Shakuntala - Kalidasa

Kalidasa was a poet and dramatist in 5th century India. Though little is known of his personal life, his poems and plays are still treasured--Kalidasa is considered by many to be the greatest of Indian writers.

Shakuntala (or Abhijñānaśākuntalam, "The recognition of Shakuntala") is his most famous play. It was taken from a tale in the Mahabharata and recounts the joy and pain in the relationship between Shakuntala and the King Dushyanta. Abandoned by her parents as a baby, Shakuntala is adopted by the rishi Kanva. When King Dushyanta is hunting in the forest, he comes upon Shakuntala and is immediately drawn to her beauty. Dushyanta and Shakuntala fall in love and marry, but Dushyanta must return to his duties in the city and Shakuntala must wait for her adoptive father to return from a pilgrimage before she can join the King in his palace.

While the pregnant Shakuntala daydreams of her new husband in her hut, she receives a visitor--the powerful rishi Durvasas. Durvasas finds her inattention despicable, and curses her marriage:

"Because your heart, by loving fancies blinded,
scorned a guest in pious life grown old,
a lover shall forget you though reminded,
or think of you as of a story told."

So Dushyanta forgets his bride entirely. Shakuntala's brother pleads with the rishi to lift his curse, but he is unable to take back the words, and can offer only one condition that will restore the king's memory. Dushyanta gave Shakuntala a ring before leaving. Once the ring is returned to him, his memory will return. Sadly, Shakuntala loses the ring in a river as she travels to the city. When she arrives at Dushyanta's palace and confronts the dubious king with the reality of their marriage, she realizes the ring is gone. Shakuntala is abandoned by her family in Dushyanta's palace, then is whisked away by a goddess to a peaceful mountain where she can live as an ascetic and raise her child. Dushyanta doesn't give the matter another thought.

A fisherman later recovers the ring and turns it into the authorities. It eventually makes its way back to the king. Once Dushyanta touches it, all memory of Shakuntala rushes back to him, and he mourns the wife and child that he has lost. He completely ignores his kingdom, devoting all his time gazing upon a miniature of his wife that was created by his description.

Years pass by. Indra orders Dushyanta to destroy a group of demons, and he does so, goaded by Indra's chariot driver into anger so that he could forget his misery. On returning to his kingdom after defeating the demons, Dushyanta rests on a mountain that is home to an ancient and famous sage. As he waits for an audience with the sage, Dushyanta sees a handsome and strong boy playing with a lion cub. Dushyanta speaks with the boy and notices imperial birthmarks on his hands. He becomes hopeful that he has somehow discovered his son, and asks to meet the boy's mother. Dushyanta is brought before Shakuntala, and the two have a tearful reunion.

The son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala is Bharata, the ancestor of the Kauravas and Pandavas--the sets of brothers who fight the civil war in the Mahabharata. Thus, the play serves as an introduction to the nobility in their heritage. It also shows that hardship falls upon the righteous, but that suffering will be overcome.

Shakuntala's style is light--the scenes of Shakuntala with her maids or the king with his clown are reminiscent of Shakespeare's comedy, a little self-effacing and slightly bawdy. Love is the primary theme of the play. Divine providence (and intervention) ensures that Dushyanta and Shakuntala find each other at the end of the play. Both characters have grown; Shakuntala in her ascetic prayer and Dushyanta in his battle for Indra. Their love has matured, but it is stronger and steadier for that. I believe that Kalidasa's work reveals the importance of romantic love--that even the gods will work to bring a lasting love between humans.