Introduction (7)—Argument of the Abhijnana Sakuntala

ACT I. King Dusyanta is out on a hunting expedition in the woods adjoining the hermitage of Kanva. He aims an arrow at a deer, but is prevented by the sages calling out that the deer belongs to the hermitage. The king withdraws his arrow, leaves his chariot and at the suggestion of the sages walks into the hermitage after setting aside his ornaments and bow and is struck by the loveliness of three girls · watering the trees, particularly of Sakuntala among

them. He overhears their conversation and racks his brain to find out if Sakuntala with whom he falls in love is fit to be married by a Ksatriya. He envies the bee that hovers round her face without restraint. Sakuntala calls out for help against the attack of the bee. The king who remained incognito suddenly comes under the pretext of offering help. The girls welcome the guest who enters upon an elegant conversation with them. He learns Sage Kanva has gone to Somatirtha after leaving his foster-daughter Sakuntala to look after the hospitality due to guests during his absence on pilgrimage. From the mouth of the two female friends Anasuya and Priyamvada, he learns that Sakuntala is the daughter of the Apsaras Menaka through Sage Visvamitra and that on desertion by the parents she was bred up by Sage Kanva. The king is pleased that the parentage of Sakuntala admits of a wedlock with a Ksatriya. He enquires further and is satisfied that the foster-father Kanva intends to give her in marriage to a suitable bridegroom. Sakuntala affects to be displeased with the talk indulged in by both her friends with the king and tries to go away. She is prevented by her friends on the ground that she owes two waterings of trees for her share of work. The king offers his ring as a ransom to release her from the obligation which, however, is not insisted on by her friends. At the sight of the king's name

inscribed in the ring the friends are amazed. The king drives out their suspicion by professing that he is only the king's officer. By this time Sakuntala has fallen deep in love with the king, a fact observed by the friends through her bashful attitude and gestures. At this stage an elephant runs amuck, taking fright at the sight of the king's chariot standing afar. The hermitage is stirred by commotion, and the three friends hasten to depart. Sakuntala directs her glances back at the king under a pretext and slowly walks out. The meeting comes to an end. The king left alone has no enthusiasm to return to his city, and he joins his followers who come in search of him. ACT II. Vidusaka is dead tired of accompanying the king in his hunting expedition. In his anxiety to put a stop to it, he makes a pretence of injured limbs in the presence of the king. Engrossed in his love for Sakuntala, the king falls in line with Vidusaka and orders his general to stop the hunting expedition. In private he divulges his love for Sakuntala to Vidusaka who makes fun of his predilection for a rustic girl in supersession of the refined ladies of his harem. In defence of his love he expatiates on the beauty of Sakuntala, and in response to an enquiry by the latter as to her attitude the king refers to several circumstances which

betray her love for him. The king is anxious to stay on to pursue his love-affair and to send off his followers encamped at a distance. While the king and Vidusaka are at their wits' end to find out a means for staying in the hermitage, two hermits enter and request the king to safeguard their ritual against evil spirits for a few nights since their chief Kanva was absent. The invitation is welcome to the king. Presently, he receives a message from his mother to attend the function of breaking her religious fast on the fourth day. In veiw of the sages' invitation to stay, he decides to send the Vidusaka as his deputy in response to his mother's call and accordingly sends him back to the city together with all his followers in a manner befitting a king's substitute. While sending him off the king takes pains to impress on him that his love for Sakuntala is all a myth and that his talks about her were merely for the sake of fun. ACT III. In the Interlude a pupil of Kanva appreciates the efficient protection of the sacrifice offered by Dusyanta and is seen carrying sacred grass for the sacrificial altar. He hears of the indisposition of Sakuntala and the attempt of her friend to give her a cooling treatment. In the Act proper the king enters lovelorn, brooding over his love and in quest of a place of diversion at mid-day. He 1

draws near a bower adjoining the river Malini in the hope that his beloved would be there. Remaining concealed, he hears the conversation of Sakuntala reclining on a couch of flowers with her friends busy treating her with cooling materials. Much to his delight, the king hears of her love for himself confessed to her friends. The idea of sending a loveletter by Sakuntala to the king is conceived, and she actually writes the love-letter and reads it out to her friends, which the king overhears. This opportunity is availed of by the king to present himself before- Sakuntala and her friends and to assure them of his love for Sakuntala. Under the pretext of attending to a fawn that has strayed away, the two female friends walk out leaving the couple alone. The king addresses sweet words of courtship to Sakuntala. Before long the couple are apprised of Gautami's walk towards the bower with sanctified water for removing Sakuntala's illness. The king hides himself in a tree, and Gautami joined by Priyamvada and Anasuya enters the bower, sprinkles holy water over Sakuntala and takes her to the cottage. While leaving the bower, Sakuntala leaves a message for the king for a fresh interview under the pretext of addressing a tree. After the exit of Sakuntala and. party, the king eagerly looks at the flower-cushion. and other relics left by his beloved when he is called away by a voice of sages heard from afar calling out

for help against the demons hovering round the sacrificial altar in the evening. del → ACT IV. In the Interlude the two female friends of Sakuntala are seen gathering flowers for the worship of the goddess of fortune of Sakuntala and discussing the probable attitude of the king who has gone back to his city after contracting a Gandharva marriage with Sakuntala whom he had left behind with a promise to send his emissaries for taking her into his harem in a few days. Sage Durvasas who announces himself as a guest at the hermitage is not accorded reception by the absent-minded Sakuntala whose thoughts are all concentrated on her absent husband. The sage grows wild and curses Sakuntala that her husband will forget her. Priyamvada hurries to the spot and on appeasement by her the sage sets a time-limit for the operation of the curse till the production of some token to rouse the husband's memory. The two friends are consoled by the thought that the king has left the signet-ring with Sakuntala on the eve of his departure and that it would act as a reminder. They however decide to keep the curse a secret from Sakuntala whom they are anxious to save from cares. ht In the Act proper Kanva has returned from his pilgrimage. Anasuya is worried that the king has

not kept up his promise to take Sakuntala and is afraid of communicating the news of Sakuntala's marriage to her father. Sage Kanva however comes to know of the marriage and the consequential pregnancy of his daughter through a voice from the sky and it meets with his approval. He decides to send Sakuntala that very day to Hastinapura, the capital of Dusyanta under the escort of his favoured pupils, Sarngarava and Saradvata. On the eve of departure Sakuntala is given an auspicious bath, blessed by the matrons of the hermitage and decorated by her friends with the silks and jewels offered by the trees. Kanva risen from bath is careworn at the impending separation from his daughter, offers his blessings to her and invokes the leave of the trees and plants and the good wishes of the slyvan deities who readily respond to the same. The deer too feel aggrieved at her separation, and Sakuntala takes leave of the trees and plants reared by her. Kanva leaves a message for his son-in-law through Sarngarava, counsels Sakuntala about her conduct in her husband's home. The parting scene between the father and the daughter that follows is a stream of pathos; and when Sakuntala, accompanied by Gautami and party, has gone past the range of his vision on their journey, the sage returns with a sense of relief at having sent his daughter to her husband's home. · alrawy zalm bwd

57 ACT V. The scene shifts to Dusyanta's palace. A song chanted by his consort Hamsapadika covertly chides him for his unsteady love, and Vidusaka is sent by the king to appease her. The song, however, rouses vague reminiscences of a forgotten love. The king has just risen from his judicial seat and retired to his chamber for rest. The party escorting Sakuntala arrive at the palace. Though reluctant to disturb the king in his solitude, the chamberlain discharges his duty of informing the king of the arrival of sages with a message from Kanva escorting a lady. Under the orders of the king the party are received by his priest and taken to the firesanctuary where the king awaits them. After the usual greetings by the king and the expression of good wishes by the sages, Sarngarava communicates the message of his master that he has ratified the king's marriage of Sakuntala and that she may be taken into his home. The king is unable to recall the incident to his mind by any stretch of imagination and placed in a dilemma. An exchange of hot words ensues between the sage's pupils and the king. Sakuntala seeks to offer the king's signet-ring by way of proof, when to her great sorrow she finds it missing, it having slipped from her finger at the worship of Sacitirtha. The second attempt by her to rouse the king's memory by a reference to a fawn in the hermitage that refused to drink water from

his hands, but took to it when offered with hers, is equally of no avail. The king appreciates the cleverness of women in devising tactics to meet their own ends and declares that he will not fall into their trap. The angered pupil Saradvata decides to leave Sakuntala in her husband's home to be dealt with by her husband in any manner he likes. When Sakuntala tries to follow the sages as they return, she is strictly ordered by the pupil Sarngarava to stay and not to follow them. With Sakuntala thus left behind the king's priest suggests to the king that he will take her to his home and that if on delivery the child born bears the marks of an universal emperor she may be admitted by the king as his lawful wife. Accordingly, the priest leads her towards his home when, on the way, a lustre from the heavens in a female form took her up and disappeared. This marvel is intimated by the priest to the king who, pretending to take no note of it, is nevertheless shrouded in gloom and begins to suspect that what the sage's daughter alleged might after all be true. ACT VI. In the Interlude a fisherman who exhibited for sale the king's signet-ring which was found in the maw of a fish cut by him, is suspected of having stolen it and is handcuffed and beaten by two constables in the presence of the police-chief to

extract a confession as to its advent; and the fisherman asserts his innocence. The police-chief then proceeds to the king to make a report of the occurrence, but the king is satisfied with the account of the fisherman and orders its value to be presented to him. At the sight of the ring the king's eyes are seen flooded with tears as if due to a recollection of some dear person lost. The king's reward brought by the police-chief astonishes the constables and makes them envious of the fisherman on the sudden turn of fortune in his favour. A half of the reward is offered by the fisherman to the police-chief, but they all prefer to walk into an alehouse to celebrate the happy occasion of their first friendship. In the Act proper the king whose memory of Sakuntala has thus been roused prohibits the celebration of the Spring festival. Two maids in charge of the garden about to engage in the celebration are taken to task by the chamberlain and let off with a warning. The king pines day by day and is struck with remorse at the repudiation of his wife. He walks into the Madhavi bower for diversion. The celestial nymph Sanumati sent by Sakuntala's mother Menaka to find out the king's attitude moves incognito to watch the movements of the king. Vidusaka cheers up the discomfited king by the hope of a re-union with his beloved. In a deranged state of mind the king mourns the lot of the ring that has slipped

away from the elegant finger of his beloved. The servant-maid Caturika in pursuance of a previous direction of the king brings the picture of Sakuntala written by the king. The king wants to add some more details to the picture and orders the maid to bring the colour-box. The king is totally absorbed in the picture as if it were a reality and begins to lay down punishment on the bee that attacks his beloved's lip in the picture and feels aggrieved while reminded by Vidusaka that it was only a picture. Caturika enters to announce that the colour-box has been taken possession of by Queen Vasumati alleging that she would herself take it to her lord. To avoid the queen's notice the king entrusts the picture to Vidusaka who goes off with it to the adjoining mansion known as Meghapraticchanda. The portress who had gone to Minister Pisuna to fetch the record of cases investigated for the day under the orders of the king as he was unable to attend the court of justice personally owing to long wakefulness on the previous night, brings the record to the king and also informs him that Queen Vasumati had gone back on seeing the file in her hand being taken to the king. The king reads the record which relates to the death of a wealthy merchant issueless and the note of the minister that his estate will escheat to the crown. The king reverses the minister's decision by declaring that the estate will go to the merchant's

child in the womb and makes a general proclamation that Dusyanta will act the part of a kinsman to all his bereaved subjects. The merchant's case reminds the king of his own childlessness and makes him all the more grieving at the repudiation of his pregnant wife. As the king is thus dejected, Vidu- saka calls out for help against an unseen spirit oppressing him. The king's ire is suddenly roused, and he marches, bow in hand, to punish the demon, but Indra's charioteer Matali emerges suddenly with a request from his master to the king to march forthwith to heaven to fight an invincible host of demons who are causing havoc. The king accedes to the request but asks why Vidusaka was roughhandled. Matali explains that it was done to rouse the spirit of the king who was seen in a state of gloom. After leaving word with the Vidusaka to the minister to look after the kingdom during his absence the king mounts the chariot of Indra and marches to heaven to give battle to Indra's foes. ACT VII. The king is amazed at the extraordinary honour done by Indra on the eve of his return from heaven after the conquest of the Durjaya demons and gives expression to it in the presence of Matali while driving on the aerial chariot of Indra on his journey back to the earth. Passing through the several aerial planes between Heaven and the Earth, the chariot alights at Mount Hemakuta wherein is

-62 SAKUNTALA situate the hermitage of Marica and Aditi, the parents of all the gods. The king desires to pay his respects to the great sage Kasyapa. After stationing the chariot Matali goes forward to catch a suitable opportunity for an interview of the sage with the king. The king who stays behind is struck with the inordinate valour of a boy playing with the cub of a lion. The sight of the boy kindles parental love in the king. Two hermit-ladies in charge of the boy request the king to release the cub from the boy's grip. In the course of a talk with them he learns that the boy belongs to Puru's race, same as his own. A casual mention of the word Sakuntala by one of the hermit-ladies makes the boy think eagerly of his mother. The king's suspicion that the boy Sarvadamana is his own son, gains strength step by step. The herb known as Aparajita tied round the wrist of the boy as a protective amulet by sage Kasyapa at his birth which would change into a snake when touched by anyone except the parents and himself, slips down and is taken up from the floor by the king without undergoing any such metamorphosis. And the boy himself tells the king that he is Dusyanta's son. Sakuntala, with her hair twined in a single lock, enters in a garb characteristic of virtuous women separated from their husbands. The couple recognize each other, and the king begs pardon of Sakuntala for his past repudiation of her. Along

with the child the couple go to offer their respects to Sage Marica. The sage explains that the king's forgetfulness of Sakuntala in the past was due to a curse of Sage Durvasas. Both the king and Sakuntala are satisfied that the king has not erred without cause. Sage Marica sends a messenger to his cousin Kanva to inform him of the glad tidings. The happy reunited couple receive the blessings of Sage Marica who predicts that the child will be known as Bharata, the future sole emperor of the universe. After taking leave of the sage, the king along with his wife and child sets out for his capital on Indra's chariot.