Monday, May 17, 2021
Story Of Abhijnanasakuntalam
Kalidasa is one of the greatest poets of India and the world. According to tradition, Kalidasa was one of the nine gems (Navaratnas) in the court of Vikramadithya. There is no authentic information about the date and personal history of Kalidasa. Some scholars attribute it to the period of Chandraguptha II of the fourth century AD. Others take it to the first century, the C seems to be more likely. |
Story Of Abhijnanasakuntalam
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One can deduce from his works that he was a man of liberal education and culture and well acquainted with the people and geography of India. He had an absolute faith in the Vedic religion and attached great importance to the observance of the Dharma as stated in smrithis and Dharma sastras. Works that are generally accepted as authentic production Kalidasa are both Mahakavyas - "Raghuvamsha" and "Kumara-Sambhava" a Khandakavya - "The Meghadutam" and three parts - "Malavikagnimitram", "Vikramorvashiyam" and "Sakuntalam".
ABOUT THE GAME
The legend of Shakuntala is first told in the Adi Parva of 'The Mahabharata'. Kalidasa wove the plot of his play by making slight changes in the original story. He took important liberties in his version.
THE LEGEND OF KING DHUSHYANTHA AND SHAKUNTHALA
Dushyantha, the king of Hastinapura will hunt in the forest. After hunting a deer for a long distance, he becomes tired and chances on the hermitage of the Kanva sage. Kanva and the other elders of the hermitage are on pilgrimage. In asking who is inside the hermitage, Shakuntala, the adopted daughter of the wise Kanva, enters and welcomes the king in the royal style. Although simple and humble, it is endowed with an ethereal beauty. The king understands that the sage and the other elder inmates of the hermitage are absent.
Dhushyantha is so emotionally distressed that he can not refuse his request. He also promises that she will be taken to her palace without delay. So he had to leave to take care of business in the capital. When Kanva returns from the forest, Shakunthala is reluctant to go before him because of his weakness. However, the sage realizes what happened with the help of his divine vision. He does not punish her, but approves of what she has done since the mode of vivaha of Gandharva is dharrmic according to the Shastras. He consoles her by saying that Dushyantha is a king who crosses the path of the Dharma. Shakunthala gives birth to a son with all the information required for a potential Yuvaraja.
When the boy reached adult hood worthy of being anointed as Yuvaraja, Kanvas sent Sakuntala with his son, accompanied by Munijanas the court to Dhushyantha. The dramatic version of Kalidasa and the legend do not make any difference in all respects until that date. However, in the legend, it is not the pregnant Shakuntala, but mother Shakuntala accompanied by her son, who approaches the palace of Hasthinapura. In the room, it is the pregnant Shakunthala who approaches Dushyantha. This is the main difference between the legend and the dramatic version of Kalidasa.
The legend is as follows: arriving at the palace of Hastinapura and pays tribute to the king, Sakuntala runs in his past, but his words fall on deaf ears of the king, and he says he does not remember a Such incident in his life. On hearing this, Shakunthala collapsed. Finally, gathering all the courage and controlling the fire of his rage, she accuses him with bitter words: "You affect ignorance despite your knowledge". Dushyantha remains unwavering.
By showing his mastery of repair, he asks "How can I believe the words of a woman like you? Is not your mother, Menaka, who gained fame for having shaken the sage Vishwamitra its ascetic fame with her seductive dance? Your father Vishwamitra is it not born as a Kshatriya, converted to live the life of a Brahmin. it is impossible for me to believe the words of a girl with such a kinship.
When Sakuntala's parents are mistreated, she loses all her constraints and burns with rage. She says her kinship is better than Dushyantha's in all respects. She turns to leave to console her by thinking that her son will become the Yuvaraja without the blessings of Dushyantha. Until then, an oracle is heard in the palace: "He is the son born of Dushyantha". The oracle convinced all those who assembled in the court of the real kinship of the son.
1. The oracle that exhorts Dushyantha to accept his son is the symbolic representation of the public convinced of the truth. His guilt is that he is a loving tyrant himself. However, in the legend, everything ends well.
The marriage with a woman with whom one is in love according to the Ghandharva mode is traditionally considered a dharmic marriage which is not a taboo for the kings. On hearing the Dushyantha oracle, it is clear: "Oh, Shakunthala! The world has not come to know my infatuation for you and it is because of the same thing that I have tried you to prove to the World how pure you are. "
Everything ends well in the legend. However, the legend lacks the ups and downs required for a play. Kalidasa endowed the same with its dramatic version in abundance.
The Plot Of The Play
The love story of Dushyantha and Shakunthala has nowhere reached as much sublimity as in the hands of Kalidasa. In the legend, Dushyantha could win the heart of Sakunthala with as many words as he could and she surrenders entirely to him. In the same way, Dushyantha also goes later to her home when she accuses him with a few words of his lie by forgetting it and abandoning it deliberately. But in the room, the situation is quite different. The background that Kalidasa designed to feed the loving rasa step by step leading the same to a perfectly pleasant plane is undoubtedly wonderful.
In the legend, Shakunthala approaches Dushyantha at a time when her son has reached adulthood worthy of becoming the Yuvaraja. But in the room, this is not the case. The parents of Sakuntala, that is to say that the ashram detainees undergo an incalculable anxiety when they learn that she is going to be a mother. Their anxiety is quite natural and increases when it is not sent to be brought to Dhushyantha Palace as promised.
Other additions in the play are the curse of the wise Durvasav that causes Dushyantha's forgetfulness and the missing Mudramothira, the Signet ring which is the sign of the love Dushyanta had given him (ie The ring embedded in the gem With the name of Dushyantha inscribed on this subject.) Angry Durvasa arrives when Shakuntala is lost in his fantasies. Therefore, she does not take care of him, and he curses her by embracing Dushyanta while forgetting her existence. The only remedy for Sankutala is to show him the bookmark ring he had given. She travels later to meet him and has to cross a river. The ring is lost when it slips out of her finger when she plunges her hand into the water with enjoyment. When he arrived, the king refused to recognize her. Shakuntala is abandoned by his companions who return to the hermitage.
Fortunately, the ring is discovered by a fisherman in the belly of a fish and Dushyanta realizes his mistake. But it is too late then. The newly-trained Dushyanta defeats an Asuras army and is rewarded by Indra with a journey into heaven. Upon his return to the land, years later, Dushyanta found Shakunthala and their son by chance and recognized them. The recovery of the fisherman's ring and the renewal of his memory by Dusyantha seeing the same adds much to the dramatic effect. Dushyantha's forgetfulness and the humility of Shakunthala are the most striking aspects of the play.
IMPORTANT INCIDENTS AT THE ACT IV OF SHAKUNTHALAM
Act IV of "Shakunthalam" contains the most touching scenes of the play. The act recalls the truth that separation is always melancholy. Accompanied by Gautami, Shargavara and Shardvata, Shakunthala is sent by Tata Kanva to Dushyantha's
Palace in Hastinapura. It announces itself to plants, trees, birds and animals and its maids to the ashram, Anasooya and Priyamvada, which she has hitherto treated as her own sisters and with whom she has lived without being separated even for One moment in his life. Even the wise Kanva is so experienced that his voice diminishes.
It is seen to behave as if it were a Grihasthasrami (Head of House Hold). It was in this action that Kalidasa gave the young deer Deegapanga and Wild Jasmine plant, Vana Josna with sensations and emotions of human beings. The act begins with a conversation between Anasooya and Priyamvada. They speak of Dushyantha Maharaja who courted Shakunthala according to the mode of vivaha of Gandharva. They are worried about not hearing about the king who went to his palace to take care of business in the capital after the realization of the Yaga.
In the meantime, it seems that a guest has arrived at the hermitage. The girls console themselves for the idea that Shakunthala will be at the hermitage to welcome the guest. At that moment, the guest burned with rage and showered words of curse on Shakunthala: "You could not see me because of your fantasies. Leave it, you thought, forget it. "The maids realize with a shock that Shakunthala is unaware of the arrival of Durvasav as she was lost in the day dreams." Anasuya asks Priyamvada to follow Durvasa and ask her to forgive Sakunthala.
Seeing the humility of Anasooya, Duravasa sympathizes a little. It allows a concession that the curse will be lifted by showing the sign ring that Dushynta had given him as a token and that he will be freed from his forgetfulness. It is only through pure luck that such a concession is granted by Durvasav who is categorical and warm by nature.
After all, Anasooya and Priyamvada pledged not to let Sakunthla know something about the curse and ways to lift the same. Their decision is of great dramatic importance. Sage kanva who came back from the forest knows the Ghandharva Vivaaha of Sakunthala with Dushyanta with the help of his divine vision. He arranged for Shakunthala to be sent to the Dushyantha Palace, as well as the detainees of the hermitage. While Anasooya and Priyamvada bring garlands made of elanjhi flowers, and mixtures of sandals and kunkumas for Shankuthala to be adorned, the young disciples of Kanwa bring silky clothes and ornaments given by forest nymphs with words of blessing.
The advice and words of consolation that Kanva gives to Sankunthala when she turns to prostrate before him is a true blessing. The authorization that the flora and fauna of the hermitage grant to Sankuthala to take a leave echoes the songs of the birds shama. When she tries to leave, the tip of her clothes is stuck to something. When she turns and looks back, she finds it was the fawn (the deer) called Deergapanga. When Sankunthala is gone, the defeated Kanva returns to the hermitage accompanied by Anasooya and Priyamvada. He felt relieved as if a large debt had been repaid.
Explanation of important passages in Act IV of Shakuntalam
1. Curse of Maharshi Durvasav.
We hear the intense curse endowed with Shakuntala by Sage Durvasa who burns with rage because of the fact that she has not managed to welcome him as she is lost in fantasies. Shakuntala who courted Dushyantha according to Gandharva's mode of vivaha remains lost in thought, the very moment when Durvasav, angry, goes to Kanvaasram. Durvasav raises a curse on Shakuntala by kissing Dushyanta to forget it. The curse is as follows. "Leave him, to whom you have thought, forgetting everybody and not seeing me as a wise man, forget your very existence when he is called back, like a madman who can not remember everything that happened Before. "[This is because Shakuntala was lost in her thoughts about Dushyantha that she did not see the wise Durvasa when he visited the hermitage.The wise man is so angry that he curses him That Dushyanta will forget it, even when it is recalled to him. His forgetfulness will be that of a crazy man who can not remember anything that happened in his life before he made fury.
2. The morning painting as painted by the disciple of Kanva.
The disciple of Kanva gives a beautiful description of the setting of the moon and the rise of the sun simultaneously and the morality transmitted by the gaze. On one side we see the moon collapse, and on the other side the sun, drawn by the wagon driver Aruna, appears on its own. Does the rise and fall of the two jyotis, that is, the sun and the moon, at the same time indicate the word of the universal law that the change of fortune (that is, Change from one dasha to another) is essential? With the setting of the moon, the flower at night does nothing more. The reddish morning permeates the dew of the branches of Vadari. The peacock, shaking, hastens the chalets of the hermits. The antelope, springing from the place of sacrifice, rises above and extends its graceful limbs. The moon fell from the sky with diminished rays. It seems to the disciple that the moon and the sun, the two great men of this world, climb with extreme work to the height of ambition only to take off easily and quickly.
3. Kanva's melancholy at the thought of her daughter's separation
The intense grief that encompasses Kanva due to the thought of the separation of her daughter Shakuntala is treated lively in Act IV of "Shakunthalam". He is anxious because of the thought of separating from his daughter. His eyes are full of tears and the caps of the throat. His vision is paralyzed by thoughts. He asks: "If the state of a tapas like me is this, what would be the condition of a father who leads the life of a grihasthasrami, thinking about the separation of the girl for the first opportunity.
4. The Maharishi Kanva Council gives Shakuntala before its departure to Hastinapura.
When Shakuntala prostrated himself before Kanwa, he blessed her with his counsels and words of consolation. He said, "Let yourself be worthy to be adorned by your husband as Sharmishta by Yayathi [according to legend, the real woman (ie patta maharshi) of King Yayathi is Devayani, Sarmishta is proclaimed as Yuvraj Even though Yayathi is married to Sharmishta only by Gandharva mode, the implication is that Sakuntala's son, in due course, would become Yuvraj.] Kanva advises Sakuntala about the duties she must perform and the Standards she must observe to reach her husband's house. "Pay attention to the parents of your husband.
Treat your co-wives as if they were your friends with love, respect and faith. Even when your beloved is dissatisfied, do not be unhappy. Be sympathetic to the servants. Never be proud of your luck. This is how the young woman becomes a true Housewife who is able to take care of the household business in a better way. Those who behave in contradiction with the norms are sure to lead to the destruction of the kula "
5. Personification of the flora and fauna in the hermitage.
Act IV of "Sakunthalam" contains the most touching scenes in the play. The act brings home the truth that separation is always melancholic. Accompanied by Gautami, Shargavara and Shardvata, Shakunthala is being sent by Tata Kanva to Dushyantha's palace at Hastinapura. She is bidding farewell to the plants, trees, birds and animals and to her hand maids, Anasooya and Priyamvada, which she has been treated as her own sisters and with whom she has lived without being separated even for a single moment in her life. Even sage Kanva is so overcome with emotion that his voice staggers. Grihasthasrami
(Head of House Hold). It is in this act that Kalidasa has endowed the fawn.
Deegapanga and the wild Jasmine plant, Vana Josna with sensations and emotions of human beings. Kanva requests the plants and trees of the Tapovans
To grant Sakuntala permission to take leave of. He says to them: "She who refuses to take any drink without you being watered and she who is hesitant to pluck tends buds and she who celebrates a festivity, when you blossom for the first time that Sakuntala is leaving for her husband's palace." It seems to me that Sakuntala is a hip-hop woman, and that she is a woman. She turns and looks back. Then Kanwa tells her it is the young one of the stag named Deergapanga, whose mouth, when injured with the dharbha grass, she smeared with herbal oil and Cured the wound and who you fed with the chama rice asif it was your own most beloved young one.
6. Kanva's message to Dushyanta
Before sending Sakuntala to Dushyanta's palace at Hastinapura, Kanva sends the King a message requesting him to accept Sakuntala and protect her properly. "Considering hermits as a virtuous and considering your own high birth retain your Love for this girl, what arose in your bosom without any knowledge of her kindred; And look at her thy wives with the same kindness which they experience: more than that can not be demanded; Since particular affection must depend on the Will of God.
7. Kanva's relief in the end of the Act.
Having got Shakunthala along with the munijanas to the palace of her husband, Dushyantha, feels relieved as if from a great debt. (To a father, his own daughter (kanyaka) is a wealthy belonged to another man. So he feels relieved only when he sends away his daughter to the one she is married to) "I feel relieved as if the pawned wealth has been returned To its owner "-says kanwa
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