Sometimes our desires can lead to misery. This is what happened in the case of Sakuntala and Dushyanth, said Kidambi Narayanan in a discourse. King Dushyanth went to the forest hunting and saw the hermitage of sage Kanva. He found many sages and scholars there. Some were engaged in debates on Mimamsa; some in discussions on vyakarana; some in discussions on astrology. Dushyanth went in to pay his respects to Kanva. The sage was away, and Dushyanth was greeted by Kanva’s daughter Sakuntala. Dushyanth found her to his liking, and suggested that she should marry him.
But Sakuntala said Dushyanth should express his desire to Kanva. She said she was the biological daughter of Visvamitra and Menaka. She had been left on the banks of the Malini river by Menaka, where she was protected by Sakunta birds, and hence her name — Sakuntala. Kanva had found the baby and had brought her up. Dharma sastras identify three persons as one’s father. A child’s biological father is one. One who provides food is to be seen as a father. One who is prepared to lay down his life for a child is also deemed its father. So, Sakuntala said Kanva qualified to be called her father, for he had offered her food, care and protection. She said that to her, Kanva was akin to a God, and his decision regarding her marriage would be final.
But when Dushyanth kept arguing with her to marry him, she finally yielded. Dushyanth should not have married her without the sage’s consent. As a king, he should have shown more restraint. Sakuntala should have thought of the suitability of marriage to a king. She had had a humble upbringing. There was always the chance that a king might not give her the status she expected. But neither of them thought of the consequences of their marriage.
