Sage Durvasa in Abhigyan Shakuntalam

He is known as the angry Brahmin. No one dared to question his thoughts. He appeared in both the Ramayana and Mahabharata and has played a crucial role in the epics. This Brahmana, Sage Durvasa, was so popular at that time that other scholars began to use his reference in their own stories. One such story is that of Abhigyan Shakuntala written by Kalidasa.

A painting showing the astonished Sage Durvasa upon seeing Shakuntala lost in her thoughts. Image Source: Wikipedia

Shakuntala's story first appears in the Mahabharata to explain the role of a man and woman after marriage based on the norms set forward by Manusmriti. This was a part of the didactic representation of the Mahabharata. Kalidasa used the same characters to create a masterpiece story called Abhigyanam Shakuntalam.

Shakuntala was a beautiful maiden brought up by a powerful Brahmin "Kanva" in his ashram in the woods. One day, King Dushyant encountered Shakuntala while he was hunting along with his team. He immediately fell in love with her beauty. Fast-forwarding their love story, they got married to each other in 'gandharva' norms. According to this norm, the couple can marry without a priest or family members. All they need is each other and love.

After marriage king, Dushyant left Shakuntala in the forest with a promise to be back so that he can take her as his beloved wife and enter the palace. Shakuntala would often miss him and daydream about him. This became her usual ritual for the entire day.

One day, Maharishi Durvasa visited the ashram of Sage Kanva. Shakuntala was lost in her husband's thoughts and failed to greet him. This angered the sage. He cursed Shakuntala immediately. He told her, "Whoever you are dreaming about shall forget all about you."

This agonised pain within her. Shakuntala could do nothing but ask for forgiveness. She wailed in pain that her husband shall forget her. This did not affect the sage at all. While he was leaving the ashram, one of Shakuntala's friends explained the reason behind Shakuntala's lack of attention when the mighty Sage Durvasa visited the ashram.

Durvasa realised that his sudden anger and the curse were uncalled for. He pitied the young girl.

Therefore, he tried modifying his curse. He mentioned that the person who has forgotten Shakuntala will remember her instantly when Shakuntala presents him with any personal token that has been exchanged as a token of love.

Later in the story, king Dushyant indeed forgets Shankuntala while even Shakuntala loses the ring given to her by her husband. It is towards the climax that a fisherman presents a ring to the king and Dushyant remembers his beloved Shakuntala.

Sage Durvasa appears to do what he does best in this Kalidasa's great work. He showed that he cannot control his wrath. His anger grows on him as he could have avoided the act of Shakuntala as a small mistake by a young girl, but he did not. He ended up cursing at her. And that gave a new twist to the story.