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Shakuntala: Dusyanta Deer Kanva Shakuntala Anasuya Priyamvada Trees

1) King Dusyanta encounters Shakuntala, the daughter of Sage Kanva, at Kanva's hermitage and they fall in love. 2) They secretly marry, but Dusyanta is later cursed to forget Shakuntala by the sage Durvasas when she unintentionally offends him. 3) Years later, after various events, Dusyanta rediscovers his son Sarvadamana by Shakuntala at another hermitage and remembers everything, reuniting with his family.

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Francisco Dacuya Alajas
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180 views

Shakuntala: Dusyanta Deer Kanva Shakuntala Anasuya Priyamvada Trees

1) King Dusyanta encounters Shakuntala, the daughter of Sage Kanva, at Kanva's hermitage and they fall in love. 2) They secretly marry, but Dusyanta is later cursed to forget Shakuntala by the sage Durvasas when she unintentionally offends him. 3) Years later, after various events, Dusyanta rediscovers his son Sarvadamana by Shakuntala at another hermitage and remembers everything, reuniting with his family.

Uploaded by

Francisco Dacuya Alajas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Shakuntala

Summary
Dusyanta, a king in northern India, is racing along in his chariot, preparing to shoot a deer.
Suddenly, a forest-dwelling ascetic warns him not to shoot, since the deer belongs to the nearby
hermitage of Kanva, a great sage. The ascetic invites King Dusyanta to visit the hermitage,
which is under his royal protection. He explains that Kanva isn’t home, but the sage’s
daughter, Shakuntala, is receiving guests.
When the King enters the hermitage, he notices Shakuntala and her two
friends, Anasuya and Priyamvada, watering the sacred trees. He hides in the shadows to observe
them, instantly drawn to Shakuntala’s beauty. When Dusyanta reveals his presence, a flustered
Shakuntala is immediately attracted to him, too. Though Shakuntala is modest and shy, the King
questions Shakuntala’s friends about her and offers her his signet ring.

Before the King has to concoct a reason to linger near the hermitage, he’s asked to protect the
ascetics from evil spirits in Kanva’s absence. He quickly dispels the demons, then overhears
Shakuntala, who’s desperately lovesick, confiding her feelings for him to her friends. When
Shakuntala recites a love poem she’s composed for him, he emerges from hiding and openly
declares his love for her. Their mutual declarations effectively constitute a secret marriage.
Before long, Shakuntala is pregnant.
After Dusyanta is forced to return to his capital, Shakuntala is so distracted that she
unintentionally offends Durvasas, a short-tempered sage, when he visits the hermitage. Durvasas
puts a curse on her that will cause Dusyanta to forget Shakuntala, but when Priyamvada
intercedes, he grants that the sight of a memento—the signet ring—will lift the curse. After
Kanva returns, he celebrates Shakuntala’s good fortune and sends her to join her husband,
escorted by seers.
In the capital, when Dusyanta receives word that a party from Kanva’s hermitage is on its way,
he is surprised and uneasy. To Shakuntala’s grief, the baffled and defensive King denies having
any connection with her. When she tries to show him the signet ring as a reminder, she discovers
it’s missing from her finger. Dusyanta relents and agrees to house Shakuntala until she gives
birth, but before he can do so, Shakuntala is spirited away to the celestial realm by nymphs.
A poor fisherman discovers the King’s signet ring in the belly of a fish and is threatened with
execution, but he is let go with a reward after the King, seeing the ring and remembering
everything, corroborates his story. Soon thereafter, Sanumati, a nymph and friend of
Shakuntala’s mother, spies at the palace to find out why the spring festival has been canceled.
She learns that the King, overwhelmed by depression and remorse over Shakuntala, has
forbidden the celebration. Dusyanta continues to obsess over the situation until Matali, the god
Indra’s charioteer, appears at the palace and takes him away on an urgent mission to fight
demons.
Six years pass. King Dusyanta has successfully vanquished the demons and been duly honored
by Indra. When Matali and the King tour the earth in a flying chariot, they descend to
visit Marica’s hermitage, a celestial realm of the demigods. Here the King is astonished to meet a
little boy who greatly resembles him. When he picks up the boy’s protective amulet—able to be
touched only by the boy and his parents—he confirms that the boy, Sarvadamana, is indeed his
child, the prophesied world ruler. Then Shakuntala enters, and, though it takes her a moment to
recognize the King, they are soon tearfully reunited. The three of them talk with Marica the sage,
and he explains Durvasas’s curse, telling the couple not to blame themselves or one another.
Marica confirms Sarvadamana’s destiny and blesses the family, sending them home to live in
Dusyanta’s court.

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