Shakuntala, Dushyant, and the Story of the Ring

A typical love story is timeless. It is where the protagonist goes through troubles and milestones to overcome great barriers to reach their love and probably lose each other in the process. But not all stories have sad endings. The story of Shakuntala and Dushyant is one of the most common love story in India. But very few actually know their story.

The famous painting of Shakuntala by Raja Ravi Verma. Image source: Wikipedia.

Shakuntala’s love story has been mentioned in many early Indian texts. The story is projected differently in every book, but ideally, it remains a love story. The main love story has been composed by the Shakespeare of the East, Kalidasa, in Abhijnana Shakuntalam. This is the beautiful love story between a girl, Shakuntala, who possesses exquisite beauty and Dushyant, a noble king known for his worthy rule over the kingdom of Hastinapura.

Kanva, A powerful Brahmin, brought up Shakuntala 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. Very soon, they got married to each other by the Gandharva norms. According to this norm, the couple can marry without a priest or family members. All they need is each other and love. This clearly mentions that they did not have any witnesses in their marriage.

After marriage, king Dushyant left Shakuntala in the forest with a promise to be back so that he could take her as his beloved wife and enter the palace. He left her a ring that she needs to present in the royal palace to prove her identity.

Shakuntala and Dushyant. Image Source: Saatchi Art.

The story so far goes well. But here enters our antagonist. 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."

Shakuntala could do nothing but ask for forgiveness. She wailed in pain that her husband shall forget her. But, this did not affect the sage at all. Later, while he was leaving the ashram, one of Shakuntala's friends explained the reason behind Shakuntala's lack of attention.

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 belonging that has been exchanged as a token of love.

Later in the story, Shakuntala feels that she needs to meet her husband and find out the reason behind him taking so long to fetch her. But while on the journey, she loses the ring. She enters the palace without the ring and Dushyant fails to recognise her.

Shakuntala facing the wrath of Rishi Durvasa. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

A fisherman came to her rescue. He found the ring in the belly of the fish and presents it to the king. The king notices the ring and realises his folly. He goes on to find Shakuntala in the forest and bring her to the capital as a queen.

This love story turns out to be of great literary importance — in the Mahabharata version of the story, Shakuntala and Dushyant have a son, Bharat. Bharat is so fearless that he plays with tiger cubs. Later, the name of the subcontinent Bharat is said to be derived from Shakuntala and Dushyant’s offspring, who turned out to be the great and mighty king of Hastinapura.

Love stories are always interesting to listen to. Most of them appear to be heartbreaking. The greatest love stories are marked by long separations, indecisive situations, fights between the lovers or their families, deaths of loved ones, and, if nothing else, the death of one or both of the protagonists. But unlike other love stories, the story of Shakuntala and Dushyant has happiness in the end.