Shakuntala – by Sage Vyasa

Shakuntala is one of childhoods most cherished and widely read romantic stories (or novels, depending on what one read). A sweet romance of a king who meets a damsel, express love, get married and part to return later. Enter an angry sage, who curses the lovely lady as a result of which the king forgets his lady love. Later Shakuntala goes to the court of the King, but loses the ring on the way, which finds itself inside a fish. The King is unable to remember his love, due to the curse of the angry sage, turns her away. The ring later finds its way to the King and he remembers everything and accepts Shakuntala and their child and all ends well.

Such a lovely story, which has its moments of love, separation, pathos and ends with ‘…..and they lived happily ever after’.

We get to read Shakuntala in two versions, first by Sage Vyasa in Mahabharata (Mb) and then later in the Sanskrit romance recreated by Kalidasa, in Abhigyana-Shakuntalam. The version mentioned above was a summary from Kalidasa’s version. Vyasa did not quite write the story this way. True to his nature, his Shakuntala was a smart, fire-brand woman, much like the later ladies of the epic Mb. It is important to understand Vyasa’s Shakuntala, as she happens to be the first major female character of Mb.

Vishwamitra and Menaka

Shakuntala was the daughter of Sage Vishwamitra and apsara Menaka. Vishwamitra was a Kshatriya, who had undertaken severe penance to become a sage and Menaka was sent by Lord Indra, to disturb his penance, by seducing him. Post seduction, Menaka gave birth to a baby, but both Menaka and Vishwamitra deserted the baby, who was a symbol of victory for Menaka, and that of defeat for Vishwamitra. It is said that Sage Kanva found the deserted baby under the care of peacocks, and thus named her Shakunta-lalita, ‘shakunta’ meaning peacock and ‘lalita’ meaning in the loving care of, which was later shortened to Shakuntala.

Shakuntala was brought up by Sage Kanva, in his ashram, and soon grew up to be a beautiful lady with the looks of her mother, Menaka. Once Dushyant, the prince of Hastinapur came to the ashram to meet Sage Kanva and was immediately smitten by Shakuntala’s beauty. When he came to know that the Sage was away on a pilgrimage with some other sages and would return only after a few days, he expressed his desire to marry Shakuntala. The lady suggested that they wait for her foster-father’s arrival, but Dushyant expressed his inability to wait and suggested the option of gandharva-vivaha (a custom where the elders were not required as long as the two had decided to get married). At this, Shakuntala agreed with a condition, that the child born of her would be the heir to the kingdom of Hastinapur. Dhushyant agreed and the two got married and after consummating the marriage, Dushyant left without bothering to wait for Sage Kanva’s return. He left with a promise that he would send for her soon.

Shakuntala writes to Dushyanta

When Sage Kanva returned, he was apprised of the wedding. Soon Shakuntala gave birth to a son, who was named Sarvadaman, the subduer of all. When after twelve years there was no sign of Dushyant, despite the numerous missives sent by Shakuntala, Sage Kanva suggested that Sarvadaman be taken to the King as it was time for him to learn the ways of a Kshatriya. When Shakuntala and Sarvadaman reached the palace of Dushyanta, and introduced themselves to him, he had no recollection of any marriage.

There follows an extensive dialogue, where Shakuntala stands her ground. Dushyanta makes some derogatory remarks about her and Shakuntala retorts back that her only objective was to get her son the rightful place and not to lead the life of luxury. She reminds him of the true role of a king and how his acts would leave a wrong impression on his subjects. Her speech impresses the courtiers. To cut short the story, after a strong dialogue between the two, where Shakuntala berates the King and looks down on him as a King, the gods from the heavens intervened and came to the rescue of Shakuntala and assured Dushyant about the truth of the wedding. Dushyant then accepted both and it is said that Dushyant is supposed to have told Shakuntala that he had recognised her immediately, but did not give in as his subjects would not have been able to accept her so easily. The approval from the gods had made things easy and better.

Some interesting observations.

According to the Vysya’s version, Shakuntala was brought up with the full knowledge of the fact that she was deserted by her parents at birth. Her agreement to Dushyant’s proposal did not need parental approval, she took her own decision. She even made a condition, which goes on to show that she wanted to ensure that her child was not neglected as she was once and got his rightful due. At the court of Dushyant, she is not seen fighting for her right, but for the right of her son, as is evident in the elaborate speech, which has the courtier’s spell-bound and at one stage they begin to believe her. She is depicted as an extremely confident and determined woman, out to get justice without breaking down.

Kalidasa used the angle of the curse and the lost ring to justify the ‘forgetfulness’ of Dushyant, while Vyasa simply went ahead and exposed Dushyant’s lustful rendezvous. Vyasa’s Shakuntala was not the damsel in distress shedding copious tears. She fought for her right and got her way, and did not succumb to the man, irrespective of his position and stature. She was amongst the first women in Mb, who fights for her rights in a man’s world and gets her due.

Just why did the nature of Shakuntala undergo such a drastic change from the fiery to the abalaa-naari? Does this also show the change in the perception of people? The status of women in the Vedic times was much elevated as evident in many of the leading ladies of Mb, who were in a position of some authority like Shakuntala, Satyavati, Kunti, etc. But by the Puranic times, her position had fallen and she became more of an appendage or a mere shadow of man.  

While Kalidasa’s Shakuntala made good romantic, fairy-tale tear-jerker, Vyasa’s Shakuntala was more heroic and what a modern woman should be. The fire-brand version envisioned by Vyasa gives way to the tragic distressed woman of Kalidasa and unfortunately, the image has stuck on.

On this International Women’s Day, I hope the status of women is restored to the Vedic standards where we have seen the likes of Shakuntala who fought for her right and set the record straight with none less than a King.

Do I hear ‘Amen’???

The above paintings are from Raja Ravi Varma’s series titled Shakuntala sourced from Internet.

Welsh myth of Ceridwen and Gwion

Here is an interesting Welsh¹ Myth of Taliesin.

According to the myth, Ceridwen was a goddess (sometimes she is also referred to a witch), who had an ugly son. To compensate for his lack of looks, Ceridwen decided to prepare a potion, which on consuming would make him have all the knowledge of the world. However, the pot in which she would be making the potion had to be kept on boil for a year. At the end of the year, it would give three drops to consume and the rest had to be thrown away as it would be poison.

After setting the potion to boil, Ceridwen appointed one of his servants by the name of Gwion to keep a watch on the pot. At the end of the year, the potion bubbled over and the three drops fell on Gwion’s fingers. Feeling the heat of the boiling potion, he put the finger in his mouth out of reflex. He soon realized that he had all the knowledge of the world, because he had consumed the three drops of knowledge. He also realized that when Ceridwen would find it out, she would not leave him alive. So he ran from away from there. But Ceridwen soon caught up with him and chased him.

Using the acquired powers, Gwion took the form of a hare, but Ceridwen became a greyhound. Gwion then became a fish and jumped into the river, but there too he was chased by Ceridwen, who had become an otter. Gwion then became a bird, but Ceridwen became a hawk. Seeing no alternative, after trying earth, water and sky, Gwion took the form of a grain of corn and hid in a stack, but Cardiwen ate him up after she assumed the form of a hen.

When Cerdiwen toke her usual form again, she realized that she was pregnant. She then decided to kill Gwion when he was born. But when the child was born, he was so beautiful that she did not have the heart to kill him. So she put him in a leather bag and set him in a river, where the baby was found by a prince and it is said that the baby grew up to be the legendary Celtic² poet, Taliesin.

This is an interesting myth when we see it in details.

• The very idea of empowering his ugly son with knowledge emphasizes that knowledge is more important than looks. She was sure that once he had the knowledge of the world, his looks would not matter.
• Brewing knowledge for a year goes on to show that it takes time to be learned and knowledgeable. Even in mythology and for a goddess, it doesn’t come easy. One has to work on it and allow it some time.
• Though the potion was being brewed for Ceridwen’s son, it ended up with Gwion. This goes on to show that knowledge will always reside with the one who has worked on it. It was Gwion who spent one year brewing it, so it was but natural that he should be the recipient of the knowledge and not Ceridwen’s son.
• Finally, and probably the most important inherent symbolism is that knowledge has the power to transform you, change you. Once you have tasted the fruits of wisdom, it acts as an agent of transformation. Gwion’s, ability to change from an earthling to a fish and then to a bird, is symbolic of his ability to experience life-changing instances due to the acquired knowledge.

Cerdiwen, though depicted as a vengeful crone, has her maternal instincts intact. While she had noble plans for her ugly son, she doesn’t kill her newborn once he was born. Again a very universal depiction of a mother.

An interesting myth with many dimensions of hidden symbolism.

Taliesin went on to become one of the most renowned bards who is supposed to have served in the courts of about three Celtic kings. He was highly regarded during the mid-twelfth century and was the author of many romantic legends. It is also alleged by many historians that he had also served in the courts of the legendary King Arthur.

It is not uncommon to find mythical (or magical) beginnings of certain historical characters. Such births only go on to add credence to such great knowledge and also gives the character a certain degree of respect and following, stopping just short of deification. In India, the noted poet Kalidasa too was supposed to have had a certain degree of super-natural support behind his poetic genius. According to legends, he was a born fool, who was married to an intelligent princess. However, when she found out the truth, he was thrown out of the palace. Later Goddess Kali was supposed to have blessed him with wisdom, the result of which were some of the master pieces in Sanskrit literature.

¹ The Welsh people are an ethnic group and native to Wales, which is part of

  the modern day Great Britan

² The Celts (pronounced as Kelts) were a group of tribal societies spread in 

   and around parts of Central Europe, France, Italy and nearby regions. 

   They had a very rich mythology, which is known as Celtic Mythology.