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.

Caste System

A recent TV show has brought back the discussion on Caste System. Since childhood (which was quite a long time back!), we have read about the ills of Caste system, but am surprised to see the same thing being discussed and I recently found myself teaching my child about the same. The discussion brought up many things, besides the issue that is caste pre-decided? Does one inherit a caste based on his birth? To rephrase it, is caste more of an accident than choice? Was this how it was envisaged in the first place? 

Well, as they say, let’s begin at the very beginning….

According to the Purusha sukta (Purusha sukta is a set of hymns from the Rig Veda which deals with the subject of Creation); every aspect of the universe was created from the cosmic Purusha, man. From his mouth, arms, thighs and feet were born the four varnas, or classes’ of people, viz. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. The apparent objective of this class-based society was division of labour. The Brahmins were to take the responsibility of teaching (which also involved research and upholding the religious and related institutions). The Kshatriyas were to take care of all the people, govern and provide security to their subjects. The Vaishyas were entrusted with carrying on the responsibility of business, which was farming and cattle-rearing, besides doing all such acts that generated revenue. Finally, the Shudras were to provide services which could be in the form of providing labour. Division of labour is not an unheard subject; rather all societies (and organizations) work towards this.

So far so good….

The ills started to be visible, when domination of one led to discrimination with the other. Of all, the Shudra was the most oppressed and discrimination led to their isolation from the mainstream. The foremost issue that comes up, is – is caste pre-decided? What if the son of a Brahmin is brave and capable of fighting for an army? What if the son of a Vaishya is intelligent enough to become a teacher? What if the son of a Shudra is able to transcend his caste into any of the other professions? 

It is here that things have gone haywire. The caste system was purely for division of labour and if someone was good in another area, they were not stopped. There have been examples of such crossing of caste barriers which have gone down well with the-then powers-that-be and nobody has quite raised even an eyebrow. Let us see some examples –

Sage Vishwamitra – Vishwamitra was a Kshatriya ruler, Kaushika. Once King Kaushika stopped by the hermitage of Sage Vasishta, who ensured that the King and his army were treated to a lavish meal. Kaushika was surprised at the arrangements and enquired of the Sage about such arrangements. The sage told him about his calf, Nandini who had provided for everything needed for the meal, and that the calf was the daughter of Lord Indra’s cow, Kamdhenu. On learning this, the King asked for the calf as he could do more justice to its powers than a sage in a remote hermitage, and even agreed to pay a price for her. When the sage declined form parting with it, Kaushika tried to take it away by force. Sage Vasishta, then through his yogic powers waged a war with the army of the King and soon took the King as a prisoner. The sage pardoned Kaushika and let him go. Kaushika then learnt a lesson that power was not in physical strength or in an army, there was greater power in knowledge and from that day, he started his quest for this power in the form of penance. To cut a long story short, after many trials, he was accorded the title of Brahmarishi by none other than Sage Vasishta himself. An example of a Kshatriya becoming a sage and being accepted by the community.

Parashuram – Parashuram was not a Kshatriya, but all that we know of him has to do with wars and battles. His rage against the Kshatriya caste is well known and is said to have spent a lifetime in eliminating the Kshatriyas from the face of the earth. Whatever one knows about Parashuram, has got to be with his acts of warfare and his teaching the said skills to some of the well known characters of Mahabharata, like Bhishma, Drona and Karna. His association with axe as his weapon is also well know. 

Dronacharya – Dronacharya in the epic Mahabharata was born as a Brahmin. His youth was spent in poverty, but he trained under Parashuram, and was an expert in the arts of weapon and warfare. Later he goes on to become the military teacher for the Pandavas and Kauravas and was also a general during the war of Kurukshetra. A Brahmin, who was an expert in the art of war and weapons.

Finally, an example from History.

Chandragupta Maurya – Chandragupta was a Shudra, but went on to become the ruler of the Magadh Empire and he was brought in to rule, by none other than a Brahmin, Chanakya. Chanakya had to face strong criticism and opposition from the then clergy who opposed this move of his, but Chanakya argued and stood his ground. During one such argument, he is supposed to have said that the caste system, did not allow anyone to inherit ones caste based on ones birth, but it had more to do with one’s ability and capability. Chandragupta went on to become the founder of the Mauryan Empire and was also credited to be the first unifier of India and one of the finest Emperors that India has seen.

Detractors will say that the caste bias existed in the epics which I have quoted, and is visible when Dronacharya declines from teaching the likes of Karna and Eklavya saying that they couldn’t take training under him since they were not Kshatriyas. I would see this not as an issue of caste, but more as a case of favouritism. Arjuna was Drona’s favourite and he wanted him to be the best archer and that was the driving force behind not training the two. 

This brings us back to the issue of caste system as many of us know it. The ills of caste system and the exploitation started centuries back. This happened when the interpretation was changed from a logical division to the politics of division. The masters of interpretation became the twisters of many a fate. Once the practice of Sati had sanction in religious texts, but it did not find any place in a modern society. Human sacrifices and animal sacrifices have given way to symbolic sacrifices of vegetables. Many such aspects have been given a decent burial and we have moved on, without hurting anybody’s religious sentiments. 

Why can’t the same happen to the caste-system, which has outlived its time and relevance, if any?