Abhijnanashakuntala

(“Recognition of Shakuntala”) Drama
written by Kalidasa (5th c. C.E.), who is
widely considered the greatest classical
Sanskrit poet. The Abhijnanashakuntala
describes the trials and troubles of the
mythical heroine Shakuntala and is considered Kalidasa’s greatest drama. In the
story, Shakuntala, the daughter of the
sage Vishvamitra and the celestial
nymph Menaka, attracts the eye of
King Dushyanta while he is away from
his kingdom on a hunting trip.
Shakuntala and Dushyanta marry by
mutual consent, in what is known as a
gandharva marriage. After their marriage, Dushyanta returns to his kingdom. Shakuntala remains at her home
and has the misfortune to irritate the
sage Durvasas, who curses her to be
forgotten by her beloved. Shakuntala
pleads with Durvasas, who is moved to
mitigate the curse such that
Dushyanta will remember everything
if Shakuntala can show Dushyanta a
sign of their union. Dushyanta had
given Shakuntala his signet ring, but
she loses it before she can see him.
Denied by Dushyanta, Shakuntala
endures numerous trials until she
finds the ring in the belly of a fish.
When Dushyanta sees the ring, he
immediately recognizes Shakuntala
(hence the play’s name), and they live
happily ever after.
The Abhijnanashakuntala has two
features that characterize most classical
Sanskrit plays. One is the preference for
a happy ending, although this resolution
1
Abhijnanashakuntala
is usually preceded by trial and tribulation. The other is that the drama’s
dialogue is in two different languages.
Characters from the higher classes
speak Sanskrit, the language of high,
learned culture. Characters from the
lower classes (including many of the
women) speak in Prakrit, an umbrella
term for the grammatically simpler
vernacular languages that developed
from Sanskrit through natural linguistic
change. This difference in dialogue
doubtless reflected the social realities of
the time in which the play was written,
when Sanskrit would have been the elite
language but was always learned as a
second language after learning one’s
“natural” language. The play has been
translated into English by Michael
Coulson and published in an anthology
titled Three Sanskrit Plays, 1981.