuries A.D, during the reign of ChandraguptaVikramaditya. It is believed, since Kalidasa in his early years was not too good in intellect and wit, he was rejected by a princess; so he worshipped goddess goddess Saraswati/Kali and she blessed him with intellect and wit, thus making him one of the "nine gems" "Navaratnas" in the court of Chandragupta Vikramaditya. From his poems it is presumed him to be a Brahmin, but nowhere it is declared. His name, literally means "servant of Kali". Kalidasa had a vast knowledge of the Vedas, Hindu rituals, religious symbolism and mythology.
Though the exact number of works by Kalidasa can not be claimed with any certainty, scholars unanimously attribute seven works, three plays, two epic poems and two shorter poems, definitively to the master poet Mahakavi Kalidasa. The plays are Malavikagnimitram ("Malavika and Agnimitra"; a work concerned with place intrigue.), Vikramorvasiyam ("Urvashi Won by Valour"), Abhijnana Shakuntalam ("The Recognition of Sakuntala"). Two epic poems are Kumarasambhava ("The Birth of Kumar"), and Raghuvamsa ("The Lineage of Raghu"). And the other two short poems are Meghduta("The Cloud-Messenger"), Rtusamhara ("The Gathering of Seasons").
Major characters :
1. Dushanta : The hero or Nayaka of the drama; monarch of the lunar dynasty of Puru; first servant of the dharma (religious and social laws and duties); protector of the social order; resolute hero yet tender and suffering agonies over his lost love.
3. Kanva : Head of the hermitage and foster father of Sakuntala.
4. Anasuya and Priyamvada : Friends and companions of Sakuntala.
5. Gautami: Matron of Kanva's Hermitage
6. Durvasa: A traveling sage with bad temper
7.Madhavya : Jester, King Dushanta's friend and constant companion.
Other
major characters that helped in the plot development of the play :
1) Suta- Royal charioteer
2) General - Bhadrasena, Senapati or Commander of the Royal Army
3) Guard - Raivataka , doorkeeper
4) Sarva-Damana : The emperor Bharata ; son of Sakuntala and King Dushanta.
5) Harita - Hermit boy
6) Fisherman
7) Misrakesi - An apsara (celestial nymph), friend to Menaka
8) Marica - Prajapati or Primal Parent and Indra's father
Summary
Act 1 ( THE CHASE )
Scene - The forest in the foothills of the Himalayas; later the Hermitage of Kanva, by the river Malini
After the benediction to Lord Shiva, the first act of the play begins with King Dushanta's hunting of a deer in a forest with his charioteer Suta and a friend come court jester named Madhavya. When Dushanta, the king of Hastinapura was about to shot his arrow, he was interrupted by an ascetic who requested the King to " Quickly withdraw your well-aimed arrow , bound/ to protect the distressed, not strike the pure" as this place was under the protection of a Hermitage and any animal that enters the place should not be harmed. The king honours the words of the ascetic and withdraws his arrow and puts it back in the quiver. Pleased with the Kings righteousness , the ascetic blessed the king with a boon to have " a son who will turn the wheel of Empire." Then he asks to enter the Hermitage of Patriarch Kanva, who "has gone not long back to Soma-tirtha" and accept the hospitality of his daughter Sakuntalaproffered to a guest. The King agrees to that and commands Suta " urge the horses on and let us purify ourselves with a sight of holy Hermitage." After reaching close to the Hermitage which the king called "penance-groves" , he gets down from the chariot so that the peace of the Hermitage do not get disturbed. Dushanta was knowledgeable enough to know that " Hermit-groves should be visited modestly attired" , therefore he asks his charioteer Suta to halt, removes all his jewels and Kingly costume to appear like a normal individual. As he takes steps forward, he hears "snatches of conversation to the south of the hermit girls" who were "carrying jars proportionate to their slender frames...to water the saplings" ; and is charmed by the beauty of them. So he decides, " I think I shall wait here in the shades and watch them."
While Sakuntala and her two friends Priyamvada and Anasuya is watering the plants and conversing, the king standing in a distance appreciates the ravishing beauty of Sakuntala, "Her lower lip has the rich sheen of young shoots,/ her arms the very grace of tender twining stems;/ her limbs enchanting as a lovely flower/ glow with the radiance of magical youth." Sakuntala notices the Madhavi bush that Sakuntala loves and treats as sister is covered with buds when it is not the season for her blooming. Seeing this ,Priyamvada informs that Sakuntala is soon to be married as she " heard it from Father Kanva's own lips that this would signal your wedding." In the meantime, Sakuntala is troubled and panicked by a bee and in a vexation Dushanta comes out from hiding to save her. At first , all three get scared of seeing a man who does not belong to the hermitage but then they get comfortable and offer the king hospitality. Sakuntala already wonders, " how is that the sight of this person fills me with emotions out of place in a penance-grove." Dushanta introduced himself as " one well-versed in the Vedas whom the Paurava monarch has appointed as Minister in Charge of Religious Affairs." On the course of their conversation Sakuntala's true identity and the secret of her beauty revealed that is Sakuntala is a daughter of an Apsara named Menaka and a Royal sage thus Kanva is her foster father.
The King offers his signet ring to Sakuntala for his hospitality toward him. Initially he refuses to introduce himself as the king. So he tells them that the ring was a gift from the King. The meeting gets immediately disrupted as a voice off-stage warns the hermit dwellers about the King's ensemble arriving at the grove on the hunt. And he gets separated from the hermit girls. As soon as they leave, King realises his " keenness to return back to the Capital has been blunted by meeting Sakuntala" and feels his intense desire to prolong his stay in and around the hermitage, enjoying the invaluable company of Sakuntala.
Act 2 ( CONCEALMENT OF THE FEELING)
Scene - The forest
The second act of the play enfolds with Madhavya, the court-jester and a close companion to Dushanta's complaining about his ill-fate having to wander the forest and eat on everything he could get instead of rejoicing in the palace. He tries to show his frustration when the King meets him , " it seems" " you abandon the affairs of the kingdom;" "and stick around here enamoured of the primitive life of foresters". However, Dushanta manages to console him and convinces Madhavya to help " in a matter that will not cause you (him) the least bit of exertion." Then the King commands the GaurdRaivataka to ask the General, Lord Bhadrasena to meet him so that he can inform his descision to stay and orders the hunting party not to disturb the ascetic's grove in any way.
As finally the gaurds and general leave the place, Dushana and Madhavya sit in a place, where love-stricken Dushanta begins his "breathless admiration" of "that exquisite ornament of the Hermitage" ,Sakuntala. He goes on appreciating, " Contemplating Brahma's imaging power ineffable,/ and her beauty, she flashes on my eye,/ a jwel among women/ of another order of Creation, extraordinary;/ as if the mighty Creator gathering/ rarest elements of beauty,/ pictured perfection first,/ then quickened it with the Breath of Life." Madhavya seeing the King so lost in the thought of Sakuntala's sight, teases the king " It looks as if you have turned this penance-grove into a pleasure-garden." While they were making plans on how to re-enter to the Hermitage so that the King gets to know the heart of Sakuntala, two hermits approach to him with a request that " In the absence of his Holiness, the Patriarch, demons will begin disturbing the performance of our sacred rites. Therefore, you with your charioteer come in and stay for some nights in the hermitage to gaurd it." Exactly it is what he wanted, so immediately he agrees to offer his protection, but at that very moment, a messenger named Karabhaka came with a letter from The Queen Mother that runs as follows," On the fourth day after today I shall break the fast that I have undertaken, the fast known as "The Safeguarding of the Son's Succession". My long-lived son should be by my side on that solemn occasion without fail." This makes the king 'perplexed' as both of the duties, "on the one hand" "the commitment to the holy sages" "on the other hand the command of the revered parent", were of same importance and none to be ignored. Finally, he decides to send Madhavya to take his place at the ceremony and carry out for Her Majesty, all the ritual duties that a son has to perform . In this way he can get closer to Sakuntala but he was afraid that Madhavya may reveal the Kings stay in Hermitage solely for the love interest in Sakuntala that is why he clarifies, " I am going into the Hermitage solely bout of esteem for the sage, to help them. I have no real interest in the hermit-maiden; just a whim....Donot,my friend,/take in earnest what was spoken merely in jest." Thus ends act two entitled 'concealment of the feeling'.
Act 3 ( LOVE'S
FRUITION )
Scene - The Hermitage of Kanva
This act witnesses the delectation of love of Sakuntala and Dushanta.
The act begins with a prelude where we see the pupil of the Hermitage praising Dushanta's mighty charm and how his entry to the hermitage make all the sacred rites completely free from all unexpected disturbance. On the other hand Sakuntala is seen as love-sick so Priyamvada is carrying lotus leaves, the cooling balsam of the fragrant Usira-root to cool her burning frame . And here the prelude ends.
As the main act begins, we see the King a pensive mood who sings the song of Sakuntala'sbeauty . In the meantime he notices Sakuntala and her two friends. So he decides "to look through these twining stems" and hear them out. As Sakuntala is getting sick day by day ,Anasuya asks " we feel that the state you are in is like that of persons experiencing the pangs of love as described in romantic tales. So be frank, tell us the cause of your distress." Then Sakuntala reveals her heart saying," From the moment that Royal Sage who is the protector of penance-groves came within my sight....From that instant I am pining love of him." But she wasn't sure of Dushanta's heart so her friend suggests her to write down song confessing her feelings to him. The song goes like " I do not know your heart, / but my nights and days, O pitiless one!/ Are haunted by Love,/ as every part of me / yearns to be one with you." No sooner he heard the confession he than could not hold him back and came to the fore replying " Love burns you, true, my slender girl!/ But me, He consumes utterly- relentless; Days wipes out the moon from view/ but not the water-lily." The four of them talk and gradually Priyamvada and Anasuya slip away leaving the pair in solitary independence. As their hearts drizzle with thoughts of lover's flirtations and they get closer with each conversation, from a distance the voice of Gautami is heard calling for Sakuntala. The pair separate with regret and Sakuntala leaves with Gautami whereas Dushanta leaves to help the ascetics complete the evening prayers.
Act 4: ( SAKUNTALA'S DEPARTURE)
Scene - the hermitage
This act describes Sakuntala's leave from the Hermitage to meet her husband Dushanta. The act begins with a prelude, where Sakuntala, destressed, overwhelmed with the thought of her husband, failed to hear the voicing call of an honouredguest , who in anger cursed Sakuntala, " because you are lost in thoughts of one/ to the exclusion of all else, / you shall be lost in his thoughts:/ though you goad his memory hard,/ he shall fail to remember you,/ even as a man drunk remembers not/ thereafter, the tale he told before." Hearing this Priyamvada and Anasuya got dismayed, because the guest is no one but " the great sage Durvasa quick to anger". SoAnasuya requested him to forgive Sakuntala and withdraw his curse but he said " My curse cannot prove false; but its power will ease the moment she presents some ornament as a token of recognition." This made them little relax cause Sakuntala had the signet ring of the King. They decided keep this away from Sakuntala's knowledge as she had already in lovelorn.
As Sakuntala and Dushanta was married in the absence of father Kanva in Gandharva rituals, Priyamvada and Anasuya was worried about father's reaction after hearing Sakuntala being married and bearing the child of the king. But surprisingly, when father Kanva was entering the Sanctuary of the Mystic Fire, a bodiless voice chanted a verse, that goes like " As the Holy Tree/ is with Mystic Fire pregnant,/ so is your daughter;/ know, , O Great Brahmana,/ she holds Dushanta's glowing energy/ pledged for the well-being of the world." Now, Kanva decides to send Sakuntala to her husband this very day with an escort of ascetics.
Gautami helps her, so do Anasuya and Priyamvada; meanwhile, Kanva enters after completing his prayers with grief stricken heart as his daughter leaving. Sakuntala's friend embracing her tells " if the good King be at all slow to recognise you, be sure to show him the Ring inscribed with his name." Gautami, Saradvata and Sarnagarava are also ordered to go with Sakuntala and ensure she reaches the palace safely and the reunion is without any trouble. This act in Abhijnanasakuntalam contains most unexpected events from announcing of the marriage to the curse and acceptance of the marriage by Kanva and Gautami.
Act 5 : ( THE REPUDIATION
OF SAKUNTALA )
Scene - The Royal Palace
The Royal King Dushanta is busy with his royal duties and being wearied by the burden of administrative duties says " Every man who gains the object of his desire is happy. Only to kings does the gain itself brings misery." Madhavya asks to listen to the song and music played by her wife Hamsavati. The song suggests subtly that she is being neglected Dushanta feels a yearning in his heart but cannot understand the reason for his heart to behave as such. At this moment, the chamberlain announces the presence of hermits from the hermitage of Kanva and Dushanta asks for them immediately by inviting them with proper Vedic rites. After the reception [Sarnagarava and Gautami remind the king of the secret marriage between him and Sakuntala but he can not remember anything] Kanva through his messengers explain before the King how the Sage accepets the gandharva marriage between his daughter and the King and how now he offers his daughter's hand to him who is pregnant with his offshoot. But the King refuses to accept denying any such relationship. Because he has no memory of their marriage vand can't accept a pregnant lady with whom he has no known connection. When all attempts go in vain, Sakuntala tries to show him the signet ring he'd given her, she discovers, to her shock that the ring is missing from her finger. Shakuntala, who doesn't know about Durvasa's curse is heartbroken, and her grief turns to anger as Dushanta denies any connection with her. Then she discovers, in the most dramatic moment of the play sp far, that the ring, the object that would override the curse, has gone missing.
The more Sakuntala tries to spark Dushanta's memory, the more he accuses her of using "honeyed words" to deceive him: "Females of every kind/ Have natural cunning to perform these tricks." Sakuntala is angry, telling him that he sees "everything through the distorted lens of (his) own heart." She reproaches herself for having entrusted herself to a man "with honey in his mouth but poison in his heart."
The ascetics accept Dushanta's rejection since they believe "a husband's power is absolute." They even refuse to take Sakuntala back to the hermitage provided it is true what Dushanta stands for while rejecting her. Vulnerable Shakuntala is abandoned both by her beloved and her father's household.
Dushanta, on the advice of high priest, agrees to shelter 'the women' Sakuntala till she gives birth to her child. Because he has been predicted that he is going to have a son endowed with royal signs in his physic. The bewildered Sakuntala prays that the earth will swallow her up. Moments later, the court priest tells Dushanta that the weeping girl has suddenly disappeared: "Close to the nymph's shrine, a curtain of light/ Shaped like a woman, whisked her away."
Act 6: ( SEPARATION
FROM SAKUNTALA )
Scene - Dushanta's Capital & The pleasure garden
The sixth act begins with two policemen recognise the royal signet ring in possession of a fisherman. The fisherman pleads that he found the ring in a fish he caught lately. A police chief goes to the King and submits the ring which disturbs him a lot. The fisherman was threatened to be killed but the Chief policeman come back from the Royal court with the news of the fisherman will be awarded the same value as the ring. Seeing the ring , the king regain his memory of Sakuntala and feels horribly sorry for what he did to Sakuntala.
An apsara, Misrakesi, enters. She is a friend to Menaka, Sakuntala's mother, and has promised to help Sakuntala. She wonders why the palace isn't being prepared for the spring festival and decides to spy on some gardeners in order to find out.
The two young female gardeners, newcomers to the palace, are happily enjoying the scent of mango blossoms when a chamberlain comes in and angrily scolds them from celebrating the spring festival in any manner. At the girl's questioning, the chamberlain explains that the festival has been cancelled because of "the scandal of Sakuntala." It turns out that when he saw the ring, Dushanta remembered that he actually did marry Sakuntala and "rejected her out of sheer delusion. And ever since he has been mortified by regret" and depressed. ThusMisrakesi learns of the King's catastrophe.
Misrakesi observes invisibily the King dressed as a penitent and wasted with remorse. She notes that Sakuntala feels the same grief. Madhavya, looking on, calls the king's illness "Sakuntala fever." The depressed King decides to refrain from court engagements and goes the garden on the advice of Madhavya. The surrounding natural environment is reflecting King's inner mental state, dejected and sad. Then a maid servant, Chaturika, enters, carrying a portrait of Sakuntala painted by the King. As Dushanta resumes on the painting, he laments that he rejected the living woman and must now obsess over her mere image. He notices a bee in the painting and warns it not to harm his beloved.
He hears the case of a great childless merchant being lost at sea, and his wealth going to the king that makes him realise "how terrible to be childless!" . The wealth of Dushanta's own family will undergo a similar fate when he is gone because he abandoned his "fruitful wife" for no good reason. He wonders who will feed his ancestors in the afterlife. Misrakesi wishes to console the king, but remembers that Indra's queen plans to "maneuver matters" such that husband and wife will soon reunite; she must wait until the time is right. Just then, off-stage, Madhavya yells for help in a strangled voice. The doorkeeper runs in, explaining that invisible spirit has seized Madhavya and dragged him onto the palace roof. Dushanta rushes to his aid, but can't see his friend. Just as he is about to shoot an arrow anyway, Indra's charioteer, Matali, materializes.Matalitells that there's a near-imvincible brood of demons that Dushanta must face. Dushanta agrees to mount Indra's chariot and fulfill his duty of protecting the realm.
Act 7 : SAKUNTALA'S
PROSPERITY
Scene - First the celestial regions; then the Hermitage of Marica
This is the last and final act of Abhijnanasakuntalam, which reveals that after having annihilated Kalanemi and his brood of demons in the celestial regions, Dushanta proceeds with Matali towards the Hermitage of Marica in order to receive the blessings of the venerable ascetic. At the grove of this Perfect Seer, Dushanta notices a boy rebuked by two hermit women for wrestling with a lion cub. The boy tells the lion cub, " Come little lion, come, open wide your jaws; I wish to count your teeth." The women says that day by day this boy is become more wilder and more wayward thus apt in naming Sarva-Damana meaning All-Tamer. Dushanta feels strange affection towards the boy and wonders, " Who can this child be for whom I feel an affection as if he were my own?" Then he thinks this is because he has no child he feels tenderness toward the boy. Intrigued by the strength and courage of the boy the king thinks, " This boy strikes me as the tiny germ/ of mighty valour that waits/ like a fiery spark for kindling,/ before it burst into a blazing fire. As soon as Dushanta notices the mark of a Sovereign of the world on the palm of the boy he starts to build hope. The king asks the hermit lady to which family the boy belongs and its Puru's family. But still he was little confuse to named the boy as his. Finally when he stoops to pick the protective amulet that slips from the wrist of the boy, it is proved that Dushanta himself is the father of Sarva-Damana. Because the armlet had been bestowed with divine power to turn into a serpent and attack anybody apart from the parents of the boy if they tried to pick it up. Overcome with great joy, Dushanta exclaims, " How can I not rejoice with my whole heart that this moment, my heart's desire has at last found its fulfilment." He embraces the boy but the boy resists saying, " You are not my father; Dushanta is my father." Sakuntala enters at the moment but unfortunately, she can no longer recognise the king. He now resolves to regain his beloved wife, and so Dushanta relates to her the manner in which the ring reminded him of her. As Sakuntala's recognition of him is complete, Dushanta is finally able to reunite with his lost loved ones, i.e. his wife and their children.
The end of the seven act entitled Sakuntala's prosperity as finally she got to unite with his husband. Thus the play entitled The Recognition of Sakuntala.
