Answer to Question #300039 in English for garg

Question

How does Kalidasa explore dramatic tension between the ascetic and the erotic elements in Abhijnanasakuntalam? Write an essay with illustrations from the first three acts of the play.

(atleast 400/500 words)

Answer 1

Shakuntala, also known as Abhijana Shakuntalam. King Dushyanta marries Shakuntala but must return to Hastinapur to fulfill his obligations. Dushyanta provides Shankuntala a ring to show the king when she goes to his courts to seek her position as queen. Shakuntala is preoccupied with her thoughts and neglects to attend to the sage Durvasa. The enraged sage curses her by casting a spell over Dhushyanta that causes her to forget about her existence. The only way to break the enchantment on the King is for Shakuntala to show him the ring. This play depicts Dushyanta and Shankuntala's encounter, marriage, separation, and reconciliation.

Kalidasa highlights the dramatic tension between ascetic and sexual components by demonstrating the difficulty that comes when the protagonists attempt to balance duty and love. There is a special tension in the dance between dharma and karma. The play's progression from the opposition of duty and love during Shakuntala's courtship to failed attempts to harmonize them in the middle of the play to reconciliation in the final act suggests that reconciling the competing goals of human existence is a lifelong journey, but that when that struggle is faithfully undertaken, it eventually leads to spiritual liberation. The tension is exemplified by Dusyanta, who is obligated as a king not to participate in love affairs but cannot resist his feelings for Shakuntala.

Abhigyan Shakuntalam is a play that tells the narrative of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala's love. Shakuntala was the Apsara Meneka's daughter and the daughter of the sage Vishwamitra. Shakuntala was abandoned at infancy by her parents and raised in the remote hermitage of the sage Kanva, where she grows into a gorgeous yet innocent woman. Shakuntala married King Dushyanta and had Bharat, after whom India was named. Shakuntala, likewise, is constrained by religious piety from engaging in love engagements. At that point, the King came out and declared his love to Shakuntala as well. They secretly married each other using the Gandharva form of marriage.

Dushyanta was out hunting when he was ready to shoot an antelope with his arrow when he was interrupted by a hermit. The King was told that the antelope belonged to the sage Kanva and that killing the antelope would violate the sacredness of the place. The King refused to slaughter the antelope and was welcomed to the hermitage. It was here that the King met Shankuntala for the first time.