Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c9.855

c9.855

3) As queen. King Duṣyanta of the lunar dynasty married Śakuntalā and to the couple was born the famous Bharata. This is the original story about Śakuntalā's married life. All the Indian languages contain two different versions of Śakuntalā's life. One version is that related in Vyāsa's Bhārata and the second is that contained in Kālidāsa's Śakuntalā. Many scholars opine that in the matter of the Śakuntalā episode Kālidāsa has gone a step further and for the better, and therefore both the versions of the story are to be carefully studied by us.