CC-I : Dramatic significance of Durvasa's curse

 

            In most of the plays, whether Greek, Latin, English or Sanskrit, curse appears as a reminder to human characters that life is not a long idyllic stretch of joyous festivities  or unending spring. Such is the case with Kalidasa's Abhijnanasakuntalam in which Durvasa's curse plays a vital role in the love-affair between the hero and the heroine. In Act IV of the play, this cruel curse is showered on Shakuntala who, being absent minded and lost in her thoughts of King Duhsanta, has neglected the honored guest Durvasa's presence at the hermitage. The curse comes like a bolt from the blue in the sky of Shakuntala imagination- 

            "You who do not notice me | a hoart of holy merit | standing at your door, |because you are lost in thought of one | ...though you goad his memory hard,| he shall fell to remember you,...."

            Durvasa's hard thundering curse brings to dark omen to tender-hearted Sakuntala. In fact, it bears on the title of the play, i.e. the recognition of Sakuntala by the token of love. But wherein does this recognition lie? That's the question. In the earlier three Acts, the love that we find between this Duhsanta and Shakuntala merely consists in physical desire or passion for each other. Their physical love cannot be transcended into divine one unless and until they undergo a transformation in their hearts and know each other fully. So, it is necessary to follow the curse-fall-Restoration motif in the play.

        A curse usually deprives the person of the object that was responsible, directly or indirectly, for his or her wrong doing. In the Play, Shakuntala was entrusted with the important duties of welcoming guests and offering them hospitality using Canvas absence from the hermitage. But as we find, Shakuntala disregards her appointed duties and incurs the wrath of Durvasa who showers a rude curse on her in order to teach her a nice lesson. But the punishment is far in excess of the negligence of which Sakuntala was guilt; to put it differently, the punishment made it out to her for an error committed on unwittingly.

            It is said in Natyashastra that the union between lovers cannot be fed on | grown into maturity |  fulfilment without separation. In the passionate love episode of King Duhsanta and Sakuntala, it is necessary to introduce the theme of separation which is embodied by Durvasa's curse. As Tagore has beautifully pointed out-"Durvasa's curse brings about Sakuntala's fall and her redemption through penitence.... Her love will find fulfilment in separation". In this respect, Durvasa's curse leading to her repudiation by the forgetful Duhsanta makes their love more intense and profound.

             Durvasa's curse is verily significant from aesthetic point of view. Kalidasa could not have achieve tragic effect of the play without this curse. In fact, he has to round of his play with the departure of Shakuntala for her husband's home. Moreover, a Curse is a metaphor for the arbitrariness offline which points to not only inexplicable and absurd element of life, but also something beyond all comprehension and explanation. It can, at best, be seen as fate or Karma (i.e. simple acceptance of life). Shakuntala herself blames her on action in a formal life for her unhappiness in the present. Here Kalidasa does not assume the role of a preacher or moralist; he rather shoes us life as it is in all its beauty and Splendor as well as its inexplicable vagaries which bring misfortune deservedly or undeservedly.

            It is to be noted that in the original story in Mahabharata from which the play derives its theme, the curse does not figure. Kalidasa intentionally introduce the Curse in order to retain king Duhsanta's image intact to the audience. Actually, repudiation of Shakuntala is natural in his character but what is natural in him, Kalidasa ascribes it to the supernatural, i.e. Durvasa's curse.

        As S.K. De has rightly pointed out that" the curse of Durvasa please the part of a stern but beneficent providence". After all, life is not a matter of smooth-sailing-"The course of true love never did run smooth"( as stated by Lysander in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream). One has two undergo a lot of Sorrows and sufferings, miseries and misfortunes woes and distress in the curse of fulfillment of love. Durvasa's curse provides a dynamism to the play which brings about a great transformation in life in precipitation of both the hero and the heroine.

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