Write
an essay on the significance of the ring and the curse in Abhijnanasakuntalm?
Kalidasa
has a predilection for the mystique of the curse. The Meghadutam opens against
the background of a curse, the Raghuvamsam too, carries a curse in
the first canto followed by two others in cantos VIII and IX, in Vikramorvasiyam
the curse motif is employed in Act II and again in Act IV. Finally, in Abhijnanasakuntalm
the curse of sage Durvasa is intrinsic to the plot and purpose of the
play. But while in the other plays the curse motif is steeped in the doctrine
of Karma, where one has to pay for one’s deeds, in Abhijnanasakuntalm it is
a token of the subtle psychological insight of the poet. Indeed Kalidasa was
writing for an audience who were prone to observing the hero-king as a virtuous
“dhiroddhata nayaka” as consequence of which in Kalidasa’s version the
veritable debauchery and abandonment of the Aryan king Dushyanta is masked by
the curse of Durvasa which makes him forget all about Shakuntala.
The
curse motif in Abhijnanasakuntalm is intimately wedded to the ring motif. The
curse and the ring symbolize a clash between divinity and love, between the
mundane and the obvious, between fate and karma. King Dushyanta, the hero of
the play on a haunting expedition visits the penance grove of Kanva. There he
finds three girls watering the plantsone of whom is Shakuntala, the
foster-daughter of Kanva.She inherited
the intelligence of her father sage Vishwamitra and the beauty of her divine
mother Menaka. It was no wonder that Dushyanta fell in love with her instantly
upon beholding her.In the meanwhile Shakuntala is also
struck at the king‘s appearance and readily falls in love with him for it is to
be remembered that Dushyanta was a handsome warrior. However, she would not
consent to be his wife immediately as she wishes for the permission from her
father sage Kanva. Dushyanta could not bear the thought of waiting for so long
before marrying her. He had never been accustomed to wait for anything in his
life. He finally persuades her to an instant marriage of “Gandharva-vivaha”,
with Mother Nature as the witness. After some days, the King gets news of
unrest in his city and is summoned to return. He leaves half-heartedly, but
promises to return soon and take his beloved with him. As a token of love, he
gives her a signet ring and promises to send an envoy to escort her to the
palace.
In the meantime, Shakuntala could not put the King out
of her mind. She spent all her time brooding, waiting for the time when
Dushyanta would come back and take her to his kingdom. She was so absent
minded, that she even stopped tending to her favorite garden, where she had met
the King for the first time. One day, sage Durvasa,
infamous for his mercurial anger, stops by the hut for hospitality. Lost in her
love thoughts, Shakuntala fails to acknowledge his presence. This infuriates
the temperamental sage and he censures Shakuntala, cursing that the one whom
she is thinking about will forget her. As he departed in a rage, Anusuya 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 warranted,
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.A few months passed, and
Shakuntala discovered that she was pregnant. Kanva decided that it was time for
her to go to her husband's kingdom.
Shakuntala always wore the signet ring given to her by
Dushyanta on her ring finger. While traveling, they were bathing in a river,
and as fate would have it, her ring slipped from her finger and was washed away
in the river. She was very much upset, as it was the only thing that she had in
her husband's memory.Without the ring, Shakuntala cannot move the king with her
pleas. She engages in bitter recriminations against the king and accuses him of
playing fast and loose with her affections. Meanwhile, the king accuses Shakuntala
of being an imposter.The signet ring that had been washed away in the river,
lay at the bottom of the river for a long time. At last, it was swallowed by a
fish. This fish was caught in the net of a fisherman in Dushyanta's kingdom.
When he cut open the fish to cook it, he found the ring inside it. He
immediately recognized the signet ring of his king, and took it to the court.
When Dushyanta saw it, the curse of Durvasa was lifted. He immediately
remembered Shakuntala. He was very much grieved, for she had come to meet him,
only to be insulted in his court. He resolved to seek her out and apologize for
his conduct, and ask her to be his queen. The
newly wise Dushyanta defeats an army of Asuras, and is rewarded by Indra
with a journey through heaven.
There was a very happy reunion, with the King
begging the sage's and his wife's pardon for the events that had taken place in
his court. They both forgave him immediately, as he was blameless in this
matter, Durvasa's curse being the cause of his behaviour.
Thus
after a series of mishaps the curse is lifted, and the lovers are allowed to
remain together on the earth. The curse and the ring motif is an instance of
clash between the divinity and love in which love
ultimately succeeds.
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