Shakuntala

Author’s background
Kalidasa is a Sanskrit poet and dramatist, probably the greatest Indian writer. The six
works identified as genuine are the dramas Shakuntala, Vikramorvashi and Malavikagnimitra.
Kalidasa’s plays, employing both Sankrit and Pankrit languages, affirm profound levels of
cosmic unity, reconciling life’s inevitable conflicts through union of the hero and heroine, ehoing
ritual sacrifice of Vedic literatures.
Study guide
 Main characters of the epic
 Climax of the story
 Resolution
Shakuntala
By Kalidasa
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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