Shakuntala

by Kalidasa

Of things not seen on earth,

  Deep nature's predilections,

  Loves earlier than birth.

  (He shows the wistfulness that comes from unremembered things.)

  Chamberlain (approaching). Victory to your Majesty. Here are hermits who dwell in the forest at the foot of the Himalayas. They bring women with them, and they carry a message from Kanva. What is your pleasure with regard to them?

  King (astonished). Hermits? Accompanied by women? From Kanva?

  Chamberlain. Yes.

  King. Request my chaplain Somarata in my name to receive these hermits in the manner prescribed by Scripture, and to conduct them himself before me. I will await them in a place fit for their reception.

  Chamberlain. Yes, your Majesty. (Exit.)

  King (rising). Vetravati, conduct me to the fire-sanctuary.

  Portress. Follow me, your Majesty. (She walks about) Your Majesty, here is the terrace of the fire-sanctuary. It is beautiful, for it has just been swept, and near at hand is the cow that yields the milk of sacrifice. Pray ascend it.

  King (ascends and stands leaning on the shoulder of an attendant.) Vetravati, with what purpose does Father Kanva send these hermits to me?

  Do leaguèd powers of sin conspire

  To balk religion's pure desire?

  Has wrong been done to beasts that roam

  Contented round the hermits' home?

  Do plants no longer bud and flower,

  To warn me of abuse of power?

  These doubts and more assail my mind,

  But leave me puzzled, lost, and blind.

  Portress. How could these things be in a hermitage that rests in the fame of the king's arm? No, I imagine they have come to pay homage to their king, and to congratulate him on his pious rule.

  (Enter the chaplain and the chamberlain, conducting the two pupils of KANVA, with GAUTAMI and SHAKUNTALA.)

  Chamberlain. Follow me, if you please.

  Sharngarava. Friend Sharadvata,

  The king is noble and to virtue true;

  None dwelling here commit the deed of shame;

  Yet we ascetics view the worldly crew

  As in a house all lapped about with flame.

  Sharadvata. Sharngarava, your emotion on entering the city is quite just. As for me,

  Free from the world and all its ways,

  I see them spending worldly days

  As clean men view men smeared with oil,

  As pure men, those whom passions soil,

  As waking men view men asleep,

  As free men, those in bondage deep.

  Chaplain. That is why men like you are great.

  Shakuntala (observing an evil omen). Oh, why does my right eye throb?

  Gautami. Heaven avert the omen, my child. May happiness wait upon you. (They walk about.)

  Chaplain (indicating the king). O hermits, here is he who protects those of every station and of every age. He has already risen, and awaits you. Behold him.

  Sharngarava. Yes, it is admirable, but not surprising. For

  Fruit-laden trees bend down to earth;

  The water-pregnant clouds hang low;

  Good men are not puffed up by power—

  The unselfish are by nature so.

  Portress. Your Majesty, the hermits seem to be happy. They give you gracious looks.

  King (observing SHAKUNTALA). Ah!

  Who is she, shrouded in the veil

  That dims her beauty's lustre,

  Among the hermits like a flower

  Round which the dead leaves cluster?

  Portress. Your Majesty, she is well worth looking at.

  King. Enough! I must not gaze upon another's wife.

  Shakuntala (laying her hand on her breast. Aside). Oh, my heart, why tremble so? Remember his constant love and be brave.

  Chaplain (advancing). Hail, your Majesty. The hermits have been received as Scripture enjoins. They have a message from their teacher. May you be pleased to hear it.

  King (respectfully). I am all attention.

  The two pupils (raising their right hands). Victory, O King.

  King (bowing low). I salute you all.

  The two pupils. All hail.

  King. Does your pious life proceed without disturbance?

  The two pupils.

  How could the pious duties fail

  While you defend the right?

  Or how could darkness' power prevail

  O'er sunbeams shining bright?

  King (to himself). Indeed, my royal title is no empty one. (Aloud.) Is holy Kanva in health?

  Sharngarava. O King, those who have religious power can command health. He asks after your welfare and sends this message.

  King. What are his commands?

  Sharngarava. He says: "Since you have met this my daughter and have married her, I give you my glad consent. For

  You are the best of worthy men, they say;

  And she, I know, Good Works personified;

  The Creator wrought for ever and a day,

  In wedding such a virtuous groom and bride.

  She is with child. Take her and live with her in virtue."

  Gautami. Bless you, sir. I should like to say that no one invites me to speak.

  King. Speak, mother.

  Gautami.

  Did she with father speak or mother?

  Did you engage her friends in speech?

  Your faith was plighted each to other;

  Let each be faithful now to each.

  Shakuntala. What will my husband say?

  King (listening with anxious suspicion). What is this insinuation?

  Shakuntala (to herself). Oh, oh! So haughty and so slanderous!

  Sharngarava. "What is this insinuation?" What is your question? Surely you know the world's ways well enough.

  Because the world suspects a wife

  Who does not share her husband's lot,

  Her kinsmen wish her to abide

  With him, although he love her not.

  King. You cannot mean that this young woman is my wife.

  Shakuntala (sadly to herself). Oh, my heart, you feared it, and now it has come. Sharngarava. O King,

  A king, and shrink when love is done,

  Turn coward's back on truth, and flee!

  King. What means this dreadful accusation?

  Sharngarava (furiously).

  O drunk with power! We might have known

  That you were steeped in treachery.

  King. A stinging rebuke!

  Gautami (to SHAKUNTALA). Forget your shame, my child. I will remove your veil. Then your husband will recognise you. (She does so.)

  King (observing SHAKUNTALA. To himself).

  As my heart ponders whether I could ever

  Have wed this woman that has come to me

  In tortured loveliness, as I endeavour

  To bring it back to mind, then like a bee

  That hovers round a jasmine flower at dawn,

  While frosty dews of morning still o'erweave it,

  And hesitates to sip ere they be gone,

  I cannot taste the sweet, and cannot leave it.

  Portress (to herself). What a virtuous king he is! Would any other man hesitate when he saw such a pearl of a woman coming of her own accord?

  Sharngarava. Have you nothing to say, O King?

  King. Hermit, I have taken thought. I cannot believe that this woman is my wife. She is plainly with child. How can I take her, confessing myself an adulterer?

  Shakuntala (to herself). Oh, oh, oh! He even casts doubt on our marriage. The vine of my hope climbed high, but it is broken now.

  Sharngarava. Not so.

  You scorn the sage who rendered whole

  His child befouled, and choked his grief,

  Who freely gave you what you stole

  And added honour to a thief!

  Sharadvata. Enough, Sharngarava. Shakuntala, we have said what we were sent to say. You hear his words. Answer him.

  Shakuntala
(to herself). He loved me so. He is so changed. Why remind him? Ah, but I must clear my own character. Well, I will try. (Aloud.) My dear husband—(She stops.) No, he doubts my right to call him that. Your Majesty, it was pure love that opened my poor heart to you in the hermitage. Then you were kind to me and gave me your promise. Is it right for you to speak so now, and to reject me?

  King (stopping his ears). Peace, peace!

  A stream that eats away the bank,

  Grows foul, and undermines the tree.

  So you would stain your honour, while

  You plunge me into misery.

  Shakuntala. Very well. If you have acted so because you really fear to touch another man's wife, I will remove your doubts with a token you gave me.

  King. An excellent idea!

  Shakuntala (touching her finger). Oh, oh! The ring is lost. (She looks sadly at GAUTAMI.)

  Gautami. My child, you worshipped the holy Ganges at the spot where Indra descended. The ring must have fallen there.

  King. Ready wit, ready wit!

  Shakuntala. Fate is too strong for me there. I will tell you something else.

  King. Let me hear what you have to say.

  Shakuntala. One day, in the bower of reeds, you were holding a lotus-leaf cup full of water.

  King. I hear you.

  Shakuntala. At that moment the fawn came up, my adopted son. Then you took pity on him and coaxed him. "Let him drink first," you said. But he did not know you, and he would not come to drink water from your hand. But he liked it afterwards, when I held the very same water. Then you smiled and said: "It is true. Every one trusts his own sort. You both belong to the forest."

  King. It is just such women, selfish, sweet, false, that entice fools. Gautami. You have no right to say that. She grew up in the pious grove. She does not know how to deceive.

  King. Old hermit woman,

  The female's untaught cunning may be seen

  In beasts, far more in women selfish-wise;

  The cuckoo's eggs are left to hatch and rear

  By foster-parents, and away she flies.

  Shakuntala (angrily). Wretch! You judge all this by your own false heart. Would any other man do what you have done? To hide behind virtue, like a yawning well covered over with grass!

  King (to himself). But her anger is free from coquetry, because she has lived in the forest. See!

  Her glance is straight; her eyes are flashing red;

  Her speech is harsh, not drawlingly well-bred;

  Her whole lip quivers, seems to shake with cold;

  Her frown has straightened eyebrows arching bold.

  No, she saw that I was doubtful, and her anger was feigned. Thus

  When I refused but now

  Hard-heartedly, to know

  Of love or secret vow,

  Her eyes grew red; and so,

  Bending her arching brow,

  She fiercely snapped Love's bow.

  (Aloud.) My good girl, Dushyanta's conduct is known to the whole kingdom, but not this action.

  Shakuntala. Well, well. I had my way. I trusted a king, and put myself in his hands. He had a honey face and a heart of stone. (She covers her face with her dress and weeps.)

  Sharngarava. Thus does unbridled levity burn.

  Be slow to love, but yet more slow

  With secret mate;

  With those whose hearts we do not know,

  Love turns to hate.

  King. Why do you trust this girl, and accuse me of an imaginary crime? Sharngarava (disdainfully). You have learned your wisdom upside down.

  It would be monstrous to believe

  A girl who never lies;

  Trust those who study to deceive

  And think it very wise.

  King. Aha, my candid friend! Suppose I were to admit that I am such a man. What would happen if I deceived the girl?

  Sharngarava. Ruin.

  King. It is unthinkable that ruin should fall on Puru's line.

  Sharngarava. Why bandy words? We have fulfilled our Father's bidding. We are ready to return.

  Leave her or take her, as you will;

  She is your wife;

  Husbands have power for good or ill

  O'er woman's life.

  Gautami, lead the way. (They start to go.)

  Shakuntala. He has deceived me shamelessly. And will you leave me too? (She starts to follow.)

  Gautami (turns around and sees her). Sharngarava, my son, Shakuntala is following us, lamenting piteously. What can the poor child do with a husband base enough to reject her?

  Sharngarava (turns angrily). You self-willed girl! Do you dare show independence? (SHAKUNTALA shrinks in fear.) Listen.

  If you deserve such scorn and blame,

  What will your father with your shame?

  But if you know your vows are pure,

  Obey your husband and endure.

  Remain. We must go.

  King. Hermit, why deceive this woman? Remember:

  Night-blossoms open to the moon,

  Day-blossoms to the sun;

  A man of honour ever strives

  Another's wife to shun.

  Sharngarava. O King, suppose you had forgotten your former actions in the midst of distractions. Should you now desert your wife—you who fear to fail in virtue?

  King. I ask you which is the heavier sin:

  Not knowing whether I be mad

  Or falsehood be in her,

  Shall I desert a faithful wife

  Or turn adulterer?

  Chaplain (considering). Now if this were done—

  King. Instruct me, my teacher.

  Chaplain. Let the woman remain in my house until her child is born.

  King. Why this?

  Chaplain. The chief astrologers have told you that your first child was destined to be an emperor. If the son of the hermit's daughter is born with the imperial birthmarks, then welcome her and introduce her into the palace. Otherwise, she must return to her father.

  King. It is good advice, my teacher.

  Chaplain (rising). Follow me, my daughter.

  Shakuntala. O mother earth, give me a grave! (Exit weeping, with the chaplain, the hermits, and GAUTAMI. The king, his memory clouded by the curse, ponders on SHAKUNTALA.)

  Voices behind the scenes. A miracle! A miracle!

  King (listening). What does this mean? (Enter the chaplain.)

  Chaplain (in amazement). Your Majesty, a wonderful thing has happened.

  King. What?

  Chaplain. When Kanva's pupils had departed,

  She tossed her arms, bemoaned her plight,

  Accused her crushing fate—--

  King. What then?

  Chaplain.

  Before our eyes a heavenly light

  In woman's form, but shining bright,

  Seized her and vanished straight.

  (All betray astonishment.)

  King. My teacher, we have already settled the matter. Why speculate in vain? Let us seek repose. Chaplain. Victory to your Majesty. (Exit.)

  King. Vetravati, I am bewildered. Conduct me to my apartment.

  Portress. Follow me, your Majesty.

  King (walks about. To himself).

  With a hermit-wife I had no part,

  All memories evade me;

  And yet my sad and stricken heart

  Would more than half persuade me.

  (Exeunt omnes.)

  ACT VI

  SEPARATION FROM SHAKUNTALA

  SCENE I.—In the street before the Palace

  (Enter the chief of police, two policemen, and a man with his hands bound behind his back.)

  The two policemen (striking the man). Now, pickpocket, tell us where you found this ring. It is the king's ring, with letters engraved on it, and it has a magnificent great gem.

  Fisherman (showing fright). Be merciful, kind gentlemen. I am not guilty of such a crime.

  First policeman. No, I suppose the king thought you were a pious Brahman, and made you a prese
nt of it.

  Fisherman. Listen, please. I am a fisherman, and I live on the Ganges, at the spot where Indra came down.

  Second policeman. You thief, we didn't ask for your address or your social position.

  Chief. Let him tell a straight story, Suchaka. Don't interrupt.

  The two policemen. Yes, chief. Talk, man, talk.

  Fisherman. I support my family with things you catch fish with—nets, you know, and hooks, and things.

  Chief (laughing). You have a sweet trade.

  Fisherman. Don't say that, master.

  You can't give up a lowdown trade

  That your ancestors began;

  A butcher butchers things, and yet

  He's the tenderest-hearted man.

  Chief. Go on. Go on.

  Fisherman. Well, one day I was cutting up a carp. In its maw I see this ring with the magnificent great gem. And then I was just trying to sell it here when you kind gentlemen grabbed me. That is the only way I got it. Now kill me, or find fault with me.

  Chief (smelling the ring). There is no doubt about it, Januka. It has been in a fish's maw. It has the real perfume of raw meat. Now we have to find out how he got it. We must go to the palace.

  The two policemen (to the fisherman). Move on, you cutpurse, move on. (They walk about.)

  Chief. Suchaka, wait here at the big gate until I come out of the palace. And don't get careless.

  The two policemen. Go in, chief. I hope the king will be nice to you.

  Chief. Good-bye. (Exit.)

  Suchaka. Januka, the chief is taking his time.

  Januka. You can't just drop in on a king.

  Suchaka. Januka, my fingers are itching (indicating the fisherman) to kill this cutpurse.