Bhaktisandesam / Hindu Legends

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Immortal Love Legends

The Shakuntala-Dushyant Love-Tale

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The legend of the exquisitely beautiful Shakuntala and the mighty

king Dushyant is a thrilling love story from the epic Mahabharata,

which the great ancient poet Kalidasa retold in his immortal play

Abhijnanashakuntalam.

 

While on a hunting trip, King Dushyant of the Puru dynasty meets the

hermit-girl Shakuntala. They fall in love with each other and, in the

absence of her father, Shakuntala weds the king in a ceremony

of 'Ghandharva', a form of marriage by mutual consent with mother

Nature as the witness. When the time comes for Dushyant to return to

his palace, he promises to send an envoy to escort her to his castle.

As a symbolic gesture he gives her a signet ring.

 

One day when the hotheaded hermit Durvasa stops at her hut for

hospitality, Shakuntala, lost in her love thoughts, fails to hear the

guest's calls. The temperamental sage turns back and curses her: " He

whose thoughts have engrossed you would not remember you anymore. " On

the plea of her companions, the enraged sage relents and adds a

condition to his curse-statement: " He can only recall you upon

producing some significant souvenir. "

 

Days roll by and nobody from the palace comes to fetch her. Her

father sends her to the royal court for their reunion, as she was

pregnant with Dushyant's child. En route, Shakuntala's signet-ring

accidentally drops into the river and gets lost.

 

When Shakuntala presents herself before the king, Dushyant, under the

spell of the curse, fails to acknowledge her as his wife. Heart-

broken, she pleads to the gods to vanquish her from the face of

earth. Her wish is granted. The spell is broken when a fisherman

finds the signet ring in the guts of a fish - the same ring that

Shakuntala had lost on her way to the court. The king suffers from an

intense feeling of guilt and injustice. Shakuntala forgives Dushyant

and they are reunited happily. She gives birth to a male child. He is

called Bharat, after whom India gets her name.

 

 

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Jai Shree Krishna !