Saṃskṛta-nāṭaka - Kālidāsa - Abhijñāna-śākuntalam (Part 2)

The Śākuntalopākhyāna of the Mahābhārata has taken the form of an impressive nāṭaka in the skilled hands of Kālidāsa’s. The story in the epic is akin to gold ore; it contains grains and threads of gold caught amidst rugged stone; the raw stone has been cleared away, the gold is put together, and has been converted into a beautiful image in the form of the nāṭaka; the image is polished and embellished; it is placed on a divine pedestal. Kālidāsa has reduced long and pedantic conversations and preachy segments of the original into a few verses. He has added the episode of Durvāsa’s curse and changed the characteristic features of Duṣyanta and Śakuntalā; he also reunites them in the āśrama of Sage Mārīca. The story which is short and blunt in the Mahābhārata takes a charming shape in the nāṭaka, thanks to Kālidāsa’s creative skill.

The nature of Duṣyanta in the Mahābhārata is not something that can be applauded; though he entered the āśrama out of his respect for the ṛṣis, he got carried away by the physical beauty of the maiden there; he gives her his word without second thoughts and enjoys her pleasurable company. He, on the one hand, is scared of Kaṇva and on the other, worried about what his people will think of him; he rejects his wife, who he had dhārmically married; he can thus be called an adharmī. In Kālidāsa’s play, however, he is a rājarṣi. He had gained renown in the svarga and the mortal world; refusing Śakuntalā is a positive feature of his personality. It is not easy to give up a precious object which comes of its own accord to us; Duṣyanta, who is unable to decide if he actually knew Śakuntalā, sends her away. Once he realises that he has erred, he regrets his actions; he does not regret that he has lost a precious object, but only regrets the fact that he has been adhārmic. Finally, when he realises that he was not really at fault, he gains back composure – these go well with his personality.

It appears as if the poet has paid more attention to creating Śakuntalā’s character and less to Duṣyanta’s. She is the focal point of the play and thus the name Śākuntala; he hasn’t included the name of the hero in the current play as he has done with the others; he could have happily called it Śakuntalā-dauṣyanta or Duṣyanta-śākuntala; the play revolves around Śakuntalā, and it is less about Duṣyanta. The blossoming of her love, its growth and trajectories and finally, its fruitification are the main aspects of the play. Romantic love was not new for Duṣyanta; he had already married many women and had abandoned many as well. His love here is centred around Śakuntalā; in her company, his emotion attains maturity and purity. There is nothing unique about his love; it is similar to that experienced by Agnimitra and Purūrava. In fact, it wouldn’t have been surprising if Duṣyanta had returned to his kingdom with Śakuntalā and reduced her to the status of women like Hamsapadikā, who fill his antaḥpura[1]. Because it was so natural for such a circumstance to arise, the poet has introduced a superhuman element in the form of Durvāsa’s curse; Śakuntalā, in fact, does not forget Duṣyanta, instead, she forgets her own self, thinking of him. She, at first, was like a flower whose fragrance was not enjoyed by anyone – she was an anāghrāta-puṣpa; she captures the connoisseur’s heart with her beauty and also because of the emotional travails that she undergoes; her son, Bharata fills Mārīca’s āśrama with his presence and is the first one to be spotted there by Duṣyanta. Śakuntalā grew up in the forest environs and was like a fresh blossom in the āśrama;[2] Duṣyanta comes to the āśrama like an embodiment of impediments – he is like a wild elephant; he disrupts the peace of the āśrama. The play begins with Śakuntalā, the plot grows with her and ends with her. In the other two plays penned by Kālidāsa, the nāyikās have a less important role; their co-wives are dominating; but in the Abhijñāna-śākuntalam, though we hear of Haṃsapadikā’s song and a mention is made of Queen Vasumatī, they do not appear on the stage. The play is filled with Śakuntalā. Her sakhīs in the āśrama and the tāpasīs there are not very important characters either; they are like leaves hidden behind a flower.

Mālavikā is a princess who was born and brought up in a palace; she is well-versed in dance and music; she was always a part of the life of antaḥpura and looked forward towards it. Urvaśī is a mature woman and is like a prostitute of the devas; there is a lot of difference between Śakuntalā’s romantic love and those experienced by Mālavikā  and Urvaśī ; though Śakuntalā is young and youthful, she had never experienced romance with a man; when she meets Duṣyanta, love sprouts in her heart, but she probably does not understand the feeling she is experiencing; she merely calls it a vikāra that is against the tapovana. She was born in the vicinity of the tapovana and grew up there; she was nurtured and tutored by maharṣis; she enjoyed watering trees and plants and spent time with fawns. She was like akhaṇḍa-puṇya-phala – unbroken and blemishless fructification of good deeds; she was an embodiment of all noble deeds. She was a good host, treated the older people with respect, and engaged herself in deva-pūjā; she never exercised undue freedom.