Abhijnanashakuntalam (Devanagari: अभिज्ञानशाकुन्तलम्, IAST: Abhijñānaśākuntalam), also known as Shakuntala, The Recognition of Shakuntala, The Sign of Shakuntala, is a Sanskrit play by the ancient Indian poet Kalidasa, dramatising the story of Shakuntala told in the epic Mahabharata and regarded as the best of Kalidasa's works. Its exact date is uncertain, but Kalidasa is often placed in the 4th century CE.Sheldon Pollock (ed., 2003) Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, p.79
Origin of Kālidāsa's play
Plots similar to the play appear in earlier texts. There is a story mentioned in the Mahābhārata. A story of a similar plot appears in the Buddhist Jātaka tales as well. In the Mahābhārata, the story appears as a precursor to the Pāṇḍava and Kaūrava lineages. In the story, King Duṣyanta and Śakuntalā meet in the forest, become estranged and ultimately reunited. Their son Bharata is said to have laid the foundation of the dynasty that ultimately led to Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas.
Title Manuscripts differ on what its exact title is. Usual variants are Abhijñānaśakuntalā, Abhijñānaśākuntala, Abhijñānaśakuntalam and Abhijñānaśākuntalam. The Sanskrit title means pertaining to the recognition of Śakuntalā, so a literal translation could be Of Śakuntalā who is recognised. The title is sometimes translated as The token-for-recognition of Śakuntalā or The Sign of Śakuntalā. Titles of the play in published translations include Sacontalá or The Fatal Ring and Śakoontalá or The Lost Ring.
Characters Prologue Characters reciting the benediction are: Sūtradhāra ('Actor-manager') — Director/producer and over-all manager of the theatre, who also plays the hero of the play Naṭī ('Actress') — Sutradhara's wife who plays the heroine in the play
Play Characters of the play listed in order of their appearance: CharacterDescriptionSūta (Charioteer)The royal charioteer, who also serves as a close companion to the king.King DuṣyantaHero (Nayaka); ruler from the Puru branch of the Lunar dynasty.VaikhānasaA reclusive forest hermit belonging to the spiritual lineage of sage Kanva.Two AsceticsDisciples receiving spiritual guidance from sage Kanva.ŚakuntalāHeroine (Nayika); child of the sage Viśvāmitra and the celestial nymph Menakā, raised under the guardianship of sage Kanva.AnasūyāYoung woman devoted to an ascetic life; companion of Śakuntalā, her name signifying “free from envy.”PriyamvadāYoung female ascetic and friend of Śakuntalā, her name meaning “pleasant speaker.”Ascetic (off-stage)A practitioner of ascetic discipline in the service of sage Kanva.Vidūṣaka (Mādhavya)A corpulent Brahmin who serves as the king’s intimate companion and trusted adviser.AttendantsFemale members of the royal guard who also serve as the king’s bow-bearers.Doorkeeper (Raivataka)Gate attendant in the royal court.GeneralThe chief military commander serving under the king.Two SeersYoung hermits residing in Kanva’s forest retreat.KarabhakaA royal envoy entrusted with delivering messages.Assistant SacrificerA member of Kanva’s ascetic circle who aids in ritual duties.GautamīAn elder woman devoted to ascetic life in Kanva’s hermitage.Voice in the Air (Act 3)A disembodied voice delivering divine or unseen guidance.Durvāsas (off-stage)A formidable and quick-tempered ascetic sage.Pupil (Viṣkambhaka)A student under Kanva’s spiritual tutelage.Ascetic (off-stage)An unseen follower of Kanva’s ascetic order.Three Hermit WomenFemale recluses living in Kanva’s forest hermitage.First Young Ascetic (Nārada)A youthful ascetic disciple of Kanva.Second Young AsceticAnother youthful ascetic disciple of Kanva.KanvaA venerable Brahmin sage, head of the hermitage, and foster-father of Śakuntalā; also identified with the sage Kāśyapa.ŚārṅgaravaAn ascetic belonging to Kanva’s order.Voice in the Air (Act 4)A supernatural voice heard without a visible speaker.Voice (Haṃsapadikā)A disembodied female voice, meaning “one with the gait of a swan.”Chamberlain (Vātāyana)Principal officer overseeing the administration of the royal household.Doorkeeper (Vetravatī)A female gate attendant in the royal residence.One of Duṣyanta’s ConsortsA royal wife of King Duṣyanta.Chief Officer of the Royal HouseholdOversees domestic and ceremonial affairs within the palace.Female AttendantA woman serving in a supporting role within the royal quarters.Two Bards (off-stage)Court poets or singers whose voices are heard but who remain unseen.ĀrāḍvataAn ascetic associated with Kanva’s community.Court Priest (Preceptor Somarāta)The king’s chief religious adviser and officiant in rituals.Two PolicemenEnforcers of law and order in the royal domain.Chief of Police (Mitrāvasu)Senior law officer of the realm; the king’s brother-in-law.ManA fisherman encountered in the course of events.SānumatiA celestial nymph and confidante of Menakā, mother of Śakuntalā.First Gardener (Parabhṛtikā, “Little Cuckoo”)A female gardener serving the palace grounds.Second Gardener (Madhukarikā, “Little Bee”)Another female gardener is attending the royal gardens.CaturikāA female domestic servant.BowbearerA woman tasked with carrying and maintaining the king’s bow.MātaliThe divine charioteer of Indra, sovereign of the gods.SarvadamanaThe young son of Duṣyanta and Śakuntalā, later famed as Bharata.Two Female AsceticsWomen dedicated to ascetic practice.Mārīca (Kāśyapa)A celestial sage, lord of the divine hermitage, and father of the god Indra.AditiWife of Mārīca.Pupil (Galava)A student under the instruction of Mārīca.
Synopsis
The protagonist is Śakuntalā, daughter of the sage Viśvāmitra and the apsara Menakā. Abandoned at birth by her parents, Śakuntalā is reared in the secluded hermitage of the sage Kaṇva, and grows up a comely but naīve maiden.
While Kaṇva and the other elders of the hermitage are away on a pilgrimage, Duṣyanta, king of Hastināpura, comes hunting in the forest. Just as he was about to slay a deer, Vaikhānasa, a sage, obstructs him, saying that the deer was from the hermitage and must not be slain. He politely requests the king to take his arrow back, to which the king complies. The sage then informs him that they are going to collect firewood for the sacrificial fire and asks him to join them. They then spot the hermitage of Sage Kaṇva and decide to visit the hermits. However, the king decides to go to this penance grove dressed up as a commoner. He also stops the chariot farther away so as not to disturb the hermits. The moment he enters the hermitage and spots Śakuntalā, he is captivated by her, courts her in royal style, and marries her. Soon, he has to leave to take care of affairs in the capital. The king gives her a ring, which, as it turns out, will eventually have to be presented to him when she appears in his court to claim her place as queen.
One day, the short-tempered sage Durvāsa arrives when Śakuntala is lost in her thoughts. When she fails to attend to him, he curses her by bewitching Duṣyanta into forgetting her existence. The curse can only be broken when Śakuntala shows the king the signet ring that he gave her.
She later travels to meet him and has to cross a river. The ring is lost when it slips off her hand as she dips it in the water playfully. On arrival, the king is unable to recognise the woman he married and therefore refuses to acknowledge her. Śakuntala is abandoned by her companions who declares that she should remain with her husband. They then return to the hermitage.
Fortunately, the ring is discovered by a fisherman in the belly of a fish, and he presents it in the king's court. Duṣyanta realises his mistake only too late. He is asked to defeat an army of Asuras, and is rewarded by Indra with a journey through heaven. After returning to Earth years later, Duṣyanta finds Śakuntala and their son by chance and recognises them.
In other versions, especially the one found in the 'Mahābhārata', Śakuntala is not reunited until their son Bharata is born, and found by the king playing with lion cubs. Duṣyanta meets young Bharata and enquires about his parents, and finds out that Bharata is indeed his son. Bharata is an ancestor of the lineages of the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas, who fought the epic war of the Mahābhārata. It is after this Bharata that India is named "Bhāratavarsha", the 'Land of Bharata'.
Reception
Sanskrit literature
Introduction in the West
By the 18th century, Western poets were beginning to get acquainted with works of Indian literature and philosophy. Shakuntala was the first Indian drama to be translated into a Western language, by Sir William Jones in 1789. In the next 100 years, there were at least 46 translations in twelve European languages.Review of Figueira's Translating the Orient: The Reception of Sakuntala in Nineteenth-Century Europe at the complete review website.
Sacontalá or The Fatal Ring, Sir William Jones' translation of Kālidāsa's play, was first published in Calcutta, followed by European republications in 1790, 1792 and 1796. A German (by Georg Forster) and a French version of Jones' translation were published in 1791 and 1803 respectively. Goethe published an epigram about Shakuntala in 1791, and in his Faust he adopted a theatrical convention from the prologue of Kālidāsa's play. Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel's plan to translate the work into German never materialised, but he did, however, publish a translation of the Mahābhārata version of Śakuntalā's story in 1808. Goethe's epigram goes like this:Mueller, Max A History Of Ancient Sanskrit Literature
Paintings and prints by Raja Ravi Varma
Raja Ravi Varma was widely praised for his ability to merge the Western academic painting style with Indian themes. In the 1870s, as he began creating narrative paintings, he drew inspiration from India’s classical heritage—drawing upon the epics, Puranas, and Kalidasa’s plays. His first major work featuring Shakuntala, Shakuntala Patralekhan (Shakuntala Writing a Love Letter to Dushyanta), was painted for the 1876 Madras exhibition. The painting, which depicted Shakuntala lying on the forest floor in a yellow sari, surrounded by her friends and animal companions, won a gold medal and garnered widespread acclaim. It was immediately purchased by the Duke of Buckingham, then Governor of Madras. Though the location of the original painting remains unknown, it was widely reproduced in books and lithographs, including the 1903 publication Ravi Varma: The Indian Artist. Given the colonial fascination with the Abhijnanasakuntalam narrative at the time, Varma was encouraged to create multiple renditions of Shakuntala. His later works included Shakuntala (1888, Maharaja Fatehsingh Museum, Baroda), Shakuntala (1898, Government Museum, Madras), and Shakuntala Looking for Dushyanta (1898, Shri Chitra Art Gallery, Trivandrum). One of his Shakuntala paintings was even selected as the frontispiece for Monier-Williams's 1887 edition of Kalidasa’s play. His most famous painting, Shakuntala Looking for Dushyanta captures the moment when she feigns removing a thorn from her foot while actually glancing back to see if Dushyanta notices her.Prabhu, K. (2022). Contribution of Raja Ravi Varma in Retelling the Religious and Mythological Themes through Paintings. All Studies Journal, 7(4).
Varma’s works were equally admired by Orientalists and Indian nationalists. In 1895, Varma’s first lithographic print, The Birth of Shakuntala, won the "Best Lithograph" prize at the Bombay Art Society’s annual exhibition.
Education in British India Shakuntala was disapproved of as a text for school and college students in the British Raj in the 19th century, as popular Indian literature was deemed, in the words of Charles Trevelyan, to be "marked with the greatest immorality and impurity", and Indian students were thought by colonial administrators to be insufficiently morally and intellectually advanced to read the Indian texts that were taught and praised in Britain.
Unfinished opera projects