Introduction
Composed by Kalidasa during the Golden Age of Indian classical literature, between the 4th and 5th centuries CE, coinciding with the reign of the Gupta Empire, Abhigyanashakuntalam (The Recognition of Shakuntala) stands as a masterpiece of Sanskrit literature. In Abhigyanashakuntalam, Kalidasa masterfully blends a tale of love and loss, divine intervention and mythology into enduring drama. It was one of the first examples of Indian literature to be seen in Europe, first translated into English, and then into German, attracting considerable attention. In order to understand the reasons for its enduring appeal, let us first explore the story and the plotted action of the play.
Background to the plot of Abhigyanashakuntalam
The story of Abhigyanashakuntalam traces its roots to the Mahabharata. Consequently, the plot of Abhigyanashakuntalam is a thoughtfully developed extension of an episode from the Mahabharata that recounts the romance and reunion of Shakuntala and King Dusyanta, their subsequent separation, and the birth of Bharata. In his adaptation of Abhigyanashakuntalam, Kalidasa introduces the curse motif, which explains Dusyanta’s memory loss and the lovers’ divide. This alteration presents Dusyanta more sympathetically, as the original Mahabharata implies he merely forgot Shakuntala upon returning to palace comforts. Additionally, the Mahabharata provides the backstory for Shakuntala’s name; abandoned as an infant in the wild, she was protected from dangers by birds (sakunta) until the sage Kanva discovered her. As the child of an apsara (celestial nymph), she originally had the power of flight, a trait Kalidasa’s version removed.
Similar narratives perceived as derivative exist in various Puranic texts. In a closely related story found in a Jataka tale from one of the Buddha’s past lives, King Brahmadatta falls in love with a woman gathering firewood in a grove. They engage in intimacy, resulting in the conception of the Bodhisattva. The king gifts her a signet ring and instructs her to present their son to him when he grows up. Years later, embarrassed before his court, the king denies both the child and the ring. In response, the mother throws the child into the air, where he miraculously remains suspended. Recognizing his son as his heir, the king elevates the firewood collector to the status of chief queen.
Kalidasa’s rendering of the plot of Abhigyanashakuntalam
Among the various adaptations of this tale, Kalidasa’s rendition stands out as the most complex and theatrically engaging. Kalidasa skillfully incorporated existing legends into a sophisticated dramatic structure, creating a seven-act theatrical presentation. The plot of Abhigyanashakuntalam unfolds as follows:
Act 1: During a hunting excursion, King Dusyanta discovers the hermitage of sage Kanva while pursuing a deer. He is greeted by Shakuntala, the sage’s adopted daughter, and they develop mutual affection. Dusyanta learns of Shakuntala’s unique parentage: born to the nymph Menaka and seer Vishvamitra, she was left in the wilderness and raised by Kanva.
Act 2: The king, accompanied by his jester, seeks reasons to revisit the hermitage. Unexpectedly, ascetics request his protection against disruptive demons during their rituals.
Act 3: Shakuntala and Dusyanta meet privately and enter into a gandharva marriage (marriage based on mutual consent). After ensuring the safety of the seers’ ceremonies, Dusyanta departs for his capital, leaving Shakuntala with his signet ring as a symbol of his love. Distracted by her emotions, Shakuntala unintentionally offends the short-tempered sage Durvasa, who curses her: the object of her thoughts will forget her. Her friends manage to modify the curse, allowing it to be broken by a token of recognition.
Act 4: Kanva returns and approves of the union. With no word from Dusyanta, the now expectant Shakuntala is sent to his court. In a poignant scene, she bids farewell to her hermitage home.
Act 5: At the royal court, the forgetful king denies knowing Shakuntala. She attempts to show him the signet ring as proof but cannot locate it. Humiliated, Shakuntala is suddenly transported away by her mother.
Act 6: A fisherman discovers the ring inside a fish. An officer recognizes the royal seal and presents it to the king, instantly restoring his memory. Dusyanta is overcome with regret until Indra, the king of gods, summons him to battle demons.
Act 7: Six years later, Dusyanta’s aerial chariot lands in a celestial hermitage. He observes a young boy named Sarvadamana (Bharata) playing with a lion cub and realizes this is his son, destined to become a great emperor. Shakuntala appears and forgives Dusyanta. Blessed by sages and gods, the reunited family returns to the mortal realm and Dusyanta’s capital.
Analysis of the structure of Abhigyanashakuntalam
The narrative structure of Abhigyanashakuntalam can be understood through five distinct phases, progressing as follows:
1. An initial scenario or ‘primary proposition’ where the main character is introduced and their goal is established.
2. A ‘first challenge’ to this scenario, leading to complications in the chosen path.
3. An ‘initial resolution’ that momentarily brings together the primary proposition and first challenge, offering a glimpse of the goal’s potential realization.
4. A ‘second challenge’ that emerges in response to the initial resolution, introducing new obstacles that cast doubt on the main character’s ability to achieve their goal.
5. A ‘final resolution’ that successfully concludes the quest and dramatic action in a satisfying manner.
This framework can be applied to the plot of Abhigyanashakuntalam as follows:
1. The primary proposition spans from the start of Act I (Dusyanta and the charioteer pursuing the Antelope) to the conclusion of Act II (after Bhadrasena leaves the hunting camp).
2. The first challenge extends from the beginning of Act II (Dusyanta’s initial discussion with Madhavya about Sakuntala) to the end of Act III.
3. The initial resolution encompasses Act IV and the events in Act V.
4. The second challenge progresses from Dusyanta’s monologue to the end of Act VI.
5. The final resolution occurs throughout Act VII.
Mirroring and symmetry in the plot of Abhigyanashakuntalam
Kalidasa’s play offers immediate pleasure through its intricate design of paired acts and parallels woven into the storyline. The playwright employs sophisticated techniques of mirroring and inverting events to shape and emphasize his narrative.
A notable example is the symmetry between the play’s opening and closing. Act 1 depicts an enthusiastic Dusyanta and his charioteer pursuing the thrill of hunting. They reach a hermitage, where Dusyanta encounters the semi-divine Shakuntala in a state of natural spontaneity and is tasked with fighting local demons. In contrast, Act 7 shows a despondent Dusyanta descending from heaven in a celestial chariot with the divine charioteer Matali, having battled universal demons at Indra’s command. They land in a heavenly hermitage, midway between earth and sky, where a markedly different encounter with Shakuntala occurs.
The play’s structure continues this pattern, with Act 2 reflecting Act 6, and Act 3 mirroring Act 5. The renowned fourth act serves as the central axis for this symmetry. Here, Kalidasa portrays Shakuntala already experiencing the pain of separation from her beloved Dusyanta, bidding a difficult farewell to her adoptive father, close friends, and the natural world of the hermitage she considered her home. The audience, aware of the curse, finds her naive hopes for a joyful future particularly moving. In this act, Kalidasa seemingly prepares to bid farewell to Shakuntala’s character as the timid, innocent forest girl – a persona ill-equipped for the courtly world she will face. However, the subsequent events take an unexpected turn.
Uniquely, Shakuntala is the only character who does not evolve into a more sophisticated version of herself upon entering the world beyond the hermitage. Dusyanta is absent from this pivotal act, and when they meet again, he is a stranger to her. The curse has not merely altered Dusyanta; he has adopted an entirely new public persona far removed from Shakuntala’s expectations. Kalidasa depicts Shakuntala as a simple girl, embarrassed and out of place as she attempts to defend herself at the royal court, but he preserves her essential character. As her presence at court is so incongruous, she vanishes in a supernatural flash of light. This development is jarring for the reader, akin to watching her slowly approach and then suddenly fall from a precipice.
Relationship between the principal plot and the secondary plot in Abhigyanashakuntalam
In Sanskrit plays, natakas, the main storyline revolves around the protagonists, who drive the primary action through their pursuits of specific goals. When multiple protagonists exist, such as a hero and heroine of equal importance, the main plot must intertwine their respective quests. This comprehensive plot structure establishes a unified trajectory for the entire dramatic action. For instance, in Abhigyanashakuntalam, the main plot combines the quests of Dusyanta and Sakuntala.
A key characteristic of Sanskrit plays is the presence of secondary characters who support each protagonist’s journey. These characters’ activities form secondary plots, with the number of such plots matching the number of protagonists. In plays where the hero and heroine have separate paths towards a shared goal, at least two distinct secondary plots contribute to the main storyline. In Abhigyanashakuntalam, Madhavya and Vetravati support Dusyanta’s quest, while Kanva, Anasuya, and Priyamvada support Sakuntala’s journey.
Natakas also incorporate tertiary incidents, which are typically smaller in scope and shorter in duration than the main episodes. These incidents serve various purposes, such as filling narrative gaps, introducing unexpected events, creating or removing obstacles for the protagonists, or maintaining the drama’s momentum. Tertiary incidents may involve protagonists and supporting characters or solely feature non-protagonist characters. They can be integrated into the main or secondary plots or function as interludes at the beginning of acts.
In Abhigyanashakuntalam, Acts I and V exemplify tertiary incidents featuring Dusyanta, directly incorporated into his quest within the main plot. Act VI begins with a self-contained tertiary incident involving only minor characters, yet it portrays a crucial turning point in the overall story: the recovery of Dusyanta’s ring and the end of Durvasa’s curse on the lovers.
Conversely, Act IV’s opening episode contains two separate tertiary incidents featuring an off-stage protagonist (Shakuntala) and both on-stage and off-stage secondary characters (Anasuya, Priyamvada, and Durvasa). These incidents are technically part of Kanva’s secondary plot but ultimately contribute to Shakuntala’s quest in the main plot and the overall dramatic action. The play’s most significant tertiary incident involves Kashyapa, whose intervention brings both Dusyanta and Shakuntala’s quests to satisfactory conclusions.
Conclusion
The conclusion of Abhigyanashakuntalam should not be misconstrued as a simplistic happy ending based on the previous summary. While the play does not end on the same note of optimistic innocence with which it begins, it is clearly not intended to be tragic either. This is not due to Sanskrit drama’s unfamiliarity with tragic themes, but rather because the play culminates in what is termed abhyudaya, or a favorable outcome. There exists a tragic genre in Sanskrit drama known as utsrstik anka, interpreted as “characterized by death,” which portrays mortality and grief.
The Natyashastra states that the primary purpose of the plot is to portray the protagonist’s struggle and eventual achievement of his desired goal. While secondary events may support this aim, they should not detract from it. The attainment of the objective relates to the four Hindu life principles: dharma, artha, kama, and moksha, which can be broadly interpreted as duty, wealth, pleasure, and liberation. In Abhigyanashakuntalam, the plot emphasizes the journey towards the goal rather than the goal itself, as Kalidasa is more interested in showing the subtle and delicate human emotions of the central characters.
