Śakuntalā and Dushyanta

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells of Śakuntalā and Dushyanta in the twentieth chapter of the ninth Skanda. Dushyanta, a king of the Paurava line, met Śakuntalā, who was raised in the forest. She was the daughter of Viśvāmitra and Menakā. He married her by the Gāndharva rite. Later he refused to acknowledge her and their son, until a voice from the sky told the truth before the whole court. The son, Bharata, became the greatest cakravartī (emperor) of the Lunar dynasty, and the land was named Bhāratavarsha after him.

The meeting at Kaṇva’s āśrama

Dushyanta, a Paurava king, went hunting one day with only a small escort. He wandered through the forest and came to the āśrama (hermitage) of Kaṇva Maharshi. There he found a young woman sitting alone. She was as radiant as Lakshmī and made the āśrama beautiful by her presence. He was drawn to her at once and went up to her.

He learned that she was Śakuntalā, daughter of Viśvāmitra (a kshatriya by birth) and the apsaras Menakā. Menakā had left her in the forest after her birth. Kaṇva Maharshi had found her and raised her. She had the name Śakuntalā because of the śakunta birds that had guarded her. She welcomed Dushyanta with the proper hospitality of an āśrama, with water, fruit and a seat, and asked him to stay.

Dushyanta asked her to marry him. Śakuntalā thought that kshatriya princesses had the right to choose their husbands by the Gāndharva rite, and she was also drawn to him. She agreed. They were married by a mutual vow and with mutual consent. At dawn Dushyanta left for his capital.

The birth of Bharata

In time Śakuntalā gave birth to a son of great power. He is described as carrying a part (aṃśa) of Śrī Hari’s own part. Even as a child he played with lions and elephants and tied them up with ropes as toys. Kaṇva Maharshi performed the boy’s saṃskāras (rites of passage) in the forest. When the child was old enough, Śakuntalā took him and travelled to Dushyanta’s court.

The refusal and the voice from the sky

Dushyanta did not acknowledge Śakuntalā or the child. The court saw Śakuntalā standing before the king, calm and truthful in her claim. Then, while all were listening, an ākāśavāṇī (a bodiless voice from the sky) declared:

“The son truly belongs to the father alone; the mother is the field. O Dushyanta, sustain this son (bharasva) and do not dishonour Śakuntalā. The son saves the father from naraka. This boy is yours. Śakuntalā speaks truth.”

From the word bharasva (sustain him), the boy received the name Bharata. Dushyanta accepted both his wife and his son.

Bharata’s greatness

After Dushyanta’s death, Bharata became cakravartī. He performed 133 Aśvamedha yajñas: 55 on the bank of the Gaṅgā and 78 on the bank of the Yamunā, with very generous dakshiṇā (gifts to the priests). He ruled for 27,000 years and conquered all the peoples of the earth. He freed the women of the devas who were held captive in Rasātala. In the end he attained liberation through ātmajñāna (knowledge of the self). The whole subcontinent came to be called Bhāratavarsha in his honour.

The Ādi Parva version and the Durvāsa śāpa

The Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva (Chapters 62 to 74) tells the same main account, with one more episode: the śāpa (curse) of Durvāsa.

When Dushyanta left the āśrama after their Gāndharva marriage, he gave Śakuntalā his royal ring as a token and promised to send for her. Śakuntalā was so lost in thoughts of Dushyanta that she did not notice the great ṛshi Durvāsa when he came to the āśrama asking for hospitality, and she did not receive him properly. Durvāsa became angry and laid a śāpa on her: the one she was thinking of would forget her completely.

Śakuntalā’s companion calmed the ṛshi in part. He softened the śāpa: Dushyanta would remember her when he saw the token ring that she carried. This began the main crisis of the account. When Śakuntalā came to Dushyanta’s court and was denied, it was because Durvāsa’s śāpa was working. The ring was lost in the river, where a fish swallowed it, and so she had no way to wake his memory. Only the voice from the sky finally cleared her.

The Ādi Parva also gives the full words spoken at Dushyanta’s court, including Śakuntalā’s strong defence of her position. Dushyanta accepts her in the end, and in the Ādi Parva this comes from the voice together with his own inner recognition, and not from the voice alone.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 9th Skanda, Chapter 20
• Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Sambhava Parva, Chapters 62 to 74