19 (Sakuntala) The Reunion At Last Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran
19 (Sakuntala) The Reunion At Last
On his way to the hermitage
Of Maricha, the great Sage,
Dushyanta saw a little boy
Handling a lion cub like a toy.
An ascetic girl was shouting,
“The lion cub you’re hurting.
Don’t drag it like that.
Be careful, it may bite.”
“A naughty boy you’re
You show no fear.
So, they named you
Sarvadamanan, it’s true.”
Like his own son
The king felt then.
This feeling ran,
As he had no son
The girl shouted again,
“Leave the cub, son,
Or else, its mother will
Pounce upon you and kill.”
The boy didn’t care
But laughed at her.
He continued to play
Without any say.
The king eagerly examined
The boy’s right hand.
He saw all signs of royal
And felt them unbelievable.
He advised the boy
“Lion cub is not a toy.
This is sacred place
Devoted for peace.”
The girl replied him,
“Oh King, this game
He plays quite often
Not as hermit’s son.”
“I’m surprised to see
This boy appears to be
Similar to your face,
This, I can easily trace.”
“He’s from the Puru family.
Of late, he’s too naughty.
His mother is the daughter
Of a celestial mother.”
“She delivered this son
And here he was born
In her late father’s hut,
As forced by her fate.”
“Sakuntala is his mother.
And this boy loves her.
Where has his bracelet gone?
It works like a talisman.”
Somewhere on the ground
It was searched and found
By Dushyanta, the king
With no miracle happening.
The girl said, “It’s a talisman.
That can be picked up by none
By chance, when it falls,
Excepting three persons.”
“The boy, his mother
And also his father,
When others take
It’ll turn into snake.”
“It never turned snake
When you tried to take,
So, you’re his father.
I’ll inform his mother.”
Sakuntala came out,
Slowly from the hut.
She was surprised
To see her husband.
“Oh dear, how harsh I was
But now I fully realize.
I’m fortunate to see you.
What I say now is true.”
When he said like this,
She accepted his words,
Saying, “It’s our fate
That kept us separate.”
The little boy was curious
To know, who he was?
To explain the kid, she tried
But her voice got choked.
It was a glorious end,
An occasion Godsend,
That brought the family
Together again happily.
Sarvadamanan, their son
As Bharath was later known
It was by this famous son,
This country, Bharath was born.
The End
What a wonderful happily ever after ending to your enchanting epic. My congratulations are yours as always. It is my pleasure to be a small part of all of your creative adventures. With much admiration, Sandra
When I started I was not much interested to read.But as I read through, I could not take off my eyes from the poem.It was like actual story telling............Excellent narration of Dushynatha Shakuntala's epic in English.I.Beautiful words well arranged with rhythm and rhyme. relished it.My 10.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/25/2024 4:00:08 PM # 1.0.0.1119
What a difficult time Sakuntala would have had to bring up her son without father. Even for Dushyant it would have been difficult to be separated like that no? And the Child Bharath’s hard time to be in forest away from his noble father…Great union of great family. The ‘end’ fills the reader’s mind with bliss. Live long my mother land Bharath. Live long poet RR!