The Ring

Note

Dear readers: I hope you are enjoying my retelling of the story of Shakuntala. As source materials I have culled from the Ganguli translation of Mahabharata, the Arthur Ryder translation of Kalidas, and the retelling of my own Guru Maharaja, Bhakti Rakshak Shridhar Dev Goswami, as I heard it from him at his ashram in 1982.  

One may wonder about the value of recounting this story, which appears on its face to be an ordinary romance. The story of Shakuntala is an important part of Indian history and culture, as Shakuntala herself is the mother of the famous Bharata. 

In a sense, she is the mother of India itself, as India proper is known as Bharata. Sanskrit students love the poetry of Kalidas, who, writing in around the 5th century or so, took certain liberties with the original Mahabharata version. Shridhar Maharaja himself could quote passages from memory, as he was a great expert in the Sanskrit language. Without any further justification, we continue with the story. Michael Dolan, B.V. Mahayogi

The Ring

Kunti held her children spellbound with the tale. She continued her narration.

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"Shakuntala held up her hand to show all the royal signet ring of King Dushyant with which her had married her and pledged eternal loyalty. But it was gone.

“The ring!” She cried. “Where is the ring?”

The ring had disappeared as if by magic from her hand.

 Shocked as she beheld her bare fingers, Shakuntala was dumbfounded. "The curse!" She said.

As the king had no idea what she was referring to, and being under the curse of Durvasa Muni, he sat there puzzled as the courtiers laughed.

Turning to the court brahmaṇa, the King asked, “O wise one, what is your council? What should we do with this innocent girl? She believes me to be her husband and has lost her wits. And yet, she is under the protection of Kanva Muṇi. She is obviously with child and should be protected.”

Gandhari, the matron of the ashrama, crossed her arms. Shakuntala looked at the wise old brahmaṇa. The court was still. The brahmaṇa thought a while. 

Then he said, “O King. We must take the middle path. You may know the girl. With all respect for your lordship, you are a warrior and sometimes stay in faraway places during your adventures. You may not be as innocent as you pretend to be.

You may have forgotten this child. She is an innocent so perhaps she has a real case. We should proceed with caution. There is a test. We can wait until she bears the child and see if the child has the royal marks. All children born in the line of Puru must be born with the royal mark of the lotus in the palms of their hands. We can agree to take care of this girl until then. She can stay in the ashram here at court until such time as she bears the child. Then we shall see who is the father.”

The King smiled. "Make it so." he said, and stood up, prepared to leave the hall.

Shakuntala, hearing this was disgusted. She had heard enough. Shocked at the king’s insensitivity, she could tolerate no further insults to her purity. 

She ran from the court and from the palace. Anasuya and Priyamvada ran after her, but Shakuntala was fleet of foot and raced past the palace gates and kept running. Soon she reached the place by the river where they had bathed the day before. Perhaps she had lost the ring in the river when they were bathing. It all seemed so long ago.

But as she stared into the waters of the Sachi River, she was witness to a miracle. An airship approached from the sky and came towards her. An angelic figure appeared from the biman airship and bid Shakuntala to join her. Once aboard,  the airship bore Shakuntala up to the heavens. 

An airship appeared from the sky

From a distance, Priyamvada and Anusuya watched Shakuntala run into the forest. But they were astonished to see the descent of the celestial ariship and as they  witnessed this miracle they were amazed and offered prayers. 

The king in his amnesia returned to his chambers where the Queen and prince awaited him. 

Gandhari, Priyamvada, Anusuya and the other followers of Kanva, with prayers on their lips, and wonder in their hearts at the ways of the gods, returned to their ashram in the forest. Shakuntala had disappeared.

Biman from Ramayana