Dushyant and Shakuntala-Immortal Love Legend

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Romance cloaks itself differently in accordance with the changing times. However the essence of romance remains the same. That's why people to this day delight in reading and re-reading the legendary love stories of different lands. Modern times have not succeeded in robbing the glory of classical love stories. The love story of Dushyant and Shakuntala is one such love legend that always retained its place in the Indian love literature.

The love story of Dushyant and Shakuntala is extracted from the great epic Mahabarata. The great poet Kalidasa added more charm to the story when he retold it in the form of a drama, entitled Abhijnana Shakuntalam.

Shakuntala was born to Sage Vishwamitra and the celestial nymph Menaka who was sent by Indra (the king of the Devas) to distract Sage Vishwamitra's penance. Shakuntala accounted her bewitching beauty to her celestial mother Menaka. However she was fostered by Sage Kanva and always considered him as her father. Shakuntala grew up as his beloved daughter in the forest.

The beauty of Shakuntala, the hermit girl, spellbound the mighty king Dushyant on one of his hunting expedition. It was love at first sight. After a little courtship, the king expressed his wish of making her his wife. Dushyant and Shakuntala enamored with each other and got married according to the norms of the Ghandarva ritual. After a few days of happy togetherness, the king returned to his kingdom promising to send an envoy to fetch Shakuntala at the appropriate time giving her a signet ring at the time of his departure. All this happened during a time when sage Kanva was not in the hermitage.

Shakuntala managed to convince Sage Kanva about her wedding to Dushyant in his absence. She then spent her days of earnest waiting in love thoughts of her beloved husband. On one such occasion, Sage Durvasa, known for his temperamental wrath visited the hermitage of Sage Kanva. Shakuntala who was engrossed in thoughts of her husband failed to notice the arrival of Sage Durvasa. Sage Durvasa, in his anger, cursed Shakuntala that the person about whom Shakuntala was thinking will henceforth forget her. However she then begged the pardon of the Sage who in turn told her that Dushyant would recognize her on the production of a souvenir.

Shakuntala wrote letters of love to Dushyanta but the king failed to remember her due to the curse. As days rolled by, Shakuntala realized that she was pregnant and Sage Kanva sent her to Dushyant's palace. On her journey, while traversing a river Shakuntala lost the signet ring given to her by Dushyant. The curse of Durvasa played its prank when Dushyant failed to recognize Shakuntala. Shakuntala then looked for the signet ring to brush up the memory of the king. To her horror she realized that it was lost. She then left the court of the king with a broken heart.

One day in the royal kitchen when a fish was cut open, the signet ring that King Dushyant had presented was found. It was presented before the king and he regained his fond memories of the days with Shakuntala. He abandoned his kingdom to search his beloved. After many rummages around he found his beloved at a hermitage. They were reunited happily. Shakuntala later gave birth to a son named Bharat after whom India got her name 'Bharat'.