Abhijñānaśākuntalaṁ
This is based on the legendary tale of Śakuntalā in Mahābhārata. It is a story of the love between Duṣyanta and Śakuntalā. This drama is considered one of the best plays in the Sanskrit literature
This is not only the best drama of Kāḷidāsa but is considered to be the best in Sanskrit literature. The story of Duṣyanta and Śakuntalā is mentioned in the Ādiparva of Mahābhārata. The story in Mahābhārata goes like this – Once King Duṣyanta goes to the forest and there he meets Śakuntalā in a hermitage and falls in love with her. They both undergo “Gāndharva vivāha” (A marriage just sanctified by lovers). He spends some time with her and then returns to his capital. In course of time, Śakuntalā becomes pregnant and delivers a baby boy. After two years she goes to meet Duṣyanta. Duṣyanta was aware of her identity but he did not want to confess it in front of his people and so he declares that he didn’t know them. Thus, the role of Duṣyanta in Mahābhārata is not considered an idealistic one. Kāḷidāsa has adopted this same story but has portrayed Duṣyanta as a noble person. As per Kāḷidāsa, the curse of Dūrvāsa made him forget Śakuntalā. The story plot goes like this – after marrying and spending some days with Śakuntalā, Duṣyanta leaves for his capital city, and before leaving presents a signet ring with his name to Śakuntalā. After the departure of Duṣyanta, Śakuntalā spends her time immersed in the thoughts of Duṣyanta. On one such day, she was looking at the ring presented by Duṣyanta and she was reading each letter of his name on the ring gifted by him with love. Thus she fails to notice the arrival of Dūrvāsa and fails to welcome him in the manner in which she used to greet him earlier. Sage Dūrvāsa was known for his anger and he was incensed by this mistake of Śakuntalā. The sage cursed Śakuntalā, saying that the person she was dreaming of would forget about her altogether. By saying this Dūrvāsa starts from the hermitage in a rage, then Śakuntalā’s friends Anasūyā and Priyamvadā fall at his feet and quickly explain the reason for her friend’s distraction to him. Then the rishi, realizing that his extreme wrath was not warranted, modifies his curse saying that the person who had forgotten Śakuntalā would remember everything again if she showed him a personal token that had been given to her. Time passed but Duṣyanta did not return back as he promised. Thus she goes to the palace with two of her father’s disciples. On their way, they pass through Śaci tīrtha and Śakuntalā while washing her hands in the waterway loses her ring and she doesn’t even notice it. And so, when she arrived at Duṣyanta’s court he did not recognize her, nor recollected anything about her. Humiliated Śakuntalā decides to return to the forest; meanwhile Mekalā, her mother appears from heaven and leaves Śakuntalā in sage Kaśyapa’s hermitage. There Śakuntalā delivers a baby boy and he is named Bharata. Meanwhile, a fisherman was surprised to find a royal ring in the belly of a fish he had caught. On recognizing the royal seal, he takes the ring to the palace and, soon after seeing his ring, Duṣyanta’s memories of Śakuntalā rush into his mind. He grieves and goes in search of her. And one day while coming back after helping Indra in a war he passed by Sage Kaśyapa’s Āśrama and there he saw a child playing with lion’s cubs. And he saw a maid trying to distract him by saying, “Śākunta lāvaṇyaṁ paṣya” – "See the beauty of the bird Śākunta” . The child on hearing the word “Śākunta” was reminded of his mother Śakuntalā and goes in search of her. Duṣyanta who watches all these events understands that it is his child. Then he meets Śakuntalā and begs her to forgive him. Śakuntalā does not accept him immediately. Then, Sage Kaśyapa explains Dūrvāsa’s curse and finally, she relents and accepts Duṣyanta.
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