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2026-03-21T20:27:02Z

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ImportMaster: robot: Add missing article in Category:Mahabharata

2022-01-15T04:47:12Z

robot: Add missing article in Category:Mahabharata

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{{Short description|A female figure in Hindu mythology}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox character
| info-hdr = Information
| family = [[Vishwamitra]] (father)<br/>[[Menaka]] (mother)<br/>[[Kanva]] (adoptive father)<br/> Pramati (twin brother)
| spouse = [[Dushyanta]]
| children = [[Bharata (Mahabharata)|Bharata]]
| name =
| franchise =
| image = Raja Ravi Varma - Mahabharata - Shakuntala.jpg
| alt =
| caption = "Shakuntala looking back to glimpse Dushyanta", painting by [[Raja Ravi Varma]]
| color = #FFC569
}}
'''Shakuntala''' ([[Sanskrit]]: ''Śakuntalā'') is the wife of [[Dushyanta]] and the mother of [[Bharata (Mahabharata)|Emperor Bharata]]. Her story is told in the ancient Indian epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and dramatized by many writers, the most famous adaption being [[Kālidāsa|Kalidasa]]'s play ''[[Shakuntala (play)|Abhijñānaśākuntala]]'' (''The Sign of Shakuntala'').<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.dollsofindia.com/library/shakuntala/|title=Shakuntala - the Epitome of Beauty, Patience and Virtue|website=Dolls of India|access-date=2016-03-08}}</ref>

==Legends==
===Birth===
Once, [[Vishwamitra]] started to meditate to earn the status of a Brahmarshi. The intensity of his penance frightened [[Indra]]. He feared that Vishwamitra might want his throne. To end his penance, Indra sent [[Menaka]], an apsara, to lure him and bring him out of his penance. Menaka reached Vishwamitra's meditating spot and started to seduce him. Vishwamitra could not control his lust and desire and his penance was broken. Vishwamitra and Menaka lived together for a few years and a daughter and a son was born to them. Later, Vishwamitra realized that all those things were Indra's tricks. He realized that he needed to control his emotions. Vishwamitra left Menaka and Menaka left the baby near Rishi [[Kanva]]'s hermitage before returning to heaven.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sattar|first=Arshia|date=2017-06-22|title=The ultimate male fantasy|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/analysing-the-episode-of-apsara-menaka-and-sage-vishwamitra/article19125560.ece|access-date=2020-09-05|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

===Upbringing===
[[Rishi]] [[Kanva]] found that two babies in his hermitage surrounded by Shakunta birds ({{lang-sa|शकुन्त}}, ''śakunta''). Therefore, he named a baby girl to ''Shakuntala'' ({{lang-sa|शकुन्तला|links=no}}), meaning ''Shakunta-protected''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01073.htm|title=The Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section LXXII|website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/mbs/mbs01066.htm|title=The Mahabharata in Sanskrit: Book 1: Chapter 66|website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref>

In the [[Adi Parva]] of [[Mahabharata]], [[Kanva]] says:
<blockquote>
She was surrounded in the solitude of the wilderness by ''śakuntas'',<br>
therefore, hath she been named by me Shakuntala (Shakunta-protected).
</blockquote>

And he named the baby boy Pramati; later Pramati became an acharya himself.

===Marriage with Dushyanta===
King [[Dushyanta]] first encountered Shakuntala while travelling through the forest with his army. He was pursuing a male [[deer]] wounded by his weapon. Shakuntala and Dushyanta fell in love with each other and got married as per [[Gandharva marriage]] system. Before returning to his kingdom, Dushyanta gave his personal royal ring to Shakuntala as a symbol of his promise to rahul and bring her to his palace.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Miller|first1=Barbara Stoler|title=Theater of Memory: The Plays of Kalidasa|date=1984|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|page=122}}</ref>

=== Durvasa's curse ===
[[File:Durvasa’s wrath against Shakuntala.jpg|alt=|left|272x272px|thumb|Sage Durvasa curses Shakuntala, painting by B.P. Banerjee]]
Shakuntala spent much time dreaming of her new husband and was often distracted by her daydreams. One day, a powerful rishi, [[Durvasa]], came to the ashrama but, lost in her thoughts about Dushyanta, Shakuntala failed to greet him properly. Incensed by this slight, the rishi cursed Shakuntala, saying that the person she was dreaming of would forget about her altogether. As he departed in a rage, one of Shakuntala's friends quickly explained to him the reason for her friend's distraction. The rishi, realizing that his extreme wrath was not justified, modified his curse saying that the person who had forgotten Shakuntala would remember everything again if she showed him a personal token that had been given to her.<ref name="auto"/>

===Journey to Hastinapura===
Time passed, and Shakuntala, wondering why Dushyanta did not return for her, finally set out for the capital city with her foster father and some of her companions. On the way, they had to cross a river by a canoe ferry and, seduced by the deep blue waters of the river, Shakuntala ran her fingers through the water. Her ring (Dushyanta's ring) slipped off her finger without her realizing it.
[[File:Sakuntala leaving for his husband king Dushmanta's palace.jpg|thumb|left|Sakuntala leaving for her husband king Dushyanta's palace]]
Arriving at Dushyanta's court, Shakuntala was hurt and surprised when her husband did not recognize her, nor recollected anything about her.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Glass|first=Andrew|date=June 2010|title=Vasudeva, Somadeva (Ed. and Tr.), The Recognition of Shakúntala by Kālidāsa Olivelle, Patrick (Ed. and Tr.), The Five Discourses on Worldly Wisdom by Visnuśarman Mallinson, Sir James (Ed. and Tr.), The Emperor of the Sorcerers...|url=https://www.ebscohost.com|journal=Indo-Iranian Journal |doi=10.1163/001972409X12645171001532}}</ref> She tried to remind him that she was his wife but without the ring, Dushyanta did not recognize her. Humiliated, she returned to the forests and, collecting her son, settled in a wild part of the forest by herself. Here she spent her days while [[Bharata (Mahabharata)|Bharata]], her son, grew older. Surrounded only by wild animals, Bharata grew to be a strong youth and made a sport of opening the mouths of tigers and lions and counting their teeth.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Shakuntala Recognized|last=Kalidasa|publisher=iUniverse|others=Translated by G.N. Reddy|year=2000|isbn=0595139809|location=Victoria, BC, Canada }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yousaf|first=Ghulam-Sarwar|date=2005|title=RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL VALUES IN KALIDASA'S SHAKUNTALA|url=https://www.academia.edu/10239314|journal=Katha|access-date=March 8, 2016}}</ref>

===Reunion with Dushyanta===
Meanwhile, a fisherman was surprised to find a royal ring in the belly of a fish he had caught. Recognizing the royal seal, he took the ring to the palace and, upon seeing his ring, [[Dushyanta]]'s memories of his lovely bride came rushing back to him. He immediately set out to find her and, arriving at her father's ashram, discovered that she was no longer there. He continued deeper into the forest to find his wife and came upon a surprising scene in the forest: a young boy had pried open the mouth of a lion and was busy counting its teeth. The king greeted the boy, amazed by his boldness and strength, and asked his name. He was surprised when the boy answered that he was Bharata, the son of King Dushyanta. The boy took him to Shakuntala, and thus the family was reunited.<ref name="auto"/>

===Variants===
An alternate narrative is that after Dushyanta failed to recognize Shakuntala, her mother Menaka took Shakuntala to Heaven where she gave birth to Bharata. Dushyanta was required to fight at the side of the [[Deva (Hinduism)|devas]], from which he emerged victoriously; his reward was to be reunited with his wife and son. He had a vision in which he saw a young boy counting the teeth of a lion. His ''kavach'' (armband/armour) had fallen off his arm. Dushyanta was informed by the devas that only Bharata's mother or father could tie it back on his arm. Dushyanta successfully tied it on his arm. The confused Bharata took the king to his mother Shakuntala and told her that this man claimed to be his father. Upon which Shakuntala told Bharata that the king was indeed his father. Thus the family was reunited in Heaven, and they returned to earth to rule for many years before the birth of the [[Pandava]].{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;" align="center" colspan="2" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%; width: 100%;"
|align=center colspan=2 style="background:#F4A460; font-size: 100%;"| '''Ancient renditions of the myth of Shakuntala (2nd century BCE, [[Sunga]] period)'''
|-
|
<gallery mode="packed" heights="130px">
File:Shakuntala plaque from Bhita.jpg|The Bhita plaque.
Ai Khanoum Indian plate reconstitution.jpg|The Indian plaque of [[Ai Khanoum]]
File: Kulu vase drawing detail.jpg|The Kulu vase.
</gallery>
|}

==Adaptations==

===Theatre, literature and music===

====Kalidasa====
{{main|Shakuntala (play)}}
''[[The Recognition of Sakuntala]]'' is a Sanskrit play written by [[Kalidasa]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Kālidāsa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHyC5yOMo90C&q=kanva+and+shakuntala|title=The Recognition of Shakntala|last2=dasa|first2=Kali|date=November 2006|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-8815-8|language=en}}</ref>

On the Marathi stage, there was a musical drama titled ''Shakuntal'' based on the same story.

====Opera====
{{See also|Sakuntala (opera)|Sakùntala}}
''[[Sakuntala (opera)|Sakuntala]]'' is an incomplete opera by [[Franz Schubert]], which originated late 1819 to early 1820.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} Italian [[Franco Alfano]] composed an [[opera]] named ''[[La leggenda di Sakùntala]]'' (''The legend of Shakuntala'') in its first version ([[1921 in music#Opera|1921]]) and simply ''[[Sakùntala]]'' in its second version ([[1952 in music#Opera|1952]]).{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

====Ballet====
* Ernest Reyer (1823–1909) composed a ballet ''Sacountala'' on an argument by Théophile Gautier in 1838.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}
* The Soviet composer [[Sergey Balasanian]] (1902–1982) composed a ballet named Shakuntala (premiere 28 December 1963, Riga).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hakobian|first1=Levon|title=Music of the Soviet Era: 1917–1991|date=25 November 2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|page=387|isbn=9781317091875|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eiolDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA387|access-date=19 March 2018}}</ref>

====Other literature====
[[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar]] created a novel in [[Sadhu Bhasha]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]].{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} It was among the first translations from [[Bengali language|Bengali]].{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} [[Abanindra Nath Tagore]] later wrote in the [[Chalit Bhasa]] (which is a simpler literary variation of [[Bengali language|Bengali]]) mainly for children and preteens.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

By the 18th century, Western poets were beginning to get acquainted with works of Indian literature and [[Indian philosophy|philosophy]]. {{citation needed|date=August 2017}} The German poet [[Goethe]] read Kalidasa's play and has expressed his admiration for the work{{Original research inline|date=August 2017}} in the following verses:
{{Verse translation|lang=de|
Willst du die Blüthe des frühen, die Früchte des späteren Jahres,
Willst du, was reizt und entzückt, willst du was sättigt und nährt,
Willst du den Himmel, die Erde, mit Einem Namen begreifen;
Nenn' ich, Sakuntala, Dich, und so ist Alles gesagt.
|attr1=Goethe, 1791<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.textlog.de/22272.html|title=Goethe - Gedichte: Sakontala|website=www.textlog.de}}</ref>|
Wouldst thou the young year's blossoms and the fruits of its decline
And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed,
Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine?
I name thee, O Sakuntala! and all at once is said.
|attr2=translation by [[Edward Backhouse Eastwick]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/alka-pratap/hinduisms-influence-on-indian-poetry_b_9124050.html|title=Hinduism's Influence on Indian Poetry|first=Alka|last=Pratap|date=2 February 2016}}</ref>}}
In 1808 [[Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel]] published a German translation of the Shakuntala story from the ''Mahabharata''.<ref>Figueira 1991, [https://books.google.com/books?id=aN_U4bJvrRMC&pg=PA19 pp. 19–20]</ref>

===Film and TV===
A significant number of Indian films have been made on the story of Shakuntala. These include: [[Shakuntala (1920 film)|''Shakuntala'']] (1920) by Suchet Singh, ''Shakuntala'' (1920) by [[Shree Nath Patankar]], ''Shakuntala'' (1929) by [[Fatma Begum]], ''Shakuntala'' (1931) by Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani, ''Shakuntala'' (1931) by [[J. J. Madan]], ''Shakuntala'' (1932) by [[Sarvottam Badami]], ''Shakuntala'' (1932), [[Shakuntala (1940 film)|''Shakuntala'']] (1940) by [[Ellis Dungan]], ''Shakuntala'' (1941) by Jyotish Bannerjee, [[Shakuntala (1943 film)|Shakuntala]] (1943) by [[V. Shantaram]], ''Shakuntala'' (1961) by [[Bhupen Hazarika]], [[Shakuntala (1965 film)|''Shakuntala'']] (1965) by [[Kunchacko]], [[Shakuntala (1966 film)|''Shakuntala'']] (1966) by [[Kamalakara Kameshwara Rao]], [[Stree (1961 film)|''Stree'']] by V. Shantaram.<ref name="RajadhyakshaWillemen1999">{{cite book|last1=Rajadhyaksha|first1=Ashish|last2=Willemen|first2=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofi0000raja|url-access=registration|accessdate=12 August 2012|year=1999|publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref>

The 2009 Indian television show, [[Shakuntala (TV series)|''Shakuntala'']], was an adaptation of the play by Kalidasa.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Films and Television Shows depicting Shakuntala
!Year
!Films and Television Shows
!Portrayed by
!Directed by
|-
|1920
|[[Shakuntala (1920 film)|''Shakuntala'']]
|Dorothy Kingdom
|Suchet Singh
|-
|1920
|''Shakuntala''
|
|[[Shree Nath Patankar]]
|-
|1929
|''Shakuntala''
|
|[[Fatma Begum]]
|-
|1931
|''Shakuntala''
|Khurshid Begum
|Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani
|-
|1931
|''Shakuntala''
|
|[[J.J. Madan]]
|-
|1932
|''Shakuntala''
|[[Surabhi Kamalabai]]
|[[Sarvottam Badami]]
|-
|1940
|''[[Sakuntalai]]''
|[[M. S. Subbulakshmi]]
|[[Ellis R. Dungan]]
|-
|1941
|''Shakuntala''
|Jyotsna Gupta
|Jyotish Bannerjee
|-
|1943
|[[Shakuntala (1943 film)|''Shakuntala'']]
|Jayashree
|[[V. Shantaram]]
|-
|1961
|''Shakuntala''
|Amala Katarki
|[[Bhupen Hazarika]]
|-
|1961
|[[Stree (1961 film)|''Stree'']]
|[[Sandhya Shantaram]]
|[[V. Shantaram]]
|-
|1965
|[[Shakuntala (1965 film)|''Sakunthala'']]
|[[K. R. Vijaya]]
|[[Kunchacko]]
|-
|1966
|[[Shakuntala (1966 film)|''Shakuntala'']]
|[[K. R. Vijaya]]
|[[Kamalakara Kameswara Rao]]
|-
|1985
|Anantyatra
|[[Anuradha Patel]]
|Jayoo Patwardhan, Nachiket Patwardhan
|-
|1985
|''[[Raja Rishi]]''
|Nalini
|[[K. Shankar]]
|-
|1988
|''[[Bharat Ek Khoj]]''
|[[Pallavi Joshi]]
|[[Shyam Benegal]]
|-
|1991
|''[[Brahmarshi Vishwamitra]]''
|Madhumita
|[[N. T. Rama Rao]]
|-
|2000
|''[[Gaja Gamini]]''
|[[Madhuri Dixit]]
|[[M. F. Husain]]
|-
|2009
|[[Shakuntala (TV series)|''Shakuntala'']]
|Neha Mehta
|Various
|-
|2021
|style="background:#ffc;" | ''Sakuntalam {{dagger|alt=Films that have not yet been released}}''
|Payal Shetty
|[[Dushyanth Sridhar]]
|-
|{{TBA}}
| style="background:#ffc;" | ''[[Shaakuntalam]] {{dagger|alt=Films that have not yet been released}}''
|[[Samantha Ruth Prabhu]]
|[[Gunasekhar]]
|}

===Art===
[[Camille Claudel]] created a sculpture ''Shakuntala''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/exhibition/camille-claudel |title=CAMILLE CLAUDEL FROM 1 OCTOBER TO 5 JANUARY CAMILLE CLAUDEL COMES OUT OF THE RESERVE COLLECTIONS |publisher=Musée Rodin |access-date=2018-02-22}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* [[Dorothy Matilda Figueira]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aN_U4bJvrRMC ''Translating the Orient: The Reception of Sakuntala in Nineteenth-Century Europe''.] SUNY Press, 1991. {{ISBN|0791403270}}
* [[Romila Thapar]]. ''Sakuntala: Texts, Readings, Histories''. Columbia University Press, 2011. {{ISBN|0231156553}}
* [[Vyasa]]. ''[[Mahabharata]]''.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Characters in the Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Characters in Hindu mythology]]

Shakuntala - Revision history

AngelesEller0: fixed lead per sources and updated info based on references

ImportMaster: robot: Add missing article in Category:Mahabharata