Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s2.t18.24

v2.c10.s2.t18.24

In Act I, King Dushyanta while hunting and chasing after a small deer to comes upon a scenic hermitage. He wants to visit the sage Kanva, but by chance meets his adopted daughter Shakuntala, who is a beautiful young girl. The King is captivated with her beauty, and Shakuntala also falls in love with the gallant Dushyanta. In Act II, the King falls in love with Shakuntala and no longer wants to hunt, and he stays back under the pretext of protecting the hermitage, while in fact, he wants to court Shakuntala. In Act III, sad and unhappy, Shakuntala leans on a stone sprayed with flowers, telling her secret love for Dushyanta to two of her companions: she loves the King but is afraid of being rejected by him. Hearing this, the King, who was in hiding closeby, steps before her to confess his affection. The two companions find an excuse and leave the two lovers alone. In Act IV, the King marries Shakuntala in a traditional way and then leaves for the capital city. Before leaving, he gives her a ring imprinted with his name to Shakuntala, and promises to send for her later on. After the King leaves, Shakuntala is lovelorn and is distracted and fails to receive a visiting sage with proper courtesy, and the latter in anger casts a curse on Shakuntala that she will be totally forgotten by her lover until he sees the token he has given her. As expected, a long time elapses but the King still does not sent for Shakuntala. At this time, Kanva decides to send the pregnant Shakuntala to the royal palace. Act V has the climax, Shakuntala goes to the capital city to see her husband, but the King has forgotten her all together. Shakuntala remembers the token the King has given to her, but finds that she has lost the ring. Hearing this the King rejects Shakuntala and accuses her to be a liar. Abandoned by the King, Shakuntala is taken by her birth mother to a celestial palace. In Act VI, a fisherman of Dushyanta's kingdom is arrested when he is selling a ring with the King's name inscribed on it. The fisherman claims that he found this ring in the belly of a fish. On seeing this ring, the King’s memory is restored and he is filled with remorse for his behaviour towards Shakuntala. In Act VII, the King helps fight with demons and returns to the earth after victory, but on the way back to earth he meets Bharata, who is actually his son with Shakuntala. The family is reunited joyfully. The play, has a strict structure, distinctive characters, fresh and graceful language, embodies the aesthetic taste of traditional Indian poetry.