SHAKUNTALAM
(The customary prayer)
May the Lord, perceived through these eight manifestations:
The first of created things, (water),
What conveys the sacrificial offering, (fire),
The ritual offering itself,
And the one which does the offering, (the Self),
The duo that cause time, (the Sun and Moon),
That which, perceived only by the ear, pervades the world, (Space),
That which is known as the ultimate source of matter, (Earth),
That by which living beings live, (Air),
protect us from all woes!
(Now at the end of prayer, the stage director enters:)
Director (looking towards the green-room): Madam, if the arrangements are over, please do come here.
Actress (entering) : Sir, here I am. Give your command, what shall I do?
Director: Madam, this is mostly a select audience before us. Today we have to stage a new play called Abhijnana Shakunthalam, written by Kalidasa. So pay special attention to each part.
Actress: nothing can go wrong, since you have very well worked out everything.
Director: madam, let me tell the truth. I don’t think the skill of acting is proven, until the connoisseurs approve. However well you practise, one is never sure in one’s mind about oneself.
Actress: That is true. Please order me what I should do next.
Director: what else, let us please the ears of the audience.
So please sing a song about this early pleasant summer-time. Now indeed,
The days are such that a dip in water is delectable,
the winds from the woods blow laden with fragrance from the Patala trees,
there are dense shady places for easy sleep,
and picturesque is the close of day.
Actress (sings)
The damsels tenderly pluck and place
over their ears the shirisha blossoms,
with their delicate stamen-tips,
gently gently kissed by bees.
Director: madam, well sung. Ha! All round, the theater appears still as a painting, their attention centred on the melody. (after a pause)---- And now with what play shall we please them?
Actress: But did you not just now say that the new play called Shakunthalam is to be staged by us!
Director: well have you reminded me. For a moment indeed I forgot. How! I was carried away by the melodiousness of your song, just as this king Dushyantha by the speeding deer!
(exit)
END OF PROLOGUE
ACT ONE
(Now enters the king, chasing the deer, armed with bow and arrows, in a chariot, along with charioteer.
Charioteer: (pointing out the deer to the king), Your Honour,
Looking at you with string’d bow,
And at this deer in front,
It is as if, before me, I see
God Shiva himself chasing deer.
King: Driver, Far have we been led by the deer.
Look, even now he,
Eyes fixed , with a pretty twist of neck, on the fast advancing chariot,
The rear half of its body almost shrinking ,for fear of being hit by the arrow, into the front,
Its path strewn by half- chewed grass falling from mouth open with fatigue,
Moves, because of its forceful leap, more in the air than on earth.
(surprised) how, in spite of our racing, it has become difficult for me to see him!
Charioteer: Your Honour, I reduced the speed a bit by drawing in the reins, because the path was uneven. That is why the deer has got farther from us. Now that we are on level ground, it wont be difficult for you to close on him.
King: If that is so, by all means loosen the reins.
Charioteer: As you command, Your Honour, ( appraising the chariot speed), Look, look, as soon as the reins are loosened,
The horses, as if impatient at the speed of the deer,
Bound with lengthened fore-part, the plumes no more tossing,
Ears up and still, and not even overtaken
By the dust that’s stirred up by themselves.
King; (joyfully) honest, these horses beat those of the God of Heaven!
What looked small to the eyes becomes suddenly very big,
what is split in half appears as if joined,
what actually is curved appears straight to the eyes,
Nothing is far from me, or near, because of the the chariot’s speed.
Now you can see me finishing off this deer. (readies the arrow on the bow)
(from the greenroom) wait, wait , king, don't kill. Don’t kill this deer. It belongs to the ashram.
Charioteer: (looking, on hearing this), Your Honour, some hermits have turned up in front of the deer in the path of the arrow.
King (upset): In that case, rein in the horses.
Charioteer: As you order. (stops the chariot).
( then enters a hermit with two others}
Hermit: (raising his hands) wait, wait , king, don't kill. Don’t kill this deer. It belongs to the aashram.
Never, never, let the arrow fall on this
Soft body of the deer, like fire on a flower heap!.
Where is the frail life of the poor deer; Where are these
Sharply piercing arrows of yours, falling like a thunder-bolt!
So do put back the arrow you have placed on the bowstring. Your weapon is to protect the weak, not to strike at the innocent!
King: already withdrawn.
Hermit: This becomes you, leading light of Pooru’s race.
For you born in Pooru’s house,
This is completely fitting. May you have
A son, with the same qualities,
Who will become king of kings!
Others ( raising hands) By all means, have a son who will be king of kings!
King (bowing down): I accept.
Hermit: king, we are on the way to gather wood for fuel. This you see on the bank of the river Narmada, is the ashram of Kanva, the head of this settlement. If you are not otherwise engaged, please enter and enjoy their respectful hospitality. Also,
Seeing the good deeds of the wood-dwellers
Being performed without any hindrance,
You will come to know how much your arm,
Bearing marks of bowstring-scars, protect.
King: Is the Master now there?
Hermit: Just now , leaving his daughter Shakunthala to look after the guests, he is gone to Soma-Thirtha, in order to propitiate the god of fate unfavourable to her at this time.
King : That is all right. I will meet her. She will of course convey my respects to him.
Hermit. Let us then leave.
(exit with the other two)
King: driver, spur on the horses. Let me for a while, purify myself by the view of this holy ashram.
Charioteer: As you order. ( again enacts the speed of the chariot)
King: (looking around) even when not told, one can see that this is a place of holy people doing penance.
Charioteer: How really!
King: Don’t you see?
Wild grains, fallen from tree-hollows where parrots nest, lie below; Rocks are worn smooth
in places used for breaking the ingudi nuts; The animals, because they have become trustful,
Do not change their gait at sudden sounds; paths from ponds are all marked
By rows of water-drops falling from the edges of bark-cloths the hermits wear.
And also,
The roots of trees are washed by little canals of water rippling in the wind;
The colour of tender leaves are faded, because of smoke rising from the sacrificial ghee;
Baby deer wander slowly, slowly , without fear,
Over the park- lands with chopped sprouts of grass .
Charioteer: All agrees.
( After driving a short time)
King: Let there be no disturbance to the inhabitants of this sacred place. Stop the chariot here itself. Let me get down.
Charioteer: Reins are drawn. Your honour may get down.
King (getting down, and looking at himself) One should enter the ascetics’ sacred woods, modestly dressed. Please take these. (handing over the bow and ornaments) During the time I visit the ashram inmates and return, keep wet the back of the horses.
Charioteer: As you say (exit)
King: (walking around and viewing) This is the entrance to the ashram. I shall enter.
(entering and indicating an omen)
Quiet is this ashram and still throbs my arm.
From where can anything come out of it in this place!
Or everywhere, there will be
An opening for what is predestined!
(in the green room. “here, come here, friends”)
King: (listening) Ha! It seems some conversation is going on to the south of this garden. Let me go near. (walks and watches) Ha! These ascetic’s daughters, carrying pots suited to their sizes, are heading here, to water the tender plants. (closely viewing) Oh! sweet they look.
If such a figure, hard to find among city girls,
Is that of an ashram-girl,
Verily the garden plants stand
Out-distanced by wild creepers!
I’ll wait here in this shade. (stands watching)
(now enters Shakunthala, engaged as said above, along with two friends)
Shakunthala: here, come here, friends,
Anasooya: Dear Shakunthala, I suspect that these little plants are dearer than you to father Kanva. Since you, more tender than a jasmine plant, is asked to water them.
Shakunthala: not only that dad wanted. I have a sisterly affection for them.
King. What, this is that daughter of Kanva! The venerable sage has really no discrimination, in that he makes her do these ashram chores.
This sage who wants to make this
Unadulteratedly sweet body for penance fit,
Surely will try to cut the hardy shami plant
With the edge of a blue lotus leaf.
Let it be, let me, behind this tree, watch her unsuspected. ( so does)
Shakunthala: Dear Anasooya, I cant move freely, because this Priyamvada has tied my bark-cloth bodice too tightly. Please loosen it a bit.
Anasooya: Ok (loosens it)
Priyamvada: Laughing)In this you better blame your youth for the swelling of your breasts, why blame me!
King: Well spoken.
Because this bark-cloth, tied by a tiny knot
On the shoulder, hides her two swelling breasts,
This youthful body of hers does not reveal her natural charm,
Like a flower that is hid inside a pale white leaf.
Or it is not that this bark-cloth, quite unsuited to her body, does not add some charm as of an ornament.
A lotus even when encircled by water weeds is enchanting,
Even the dirty spot on its surface adds a beauty to the moon,
This pretty girl is only the more lovely for her bark cloth;
For a sweet figure, what will not serve as an ornament!
Shakunthal; (looking in front) This kesara tree, with its finger-like tender leaves, waving in the wind, appears to be beckoning me. Ill attend to it.
Priyamvada: dear shakunthala, just stand there, for a minute.
Shakunthala: For what?
Priyamvada: This kesara tree, with you standing by, appears as if accompanied by a creeper.
Shakunthala: this is why you are priyam-vada, the sweet –tongued.
King: Sweet, but it is also true, what Priyamvada told Shakunthala.
Her lips are as red as tender leaves,
Arms like to the smooth slim boughs,
And youth is spreading like blossoms
Over her pretty limbs.
Anasooya: my dear Sakunthala, here is the jasmine creeper, who is of her choice wedded to the mango tree, and whom you have named “vana-jyotsna”, the moonlight of the woods. You have forgotten her.
Shakunthala: Then I would forget myself. (approaches the plant and looks with joy.) Dear, this tree- creeper couple has come together at the proper time. “Vana-jyotsna” is flowering in its early youth; the tree, full of smooth tender leaves, looks fit for enjoyment.
Priyamvada: (smiling) Anasooya, Do you know why Shakunthala is looking at vanajyotsna so closely?
Anasooya: I cant indeed imagine! Tell me!
Pritamvada: That, “ just as vanajyotsna is joined to a suitable tree, would I also get a suitable mate”
Shakunthala: This sure is your own desire! (pours water from the pot)
King: Is it possible that she is the sage’s out-of –caste daughter!
Or why doubt?
Certainly she is fit to be married to a Kshathriya, since my noble heart yearns for her. For good people, in case of doubt, one’s own mind is the best judge. Yet I shall find out the truth.
Shakunthala: (excited) Ha! Ha, this bee, disturbed by falling water, has left the creeper and is heading towards me. (enacts being troubled by the bee)
King: (watching longingly)
Turning her tremulous eyes there and there,
Wherever wherever the bee flutters,
And arching her eye brows,she, in her fear,
Rehearses without love, the winsome plays of a loved one’s looks.
( as if jealous) Moreover,
You brush past her quivering eyes that look sideways restlessly;
You come close and hum, it would seem, love secrets in her ears;
You drink her lip, the fountain of all delights, while she wildly shakes her arms;
O Bee, we with our philosophical doubts are lost, you indeed get what you want!
Shakunthala: This naughty thing does not stop! I’ll go somewhere else. What, he follows me also here. Friends, protect me from this pestering brash bad bee.
Both together: (smiling) Who are we to protect! You call Dushyantha. The sacred penance- groves are supposed to be protected by the king!
King: This is the time to reveal myself. Don’t fear- [(without finishing, to himself) They will recognize that I am the king. Ok, I’ll speak like this.]
Shakunthala: (stopping mid-step, and rolling her eyes) What! he follows me even here!
King: (hurriedly approaching)
When the scion of Pooru’s house, the chastiser of the unruly,
Rules this world, who molests the poor ascetic girls!
(All look embarrassed at the sight of the king)
Anasooya: Sir, there is really nothing calamitous. This our friend Shakunthala got a bit frightened at the sight of a bee.
King: ( facing Shakunthala) Is your penance going on all right?
(Shakunthala, out of shyness, stands speechless)
Anasooya: Honoured that we got a special guest. Shakunthala, go inside, get fruits and other things to give our guest, This will serve to wash his feet.
King: Your nice words are enough for hospitality.
Priyamvada: In that case, sir, please sit for a while on this cool shady seat under the saptaparna tree, and take rest after your exertion,
King: Surely all of you must be tired after this work.
Anasooya: Dear Shakunthala, It is proper that we wait upon the guests. Let us sit here. (all sit)
Shakunthala: (to herself) How is it that, seeing him, I am affected by some feelings not proper in this sacred place.
King: ( looking at them) Ha, you are all of the same age and figure, it is really nice to see your friendship.
Priyamvada: (aside) look, , Anasooya, who is this person with such a handsome dignified figure, talking so sweetly; seems to be somebody great.
Anasooya: (also aside) my friend, I am also curious. I shall ask him now (aloud) Sir, The confidence that your sweet words have given me makes me ask you. Which is the holy royal family embellished by you? Which is that country you have left, leaving the people yearning after you? And what is the reason for inflicting on your very delicate body all this trouble of coming to this ascetics’ place?.
Shakunthala: (to herself) O my heart. Don’t flutter. This Anasooya is expressing your own thoughts.
King: (to himself) How can I reveal myself, or how can I conceal! Let be, I’ll tell her this. (aloud) Madam, I am appointed by the king Dushyantha to look after law and righteousness, and I came to this ashram of righteousness to see that all the rites are going on unhindered.
Anasooya: We have indeed now a protector.
(Shakunthala exhibits bashfulness due to amorous feeling)
{ Both the friends: (understanding the feelings of the two, among themselves) dear Shakunthala, If now father Kanva were present here!
Shakunthala: So what!
The friends: He would have gratified him with the dearest of his life’s precious possessions.
Shakunthala: Go away. You are both talking with something in your mind. I don’t want to hear.]
King: Let me also ask you something about your friend.
Both: This request is more like a favour.
King: It is well known that the great sage Kanva is a life-time celibate. How is it that this your friend is his daughter?
Anasooya: Listen, sir. There is a saintly king of great powers, with family name Koushika.
King: Yes. I have heard.
Anasooya: Understand, he is the source of our dear friend. Dad Kanva brought her up when she was abandoned and so became her father.
King. This word, abandoned, makes me curious. I would like to hear from the beginning.
Anasooya: Hear, sir, Long ago, it is said, when this royal sage was engaged in a terrible penance, the gods who got a little suspicious, sent a heaven’s courtesan, called Menaka, to cause obstacles.
King: There is, on the part of gods, this cowardice towards others’ spiritual progress.
Anasooya: Then during the glorious time of spring, seeing her alluring figure,---(stops mid-sentence, overwhelmed by shyness)
King: what happened afterwards can be easily guessed!
Anasooya: What else!
King: That makes sense.
How can from an earthly woman come this beauty!
The lightning, with its tremulous sheen, does not rise on the Earth’s surface.
( Shakunthala stands with bowed head)
King: (to himself) My wish gets a chance of fulfilment. But, hearing the plan for marriage, said in jest by her friend, my mind is all trepidation, because of suspense.
Priyamvada: (looks smilingly at Shakunthala, and then turns to the king) Sir, you seem to want to say something more.
( Shakunthala threatens her friend with her finger)
King: Madam, well have you noticed. Because I like to hear the story of good people, there is another thing I want to ask.
Priyamvada: Don’t hesitate; There is no restraint in speech for hermitage people.
King: I want to know this about your friend.
Is she to continue this ascetic routine which is against all love feelings,
Till her marriage? Or will she live for ever
Among these pretty deer, beloved by all
Because of the similarity of their looks to hers.
Priyamvada: Sir, we are not free even in the religious duties. Dad Kanva’s idea is however to give her in marriage to a suitable young man.
King: (to himself, overjoyed) Ha, My wish is not unattainable.
My heart, have hope; now all doubts are cleared. What you feared was fire, has turned out to be a gem one can touch!
Shakunthala: (as if angry) Anasooya, I am going.
Anasooya: Why!
Shakunthala: To tell grandma Gauthami about this Priyamvada, who is talking nonsense.
Anasooya: my dear, it is not proper to go suddenly without attending to the needs of this special guest.
(Shakunthala starts to leave without saying anything)
King; (about to hold, then controlling himself, to himself) Ha! A lover’s act of thinking is almost like a physical movement.
Wanting to go after her, but held back by self-control,
I almost jumped out of my seat and returned.
Priyamvada: (seeing Shakunthala leaving) my dear, it is not right for you to go.
Shakunthala: (arching her brows) For what reason!
Priyamvada: You owe me two pots of water. Come, you can go after freeing yourself. (holds her back by force)
King: My good lady, it seems to me that this lady is already tired with watering trees.
Her hands, the palms extremely red, hang limp from the shoulder due to the lifting of pots;
Even now her abnormally deep breath causes throbbing of her breasts;
A sheet of sweat drops spread over her face, covers the shirisha flowers on her ears;
And her ruffled hair is hanging loose,held back by one hand.
So I will pay her debts. (and wants to give his ring )
(Both read the letters of the name etched on it, and look at each other)
King: Don't mistake me for somebody else. This is a gift from the king, please understand that I am his officer
Priyamvada: In that case this ring should not leave your finger. (with a subdued smile) She is freed of debt by your word. Dear Shakunthala, you have been freed by this kind gentleman, or by this maharaja. Now you go.
Shakunthala: (to herself) If I only could! (loud) Who are you to permit or to stop me!
King: (looks at Shakunthala, and speaks to himself) If her feelings towards me were the same as mine to her! Or I have reason to hope. Why!
Though she does not join in the talk ,
she looks at me and lends her ears when I speak;
True, she does not remain long facing me;
But neither are her eyes most of the time on other things.
[ (in the greenroom)
“Oh pious men, Be ready to guard the ashram’s belongings. They say, king Dushyantha is come for his sport of hunting deer.
Dust raised by horses’ hooves,
Bright as sun’s beams at setting time,
Fall, like a swarm of locusts, on the ashram trees,
The boughs of which have wet bark clothes hung to dry .
Moreover,
An elephant, scared by the sight of the chariot, is entering this holy place,
Like the very incarnation of Trouble, scattering herds of deer,
Carrying on one tusk a tree trunk broken by his violent impact,
And dragging on his leg a rope-like loop of creepers.
(all listen, a little startled)
King: My people, in search of me, are besieging the penance grove. Let be. I shall go to them.
Friends: Sir,we are all worried at this news from the forest. Permit us to go in.
King: (excited) do go, ladies. I’ll try to see that no harm is done to the ashram.
( All stand up)
Friends: Sir, we are ashamed to ask you to visit again, without having given you proper reception.
King: no, not so. By your sight alone, I feel honoured.
Shkunthala: see Anasooya, a tip of a fresh grass blade is stuck in my foot. And my dress is got caught in a branch of the kurabaka plant. Just wait until I free myself
(surreptitiously looking at the king, slowly she goes with the friends)
King: I have lost all interest in going to the city. I’ll go to my followers and put them up somewhere not far away. Am not indeed able to turn my mind from thinking of Shakunthala.
Forward goes my body; my mind,
as if not part of it, runs backwards,
like a cloth tied to a flag
moved against the wind.
(All exit)
(END OF ACT ONE)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
SHkunthalam act 6
SHAKUNTHALAM ACT 6
(ENTER KING’S BROTHER-IN-LAW, THE POLICE CHIEF; AND TWO POLICEMEN, HOLDING A MAN, ARMS SHACKLED BEHIND)
Policemen : (beating) You thief, say, from where did you get this ring, with the king’s name engraved on the gem setting?
Man: (in fear) Please you masters, I am not such kind.
First Policeman: Was it presented to you by the king taking you for a wonderful Brahmin!
Man : Please just hear me. I am a fisherman, living in Shakravathara.
Second Policeman: Rascal, did we ask you your caste?
Chief: Soochaka, allow him to say all in their order. Don’t interrupt him in the middle.
Both: As you order, sir. (to the man) Speak.
Man: I maintain my family by making fishing implements like net, hook, etc.
Chief: (laughing) A clean profession!
Man: Action, suited to one’s nature,
However contemptible, should not be shunned.
The priest who kills animals for sacrifice
Is filled with pity and very soft at heart.
Chief: Go on, go on.
Man: One day when I cut a fish into pieces, I found in its inside this ring sparkling with a gem. Afterwards when I took it for sale, I was caught by these sirs. Kill me or leave me; this is how it came to me.
Chief: Januka, no doubt, This fishy smelling alligator- eater is surely a fisherman. How he got this ring is to be investigated. Let us go to the king’s palace.
Policemen: As you say. (turning to the man)Come, you cut-purse.
(all walk around)
Chief: Soochaka, wait at this city gate and look to this fellow carefully. I shall just show this ring to the king and tell him how it came to us. I will be back with his orders.
Both: Please do go in. His Highness would be pleased.
(exit Chief)
First policeman: Januka, Chief is taking a lot of time.
Second Policeman: Are not kings to be approached at their convenience!
First Policeman :Januka: My hands are itching to make a flower garland for his execution.
Man : Don’t you be a killer for no reason.
Second Policeman: Here is our Chief coming with a paper in his hand, after getting king’s orders. You will soon be an offering to vultures or fall into mouth of dogs.
Chief : (entering) Soochaka, free this fisherman. His story of how he got the ring seems possible.
Soochaka: Your order, sir.
Januka: This fellow has gone to Death’s realm and returned.
Man: (bowing low to the chief) Master, what do you think now about my profession?
Chief: And he has asked me to give him as a present this amount equal to the value of the ring.
Man: (accepting it humbly) Thanks, I am very much obliged to you
Soochaka: Of course he has to be obliged, for having been taken from the cross and seated on the back of an elephant.
Januka: Chief, This present shows that the king is mighty pleased with the ring.
Chief: I don’t think that it is the value of the gem that pleased him. He seems reminded of some loved person by its sight. For a second, though by nature strong and reserved, he seemed shaken.
Soochaka: Chief, you have done a great service to him.
Januka: rather say, to this master fisherman! (looks at the man, enviously)
Man: Sirs, let the half of this be the price of your flowers.
Januka: This much is proper.
Chief: Fisherman, now you have become my close friend. This our first friendship, we will celebrate with a toast of wine. Let us go to the wine shop.
(all exit)
(END OF PROLOGUE)
[Then comes a heavenly courtesan named Sanumati]
Sanumati: I have duly performed my duty of being present, as we should do by turns, at the holy lake, Apsaratheerthirthha, because it is the time of immersion in its waters by the pious. Now I will find out in person how that saintly king fares. Through Menaka, Shakunthala has become after all a part of myself. And on account of her daughter, she had asked it. (looking about) How is it that at this seasonal festival, the king’s palace is devoid of all festivities! Of course I am capable of knowing everything by my spiritual powers. But I have to respect my friend’s wishes. Well, I shall , hidden behind my magic veil, stand close to these two gardener girls and find out.
(enter a maid looking at a blossoming mango tree, and another behind.)
First: Flower bud, pink, green and white,
I have seen you, Spring-time’s all of life,
Harbinger of Season’s charms,
Be pleased and bless us all!
Second : Parabrithika, what are you muttering to yourself?
First: Madhukarika, Parabhrithika is just mad with joy at the sight of mango blossoms!
Second : (delighted, rushes) How! Spring is already come!
First: Madukarika, this is your time for singing and dancing madly.
Second: My friend, hold me while I stand on my toe and pluck the blossom, to offer to the God of love.
First: If only I could get half the fruit of your prayers!
Second: That goes without saying, since we are really one in spirit, just split in two bodies.(leaning on her friend, plucks the blossom) Ha! This flower though not fully blown, smells sweet , as it breaks from the stalk! (cups hands In offering)
Mango bud, I am giving you now
To Cupid who has drawn his bow.
Be you his extra sixth arrow
To aim at maids whose lovers are away.
(throws the flower buds)
Chamberlain: (enter s suddenly, pushing off the curtain, and angrily) Don’t do that. You thoughtless girl! When the king has banned spring festivities, you start plucking flower buds!
Both : (terrified) Please forgive us. We don’t understand.
Chamberlain: What! You haven't heard? Even the trees of Spring have obeyed the king’s orders, as also the birds nesting in them. See,
The mango trees,though long in bloom, do not yet their pollen bear,
The Kurabaka blossoms, though all set, continue in the state of buds,
Even when the winter’s gone, cuckoo's’s songs are stuck in throat,
Even Cupid, I do feel, retracts his arrow, from his quiver half-drawn.
Both: No doubt. Our saintly king has great powers.
First: Sir, it is only a few days since we have been brought here to serve at the feet of His Highness. And thus we came to be given this job of maintaining this pleasure garden. Since we are newly come, we did not hear this news.
Chamberlain: I see. Don’t do it again.
Both : Sir, excuse us, we feel curious. If it is something we can hear, please tell us why this Spring festival has been proscribed?
Sanumati: Human beings are are fond of festivals. There should be really some grave reason.
Chamberlain: It has spread all over. Why cant I tell you! Haven't you ladies come to hear the scandal about Shakunthala’s rejection?
Both: we have heard from the Prince, up to the finding of the ring.
Chamberlain: In that case there is little to tell. From the moment His Highness remembered, on seeing the ring, that he had really married her in secret, the king was overwhelmed by remorse. So much that
He hates all pretty things, does not meet ministers daily as before,
Spends sleepless nights by tossing from edge to edge of bed,
And when, out of courtesy, proper reply to his other wives gives,
Calls them by wrong names and becomes struck with shame.
Sanumati: I like this!
Chamberlain: Because of this depressed mood, he has given up all festivities,
(in the greenroom) : Come, come, Your Highness.
Chamberlain: (listening) : Look, His Highness is coming right towards us . You may attend to your work.
Both : Sure! (and exit)
[ENTER THE KING, ATTIRED AS SUITS HIS REMORSEFUL CONDITION, AS WELL AS COURT JESTER AND GATEKEEPER]
Chamberlain: (observing the king) Ha! The beauty of an out-of-the- ordinary body in all conditions! Though so upset, His Highness is so pleasing to the eyes. Even so,
Forgoing special embellishments, with only one gold bangle on forearm,
Lips pale and dried up with sighs, and eyes all red
Because of brooding sleepless nights, his body glow is such
That, though thinned, he hardly looks so, like a cut and polished diamond.
Sanumati: I am not surprised at all that even after the humiliation of rejection, she pines for him still.
King: (walking slowly, sunk in thought)
My heart, which slept when my doe-eyed beloved tried to wake me up,
Alas! now has woken up, only to suffer the sorrows of remorse.
Sanumathi: Such are the fortunes of the poor girl!
Court Jester: (to himself) Again he is seized of the Sakunthala fever. Don’t know how to cure him!
Chamberlain: (approaching) Hail, Your Highness. The pleasure-garden lands have been all checked. Your Highness may retire to any place You like.
King: Vethravati, Tell minister Mr. Pishuna this from me. Since I was long awake last night, I don’t want to take my official seat of duty. Let him note down on paper his findings about people’s problems, and send to me.
Gate keeper: As your Highness orders. (exit)
King: Vatayana, you too may attend to your duties.
Chamberlain: As your highness orders. (exit)
Court Jester : You have got rid of flies! Now you can please yourself in this part of the garden, charming with patches of winter sunshine.
King: Friend, the saying that calamities rush through all crevices, is not untrue. See.
My mind is just freed from the stupour that blocked
The memory of my love for the hermit girl;
Cupid, in order to strike at me, my friend,
Has his mango blossom dart readied on his bow.
Court Jester: Just wait, I will break Cupid’s bow with this wooden stick. (walks around and lifting the stick, tries to pull down the mango blossoms)
King: (smiling) Fine, I have seen your Brahmin prowess! ----Friend, where shall I sit and longingly roam my eyes over the vines that resemble to some extent my beloved?
Court Jester: Haven’t you told your personal attendant, Chathurika, that you would spend this time in the jasmine arbour, and you want her to bring the portrait you yourself drew on the drawing board?
King: Such is the place for relief of heart. Show the way there.
Court Jester: Here, here, my Lord.
( Both walk, and Sanumathi follows)
Court Jester: Certainly this jasmine bower, with a marble slab in it, is waiting to welcome us, displaying the splendour of its offerings. So please enter and take your seat, sir.
(Both enter and sit)
Sanumathi: Leaning on this creeper, I will have a peep at my friend’s picture. Then I will tell her about her husband’s all-round love for her. (so doing, stands)
King: Now I remember all about Shakunthala. And I did tell you . But you were not present at the time of my disavowal. And you never spoke about it even before that. Like me, did you also forget!
Court Jester: I didn’t forget. But after telling me all that, in the end you said it was merely a joke and there was no truth in it. Being a clod-head, I believed that. Or fate is all powerful.
Sanumathi: It is even so.
King: (after deep thought)Friend, help me!
Court Jester: My Lord, what is this! This doesn’t become you at all. Never will sensible people succumb to grief. Are not trees motionless even in strong wind?
King Recalling the condition of my beloved, as she stood stunned at my disavowal, I feel completely helpless. You see
When, as she, rejected by me, turned to follow her own folk,
Her father’s pupil, himself like to father, repeatedly shouted “STOP!”
Those looks, bleary with streaming tears, that she once more cast
On cruel me, like a poisoned arrow sharp, me for ever burn.
Sanumathi: Such is one’s selfishness! I revel at his unhappiness!
Court Jester: Friend, I have an idea. She must have been carried away by some celestial being.
King: Who will dare to touch a chaste woman! I have heard that Menaka gave birth to her. My heart tells me that your friend was removed from here by one of her companions.
Sanumathi: The wonder is that he forgot, not the awakening!
Court Jester. If that is so, surely you will meet her again.
King : How!
Court Jester: Parents will never stand their daughter being miserable, separated from husband.
King: Friend,
Is it dream, illusion, or derangement of mind,
Is it that the fruit of meritorious deeds is all lost?
What is gone is indeed for never to return gone,
Wishes are truly like a blind leap from the shore!
Court Jester: Don’t say so. Is not the finding of the ring itself a sure sign of unexpected reunion?
King: (looking at the ring) Look, is not this ring, fallen from a hard-to-reach place, to be pitied!
Surely, your good deeds appear , o ring,
As scanty as mine, seen from their outcome;
Haven't you fallen , after getting a place
Among her fingers, so pretty with pink nails!
Sanumathi: If it had fallen in other hands, then truly it would have been pitiable.
Court Jester: Sir, under what circumstances did this name -seal get into the lady’s hands
Sanumathi: He is moved by curiosity, same as i.
King: Listen. As I prepared to go to my city, my love asked me. “ How long would it be before I hear from you?”
Court Jester: Yes, then?
King: Then I put the seal ring on her finger and replied,
Count the letters of my name, one by one,
Daily, and before you come to the end,
My dear, my people will be at your side
To take you to my family household.
And that I, cruel hearted as I am, failed to do in my folly.
Sanumathi: Lovely way indeed of fixing lime limit, but negated by fate!
Court Jester: How did it come inside the fish cut by the fisherman?
King: It fell into the Ganges waters from your friend’s hand, as she was worshipping at the Shachithirtha.
Court Jester : That explains it.
Sanumati: That is why the good king, in his fear of doing wrong, had doubts about the marriage. Or such a love wants any sign to remember? How is it so!
King : I shall rebuke the ring for this.
Court Jester: (to himself) Now he is on the way to madness!
King:
How, leaving that soft and pretty hand,
Did you into the water take a dip?
Or,
An inanimate thing, plainly, cannot value judge;
How come that I too did my darling cast away!
Court Jester : (to himself) How! I am getting devoured by hunger!
King : My dear, I gave up without cause, please have pity on me, and show yourself once again to me, who burns in heart with remorse.
(Entering suddenly with the drawing board in hand)
Chaturika: This is the portrait of Her Ladyship. (shows the board)
Court Jester; Well done, my friend. A beautiful invocation of feelings by a sweet composition of colours. My eyes seem to stumble on the lows and highs in it.
Sanumathi : Ha! What skill of the great king! It seems that my friend is actually standing before me.
King: Whatever in the picture would not suit,
Has to something else been changed.
In spite of that her loveliness
Is hardly in its lines preserved.
Sanumathi: This becomes his love intensified by remorse, as well as his modesty.
Court Jester: Sir, now I see three ladies. And all equally beautiful. Which is Shakunthala here?
Sanumathi : This fellow has eyes in vain, if he cannot recognize such beauty.
King : Who do you guess is she?
Court Jester: She , who is depicted,standing apparently a little tired at the side of the mango tree, with flowers dropped from the loose hair-band clinging to the tips of tresses, perspiration drops bursting out on cheeks, and hands out-stretched, must be Shakunthala; others her friends.
King: You are smart! There is here some mark of my mental state.
The impression of my moist fingers is seen to smudge the edges of lines,
And a tear drop fallen from the cheek is seen to cause here the paint to swell .
Chathurika, This place where I find relief from my sorrow is only half drawn. Bring the paint brush.
Chathurika: MR. Madhavya, just hold this board while I bring the brush.
King: I myself will hold it. ( he does so and Chathurika leaves )
King: First casting away my love, when she in person came,
And now making much of her merely in a picture drawn,
I am like one who, passing a stream with abundant water flow,
Has become , my friend, to a mere mirage attached!
Court Jester: (to himself) This Highness has indeed gone past the the river and ended up in a mirage. (aloud) Sir, what else do you want to add?
Sanumati: He may want to draw the spots favoured by my friend.
King : Listen :
I have to draw the river Malini, with swan couples nestling in the sands,
At either side the sacred Himalayan dales with seated deer on them,
And I want to sketch the doe rubbing its left eye on the horn
Of the black deer beneath a tree, from boughs of which bark-clothes hang.
Court Jester: ( to himself) As I see it, he is going to fill the board with hordes of long- bearded hermits.
King: Friend, we have forgotten Shakunthala’s favourite ornament.
Court Jester : What is that?
Sanumathi: Which will befit forest life and her loveliness.
King: I have omitted the Sirisha flower, my friend,
With hanging filaments, tied on to her ears;
Nor have I drawn the string of lotus- stalk
Soft as moon’s rays, in between her breasts.
Court Jester: Sir, why is madam Shakunthala, standing with her face covered by her red-lotus -like forearm, as if she is terribly afraid? Ah! This bastard of a bee, on the look out to steal honey from flowers, is pestering her.
King: Stop this pest, please!
Court Jester: You alone, the tamer of the wild, is able to stop him.
King: Right. Look you, Mister, the dear guest of flower plants,why do you take this trouble of hovering around?
This lady bee, full of love for you, sitting on the flower,
Though thirsty, waits, and without you will not drink.
Sanumathi : Very dignified indeed, is his reproach of the bee.
King: What, you don’t obey me! Then hear now!
If you, o! bee,touch my love’s cherry red lips,
Alluring like a fresh sapling’s tender leaf,
Sipped ever so gently in love sport by me,
I will make you inside a lotus bud captive.
Court Jester : He is not afraid of such severe punishment! (laughing, to himself) He is gone quite mad. By association with him, I have also become of the same colour. (aloud) Sir, this is but a picture.
King : what! Picture!
Sanumathi : Even I did not realize it; then how can he, emotionally involved in the drawing as he is.
King: my friend, why did you do this nit-picking!
While I was enjoying with all my heart her sight as if she in person stood,
By reminding me, you have again my love into a mere picture turned.
(sheds tears)
Sanumathi : A strange kind of bereavement, contrary to all past and future.
King : My friend, why am I suffering this sorrow without pause?
Union with her in my dreams
Is by sleeplessness debarred,
And tears don’t let me see
Her at least in a picture drawn.
Sanumathi : In every way you have wiped out Shakunthala’s sorrow at rejection.
Chathurika (entering) Hail, hail ,Your Highness. With the paint-box in hand, I started for here.
King: And then?
Chathurika : Her highness the queen Vasumathi, along with Tharalika, took it by force from me, saying “ I’ll take it to my husband”.
Court Jester : Lucky, you escaped.
Chathurika: while Tharalika was freeing my Lady’s shawl caught in a bough, I made my escape.
King : Friend, the queen is coming, and she is very proud of her position. You please hide this picture.
Court Jester : Say “yourself”. When you get free of the deadly poison of your harem, call me, I will be in the Meghaprathichhanda palace. (exit at a fast pace)
Sanumathi : Though now his heart is elsewhere, he shows regard for his first love. His friendships are loose-bonded.
Gate keeper (entering with a paper in hand) Hail, hail, my Lord!
King: Vetravathi, did you meet the queen on the way?
Gate keeper : Yes, of course.Seeing me with a letter in hand, she returned.
King : Being sensible, she does not want to disturb me at work,
Gate keeper: The minister says, “because of a lot of accounting to do with the amount of cash received, only one man’s complaint could be attended to, and that, as noted down, I am submitting.”
King : Show me the letter.
(the gatekeeper hands over the paper)
King (going through it) What! One Dhanamitra, a trader in the seas died in a boat mishap. Poor fellow had no offspring. The minster writes, his property should go to the treasury. (sadly) Childlessness is indeed terrible. Since he is very rich, he must have many wives. Please find out whether there is any of his wives who is pregnant.
Gate keeper: Just we heard that the daughter of a merchant of Saketa, one of his wives, has had the rites for male delivery performed.
King : Is not a foetus also entitled to father’s property? Go and tell this to the minister.
Gate keeper.Your orders, my Lord. (starts to go)
King: Just come here.
Gate keeper: Here I am.
King : What if he has children or not!
Whichever whichever kinsman is to any of my subjects lost,
That will Dushyantha be to them, in virtuous way, be it proclaimed.
Gate keeper : Thus it is to proclaim? (exit and reenters) Your Highness’s orders are welcomed, like timely showers.
King : (taking a long hot breath) Property of families, on the death of the head, without offspring, falls into the hands of others . This is going to be the fate of Pooru’s line when I am no more!
Sanumathi: May this bad outcome never happen!
King: Fie on me, for casting away the good that came unsolicited to me!
Sanumathi : No doubt he is reproaching himself, keeping my friend in mind.
King : With my own Self in her planted,
I discarded my rightful wife.
Like Earth, with seed sown on time,
Getting ready to yield great fruit.
Sanumathi : Your progeny will be unbroken now.
Chathurika: (aside) After hearing the news about the merchant, His highness’s distress is doubled. Go and get Madhavya from the Meghaptatichanda in order to console him.
Gate keeper: Good idea! Exit)
King : Hah! Dushyantha’s ancestors are in peril of losing their sustenance.
In fear who, after him, in our house
Will offer the libations scripturally prescibed,
My Ancesters, after washing away their tears,
drink what’s left of the water poured by issue-less me.
(and faints)
Chathurika: (looking upset) My Lord, don’t grieve.
Sanumathi : When light is there, you cover it and suffer darkness. Now itself I will relieve him. Or I have heard from the mouth of Indra’s mother, when she consoled Shakunthala, that soon the Devas themselves , eager for their share of sacrifices, will so act that her husband would soon welcome her as his rightful wife. So it is better to wait till then.Meanwhile I will make my dear friend happy with this news. (leaves in a hurry)
Voice (in greenroom) : Sacrilege, sacrilege, Sacrilege!!!
King: (coming out of stupour, and hearing) Ah! It seems like Madhavya’s distressed voice. Hullo, who is there!
Gate Keeper: (entering) My Lord, save your friend, his life is in danger.
King : By whom is the boy over-powered?
Gate Keeper: An invisible Being caught and carried him on to the terrace of the Meghapraticchanda palace.
King: (rising) No, No. even my houses are infested by spirits!
When I am not able to know my own
Foolish mistakes done day by day,
How can I know fully who among
My people, goes and by which way
( from the greenroom) : Friend, alas, alas!
King: ( Walks at a fast pace) Don’t fear, don’t fear, my friend.
(from greenroom) : Alas, alas! How can I not fear! One fellow here is bending my neck backwards to break me into pieces.
King ( casting looks around) Bow, please!
A foreign help: ( with bow, entering) : Master, here is the bow along with the finger guard.
( THE King holds the bow with arrow)
( in the greenroom) : I thirsting for the blood oozing from your neck,
Will kill you as a tiger does a quivering beast.
Let Dushyantha now to your rescue come,
He who,to save the distressed, his bow carries!
King: ( angrily)What! He is pointing to me! Wait, corpse-eater, now you will be no more! (lifting the bow) Vetravati, show the way to the stairs.
Gate keeper: Here, here, Your Highness,
(all procced hurriedly)
King : (looking around) This place is empty!
(In the greenroom) :Alas, alas! I can see you. You don’t see me. Like a mouse caught by a cat, I have lost hope of life.
King: You, proud of your vanishing tricks, My weapon will see you. Look, I am readying the arrow,
Which will kill you who is to be killed,
And save this brahmin who is to be saved;
Like the swan which takes only milk
Leaving the water mixed with it.
( and he fixes the arrow )
Matali : (without the Court Jester, enters)
Gods have the Asuras your target made.
Draw this bow against them alone.
It is pleased gentle looks that good people cast
On their friends, not such terrible darts.
King: Ha! Matali! Wecome, Indra’s charioteer!
Court Jester: He who was killing me, like an animal for sacrifice is received with welcome!
Matali: May you live long, listen why I am sent to you.
King: I am all ears.
Matali : There is a set of Asuras called Durjaya, (invincible), offspring of Kalanemi.
King. There is. I have heard of them from Narada once.
Matali: Him Indra your friend can not defeat in war,
You are the one to kill him from the battle front, it’s thought;
The nocturnal darkness which the Sun can’t destroy
Is removed in the end by full Moon’s rays.
So please now take your weapons, get into Indra’s chariot, and start on your way to victory.
King: I feel indeed blessed by this honour from Indra. But why did you do it to Madhavya?
Matli: That also I will tell you. For some reason I found you were preoccupied with some unhappiness in your mind. Then I did this to provoke you. For
When firewood is stirred, fire blazes forth,
The serpent, when attacked, lifts up his hood;
It is generally when they are excited
That people show their mettle well.
King: (aside) Friend, the order of the king of Heaven is inviolable. So now tell the minister Pishuna this, after explaining the matter.
Let your brain alone
Protect the people now,
This stringed bow of mine
is in another work engaged.
Court Jester : As you order! (exit)
Matali : Please do get into the chariot, sir.
(the king climbs into the chariot)
[ALL EXIT]
END OF ACT SIX
(ENTER KING’S BROTHER-IN-LAW, THE POLICE CHIEF; AND TWO POLICEMEN, HOLDING A MAN, ARMS SHACKLED BEHIND)
Policemen : (beating) You thief, say, from where did you get this ring, with the king’s name engraved on the gem setting?
Man: (in fear) Please you masters, I am not such kind.
First Policeman: Was it presented to you by the king taking you for a wonderful Brahmin!
Man : Please just hear me. I am a fisherman, living in Shakravathara.
Second Policeman: Rascal, did we ask you your caste?
Chief: Soochaka, allow him to say all in their order. Don’t interrupt him in the middle.
Both: As you order, sir. (to the man) Speak.
Man: I maintain my family by making fishing implements like net, hook, etc.
Chief: (laughing) A clean profession!
Man: Action, suited to one’s nature,
However contemptible, should not be shunned.
The priest who kills animals for sacrifice
Is filled with pity and very soft at heart.
Chief: Go on, go on.
Man: One day when I cut a fish into pieces, I found in its inside this ring sparkling with a gem. Afterwards when I took it for sale, I was caught by these sirs. Kill me or leave me; this is how it came to me.
Chief: Januka, no doubt, This fishy smelling alligator- eater is surely a fisherman. How he got this ring is to be investigated. Let us go to the king’s palace.
Policemen: As you say. (turning to the man)Come, you cut-purse.
(all walk around)
Chief: Soochaka, wait at this city gate and look to this fellow carefully. I shall just show this ring to the king and tell him how it came to us. I will be back with his orders.
Both: Please do go in. His Highness would be pleased.
(exit Chief)
First policeman: Januka, Chief is taking a lot of time.
Second Policeman: Are not kings to be approached at their convenience!
First Policeman :Januka: My hands are itching to make a flower garland for his execution.
Man : Don’t you be a killer for no reason.
Second Policeman: Here is our Chief coming with a paper in his hand, after getting king’s orders. You will soon be an offering to vultures or fall into mouth of dogs.
Chief : (entering) Soochaka, free this fisherman. His story of how he got the ring seems possible.
Soochaka: Your order, sir.
Januka: This fellow has gone to Death’s realm and returned.
Man: (bowing low to the chief) Master, what do you think now about my profession?
Chief: And he has asked me to give him as a present this amount equal to the value of the ring.
Man: (accepting it humbly) Thanks, I am very much obliged to you
Soochaka: Of course he has to be obliged, for having been taken from the cross and seated on the back of an elephant.
Januka: Chief, This present shows that the king is mighty pleased with the ring.
Chief: I don’t think that it is the value of the gem that pleased him. He seems reminded of some loved person by its sight. For a second, though by nature strong and reserved, he seemed shaken.
Soochaka: Chief, you have done a great service to him.
Januka: rather say, to this master fisherman! (looks at the man, enviously)
Man: Sirs, let the half of this be the price of your flowers.
Januka: This much is proper.
Chief: Fisherman, now you have become my close friend. This our first friendship, we will celebrate with a toast of wine. Let us go to the wine shop.
(all exit)
(END OF PROLOGUE)
[Then comes a heavenly courtesan named Sanumati]
Sanumati: I have duly performed my duty of being present, as we should do by turns, at the holy lake, Apsaratheerthirthha, because it is the time of immersion in its waters by the pious. Now I will find out in person how that saintly king fares. Through Menaka, Shakunthala has become after all a part of myself. And on account of her daughter, she had asked it. (looking about) How is it that at this seasonal festival, the king’s palace is devoid of all festivities! Of course I am capable of knowing everything by my spiritual powers. But I have to respect my friend’s wishes. Well, I shall , hidden behind my magic veil, stand close to these two gardener girls and find out.
(enter a maid looking at a blossoming mango tree, and another behind.)
First: Flower bud, pink, green and white,
I have seen you, Spring-time’s all of life,
Harbinger of Season’s charms,
Be pleased and bless us all!
Second : Parabrithika, what are you muttering to yourself?
First: Madhukarika, Parabhrithika is just mad with joy at the sight of mango blossoms!
Second : (delighted, rushes) How! Spring is already come!
First: Madukarika, this is your time for singing and dancing madly.
Second: My friend, hold me while I stand on my toe and pluck the blossom, to offer to the God of love.
First: If only I could get half the fruit of your prayers!
Second: That goes without saying, since we are really one in spirit, just split in two bodies.(leaning on her friend, plucks the blossom) Ha! This flower though not fully blown, smells sweet , as it breaks from the stalk! (cups hands In offering)
Mango bud, I am giving you now
To Cupid who has drawn his bow.
Be you his extra sixth arrow
To aim at maids whose lovers are away.
(throws the flower buds)
Chamberlain: (enter s suddenly, pushing off the curtain, and angrily) Don’t do that. You thoughtless girl! When the king has banned spring festivities, you start plucking flower buds!
Both : (terrified) Please forgive us. We don’t understand.
Chamberlain: What! You haven't heard? Even the trees of Spring have obeyed the king’s orders, as also the birds nesting in them. See,
The mango trees,though long in bloom, do not yet their pollen bear,
The Kurabaka blossoms, though all set, continue in the state of buds,
Even when the winter’s gone, cuckoo's’s songs are stuck in throat,
Even Cupid, I do feel, retracts his arrow, from his quiver half-drawn.
Both: No doubt. Our saintly king has great powers.
First: Sir, it is only a few days since we have been brought here to serve at the feet of His Highness. And thus we came to be given this job of maintaining this pleasure garden. Since we are newly come, we did not hear this news.
Chamberlain: I see. Don’t do it again.
Both : Sir, excuse us, we feel curious. If it is something we can hear, please tell us why this Spring festival has been proscribed?
Sanumati: Human beings are are fond of festivals. There should be really some grave reason.
Chamberlain: It has spread all over. Why cant I tell you! Haven't you ladies come to hear the scandal about Shakunthala’s rejection?
Both: we have heard from the Prince, up to the finding of the ring.
Chamberlain: In that case there is little to tell. From the moment His Highness remembered, on seeing the ring, that he had really married her in secret, the king was overwhelmed by remorse. So much that
He hates all pretty things, does not meet ministers daily as before,
Spends sleepless nights by tossing from edge to edge of bed,
And when, out of courtesy, proper reply to his other wives gives,
Calls them by wrong names and becomes struck with shame.
Sanumati: I like this!
Chamberlain: Because of this depressed mood, he has given up all festivities,
(in the greenroom) : Come, come, Your Highness.
Chamberlain: (listening) : Look, His Highness is coming right towards us . You may attend to your work.
Both : Sure! (and exit)
[ENTER THE KING, ATTIRED AS SUITS HIS REMORSEFUL CONDITION, AS WELL AS COURT JESTER AND GATEKEEPER]
Chamberlain: (observing the king) Ha! The beauty of an out-of-the- ordinary body in all conditions! Though so upset, His Highness is so pleasing to the eyes. Even so,
Forgoing special embellishments, with only one gold bangle on forearm,
Lips pale and dried up with sighs, and eyes all red
Because of brooding sleepless nights, his body glow is such
That, though thinned, he hardly looks so, like a cut and polished diamond.
Sanumati: I am not surprised at all that even after the humiliation of rejection, she pines for him still.
King: (walking slowly, sunk in thought)
My heart, which slept when my doe-eyed beloved tried to wake me up,
Alas! now has woken up, only to suffer the sorrows of remorse.
Sanumathi: Such are the fortunes of the poor girl!
Court Jester: (to himself) Again he is seized of the Sakunthala fever. Don’t know how to cure him!
Chamberlain: (approaching) Hail, Your Highness. The pleasure-garden lands have been all checked. Your Highness may retire to any place You like.
King: Vethravati, Tell minister Mr. Pishuna this from me. Since I was long awake last night, I don’t want to take my official seat of duty. Let him note down on paper his findings about people’s problems, and send to me.
Gate keeper: As your Highness orders. (exit)
King: Vatayana, you too may attend to your duties.
Chamberlain: As your highness orders. (exit)
Court Jester : You have got rid of flies! Now you can please yourself in this part of the garden, charming with patches of winter sunshine.
King: Friend, the saying that calamities rush through all crevices, is not untrue. See.
My mind is just freed from the stupour that blocked
The memory of my love for the hermit girl;
Cupid, in order to strike at me, my friend,
Has his mango blossom dart readied on his bow.
Court Jester: Just wait, I will break Cupid’s bow with this wooden stick. (walks around and lifting the stick, tries to pull down the mango blossoms)
King: (smiling) Fine, I have seen your Brahmin prowess! ----Friend, where shall I sit and longingly roam my eyes over the vines that resemble to some extent my beloved?
Court Jester: Haven’t you told your personal attendant, Chathurika, that you would spend this time in the jasmine arbour, and you want her to bring the portrait you yourself drew on the drawing board?
King: Such is the place for relief of heart. Show the way there.
Court Jester: Here, here, my Lord.
( Both walk, and Sanumathi follows)
Court Jester: Certainly this jasmine bower, with a marble slab in it, is waiting to welcome us, displaying the splendour of its offerings. So please enter and take your seat, sir.
(Both enter and sit)
Sanumathi: Leaning on this creeper, I will have a peep at my friend’s picture. Then I will tell her about her husband’s all-round love for her. (so doing, stands)
King: Now I remember all about Shakunthala. And I did tell you . But you were not present at the time of my disavowal. And you never spoke about it even before that. Like me, did you also forget!
Court Jester: I didn’t forget. But after telling me all that, in the end you said it was merely a joke and there was no truth in it. Being a clod-head, I believed that. Or fate is all powerful.
Sanumathi: It is even so.
King: (after deep thought)Friend, help me!
Court Jester: My Lord, what is this! This doesn’t become you at all. Never will sensible people succumb to grief. Are not trees motionless even in strong wind?
King Recalling the condition of my beloved, as she stood stunned at my disavowal, I feel completely helpless. You see
When, as she, rejected by me, turned to follow her own folk,
Her father’s pupil, himself like to father, repeatedly shouted “STOP!”
Those looks, bleary with streaming tears, that she once more cast
On cruel me, like a poisoned arrow sharp, me for ever burn.
Sanumathi: Such is one’s selfishness! I revel at his unhappiness!
Court Jester: Friend, I have an idea. She must have been carried away by some celestial being.
King: Who will dare to touch a chaste woman! I have heard that Menaka gave birth to her. My heart tells me that your friend was removed from here by one of her companions.
Sanumathi: The wonder is that he forgot, not the awakening!
Court Jester. If that is so, surely you will meet her again.
King : How!
Court Jester: Parents will never stand their daughter being miserable, separated from husband.
King: Friend,
Is it dream, illusion, or derangement of mind,
Is it that the fruit of meritorious deeds is all lost?
What is gone is indeed for never to return gone,
Wishes are truly like a blind leap from the shore!
Court Jester: Don’t say so. Is not the finding of the ring itself a sure sign of unexpected reunion?
King: (looking at the ring) Look, is not this ring, fallen from a hard-to-reach place, to be pitied!
Surely, your good deeds appear , o ring,
As scanty as mine, seen from their outcome;
Haven't you fallen , after getting a place
Among her fingers, so pretty with pink nails!
Sanumathi: If it had fallen in other hands, then truly it would have been pitiable.
Court Jester: Sir, under what circumstances did this name -seal get into the lady’s hands
Sanumathi: He is moved by curiosity, same as i.
King: Listen. As I prepared to go to my city, my love asked me. “ How long would it be before I hear from you?”
Court Jester: Yes, then?
King: Then I put the seal ring on her finger and replied,
Count the letters of my name, one by one,
Daily, and before you come to the end,
My dear, my people will be at your side
To take you to my family household.
And that I, cruel hearted as I am, failed to do in my folly.
Sanumathi: Lovely way indeed of fixing lime limit, but negated by fate!
Court Jester: How did it come inside the fish cut by the fisherman?
King: It fell into the Ganges waters from your friend’s hand, as she was worshipping at the Shachithirtha.
Court Jester : That explains it.
Sanumati: That is why the good king, in his fear of doing wrong, had doubts about the marriage. Or such a love wants any sign to remember? How is it so!
King : I shall rebuke the ring for this.
Court Jester: (to himself) Now he is on the way to madness!
King:
How, leaving that soft and pretty hand,
Did you into the water take a dip?
Or,
An inanimate thing, plainly, cannot value judge;
How come that I too did my darling cast away!
Court Jester : (to himself) How! I am getting devoured by hunger!
King : My dear, I gave up without cause, please have pity on me, and show yourself once again to me, who burns in heart with remorse.
(Entering suddenly with the drawing board in hand)
Chaturika: This is the portrait of Her Ladyship. (shows the board)
Court Jester; Well done, my friend. A beautiful invocation of feelings by a sweet composition of colours. My eyes seem to stumble on the lows and highs in it.
Sanumathi : Ha! What skill of the great king! It seems that my friend is actually standing before me.
King: Whatever in the picture would not suit,
Has to something else been changed.
In spite of that her loveliness
Is hardly in its lines preserved.
Sanumathi: This becomes his love intensified by remorse, as well as his modesty.
Court Jester: Sir, now I see three ladies. And all equally beautiful. Which is Shakunthala here?
Sanumathi : This fellow has eyes in vain, if he cannot recognize such beauty.
King : Who do you guess is she?
Court Jester: She , who is depicted,standing apparently a little tired at the side of the mango tree, with flowers dropped from the loose hair-band clinging to the tips of tresses, perspiration drops bursting out on cheeks, and hands out-stretched, must be Shakunthala; others her friends.
King: You are smart! There is here some mark of my mental state.
The impression of my moist fingers is seen to smudge the edges of lines,
And a tear drop fallen from the cheek is seen to cause here the paint to swell .
Chathurika, This place where I find relief from my sorrow is only half drawn. Bring the paint brush.
Chathurika: MR. Madhavya, just hold this board while I bring the brush.
King: I myself will hold it. ( he does so and Chathurika leaves )
King: First casting away my love, when she in person came,
And now making much of her merely in a picture drawn,
I am like one who, passing a stream with abundant water flow,
Has become , my friend, to a mere mirage attached!
Court Jester: (to himself) This Highness has indeed gone past the the river and ended up in a mirage. (aloud) Sir, what else do you want to add?
Sanumati: He may want to draw the spots favoured by my friend.
King : Listen :
I have to draw the river Malini, with swan couples nestling in the sands,
At either side the sacred Himalayan dales with seated deer on them,
And I want to sketch the doe rubbing its left eye on the horn
Of the black deer beneath a tree, from boughs of which bark-clothes hang.
Court Jester: ( to himself) As I see it, he is going to fill the board with hordes of long- bearded hermits.
King: Friend, we have forgotten Shakunthala’s favourite ornament.
Court Jester : What is that?
Sanumathi: Which will befit forest life and her loveliness.
King: I have omitted the Sirisha flower, my friend,
With hanging filaments, tied on to her ears;
Nor have I drawn the string of lotus- stalk
Soft as moon’s rays, in between her breasts.
Court Jester: Sir, why is madam Shakunthala, standing with her face covered by her red-lotus -like forearm, as if she is terribly afraid? Ah! This bastard of a bee, on the look out to steal honey from flowers, is pestering her.
King: Stop this pest, please!
Court Jester: You alone, the tamer of the wild, is able to stop him.
King: Right. Look you, Mister, the dear guest of flower plants,why do you take this trouble of hovering around?
This lady bee, full of love for you, sitting on the flower,
Though thirsty, waits, and without you will not drink.
Sanumathi : Very dignified indeed, is his reproach of the bee.
King: What, you don’t obey me! Then hear now!
If you, o! bee,touch my love’s cherry red lips,
Alluring like a fresh sapling’s tender leaf,
Sipped ever so gently in love sport by me,
I will make you inside a lotus bud captive.
Court Jester : He is not afraid of such severe punishment! (laughing, to himself) He is gone quite mad. By association with him, I have also become of the same colour. (aloud) Sir, this is but a picture.
King : what! Picture!
Sanumathi : Even I did not realize it; then how can he, emotionally involved in the drawing as he is.
King: my friend, why did you do this nit-picking!
While I was enjoying with all my heart her sight as if she in person stood,
By reminding me, you have again my love into a mere picture turned.
(sheds tears)
Sanumathi : A strange kind of bereavement, contrary to all past and future.
King : My friend, why am I suffering this sorrow without pause?
Union with her in my dreams
Is by sleeplessness debarred,
And tears don’t let me see
Her at least in a picture drawn.
Sanumathi : In every way you have wiped out Shakunthala’s sorrow at rejection.
Chathurika (entering) Hail, hail ,Your Highness. With the paint-box in hand, I started for here.
King: And then?
Chathurika : Her highness the queen Vasumathi, along with Tharalika, took it by force from me, saying “ I’ll take it to my husband”.
Court Jester : Lucky, you escaped.
Chathurika: while Tharalika was freeing my Lady’s shawl caught in a bough, I made my escape.
King : Friend, the queen is coming, and she is very proud of her position. You please hide this picture.
Court Jester : Say “yourself”. When you get free of the deadly poison of your harem, call me, I will be in the Meghaprathichhanda palace. (exit at a fast pace)
Sanumathi : Though now his heart is elsewhere, he shows regard for his first love. His friendships are loose-bonded.
Gate keeper (entering with a paper in hand) Hail, hail, my Lord!
King: Vetravathi, did you meet the queen on the way?
Gate keeper : Yes, of course.Seeing me with a letter in hand, she returned.
King : Being sensible, she does not want to disturb me at work,
Gate keeper: The minister says, “because of a lot of accounting to do with the amount of cash received, only one man’s complaint could be attended to, and that, as noted down, I am submitting.”
King : Show me the letter.
(the gatekeeper hands over the paper)
King (going through it) What! One Dhanamitra, a trader in the seas died in a boat mishap. Poor fellow had no offspring. The minster writes, his property should go to the treasury. (sadly) Childlessness is indeed terrible. Since he is very rich, he must have many wives. Please find out whether there is any of his wives who is pregnant.
Gate keeper: Just we heard that the daughter of a merchant of Saketa, one of his wives, has had the rites for male delivery performed.
King : Is not a foetus also entitled to father’s property? Go and tell this to the minister.
Gate keeper.Your orders, my Lord. (starts to go)
King: Just come here.
Gate keeper: Here I am.
King : What if he has children or not!
Whichever whichever kinsman is to any of my subjects lost,
That will Dushyantha be to them, in virtuous way, be it proclaimed.
Gate keeper : Thus it is to proclaim? (exit and reenters) Your Highness’s orders are welcomed, like timely showers.
King : (taking a long hot breath) Property of families, on the death of the head, without offspring, falls into the hands of others . This is going to be the fate of Pooru’s line when I am no more!
Sanumathi: May this bad outcome never happen!
King: Fie on me, for casting away the good that came unsolicited to me!
Sanumathi : No doubt he is reproaching himself, keeping my friend in mind.
King : With my own Self in her planted,
I discarded my rightful wife.
Like Earth, with seed sown on time,
Getting ready to yield great fruit.
Sanumathi : Your progeny will be unbroken now.
Chathurika: (aside) After hearing the news about the merchant, His highness’s distress is doubled. Go and get Madhavya from the Meghaptatichanda in order to console him.
Gate keeper: Good idea! Exit)
King : Hah! Dushyantha’s ancestors are in peril of losing their sustenance.
In fear who, after him, in our house
Will offer the libations scripturally prescibed,
My Ancesters, after washing away their tears,
drink what’s left of the water poured by issue-less me.
(and faints)
Chathurika: (looking upset) My Lord, don’t grieve.
Sanumathi : When light is there, you cover it and suffer darkness. Now itself I will relieve him. Or I have heard from the mouth of Indra’s mother, when she consoled Shakunthala, that soon the Devas themselves , eager for their share of sacrifices, will so act that her husband would soon welcome her as his rightful wife. So it is better to wait till then.Meanwhile I will make my dear friend happy with this news. (leaves in a hurry)
Voice (in greenroom) : Sacrilege, sacrilege, Sacrilege!!!
King: (coming out of stupour, and hearing) Ah! It seems like Madhavya’s distressed voice. Hullo, who is there!
Gate Keeper: (entering) My Lord, save your friend, his life is in danger.
King : By whom is the boy over-powered?
Gate Keeper: An invisible Being caught and carried him on to the terrace of the Meghapraticchanda palace.
King: (rising) No, No. even my houses are infested by spirits!
When I am not able to know my own
Foolish mistakes done day by day,
How can I know fully who among
My people, goes and by which way
( from the greenroom) : Friend, alas, alas!
King: ( Walks at a fast pace) Don’t fear, don’t fear, my friend.
(from greenroom) : Alas, alas! How can I not fear! One fellow here is bending my neck backwards to break me into pieces.
King ( casting looks around) Bow, please!
A foreign help: ( with bow, entering) : Master, here is the bow along with the finger guard.
( THE King holds the bow with arrow)
( in the greenroom) : I thirsting for the blood oozing from your neck,
Will kill you as a tiger does a quivering beast.
Let Dushyantha now to your rescue come,
He who,to save the distressed, his bow carries!
King: ( angrily)What! He is pointing to me! Wait, corpse-eater, now you will be no more! (lifting the bow) Vetravati, show the way to the stairs.
Gate keeper: Here, here, Your Highness,
(all procced hurriedly)
King : (looking around) This place is empty!
(In the greenroom) :Alas, alas! I can see you. You don’t see me. Like a mouse caught by a cat, I have lost hope of life.
King: You, proud of your vanishing tricks, My weapon will see you. Look, I am readying the arrow,
Which will kill you who is to be killed,
And save this brahmin who is to be saved;
Like the swan which takes only milk
Leaving the water mixed with it.
( and he fixes the arrow )
Matali : (without the Court Jester, enters)
Gods have the Asuras your target made.
Draw this bow against them alone.
It is pleased gentle looks that good people cast
On their friends, not such terrible darts.
King: Ha! Matali! Wecome, Indra’s charioteer!
Court Jester: He who was killing me, like an animal for sacrifice is received with welcome!
Matali: May you live long, listen why I am sent to you.
King: I am all ears.
Matali : There is a set of Asuras called Durjaya, (invincible), offspring of Kalanemi.
King. There is. I have heard of them from Narada once.
Matali: Him Indra your friend can not defeat in war,
You are the one to kill him from the battle front, it’s thought;
The nocturnal darkness which the Sun can’t destroy
Is removed in the end by full Moon’s rays.
So please now take your weapons, get into Indra’s chariot, and start on your way to victory.
King: I feel indeed blessed by this honour from Indra. But why did you do it to Madhavya?
Matli: That also I will tell you. For some reason I found you were preoccupied with some unhappiness in your mind. Then I did this to provoke you. For
When firewood is stirred, fire blazes forth,
The serpent, when attacked, lifts up his hood;
It is generally when they are excited
That people show their mettle well.
King: (aside) Friend, the order of the king of Heaven is inviolable. So now tell the minister Pishuna this, after explaining the matter.
Let your brain alone
Protect the people now,
This stringed bow of mine
is in another work engaged.
Court Jester : As you order! (exit)
Matali : Please do get into the chariot, sir.
(the king climbs into the chariot)
[ALL EXIT]
END OF ACT SIX
SHAKUNTHALAM ACT 5
SHAKUNTHALAM ACT 5
( ENTER THE KING, SEATED ON THE THRONE, AND COURT JESTER)
Vidushaka: (listening) : Ah, my friend, turn your attention to inside the music hall. I hear melodious notes of some beautiful pure song coming from there. I think,madam Hamsapadika is practising.
King: Be quiet. Let me listen.
[(from outside)
O honey bee, always after fresh honey,
After kissing so the mango tree blossom,
How could you forget it, now finding
Pleasure inside the lotus flower only!
King: Ha! What a song, overflowing with melody!
Court jester: Do you get the meaning of the words?
King: (smiling) I made love to her once. Now, on account of lady Vasumathi, I have become the subject of her reproach. My friend, Madhavya, tell Hamsapadika from me that she has cleverly chided me.
Court jester: As you order. (standing up) Ha! My friend, if she gets me held and thrashed by somebody , there is no escape for me, Just like for a person devoid of all passions, in the hands of a heaven’s courtesan.
King: Go! Speak to her in a civil way.
Court Jester: What to do! (exit)
King: (to himself) How is it that I feel very uneasy hearing this song, though I am not separated from any loved one? Or,
If on hearing sweet sounds or seeing pretty things,
One in happy circumstances feels perturbed,
It surely is because he remembers in his unconscious mind
Friendships of bygone births, enduring in deep feelings of love.
( stands upset)
(enters chamberlain)
Chamberlain: See, what a state I have come to!
This staff of cane which I held, as a formal mark
Of duty in the ladies’ quarters of the king,
With the passage of days and days of time
Has become a prop for my stumbling gait.
Chamberlain: Sure, His Highness's’s duties cannot be postponed. Still I don’t feel like telling him of the arrival of Kanva’s disciples, which would further detain him when he has just risen from his official seat. Or the responsibility of governance gives no time for respite. For,
The Sun harnesses his horses to the chariot only once,
The wind blows day and night,
The Serpent God always carries the weight of Earth.
So is the case with kings whose wages are the tax the people pay.
Let me however perform my duty. (walks on, and looking) Here he is, His highness
After instructing his subjects as he would his own children,
Mentally exhausted, has retired to a secluded place,
Like an elephant chief, scorched by the sun’s hot rays
After leading his herds all day, a cool place seeks.
(approaching) Hail, hail, my lord! Here are some ascetics, accompanied by women, come from the woods of the Himalayan valley, carrying a message from sage Kanva. Your Highness might hear them and do the needful.
King (respectfully) What , messengers from Kanva?
Chamberlain: Yes , my lord.
King: In that case, request our spiritual guide, Somaratha, to himself receive these ashram people with vedic rites and bring them in. I will go to a proper place for receiving ascetics and wait for them.
Chamberlain: Your orders, my lord.
King (rising, and to attending maid) Vetravati, lead me to the hall of holy flame.
Vetravati: Here, here my lord.
King (walks on and showing the strain of responsibility) All creatures become happy on getting what they want. To kings, though, attainment leads to more strain!
Attainment puts an end only to the anxiety of striving,
The task of Keeping what’s got , further trouble gives.
The kingdom, like an umbrella held in one’s own hands,
Does not reduce strain, as much as it causes strain.
[ (in the greenroom)
Court poets: Hail, Your majesty.
First: Not caring for own comforts, you labour for people’s sake
Every day, or, it is your nature to be so.
Trees take the extreme heat on their heads
And reduce the troubles of those who seek their help.
Second: You restrain, with the Rod, those who stray into evil ways,
Settle disputes, and are there ready to help.
Let there be, at the time of plenty, relatives so-called,
For your subjects, a relative’s needs are fulfilled in you. ]
King: Exhausted in mind, we feel refreshed now! ( walks on)
Attendant: Here is the terrace at the entrance of the fire-sanctuary, freshly swept and clean, and the sacred cow present. Your Highness might go up.
King: ( going up and standing with a hand on the attendant’s shoulder) Vethravathi, What for could the sage Kanva have sent these ascetics!
Is the penance of the ascetics, under vow, hindered by problems,
Or is it that somebody harmed the creatures of the holy grove,
Or can it be ,by my misdeeds,the creepers do not flower any more;
My mind, with so many rising doubts , is without break distressed.
Attendant: My guess is that they, happy with all that you have done for them, are come to thank your Highness,
( enter the ascetics and Gauthami, leading Shakunthala,and the chamberlain and priest in front)
Chamberlain: Come in come in, gentlemen.
Sharngarava: Sharadvata,
This great king surely stands firm within the bounds of righteousness,
Nobody from his caste-enjoined duties, not even the lowliest, strays.
Still, to my mind, used always to a solitary life
This place full of people seems a house encircled with fire.
Sharadvatha: It is natural that you feel like this on entering the city. I too
Consider these pleasure-seeking people here,
Like the washed the oily, the clean the unclean,
The awake the sleeping,
Or the free the bound.
Shakunthala: (indicating an omen) Oh! Why is my right eye throbbing!
Gauthami: Away with all evil! Child, May your husband’s family gods give you happiness.
Family preceptor: (pointing at the king) There is he , the noble king, protector of all castes and stages of life, already up from his seat, waiting for you. Look at him.
Sharngarava: O venerable brahmin, it is certainly very commendable. But we are not surprised. For,
Trees bow down with the coming of fruits,
Clouds with fresh water lower themselves,
The good are not puffed up with their wealth,
This is but the nature of all those born others to serve.
Attendant: They look pleased with beaming faces. Think they are coming with some happy news.
King : then this lady here,
Who can it be, veiled and not showing fully her body’s charm,
Stands in hermits’ midst like a fresh among withered leaves!
Attendant: Full of curiosity as I am, I can not really figure it out. But then surely her figure is something to look at.
King: Let it be. It is wrong to examine some one else’s wife.
Shakunthala: (with hand on chest, to herself) Heart, why do you tremble so? . Be brave, you know well the feelings of my husband.
Family preceptor: (in front of the king) These ascetics have been duly received. They have got some message from their teacher.
King: I am full attention.
Ascetics: (raising hands) Hail, king.
King: I humbly salute you.
Ascetics: May you attain your wishes.
King: Are the ascetics able to do their penance without problems?
Ascetics: Whence trouble to spiritual rites,
When you the protector are there.
How can darkness ever appear
When the sun is blazing bright!
King: Now is my title of king meaningful. Is the venerable Kanva doing well, so that the world will continue to get his blessings.
Ascetics: Being well is under the control of the realized souls. He, enquiring after your health, has this to say.
King: What is his order!
Ascetics: “ That you by mutual agreement married my daughter, is approved by me with pleasure. For,
We consider you as the foremost of the deserving,
Shakunthala is the embodiment of all that is good.
Uniting bride and groom whose qualities match so well,
The creator, in a long while, has escaped all blame!
So now please take her, who is already pregnant, now as a companion in your duties.
Gauthami: Sir, I want to say something. It is not however the time to speak.
She didn't ask her elders for consent,
You too didn't either your relatives consult;
In this one-to one act of yours,
What shall I say to either of you.
Shkunthala: What, I wonder, will my husband say!
King: What is this strange thing you tell me!
Shakunthala: (to herself) This what he says burns me like fire.
Sharngarava: How has it come to this! You surely are expert in the affairs of the world!
A married girl with only her parents’ house to stay,
People will mistake otherwise, though she is chaste.
So her relatives will send her to the person who wed her,
Even when she is no more loved by him.
King: what, this lady had been married to me!
Shakunthala: (sorrowfully, to herself) Heart, your fear has been justified.
Sharngarava: what! Just because of not liking what was earlier done, is it right for a king to forget his duty?
King: Why this question, based on false premises!
Sharngarava: Such feelings swell up in those intoxicated with wealth and power.
King: This is a great insult!
Gauthami: For a moment overcome your shyness. I will just remove your veil. Then your husband would recognize you.(and she does so)
King: Observing Shakunthala, and to himself)
This beauty of natural charm brought thus before me,
Clouded in doubt whether once married to me or not,
As at dawn a bee is to a jasmine flower enclosed by snow,
I am able neither to enjoy, nor to leave.
(standing thinking thus)
Attendant: Wonderful is my Lord’s commitment to righteousness! Who else will think twice, seeing this beautiful creature brought easily before him!
Sharngarava: Oh, king,why this silence?
King: Hear you, good people, after long deliberation, I cant recall having married this lady.Then how can I accept her bearing clear signs of pregnancy, just because of a doubt whether I am its cause?
Shakunthala; (aside) My husband doubts even the marriage. Then where are my high hopes!
Shargarava: Oh No!
You think, this hermit who agrees to your outrage
On his daughter, does not deserve any respect!
You are like a thief treated as an honoured guest
By him who returned to you what you stole from him!
Sharadvata: Don’t talk any more. Shakunthala, we have said whatever is thereto say. This gentleman had his say. Please reply to convince him.
Shakunthala: (to herself)If that love has come to this stage, what is the use of reminding him. (aloud) My husband, (stopping in the middle of speech) When the marriage is now in doubt, it won’t be proper to address you thus. Scion of Pooru’s house, is it right to reject me with such words, after having, earlier in the ashram, with many promises deceived me, who opened her heart’s feelings to you.
King: May God save us from sins!
You want to sully the family name
And bring me down to hell,
As a wild uncontrolled river does
To clean pools and trees on its bank?
Shakunthala: If you are behaving like this out of real fear of taking another’s wife, I can remove that anxiety with this sign for recognition.
King : Grand idea!
Shakunthala : (feeling the place of ring) Alas, the ring is missing on my finger! (looks sorrowfully at Gauthami)
Gauthami: Surely then it must have fallen from your finger, while bathing in the waters of “SachiThirthha” on the way.
King : (smiling) This is why the womenfolk are said to be be good at invention!
Shakunthala: In this, fate has shown its power.I shall tell you something else.
King; Now it has come something to be heard.
Shakunthala: One day you know when we were standing near the jasmine creeper,you had in your hand water in a lotus-leaf cup
King : Let us hear!
Shakunthala: At that moment,turned up the baby deer called Dirghapanga, who is like a son to me. You offered the water to him, saying, “let him drink first” Then because of unfamiliarity, he shied away from you. After that when I held the same water, he liked it. Then you laughed at me thus: “ Everybody trusts his own kind. Both of you are after all wood-dwellers.”
King: By such honey-dripping lying words of the self-serving, are the worldly deceived!
Gauthami: Noble sir, you should never talk like this. This person brought up in the ashram is quite innocent of all fraud.
King: Old hermit- woman,
The untaught cleverness of the female species is well seen
In the non humans, what to say of those with intelligence.
Do not the cuckoos get their hoard of kids all fed
By other birds, till they themselves can fly?
Shakunthala: (angrily) Indecent man, you see others, reasoning from what you are at heart. Where can there be another like you!
King: (to himself) : Making me doubt my own mind, this anger of hers seems like uncontrived.
When I, my mind hardened with memory loss,
Do not admit the secret love which she says there was,
With eyes blood red, disjointing her curved brows, she looks
As if in anger she has broken Cupid’s bow in two.
King: (aloud) Good lady, Dushyantha’s life is known to all, but nowhere do I find this.
Shakunthala: Nicely I am made into a loose woman, because, trusting the house of Pooru, I fell into the hands of this honey-mouthed poison-in- heart man.
Sharngarava: This is how one’s own unrestrained folly scorches.
Therefore one must check before one acts,
Especially when meeting alone.
With no knowledge of each other’s heart,
Friendship soon to enmity turns.
King: Look, sir, why do you attack me,, believing only what this lady says?
Sharngarava: (scornfully) Have you all heard this up-side-down view!
One not taught any guile from birth—
What that person says is no proof!
And those who duplicity as an art do learn---
Their words are to be taken as gospel truth!
King: Look, truth-speaker, let it be admitted for now. But what can I get by deceiving her?
Sharngarava: Hell!
King: That Pooru’s family seek hell is silly!
Sharngarava: Why argue with him? We have given Master’s message. Let us return. (addressing the king)
That is your wife standing there,
You may either take or leave;
Husband’s power over wife
Is they say absolute.
Gauthami, go in front. (and starts leaving)
Shakunthala: How this crook has cheated me! Now you are also abandoning me! ( tries to follow )
Gauthami: (stopping) Sharngarava, my boy, See, she is coming after us, sobbing piteously. With her husband roughly rejecting her, what will my poor child do!
Sharngarava: (turning back in anger) What, self-willed woman, you presume to be independent!
(Shakunthala trembles in fear)
Sharngarava: Shakunthala,
If you are as this king says you are,
What use are you, a degenerate, to your dad!
And if you know your conduct has been chaste,
Even servitude is fine in the husband’s house!
Stay there. We are going.
King: Look, you good people, why are you deceiving this lady? Because
As the moon opens up only the blue water lily,
As the sun only the lotus plant.
So the mind of a disciplined man
Turns away from contact with another’s wife.
Sharngarava: When you have forgotten your earlier love in your love for another, how can you be afraid of wrong-doing?
King : Let me ask you which is right and which wrong?
When there is this doubt that I have forgot,
Or what this lady says is false,
Shall I be deserter of his wife,
Or be with adultery besmirched?
Priest: (thinking) If so, this can be done.
King: Please do instruct me.
Priest: Let the lady remain in my house till delivery. You have been told by seers that you will have a son destined to be a king of kings. If the sage’s grandson shows those signs, then you can take her into your home; otherwise it remains an option to send her to her father.
King : As it pleases my teacher.
Priest : My child, come with me.
Shakunthala: Qh! Mother Earth, take me into you! (starts sobbing, and leaves along with the priests and the ascetics)
[THE KING , MEMORY CLOUDED BY BY CURSE, STANDS THINKING ABOUT SHAKUNTHALA]
From green room: Wonder!!
King: (hearing it) what can it be!
Priest (entering) Your Highness, a great wonder has happened.
King: Like what?
Priest : After the disciples of Kanva had left,
Throwing her hands up, the girl began to cry,
Blaming her own fortunes for it all.
Then a light in the form of a woman flashed,
Lifted her up, and towards Apsaras-lake was gone.
(all show their surprise)
King: Sir, this matter has been already dismissed by me. So what use is it trying to reason out this. You may take rest now.
Priest : ( looking at the king) Wish you success! ( exit)
King : Vetravati, I am very much upset. Lead me to the bedroom.
Attendant: Here, here, my Lord. (and they start to go)
King: Really I don’t remember having married
This sage’s daughter, now rejected by me.
But my heart, in severe ache
Almost makes me believe in her.
(Exit all)
END ACT FIVE
Reply Reply to all Forward
( ENTER THE KING, SEATED ON THE THRONE, AND COURT JESTER)
Vidushaka: (listening) : Ah, my friend, turn your attention to inside the music hall. I hear melodious notes of some beautiful pure song coming from there. I think,madam Hamsapadika is practising.
King: Be quiet. Let me listen.
[(from outside)
O honey bee, always after fresh honey,
After kissing so the mango tree blossom,
How could you forget it, now finding
Pleasure inside the lotus flower only!
King: Ha! What a song, overflowing with melody!
Court jester: Do you get the meaning of the words?
King: (smiling) I made love to her once. Now, on account of lady Vasumathi, I have become the subject of her reproach. My friend, Madhavya, tell Hamsapadika from me that she has cleverly chided me.
Court jester: As you order. (standing up) Ha! My friend, if she gets me held and thrashed by somebody , there is no escape for me, Just like for a person devoid of all passions, in the hands of a heaven’s courtesan.
King: Go! Speak to her in a civil way.
Court Jester: What to do! (exit)
King: (to himself) How is it that I feel very uneasy hearing this song, though I am not separated from any loved one? Or,
If on hearing sweet sounds or seeing pretty things,
One in happy circumstances feels perturbed,
It surely is because he remembers in his unconscious mind
Friendships of bygone births, enduring in deep feelings of love.
( stands upset)
(enters chamberlain)
Chamberlain: See, what a state I have come to!
This staff of cane which I held, as a formal mark
Of duty in the ladies’ quarters of the king,
With the passage of days and days of time
Has become a prop for my stumbling gait.
Chamberlain: Sure, His Highness's’s duties cannot be postponed. Still I don’t feel like telling him of the arrival of Kanva’s disciples, which would further detain him when he has just risen from his official seat. Or the responsibility of governance gives no time for respite. For,
The Sun harnesses his horses to the chariot only once,
The wind blows day and night,
The Serpent God always carries the weight of Earth.
So is the case with kings whose wages are the tax the people pay.
Let me however perform my duty. (walks on, and looking) Here he is, His highness
After instructing his subjects as he would his own children,
Mentally exhausted, has retired to a secluded place,
Like an elephant chief, scorched by the sun’s hot rays
After leading his herds all day, a cool place seeks.
(approaching) Hail, hail, my lord! Here are some ascetics, accompanied by women, come from the woods of the Himalayan valley, carrying a message from sage Kanva. Your Highness might hear them and do the needful.
King (respectfully) What , messengers from Kanva?
Chamberlain: Yes , my lord.
King: In that case, request our spiritual guide, Somaratha, to himself receive these ashram people with vedic rites and bring them in. I will go to a proper place for receiving ascetics and wait for them.
Chamberlain: Your orders, my lord.
King (rising, and to attending maid) Vetravati, lead me to the hall of holy flame.
Vetravati: Here, here my lord.
King (walks on and showing the strain of responsibility) All creatures become happy on getting what they want. To kings, though, attainment leads to more strain!
Attainment puts an end only to the anxiety of striving,
The task of Keeping what’s got , further trouble gives.
The kingdom, like an umbrella held in one’s own hands,
Does not reduce strain, as much as it causes strain.
[ (in the greenroom)
Court poets: Hail, Your majesty.
First: Not caring for own comforts, you labour for people’s sake
Every day, or, it is your nature to be so.
Trees take the extreme heat on their heads
And reduce the troubles of those who seek their help.
Second: You restrain, with the Rod, those who stray into evil ways,
Settle disputes, and are there ready to help.
Let there be, at the time of plenty, relatives so-called,
For your subjects, a relative’s needs are fulfilled in you. ]
King: Exhausted in mind, we feel refreshed now! ( walks on)
Attendant: Here is the terrace at the entrance of the fire-sanctuary, freshly swept and clean, and the sacred cow present. Your Highness might go up.
King: ( going up and standing with a hand on the attendant’s shoulder) Vethravathi, What for could the sage Kanva have sent these ascetics!
Is the penance of the ascetics, under vow, hindered by problems,
Or is it that somebody harmed the creatures of the holy grove,
Or can it be ,by my misdeeds,the creepers do not flower any more;
My mind, with so many rising doubts , is without break distressed.
Attendant: My guess is that they, happy with all that you have done for them, are come to thank your Highness,
( enter the ascetics and Gauthami, leading Shakunthala,and the chamberlain and priest in front)
Chamberlain: Come in come in, gentlemen.
Sharngarava: Sharadvata,
This great king surely stands firm within the bounds of righteousness,
Nobody from his caste-enjoined duties, not even the lowliest, strays.
Still, to my mind, used always to a solitary life
This place full of people seems a house encircled with fire.
Sharadvatha: It is natural that you feel like this on entering the city. I too
Consider these pleasure-seeking people here,
Like the washed the oily, the clean the unclean,
The awake the sleeping,
Or the free the bound.
Shakunthala: (indicating an omen) Oh! Why is my right eye throbbing!
Gauthami: Away with all evil! Child, May your husband’s family gods give you happiness.
Family preceptor: (pointing at the king) There is he , the noble king, protector of all castes and stages of life, already up from his seat, waiting for you. Look at him.
Sharngarava: O venerable brahmin, it is certainly very commendable. But we are not surprised. For,
Trees bow down with the coming of fruits,
Clouds with fresh water lower themselves,
The good are not puffed up with their wealth,
This is but the nature of all those born others to serve.
Attendant: They look pleased with beaming faces. Think they are coming with some happy news.
King : then this lady here,
Who can it be, veiled and not showing fully her body’s charm,
Stands in hermits’ midst like a fresh among withered leaves!
Attendant: Full of curiosity as I am, I can not really figure it out. But then surely her figure is something to look at.
King: Let it be. It is wrong to examine some one else’s wife.
Shakunthala: (with hand on chest, to herself) Heart, why do you tremble so? . Be brave, you know well the feelings of my husband.
Family preceptor: (in front of the king) These ascetics have been duly received. They have got some message from their teacher.
King: I am full attention.
Ascetics: (raising hands) Hail, king.
King: I humbly salute you.
Ascetics: May you attain your wishes.
King: Are the ascetics able to do their penance without problems?
Ascetics: Whence trouble to spiritual rites,
When you the protector are there.
How can darkness ever appear
When the sun is blazing bright!
King: Now is my title of king meaningful. Is the venerable Kanva doing well, so that the world will continue to get his blessings.
Ascetics: Being well is under the control of the realized souls. He, enquiring after your health, has this to say.
King: What is his order!
Ascetics: “ That you by mutual agreement married my daughter, is approved by me with pleasure. For,
We consider you as the foremost of the deserving,
Shakunthala is the embodiment of all that is good.
Uniting bride and groom whose qualities match so well,
The creator, in a long while, has escaped all blame!
So now please take her, who is already pregnant, now as a companion in your duties.
Gauthami: Sir, I want to say something. It is not however the time to speak.
She didn't ask her elders for consent,
You too didn't either your relatives consult;
In this one-to one act of yours,
What shall I say to either of you.
Shkunthala: What, I wonder, will my husband say!
King: What is this strange thing you tell me!
Shakunthala: (to herself) This what he says burns me like fire.
Sharngarava: How has it come to this! You surely are expert in the affairs of the world!
A married girl with only her parents’ house to stay,
People will mistake otherwise, though she is chaste.
So her relatives will send her to the person who wed her,
Even when she is no more loved by him.
King: what, this lady had been married to me!
Shakunthala: (sorrowfully, to herself) Heart, your fear has been justified.
Sharngarava: what! Just because of not liking what was earlier done, is it right for a king to forget his duty?
King: Why this question, based on false premises!
Sharngarava: Such feelings swell up in those intoxicated with wealth and power.
King: This is a great insult!
Gauthami: For a moment overcome your shyness. I will just remove your veil. Then your husband would recognize you.(and she does so)
King: Observing Shakunthala, and to himself)
This beauty of natural charm brought thus before me,
Clouded in doubt whether once married to me or not,
As at dawn a bee is to a jasmine flower enclosed by snow,
I am able neither to enjoy, nor to leave.
(standing thinking thus)
Attendant: Wonderful is my Lord’s commitment to righteousness! Who else will think twice, seeing this beautiful creature brought easily before him!
Sharngarava: Oh, king,why this silence?
King: Hear you, good people, after long deliberation, I cant recall having married this lady.Then how can I accept her bearing clear signs of pregnancy, just because of a doubt whether I am its cause?
Shakunthala; (aside) My husband doubts even the marriage. Then where are my high hopes!
Shargarava: Oh No!
You think, this hermit who agrees to your outrage
On his daughter, does not deserve any respect!
You are like a thief treated as an honoured guest
By him who returned to you what you stole from him!
Sharadvata: Don’t talk any more. Shakunthala, we have said whatever is thereto say. This gentleman had his say. Please reply to convince him.
Shakunthala: (to herself)If that love has come to this stage, what is the use of reminding him. (aloud) My husband, (stopping in the middle of speech) When the marriage is now in doubt, it won’t be proper to address you thus. Scion of Pooru’s house, is it right to reject me with such words, after having, earlier in the ashram, with many promises deceived me, who opened her heart’s feelings to you.
King: May God save us from sins!
You want to sully the family name
And bring me down to hell,
As a wild uncontrolled river does
To clean pools and trees on its bank?
Shakunthala: If you are behaving like this out of real fear of taking another’s wife, I can remove that anxiety with this sign for recognition.
King : Grand idea!
Shakunthala : (feeling the place of ring) Alas, the ring is missing on my finger! (looks sorrowfully at Gauthami)
Gauthami: Surely then it must have fallen from your finger, while bathing in the waters of “SachiThirthha” on the way.
King : (smiling) This is why the womenfolk are said to be be good at invention!
Shakunthala: In this, fate has shown its power.I shall tell you something else.
King; Now it has come something to be heard.
Shakunthala: One day you know when we were standing near the jasmine creeper,you had in your hand water in a lotus-leaf cup
King : Let us hear!
Shakunthala: At that moment,turned up the baby deer called Dirghapanga, who is like a son to me. You offered the water to him, saying, “let him drink first” Then because of unfamiliarity, he shied away from you. After that when I held the same water, he liked it. Then you laughed at me thus: “ Everybody trusts his own kind. Both of you are after all wood-dwellers.”
King: By such honey-dripping lying words of the self-serving, are the worldly deceived!
Gauthami: Noble sir, you should never talk like this. This person brought up in the ashram is quite innocent of all fraud.
King: Old hermit- woman,
The untaught cleverness of the female species is well seen
In the non humans, what to say of those with intelligence.
Do not the cuckoos get their hoard of kids all fed
By other birds, till they themselves can fly?
Shakunthala: (angrily) Indecent man, you see others, reasoning from what you are at heart. Where can there be another like you!
King: (to himself) : Making me doubt my own mind, this anger of hers seems like uncontrived.
When I, my mind hardened with memory loss,
Do not admit the secret love which she says there was,
With eyes blood red, disjointing her curved brows, she looks
As if in anger she has broken Cupid’s bow in two.
King: (aloud) Good lady, Dushyantha’s life is known to all, but nowhere do I find this.
Shakunthala: Nicely I am made into a loose woman, because, trusting the house of Pooru, I fell into the hands of this honey-mouthed poison-in- heart man.
Sharngarava: This is how one’s own unrestrained folly scorches.
Therefore one must check before one acts,
Especially when meeting alone.
With no knowledge of each other’s heart,
Friendship soon to enmity turns.
King: Look, sir, why do you attack me,, believing only what this lady says?
Sharngarava: (scornfully) Have you all heard this up-side-down view!
One not taught any guile from birth—
What that person says is no proof!
And those who duplicity as an art do learn---
Their words are to be taken as gospel truth!
King: Look, truth-speaker, let it be admitted for now. But what can I get by deceiving her?
Sharngarava: Hell!
King: That Pooru’s family seek hell is silly!
Sharngarava: Why argue with him? We have given Master’s message. Let us return. (addressing the king)
That is your wife standing there,
You may either take or leave;
Husband’s power over wife
Is they say absolute.
Gauthami, go in front. (and starts leaving)
Shakunthala: How this crook has cheated me! Now you are also abandoning me! ( tries to follow )
Gauthami: (stopping) Sharngarava, my boy, See, she is coming after us, sobbing piteously. With her husband roughly rejecting her, what will my poor child do!
Sharngarava: (turning back in anger) What, self-willed woman, you presume to be independent!
(Shakunthala trembles in fear)
Sharngarava: Shakunthala,
If you are as this king says you are,
What use are you, a degenerate, to your dad!
And if you know your conduct has been chaste,
Even servitude is fine in the husband’s house!
Stay there. We are going.
King: Look, you good people, why are you deceiving this lady? Because
As the moon opens up only the blue water lily,
As the sun only the lotus plant.
So the mind of a disciplined man
Turns away from contact with another’s wife.
Sharngarava: When you have forgotten your earlier love in your love for another, how can you be afraid of wrong-doing?
King : Let me ask you which is right and which wrong?
When there is this doubt that I have forgot,
Or what this lady says is false,
Shall I be deserter of his wife,
Or be with adultery besmirched?
Priest: (thinking) If so, this can be done.
King: Please do instruct me.
Priest: Let the lady remain in my house till delivery. You have been told by seers that you will have a son destined to be a king of kings. If the sage’s grandson shows those signs, then you can take her into your home; otherwise it remains an option to send her to her father.
King : As it pleases my teacher.
Priest : My child, come with me.
Shakunthala: Qh! Mother Earth, take me into you! (starts sobbing, and leaves along with the priests and the ascetics)
[THE KING , MEMORY CLOUDED BY BY CURSE, STANDS THINKING ABOUT SHAKUNTHALA]
From green room: Wonder!!
King: (hearing it) what can it be!
Priest (entering) Your Highness, a great wonder has happened.
King: Like what?
Priest : After the disciples of Kanva had left,
Throwing her hands up, the girl began to cry,
Blaming her own fortunes for it all.
Then a light in the form of a woman flashed,
Lifted her up, and towards Apsaras-lake was gone.
(all show their surprise)
King: Sir, this matter has been already dismissed by me. So what use is it trying to reason out this. You may take rest now.
Priest : ( looking at the king) Wish you success! ( exit)
King : Vetravati, I am very much upset. Lead me to the bedroom.
Attendant: Here, here, my Lord. (and they start to go)
King: Really I don’t remember having married
This sage’s daughter, now rejected by me.
But my heart, in severe ache
Almost makes me believe in her.
(Exit all)
END ACT FIVE
Reply Reply to all Forward
SHAKUNTHALAM ACT 4
SHAKUNTHALAM ACT 4
(ENTER FRIENDS, GATHERING FLOWERS)
Anasooya: Dear Priyamvada, though I feel relieved that Shakunthala has, by Gandharva marriage rites, been happily united to a suitable husband, there is this worry.
Priyamvada: Like what?
Anasooya: Whether, the noble king, released by the priests after the completion of the sacrifice, and now back at home in the company of the ladies of his harem, will remember what happened here, or not!
Priyamvada: Be assured. Such noble features do not come with anything other than good character. But when Father hears this news, I don’t know how he will take it.
Anasooya: As I see it, he will approve it.
Priyamvada: How?
Anasooya: The important thing after all is to give one’s daughter in marriage to a good person. If Fate itself has accomplished it, have the parents not got what they wanted effortlessly?
Priyamvada: (looking at the flower basket) My friend, we have got enough flowers for the pooja.
Anasooya: Should we not pray to Shakunthala’s Goddess of Fortune!
Priyamvada: That is right.
[FROM IN THE GREEN ROOM, “ HULLO, THIS IS ME”]
Anasooya: (listening) Dear, it sounds like the announcement of guests.
Priyamvada: Is not Shakunthala at home? Today then, mentally she is not there.
Anasooya: well, this much flowers will do.
(they start to leave)
[IN THE GREENROOM,
Aah! You have no respect for guests!
Thinking on whom, with nothing else in mind,
You did not notice me, rich in ascetic powers, stannding near,
He will not remember you, even when reminded,
Like a drunkard whatever he did earlier say! ]
Priyamvada: Alas, alas! The unpleasant thing itself has happened. Some venerable man has been offended. --Not just anybody! This is the easily irascible ascetic, Durvasas. And thus cursing, he has walked away, with strides, lengthened by the force of his unstoppable speed. What other than fire can burn!
Anasooya: Go, fall at his feet, and make him come back! Meanwhile I wiil get water for his feet.
Priyamvada: Right.( exit)
Anasooya: (steps out, and slips midway) Ha, Stumbling in haste, I have dropped the flower basket. (picks up the flowers)
Priyamvada: (entering) my friend, how can anybody persuade him, who is perverse by nature! I somehow made him have some pity.
Anasooya: (smiling) Even this much is a lot in him. Go on.
Priyamvada: when he refused to come back, I pleaded: “ Your Holiness, Please, considering that it is the first time, excuse the fault of your daughter, who is ignorant of Your Holiness’ powers.”
Anassooya :Go on, go on.
Priyamvada: Saying “ My words cannot but be fulfilled. But my curse will go at the sight of a sign of remembrance”, he quickly disappeared.
Anasooya: We can now console ourselves. There is the ring stamped with his name, which the king, while going, himself put on her finger, and said,” this is for you to remember me always.” With this, Shakunthala has, in her hand, a way out.
Priyamvada: Come, let’s go. We shall finish our religious duties.
( both start leaving)
Priyamvada: (looking) Anasooya, just see. With her face resting on her left hand, our dear friend looks like a painting. With all her thoughts centred on her husband, she hardly notices herself, how then a guest!
Anasooya: Priyamvada, let what happened remain in our mouths. We have to protect our dear friend, so delicate is she by nature.
Priyamvada: Who will pour hot water on a jasmine plant?
(so both exit)
END OF PROLOGUE
(THEN ENTERS A STUDENT, JUST GOT UP)
Student: the venerable Kanva has asked me to see what time it is. Let me go out in the open and see how much of night is left. (walks around and looks) Ha! It is already morning.
One side, Queen of herbs, the Moon, goes to the western ridge,
The Sun, on the other, comes, led by the already appearing Dawn;
Thse two lights, by their simultaneous fall and rise,
Seem to to exemplify the changing states of men.
And
When the moon is set, the same water lily plant
Does not please my eyes, its beauty in memory lost.
The pangs of separation from their loved ones
Are extremely insufferable to the delicate women folk.
Anasooya: (enters, pushing away the curtain) When this is so, even a person, innocent of worldly affairs, cannot indeed but know that this king has shabbily treated Shakunthala.
Student: Let me inform Master that it is time for sacrifice. (exit)
Anasooya: Knowing this now, what can I do! I feel unable to move freely my hands and legs even for normal work. Let Cupid,the God of desires, have his desire satisfied! By him,my simple-hearted friend has been put in the hands of a crook.—Or, the curse of Durvasas is the cause. If not, how is it that a king of such noble family, after all those speeches, does not all this time send even a letter. So we shall send from here that ring to him. Whom among these vey difficult ascetics can we ask! Though I am convinced that my friend is innocent, how can I tell dad kanva, just returned from his trip, that Shakunthala has married Dushyantha and is pregnant. When matters stand thus, what can we do!
Priyamvada (entering, delightedly) My friend, hurry up, hurry up. We have to do the auspicious rites for the departure of Shakunthala.
Anasooya: Friend, how come this?
Priyamvada: I’ll tell you. Listen. I went to Shakunthala to see whether she slept well. And there was she standing embraced and being congratulated by dad Kanva. He said, “Luckily, the smoke-blinded sacrificer has put the offering in the fire itself. Dear child, like knowledge given to a good student, you are not to be pitied at all. Today itself, I will send you to your husband, under the protection of ascetics.”
Anasooya: By whom was dad kanva told what happened?
Priyamvad: On entering the sacred place of fire, by a disembodied voice in a rhytmic tone.
Anasooya: (in wonder) Tell me.
Priyamvada: (in sanskrit)
Devout Saint, Know, your daughter is carrying Dushantha’s seed
Like to the sacrificial Sami wood which holds inside the holy fire.
Anasooya: (hugging Priyamvada) O dear! I am so happy. But it is mixed with some sadness that today itself she would be taken away,
Priyamvada: My friend, we will somehow get over this sorrow. Let the poor girl be relieved.
Anasooya: Therefore, I have kept for this very purpose, in the cocanut shell hanging from the branch of the mango tree, a kesar flower garland. Please take it in your hand.i’ll just go and prepare the ointment out of Gorochana powder, earth from holy places, and Doorva grass shoots, for this auspicious moment.
Priyamvada: Please do so.
(exit Anasooya; Pritamvada reaches for the flowers)
[ (in the green room): Gauthami,Tell the worthy Sharngarava to bring Shakunthala.]
Priyamvada (hearing): Anasooya, hurry, hurry. These are the ascetics, departing for Hastinapura, shouting.
Anasooya (entering with the ointment in hand) : Come, friend. Let us go. ( both walk around)
Priyamvada (looking) : There she stands, having had a full head-bath in the early morning, and now being congratulated by the ashram-women , carrying in their hands the consecrated grains and uttering words of blessing. Let us go to her.
(and they approach her)
[THEN ENTER SHAKUNTHALA SEATED AND OCCUPIED AS ABOVE-SAID]
One of the women: (turning to Shakunthala) Child, may you get the title of Chief Queen, indicative of your husband’s respect for you.
The Second: Chilld, may you be the mother of the brave.
The Third: May you be honoured by your husband.
[ THEY, EXCEPT GAUTHAMI, LEAVE, AFTER GIVING THEIR BLESSINGS]
FrIends: (coming close) Hope you had a nice bath.
Shakunthala: Welcome, friends. Sit here.
Both; (with the auspicious bowls in hand, sitting)dear, get ready. Let us dress you up nicely.
Shakunthala: This I must value very much . Since it wiil be impossible hereafter to have my friends dress me. (sheds tears)
Friends: Friend, It is not right to cry at an auspicious time. (wipes tears, and adorns her )
Priyamvada: we are insulting your body, fit for jewelry, with these adornments we have got in ashram.
Two ashram boys: (entering with gifts) These are ornaments. Let madam be decked in these.
[ALL STARE IN AMAZEMENT]
Gauthami: Dear Narada, from where are these?
First: From the great powers of father Kanva.
Gauthami: Is it a creation of the mind?
Second: Not indeed. Listen: We were asked by Master to get flowers for Shakunthala from the trees.Then
From one tree came out a festive silken cloth, as white as moon,
Another oozed liqid lac, enough for her use on feet;
From others, were proffered ornaments by fairy hands
Rising up to the wrist like shoots of the trees’ tender leaves.
Priyamvada: My friend, this favour of Gods indicates your future queenly state of prosperity in your husband’s home.
(Shakunthala enacts bashfulness)
First student: Gauthama, come. Let us tell about this service by the tree-abiding spirits, to Kanva, who must have now finished his bath.
Second: Right.
(both exit)
Friends: O dear, The people here are not used to wearing ornaments. By what we have seen in picturess, we shall put these ornaments on you.
Shakunthala: I know well your skill.
(both put the ornaments on her)
(Then enters Kanva, having had his bath)
Kanva: My heart is touched by anxiety that Shakunthala goes today ,
Throat is choked with blocked tear-flow , my looks vacant with worry;
Such is my sadness because of love, though a dweller of thewoods,
How much will the home-bound suffer when a daughter suddenly leaves!
( he walks towards Shakunthala)
Friends: Dear shakunthala, We have done adorning you. Now wear these two silk garments.
(Shakunthala gets up and wears the clothes)
Gauthami: Child, your father, as if he is hugging you with eyes streaming with tears, has come. Be seated.
Shakunthala: (shyly) Dad, my respects.
Kanva: Like Sharmishttha by Yayati, be you cherished by your husband,
AS she Pooru, get a son, who will be king of kings.
Gauthami: Master, This is a boon, not simply a blessing!
Kanva: Child, go round this fire just fed with sacrificial ghee, and prostrate.
(all go round the fire)
Kanva: (in the rigvedic metre)
May these sacrificial fires, round the altar in their fixed spots,
Fed with holy firewood, skirted with Darbha grass on each side,
Blowing off misfortunes by the smell of the offering dropped therein,
Purify you!
Start now. (casting eyes round) Where is the good Shargarava?
Student(entering) Here we are.
Kanva: Show the way to your sister.
Sharngarava :Here, here, madam.
(all walk around)
Kanva: You, you,trees of the penance grove, present here,
She who will not think of drinking water till you had your drink,
Fond of ornaments, will not pluck, out of love for you, a tender leaf,
For whom your first blossoming time is a featival,
That Shakunthala is leaving for her husband’s home; Please consent!
(indicstes hearing a cuckoo’s note)
These trees, her friends of forest life,
Have given her permission to go,
Sincethey have given their reply in the form
Of these beautiful cockoo notes.
[ (from the heavens)
Let your route be comfortable with soft and pleasant breeze,
Spotted with lakes that shine green with lotus plants,
Sheltered by tree shades that reduce the heat of sun’s rays,
And covered by dust, like pollen ofwater lilies soft.]
(all listen in wonder)
Gauthami: Child, the deities of our penance- grove, who love you like kinsfolk,have given consent for your departire. Bow before the goddesses.
Shahunthala: (walks with bowed head, and then aside) Dear Priyamvada, eager as I am to see my husband, my feet don’t move forward, out of sadness at leaving the hermitage.
Priyamvada: Not only you, my friend, are sad at this separation from the ashram, but the whole place seems to be in the same state as you.
The deer drop the Darbha grass mouthfuls from their mouths,
The peacocks do not dance any more,
The creepers, from which pale white leaves are faling down,
Look as if they are shedding tears.
Shakunthala: (remebering) Dad, I will now bid farewell to my sister, the creeper Vanajyotsna.
Kanva: I know your sisterly affection for her. There she is to your right.
Shakunthala: ( going near the creeper) Vanajyotsna, though now united with the mango-tree, return my embrace with your branches turned this side. From today would I not be far away from you!
Kanva: You have by your past good deeds got a husband fit for you,
Just as I have from the first wished for you;
And since this jasmine creeper is to the mango tree joined,
All my worries are gone about you and her.
From here you may start your journey.
Shkunthala: (to friends) friends, now I am leaving her in your hands.
Friends: In whose hands are we left! (shed tears)
Kanva: Anasooya, don’t cry. Is it not you who should steady Shakunthala?
(All walk around)
Shakunthala: Dad, when this deer, wandering in the ashram grounds, vey slowly because of advanced pregnancy, is atlast delivered without problems, please send somebody to tell me the happy news.
Kanva: I will never fprget that.
Shakunthala: (suddenly stopped) Who is this clinging to my clothes! (turns backwards)
Kanva: My child,
This deer, you have brought up with fistfuls of grain,
Whose face, cut by the kusa grass tips,
You often dabbled with the healing ingudi oil,
Is not leaving your path, as if it were your son.
Shakunthala, My child, are you following me who is forsaking your company? Left by mother shortly after birth, you were brought up by me. When I am not here, father will look after you.Go back!(walks on, sobbing)
Kanva: Firmly stop the continuous flow of tears
That cloud your eyes, wide open with lashes raised.
See, your steps are stumbling on this path
Of uneven ground not noticed by you.
Sharngarava: Master, They say that loved ones should be accompanied upto the water limit. And we are now on the bank of this lake. Here you might give your message and return.
Kanva: In that case, let us stand in the shade of this banyan tree
(all walk and do so)
Kanva: (to himself) Now what suitable message shall I give to the king Dushyantha! (thinks)
Shakunthala: (aside)See, friends, this goose is crying, “How hard is my lot! ”, distressed at not seeing her companion, separated by only a leaf.
Anasooya: friend, don’t talk like that.
Even she lives, without her lover, through the long night of sorrow.
The pang of separation, though great, is made bearable by bonds of hope.
Kanva: Sharngarava, thus you have to tell the king in my words, after taking Shakunthala into his presence.
Sharngarava: Sir, please give your orders.
Kanva: Considering us whose wealth is self-control, and your own great heritage,
And this her love for you, unprompted by kinsmen, which somehow came to pass,
Treat her in the same way as you treat your other wives;
Rest is in fortune’s hands, not to be spoken by girl’s parents.
Sharngarava: Your message is taken.
Kanva: Now I have to instruct you. Though dwellers of woods, we know something about the world.
Sharngarava: For wise men, there is nothing beyond their view.
Kanva: when you go from here to your husband’s home,
Serve your elders, treat the other wives as your dear friends
Do not turn in anger against your husband, even when you arewronged,
Be very considerate to servants, never proud of your good fortune;
Thus girls become mistresses of home, others are shame to the house.
What does Gauthami think?
Gauthami: Indeed this much is the advice to a bride. Child, do all these.
Kanva: Dear, come,embrace me and your friends.
Shakunthala: (embracing Kanva)Dad, will Priyamvada and other friends return from here?
Kanva: These two have also to be married. It is not proper for them to go there. Gauthami will come with you.
Shakunthala: Fallen from father’s lap,how can I live in a strange place, like a sandal vine from The Malaya hill side!
Kanva: my child, why do you worry like this?
Remaining in the honoured position of mistress of your noble husband’s house,
Busy evey moment with its duties, heavy because of the wealth involved,
Giving birth to a son, like the East to the Sun, the purifier of the world,
Child, you will get over this sorrow of separation from me.
(Shakunthala falls at the feet of her father)
Kanva: May you have all that I wish!
Shakunthala: ( going to the friends) hug me, both of you together.
Friends: (doing so) If by chance the king is slow to recognize you, then show him the ring stamped with his own name.
Shakunthala: This doubt makes me quiver in fear.
Anasooya: Don’t be afraid. Too much love makes one fear the worst.
Sharngarava: It is past midday. Madam, hurry.
Shakunthala: (turns and faces the ashram) Dad, when will I see the ashram again!
Kanva: I will tell you.
After remaining long the co-wife of the four-sides-encompassing Earth,
Settling in Dushyantha’s place your son unrivalled in valour,
And leaving on him the burden of household, you will,
Along with husband, turn your steps to this quiet ashram again.
Gauthami: It is getting late. Send father back. Otherwise he will go on talking like this again and again for ever. Sir, please return.
Kanva: Child, my prayer time is getting delayed.
Shakunthala:(embracing father again) Your body is weak with austerities. So don’t be too much worked up on my account.
Kanva: (with a sigh) How can my grief ever go, my child,
When I see the the offering
Of foodgrains made by you
Growing at the cottage door!
Go. Have a pleasant journey.
(Shakunthala leaves along with others)
Friends : alas, alas, Shakunthala is now hidden behind the trees.
Kanv: Anasooya, your companion in ashram duties is gone. Control your grief and follow me back home.
Friends: How can we enter the ashram where Shakunthala will not be anymore!
Kanva: The workings of love are such. (walking thoughtfully) Ah! Look, I am very relieved after having sent Shakunthala to her husband’s home.
A daughter is after all another’s property;
Now that I have her to the rightful owner sent,
My conscience is indeed very clear
As ifa deposit I have returned intact.
(exit all)
[END FOURTH ACT]
(ENTER FRIENDS, GATHERING FLOWERS)
Anasooya: Dear Priyamvada, though I feel relieved that Shakunthala has, by Gandharva marriage rites, been happily united to a suitable husband, there is this worry.
Priyamvada: Like what?
Anasooya: Whether, the noble king, released by the priests after the completion of the sacrifice, and now back at home in the company of the ladies of his harem, will remember what happened here, or not!
Priyamvada: Be assured. Such noble features do not come with anything other than good character. But when Father hears this news, I don’t know how he will take it.
Anasooya: As I see it, he will approve it.
Priyamvada: How?
Anasooya: The important thing after all is to give one’s daughter in marriage to a good person. If Fate itself has accomplished it, have the parents not got what they wanted effortlessly?
Priyamvada: (looking at the flower basket) My friend, we have got enough flowers for the pooja.
Anasooya: Should we not pray to Shakunthala’s Goddess of Fortune!
Priyamvada: That is right.
[FROM IN THE GREEN ROOM, “ HULLO, THIS IS ME”]
Anasooya: (listening) Dear, it sounds like the announcement of guests.
Priyamvada: Is not Shakunthala at home? Today then, mentally she is not there.
Anasooya: well, this much flowers will do.
(they start to leave)
[IN THE GREENROOM,
Aah! You have no respect for guests!
Thinking on whom, with nothing else in mind,
You did not notice me, rich in ascetic powers, stannding near,
He will not remember you, even when reminded,
Like a drunkard whatever he did earlier say! ]
Priyamvada: Alas, alas! The unpleasant thing itself has happened. Some venerable man has been offended. --Not just anybody! This is the easily irascible ascetic, Durvasas. And thus cursing, he has walked away, with strides, lengthened by the force of his unstoppable speed. What other than fire can burn!
Anasooya: Go, fall at his feet, and make him come back! Meanwhile I wiil get water for his feet.
Priyamvada: Right.( exit)
Anasooya: (steps out, and slips midway) Ha, Stumbling in haste, I have dropped the flower basket. (picks up the flowers)
Priyamvada: (entering) my friend, how can anybody persuade him, who is perverse by nature! I somehow made him have some pity.
Anasooya: (smiling) Even this much is a lot in him. Go on.
Priyamvada: when he refused to come back, I pleaded: “ Your Holiness, Please, considering that it is the first time, excuse the fault of your daughter, who is ignorant of Your Holiness’ powers.”
Anassooya :Go on, go on.
Priyamvada: Saying “ My words cannot but be fulfilled. But my curse will go at the sight of a sign of remembrance”, he quickly disappeared.
Anasooya: We can now console ourselves. There is the ring stamped with his name, which the king, while going, himself put on her finger, and said,” this is for you to remember me always.” With this, Shakunthala has, in her hand, a way out.
Priyamvada: Come, let’s go. We shall finish our religious duties.
( both start leaving)
Priyamvada: (looking) Anasooya, just see. With her face resting on her left hand, our dear friend looks like a painting. With all her thoughts centred on her husband, she hardly notices herself, how then a guest!
Anasooya: Priyamvada, let what happened remain in our mouths. We have to protect our dear friend, so delicate is she by nature.
Priyamvada: Who will pour hot water on a jasmine plant?
(so both exit)
END OF PROLOGUE
(THEN ENTERS A STUDENT, JUST GOT UP)
Student: the venerable Kanva has asked me to see what time it is. Let me go out in the open and see how much of night is left. (walks around and looks) Ha! It is already morning.
One side, Queen of herbs, the Moon, goes to the western ridge,
The Sun, on the other, comes, led by the already appearing Dawn;
Thse two lights, by their simultaneous fall and rise,
Seem to to exemplify the changing states of men.
And
When the moon is set, the same water lily plant
Does not please my eyes, its beauty in memory lost.
The pangs of separation from their loved ones
Are extremely insufferable to the delicate women folk.
Anasooya: (enters, pushing away the curtain) When this is so, even a person, innocent of worldly affairs, cannot indeed but know that this king has shabbily treated Shakunthala.
Student: Let me inform Master that it is time for sacrifice. (exit)
Anasooya: Knowing this now, what can I do! I feel unable to move freely my hands and legs even for normal work. Let Cupid,the God of desires, have his desire satisfied! By him,my simple-hearted friend has been put in the hands of a crook.—Or, the curse of Durvasas is the cause. If not, how is it that a king of such noble family, after all those speeches, does not all this time send even a letter. So we shall send from here that ring to him. Whom among these vey difficult ascetics can we ask! Though I am convinced that my friend is innocent, how can I tell dad kanva, just returned from his trip, that Shakunthala has married Dushyantha and is pregnant. When matters stand thus, what can we do!
Priyamvada (entering, delightedly) My friend, hurry up, hurry up. We have to do the auspicious rites for the departure of Shakunthala.
Anasooya: Friend, how come this?
Priyamvada: I’ll tell you. Listen. I went to Shakunthala to see whether she slept well. And there was she standing embraced and being congratulated by dad Kanva. He said, “Luckily, the smoke-blinded sacrificer has put the offering in the fire itself. Dear child, like knowledge given to a good student, you are not to be pitied at all. Today itself, I will send you to your husband, under the protection of ascetics.”
Anasooya: By whom was dad kanva told what happened?
Priyamvad: On entering the sacred place of fire, by a disembodied voice in a rhytmic tone.
Anasooya: (in wonder) Tell me.
Priyamvada: (in sanskrit)
Devout Saint, Know, your daughter is carrying Dushantha’s seed
Like to the sacrificial Sami wood which holds inside the holy fire.
Anasooya: (hugging Priyamvada) O dear! I am so happy. But it is mixed with some sadness that today itself she would be taken away,
Priyamvada: My friend, we will somehow get over this sorrow. Let the poor girl be relieved.
Anasooya: Therefore, I have kept for this very purpose, in the cocanut shell hanging from the branch of the mango tree, a kesar flower garland. Please take it in your hand.i’ll just go and prepare the ointment out of Gorochana powder, earth from holy places, and Doorva grass shoots, for this auspicious moment.
Priyamvada: Please do so.
(exit Anasooya; Pritamvada reaches for the flowers)
[ (in the green room): Gauthami,Tell the worthy Sharngarava to bring Shakunthala.]
Priyamvada (hearing): Anasooya, hurry, hurry. These are the ascetics, departing for Hastinapura, shouting.
Anasooya (entering with the ointment in hand) : Come, friend. Let us go. ( both walk around)
Priyamvada (looking) : There she stands, having had a full head-bath in the early morning, and now being congratulated by the ashram-women , carrying in their hands the consecrated grains and uttering words of blessing. Let us go to her.
(and they approach her)
[THEN ENTER SHAKUNTHALA SEATED AND OCCUPIED AS ABOVE-SAID]
One of the women: (turning to Shakunthala) Child, may you get the title of Chief Queen, indicative of your husband’s respect for you.
The Second: Chilld, may you be the mother of the brave.
The Third: May you be honoured by your husband.
[ THEY, EXCEPT GAUTHAMI, LEAVE, AFTER GIVING THEIR BLESSINGS]
FrIends: (coming close) Hope you had a nice bath.
Shakunthala: Welcome, friends. Sit here.
Both; (with the auspicious bowls in hand, sitting)dear, get ready. Let us dress you up nicely.
Shakunthala: This I must value very much . Since it wiil be impossible hereafter to have my friends dress me. (sheds tears)
Friends: Friend, It is not right to cry at an auspicious time. (wipes tears, and adorns her )
Priyamvada: we are insulting your body, fit for jewelry, with these adornments we have got in ashram.
Two ashram boys: (entering with gifts) These are ornaments. Let madam be decked in these.
[ALL STARE IN AMAZEMENT]
Gauthami: Dear Narada, from where are these?
First: From the great powers of father Kanva.
Gauthami: Is it a creation of the mind?
Second: Not indeed. Listen: We were asked by Master to get flowers for Shakunthala from the trees.Then
From one tree came out a festive silken cloth, as white as moon,
Another oozed liqid lac, enough for her use on feet;
From others, were proffered ornaments by fairy hands
Rising up to the wrist like shoots of the trees’ tender leaves.
Priyamvada: My friend, this favour of Gods indicates your future queenly state of prosperity in your husband’s home.
(Shakunthala enacts bashfulness)
First student: Gauthama, come. Let us tell about this service by the tree-abiding spirits, to Kanva, who must have now finished his bath.
Second: Right.
(both exit)
Friends: O dear, The people here are not used to wearing ornaments. By what we have seen in picturess, we shall put these ornaments on you.
Shakunthala: I know well your skill.
(both put the ornaments on her)
(Then enters Kanva, having had his bath)
Kanva: My heart is touched by anxiety that Shakunthala goes today ,
Throat is choked with blocked tear-flow , my looks vacant with worry;
Such is my sadness because of love, though a dweller of thewoods,
How much will the home-bound suffer when a daughter suddenly leaves!
( he walks towards Shakunthala)
Friends: Dear shakunthala, We have done adorning you. Now wear these two silk garments.
(Shakunthala gets up and wears the clothes)
Gauthami: Child, your father, as if he is hugging you with eyes streaming with tears, has come. Be seated.
Shakunthala: (shyly) Dad, my respects.
Kanva: Like Sharmishttha by Yayati, be you cherished by your husband,
AS she Pooru, get a son, who will be king of kings.
Gauthami: Master, This is a boon, not simply a blessing!
Kanva: Child, go round this fire just fed with sacrificial ghee, and prostrate.
(all go round the fire)
Kanva: (in the rigvedic metre)
May these sacrificial fires, round the altar in their fixed spots,
Fed with holy firewood, skirted with Darbha grass on each side,
Blowing off misfortunes by the smell of the offering dropped therein,
Purify you!
Start now. (casting eyes round) Where is the good Shargarava?
Student(entering) Here we are.
Kanva: Show the way to your sister.
Sharngarava :Here, here, madam.
(all walk around)
Kanva: You, you,trees of the penance grove, present here,
She who will not think of drinking water till you had your drink,
Fond of ornaments, will not pluck, out of love for you, a tender leaf,
For whom your first blossoming time is a featival,
That Shakunthala is leaving for her husband’s home; Please consent!
(indicstes hearing a cuckoo’s note)
These trees, her friends of forest life,
Have given her permission to go,
Sincethey have given their reply in the form
Of these beautiful cockoo notes.
[ (from the heavens)
Let your route be comfortable with soft and pleasant breeze,
Spotted with lakes that shine green with lotus plants,
Sheltered by tree shades that reduce the heat of sun’s rays,
And covered by dust, like pollen ofwater lilies soft.]
(all listen in wonder)
Gauthami: Child, the deities of our penance- grove, who love you like kinsfolk,have given consent for your departire. Bow before the goddesses.
Shahunthala: (walks with bowed head, and then aside) Dear Priyamvada, eager as I am to see my husband, my feet don’t move forward, out of sadness at leaving the hermitage.
Priyamvada: Not only you, my friend, are sad at this separation from the ashram, but the whole place seems to be in the same state as you.
The deer drop the Darbha grass mouthfuls from their mouths,
The peacocks do not dance any more,
The creepers, from which pale white leaves are faling down,
Look as if they are shedding tears.
Shakunthala: (remebering) Dad, I will now bid farewell to my sister, the creeper Vanajyotsna.
Kanva: I know your sisterly affection for her. There she is to your right.
Shakunthala: ( going near the creeper) Vanajyotsna, though now united with the mango-tree, return my embrace with your branches turned this side. From today would I not be far away from you!
Kanva: You have by your past good deeds got a husband fit for you,
Just as I have from the first wished for you;
And since this jasmine creeper is to the mango tree joined,
All my worries are gone about you and her.
From here you may start your journey.
Shkunthala: (to friends) friends, now I am leaving her in your hands.
Friends: In whose hands are we left! (shed tears)
Kanva: Anasooya, don’t cry. Is it not you who should steady Shakunthala?
(All walk around)
Shakunthala: Dad, when this deer, wandering in the ashram grounds, vey slowly because of advanced pregnancy, is atlast delivered without problems, please send somebody to tell me the happy news.
Kanva: I will never fprget that.
Shakunthala: (suddenly stopped) Who is this clinging to my clothes! (turns backwards)
Kanva: My child,
This deer, you have brought up with fistfuls of grain,
Whose face, cut by the kusa grass tips,
You often dabbled with the healing ingudi oil,
Is not leaving your path, as if it were your son.
Shakunthala, My child, are you following me who is forsaking your company? Left by mother shortly after birth, you were brought up by me. When I am not here, father will look after you.Go back!(walks on, sobbing)
Kanva: Firmly stop the continuous flow of tears
That cloud your eyes, wide open with lashes raised.
See, your steps are stumbling on this path
Of uneven ground not noticed by you.
Sharngarava: Master, They say that loved ones should be accompanied upto the water limit. And we are now on the bank of this lake. Here you might give your message and return.
Kanva: In that case, let us stand in the shade of this banyan tree
(all walk and do so)
Kanva: (to himself) Now what suitable message shall I give to the king Dushyantha! (thinks)
Shakunthala: (aside)See, friends, this goose is crying, “How hard is my lot! ”, distressed at not seeing her companion, separated by only a leaf.
Anasooya: friend, don’t talk like that.
Even she lives, without her lover, through the long night of sorrow.
The pang of separation, though great, is made bearable by bonds of hope.
Kanva: Sharngarava, thus you have to tell the king in my words, after taking Shakunthala into his presence.
Sharngarava: Sir, please give your orders.
Kanva: Considering us whose wealth is self-control, and your own great heritage,
And this her love for you, unprompted by kinsmen, which somehow came to pass,
Treat her in the same way as you treat your other wives;
Rest is in fortune’s hands, not to be spoken by girl’s parents.
Sharngarava: Your message is taken.
Kanva: Now I have to instruct you. Though dwellers of woods, we know something about the world.
Sharngarava: For wise men, there is nothing beyond their view.
Kanva: when you go from here to your husband’s home,
Serve your elders, treat the other wives as your dear friends
Do not turn in anger against your husband, even when you arewronged,
Be very considerate to servants, never proud of your good fortune;
Thus girls become mistresses of home, others are shame to the house.
What does Gauthami think?
Gauthami: Indeed this much is the advice to a bride. Child, do all these.
Kanva: Dear, come,embrace me and your friends.
Shakunthala: (embracing Kanva)Dad, will Priyamvada and other friends return from here?
Kanva: These two have also to be married. It is not proper for them to go there. Gauthami will come with you.
Shakunthala: Fallen from father’s lap,how can I live in a strange place, like a sandal vine from The Malaya hill side!
Kanva: my child, why do you worry like this?
Remaining in the honoured position of mistress of your noble husband’s house,
Busy evey moment with its duties, heavy because of the wealth involved,
Giving birth to a son, like the East to the Sun, the purifier of the world,
Child, you will get over this sorrow of separation from me.
(Shakunthala falls at the feet of her father)
Kanva: May you have all that I wish!
Shakunthala: ( going to the friends) hug me, both of you together.
Friends: (doing so) If by chance the king is slow to recognize you, then show him the ring stamped with his own name.
Shakunthala: This doubt makes me quiver in fear.
Anasooya: Don’t be afraid. Too much love makes one fear the worst.
Sharngarava: It is past midday. Madam, hurry.
Shakunthala: (turns and faces the ashram) Dad, when will I see the ashram again!
Kanva: I will tell you.
After remaining long the co-wife of the four-sides-encompassing Earth,
Settling in Dushyantha’s place your son unrivalled in valour,
And leaving on him the burden of household, you will,
Along with husband, turn your steps to this quiet ashram again.
Gauthami: It is getting late. Send father back. Otherwise he will go on talking like this again and again for ever. Sir, please return.
Kanva: Child, my prayer time is getting delayed.
Shakunthala:(embracing father again) Your body is weak with austerities. So don’t be too much worked up on my account.
Kanva: (with a sigh) How can my grief ever go, my child,
When I see the the offering
Of foodgrains made by you
Growing at the cottage door!
Go. Have a pleasant journey.
(Shakunthala leaves along with others)
Friends : alas, alas, Shakunthala is now hidden behind the trees.
Kanv: Anasooya, your companion in ashram duties is gone. Control your grief and follow me back home.
Friends: How can we enter the ashram where Shakunthala will not be anymore!
Kanva: The workings of love are such. (walking thoughtfully) Ah! Look, I am very relieved after having sent Shakunthala to her husband’s home.
A daughter is after all another’s property;
Now that I have her to the rightful owner sent,
My conscience is indeed very clear
As ifa deposit I have returned intact.
(exit all)
[END FOURTH ACT]
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