Dushmanta and Sakuntala
Once sage Viswamitra had embarked on
great spiritual practices (tapasya) which made Indra, the king
of Gods, very anxious, as he thought that Viswamitra would become more
powerful than even Indra. Indra therefore wanted to break the
austere practices and sent Menaka, one of the celestial nymphs
(Apsara) to Viswamitra for leading the sage to a life of a
householder by breaking his austere vows. Viswamitra and
Menaka remained together for sometime but then the sage realized his
mistake, left Menaka and went for even harder ascetic practices.
Menaka soon gave birth to a beautiful daughter, but as an
Apsara she was ever free. She did not have any obligation and did not
want to enter into a family tie. Therefore she left the newborn baby on the
banks of Malini river which flowed past by the ashrama of
great sage Kanva. Seeing the newborn girl left abandoned, some vultures
who had nested nearby took pity on her and sat near her with their wings spread,
so as to protect her from all dangers and afflictions. When sage Kanva
went there to perform his ablutions, he found that infant and adopted her. Since
she was protected by the Sakuntas or the vultures, she was named as
Sakuntala.
Sakuntala grew up in sage
Kanva's hermitage. It was a great hermitage. The forest in which it was
situated was one of the best. It had many trees which bore plenty of fruits and
flowers. River Malini was a beautiful small rivulet which sustained all
the living creatures of that forest by its nectar sweet water. Eternal spring
reigned in the forest. It was also the abode of virtue and no creature in that
forest, even the ferocious ones, would injure or harm another. All of them lived
happily in that hermitage which was also a great centre of learning. The
disciples, students and other sages lived there and recited the Vedas,
chanted the hymns, performed the sacrifices and rituals as per Vedic
injunctions, learned various shastras like the Vyakarana
(grammar), Nirukta (etymology), Nyaya (logic) and the
sciences. The entire atmosphere of the hermitage was one of spirituality,
innocence, holiness, chastity, learning and service (to the Gods and elders). In
this environment Sakuntala grew to become a beautiful maiden
appreciated by all who saw her.
One day, king Dushmanta, who belonged to
the Paurava dynasty (the one started by Puru - son of
Yayati whose story is to come later) came to an adjoining forest with
many soldiers, on a hunting expedition. He hunted all the animals in that forest
in accordance with the duties of a Kshatriya king. Being tired and
hungry he then came to the other forest where sage Kanva's
ashrama was situated. He saw the cottage on the bank of river
Malini and desirous of taking shelter knocked its door.
Sakuntala, who was then alone in the cottage, took the king inside
with great care and gave him water to wash and drink and fruits and roots to eat
in accordance with the customs of serving a guest. Being refreshed and also
being dazzled by the extra ordinary beauty of Sakuntala, the king asked
her about herself. She replied that she was the daughter of sage Kanva.
When the king pressed for further detail she revealed her lifestory as to how
she was found and adopted by Kanva. The king, being enchanted by her
beauty, wanted to marry her then and there in accordance with the
Gandharva rites of marriage. Sakuntala at first asked him to
wait for the return of her father Kanva, but then seeing the king so
eager, accepted him as her husband. But she had a condition, that the son born
to her would be the heir apparent to the throne of the king. Dushmanta readily
agreed to this and after that they got married by exchanging garlands of flower.
The king spent some good time with her and promised her that he would come again
and take her back to his kingdom, and then took his leave. However the king,
untrue to his words, never returned and quite forgot about
Sakuntala.
In the meanwhile Kanva had come beack and
he came to know of everything that had happened through Yoga power. He
was very happy that his daughter made such a worthy choice and blessed her and
the king heartily. Later Sakuntala gave birth to a son of immense
splendour. The son was very beautiful and very powerful. Sage Kanva
performed all the rites in accordance with the scriptures and also took the
responsibilities of educating the son as a true Kshatriya. Meanwhile
the son of Sakuntala was so powerful that he used to tame lions, tigers
and elephants and all other huge and ferocious beasts. He used to sport with
them and the animals obeyed him meekly. All the inmates of the ashrama
were in awe and they named him as Sarvadaman, one who can control
anything.
Sage Kanva realized that it was time for
Sakuntala to go to Hastinapur, the abode of king
Dushmanta, for seeking the fulfillment of the promise
Dushmanta made to her, viz. that of making her son as the heir apparent
to the kingdom. He therefore sent Sakuntala to the capital with one of
his disciples who duly left her in palace in presence of the king.
Sakuntala, in presence of everybody present, declared herself to be
legally wedded to the king and requested him to fulfill his promise. The king,
however, did not seem to remember her at all. Sakuntala was extremely
angry by this insult. She strongly rebuked the king saying that a man, not true
to his promise, is a sinner. She told Dushmanta that even if he failed
to recognize her, he should atleast accept his own son who is his own image. But
the logic did not seem to impress Dushmanta. So Sakuntala, in
her disgust at this treachery, started leaving the palace with her son. But as
soon as she had started leaving, a voice came from the heaven saying that
Sakuntala was indeed the wedded wife of Dushmanta and
Sarvadaman was indeed his own son, who would be the future king. This
proclamation amazed everybody and cleared all the doubts from their minds.
Dushmanta was overjoyed. He gracefully accepted Sankuntala and
told her that he was waiting for such a heavenly proclamation. If he had merely,
on the words of Sakuntala, accepted her as his wife and the son as his
son, people would have their doubts as to whether she was wedded properly with
him. Now that the heavenly proclamation had removed all doubts, there was no
hindrance on the path of reunion.
Dushmanta and Sakuntala then
lived happily and after Dushmanta's reign was over, Sarvadaman
became the king and was named as king Bharata.
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