Mb003. Sakuntala And Dushyanta Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

MAHABHARATA

King Dushyanta of Puru race,
He expanded his boundary space.
And he made it a vast empire.
Visitors who came did admire.

One day for a hot-chase hunt,
In the deep woods he went.
Near Sage Kanva's hermitage
Encamped all his entourage.

Out on a mission, the sage went,
While a word to meet, the king sent.
But Sakuntala, the sage's daughter,
She entertained the king better.

Known for his celibacy the sage,
How he had a girl of this age?
For this king's legitimate doubt
She told her story, all about.

"Visvamitra was a Royal Sage,
Whose penance at every stage,
It was by Lord Indra disturbed,
And the sage became perturbed."

"Lord Indra deputed one day,
The dancer, Menaka, all the way,
To spoil the Sage's penance,
With her lovely presence."

"With her arrival from the Heaven,
The place changed into charming one.
The fragrant smell everywhere,
It tempted the sage to woo with her."

"To passion his penance gave way.
A family man he became that day.
A girl child was born in time,
A victim he became of his whim."

"Near River Malini she was left,
For anyone to take her as a gift,
Sage Kanva who passed that way,
He took her home all the way."

"I'm that child now under his care,
Deeply indebted I'm to my father.
Please accept our hospitality,
And honour us by your nobility."

The entire story from Sakuntala,
Heard the anxious King Dushyanta.
He fell for her charm and beauty,
To take her as queen he was ready.

She stipulated condition one,
That to sit on the throne
In succession to him,
Her son had the claim.

In Gandharva wedding style,
They spent their days for a while.
To his capital he then returned,
But never back he turned.

He felt so much guilty
For his deeds faulty.
While in the absence of her father,
He shouldn't have stayed with her.

So he sent no royal emissary,
As he felt it was unnecessary,
To bring her at that stage,
For fear of facing the Sage.

Sakuntala gave birth to a son,
Over his arrival, the darling one,
Happy they were everyone.
He won their love and affection.

With her son, Kanva sent her
To the king, with escorts proper.
With tears, she explained her side,
But he knew not her, what he said.

She said "Oh king, embrace
The child, you'll then rejoice,
Be assured, our own son he's
The only proof what I say is? "

"His father the boy resembled, "
Said all the courtiers assembled.
Said a voice from the Heaven,
"The truth only she had spoken."

Bowing before the truth
The king took them both.
Her agony of the past
Thus it ended at last.

Simhadamana was the boy's name
Later, as Bharata, he was fame
His country by his name,
Barath it then became.

Sakuntala and Dushyanta both,
Stayed in the woods henceforth.
An emperor then the son became,
Who rose up to the height of fame!
____________________________
Note: In Kalidasa's Sakuntalam,
a different version goes like this:
King Dushyanta gave Sakuntala a
ring as a token of their secret wedding.
When Durvasa, the hot tempered sage
came to the Ashram, she was deeply
thinking about her husband.The sage
felt hurt and cursed that her husband
would forget her that moment.She
regretted and asked for pardon.The
Sage reduced the curse stating that
the king would come to remember
once he saw the ring he gave her.
Kanva sent her to the king with proper
escort.On the way the ring drops in a
sacred pool while she was taking bath.
The king didn't identify her.
Meanwhile, the ring was swallowed
by a fish, which a fisherman caught.
When he cut the fish he found the
King's ring.He gave it to the king
who recollected the past and took her
back as his queen.