Reading Notes: Sakuntala (Part 3)
Sakuntala: The Curse
In this part of the story, Sakuntala is visited by a hermit from another village. He was hungry and began to ask Sakuntala for food, but Sakuntala was so absorbed in her thoughts of Dushmanta that she completely ignored the hermit. Outraged, he placed a curse on her.
"May the one you're thinking of forget you!"
Sakuntala's friends heard the angry man, and came to sooth him. They apologized for Sakuntala's behavior and explained her situation and asked for his forgiveness. He rephrased his curse and said that as long as she has a souvenir from her love, he will never forget her. Her friends were relieved, thinking of the ring that Dushmanta had gave her before he left.
Weeks go by, and still no messengers come to bring Sakuntala to the kingdom. Her stomach slowly starts to swell as she is also pregnant. She begins to worry that they will never come, and many of her friends and family tell her that she should go ahead to the kingdom, but she doesn't want to embarrass Dushmanta. Eventually, Sakuntala and her aunt and some other men who she considered uncles journeyed to the kingdom. But before then, she gave tearful goodbyes to her friends and uncle, who she believed she would never see again.
I think this part of the story is important because it really shows how important friends and family are when life knocks you down. Sakuntala's friends defended her and her uncle and aunt support her in going to the kingdom to see her husband. If I were to recreate this, I would add more descriptions and dialogue between her and her uncle, who is more like a father. I also would like to add a scene where she loses the ring but doesn't notice, because the original story never told how she lost the ring. I think adding that part would help the readers understand later how it was lost, and thus found.
Bibliography: Sakuntala, by Sunity Devee from "Nine Ideal Indian Women" pages 65-69.
In this part of the story, Sakuntala is visited by a hermit from another village. He was hungry and began to ask Sakuntala for food, but Sakuntala was so absorbed in her thoughts of Dushmanta that she completely ignored the hermit. Outraged, he placed a curse on her.
"May the one you're thinking of forget you!"
Sakuntala's friends heard the angry man, and came to sooth him. They apologized for Sakuntala's behavior and explained her situation and asked for his forgiveness. He rephrased his curse and said that as long as she has a souvenir from her love, he will never forget her. Her friends were relieved, thinking of the ring that Dushmanta had gave her before he left.
Weeks go by, and still no messengers come to bring Sakuntala to the kingdom. Her stomach slowly starts to swell as she is also pregnant. She begins to worry that they will never come, and many of her friends and family tell her that she should go ahead to the kingdom, but she doesn't want to embarrass Dushmanta. Eventually, Sakuntala and her aunt and some other men who she considered uncles journeyed to the kingdom. But before then, she gave tearful goodbyes to her friends and uncle, who she believed she would never see again.
I think this part of the story is important because it really shows how important friends and family are when life knocks you down. Sakuntala's friends defended her and her uncle and aunt support her in going to the kingdom to see her husband. If I were to recreate this, I would add more descriptions and dialogue between her and her uncle, who is more like a father. I also would like to add a scene where she loses the ring but doesn't notice, because the original story never told how she lost the ring. I think adding that part would help the readers understand later how it was lost, and thus found.
(Sakuntala and the hermit, Wikipedia Commons)
Bibliography: Sakuntala, by Sunity Devee from "Nine Ideal Indian Women" pages 65-69.
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