Who is dushyant in shakuntala

In fact, it's super important that the bride is into the groom in this case, because it was one of the few times that women had control over their futures.

You didn't need a priest, and most importantly, you didn't need your parents' consent. Obviously, as time went on, and patriarchy tightened its views about women as property, this sort of wedding fell out of fashion, but it did see a nice lot of weddings in its time. Although the Shakuntala-Dushyanta story should not be used as an example for a successful Gandharva wedding. She's pregnant at this point, but no one knows that yet. So, she's mooning about, dreaming about Dushyanta and generally being a sixteen year old in love, when the sage Durvasa, whose role is basically to curse people and move a story along, appears in her dad's ashram.

Because she's lost in thought and does not immediately jump to do his bidding, he tells her that whoever she's thinking about will forget her, just like she's forgotten Durvasa. Great guy, Durvasa. Really a pearl among sages. Did he ever curse men or was all his rage reserved for women? So of course, our heroine loses the ring her husband gave her and turns up at his kingdom with her dad and extended friends from the ashram, only for Dushyanta to tell her he's never met her before in his life.

It's—duh—Shakuntala's missing ring, and Dushyanta goes in search of her, we're hoping he's kicking himself after doing all that royal ghosting. He finds a little boy wrestling a lion, it's his son!

And the family is reunited and that's I think the last we hear about Shakuntala. Kalidasa made Dushyanta into a more sympathetic guy though. In the Mahabharata , Shakuntala goes to him only after she's had her son, and reminds him that he promised to make their son his heir. Having to leave after some time, Dushyant gives Shakuntala a royal ring as a sign of their love, promising her that he will come to her.

But when Dushyant becomes king, he becomes too absorbed for many years in affairs of state. Shakuntala waits and despairs. One day, sage Durvasa visits the hermitage, but Shakuntala, who is too absorbed in her love for Dushyant, forgets to serve him food.

In a fit of anger, sage Durvasa curses her, saying that the person she is thinking about will forget her. A shocked Shakuntala begs for forgiveness and the sage, after calming down, assures her that the person will remember her again when she shows some proof of their acquaintance.

So, Shakuntala sets off to Hastinapur to remind Dushyant of their past love. An accident occurs by which a fish consumes the royal ring, leaving Shakuntala with no formidable proof. Dushyanta does not recollect Shakuntala, but his memory and love are rekindled when another sage recovers the ring and brings it to the court. Dushyanta weds Shakuntala, who becomes his queen and mother of his son, Bharata.

One day when hermit Durvasa stops at her hut for hospitality, Shakuntala, lost in her love thoughts, fails to hear his calls. The temperamental sage turns back and curses her: "He whose thoughts have engrossed you would not remember you anymore.

Days roll by and nobody from the palace comes to fetch her. Her father sends her to the royal court for their reunion, as she was pregnant with Dushyant's child. While travelling, Shakuntala's signet-ring accidentally drops into the river and gets lost. When Shakuntala presents herself before the king, Dushyant, under the spell of the curse, fails to acknowledge her as his wife. Heart-broken, she pleads to the gods for help.