CC - I : The Character of Sakuntala in Kalidasa's Abhijnanasakuntalam

        

            "When I consider the omnipotence of the creator and her form, she appears to me to be quite a different creation of the jewel of women kind"-King Dusyanta(Act II). Obviously, this comment is about the heroine of Kalidasa's play 

Abhijnanasakuntalam

. Though not an apsara herself, but the daughter of one, Shakuntala is presented as such in the Play. In fact, Kalidasa does not let the readers forgot that the heroine is not wholly of this mortal world. She is the daughter of the sage Vismamitra and the celestial nymph (apsara) Menaka, thereby belonging to two words and sharing in the qualities of a parents who belongs to two different worlds. Naturally, Sakuntala is invested with Nature's beauty and spontaneous creative energies as well as its holiness, and inheriting the ability for ascetic control that makes her a  striking presence in the last act though she speaks few words.

                        Abandoned at birth, Sakuntala is look after by birds('Sakunta') that encircle her protectively so that she remains unharmed until the sage Kanva finds her and names her Sakuntala. She is portrayed as the child of nature or the lady of nature-kin to all forms of life in the sacred grove. King Dusyanta first encountered her while travelling through the penance grove in pursuit of a male deer. He happened to enter the ashram, when he saw Sakuntala and instantly fell in love with her. Sakuntala too reciprocated his feeling. Before the king comes to know about her bath and lineage, he is smitten by her earthly beauty-'A lotus, even though covered with moss in charming; | ... this slender-bodied lady is more lovely than even | with her bark cloth..." In Act II, when the Vidusaka asks the reason for the rejection of other beauties in his court, and falling in love with a forest woman, the king replies and praises her beauty-" A flower no one has smelled | A bud no finger have plucked | an uncut jewel, honey untested | unbroken fruits of holy deeds | I don't know who is destined | to enjoy her flawless beauty".

 

Both Dusyanta and Shakuntala fall in love with one another at first sight. Their love is soon developed and they marry according to the Gandharva rite. Seen from this perspective, their quick development in love is interpreted as sign of weakness-susceptibility to passion's swelling tide which they find too strong to resist. It is this strength of love that strengthens Sakuntala inwardly, and affords her power to remain faithful to her husband. A woman brought up in the pure and sanctified atmosphere of high acetic discipline and being chanted into ears the lofty ideals of personal conduct, Sakuntala knows the meaning of self respect and the ways to preserve it. Even when she is not recognized by the king as his wedded wife, she  remains as a woman of unflinching loyalty to her husband. She feels that she has tied her hate with a lying cheat, a superiors royal sage-"I have fallen into the clutches of a man whose mouth is honey, but whose heart is stone". This may contrast with the earlier picture of Shakuntala as soft, tender being and beautiful as moon beam but it reveals another aspect of her personality-i.e. her acute sense of self-respect.

                In Act VII, it is a great Joy for her when the king comes back, all penitent and regretful and false at her feet. Shakuntala, full of compassion an undiminishing love, does not want to see her gallant husband falling at her feet. Their reunion reveals the depth of their love. And both are suitable rewarded for the suffering they undergo. In the final analysis, Shakuntala remains as an embodiment of beauty, virtue and patient.

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