सम्भव पर्व — शकुन्तलाको कथा

Vaishampayana said : When Dushyanta went away from the hermitage, making the (above) promises to Shakuntala, she gave birth to a boy of immeasurable energy. When the child grew only three years old, he became in splendour as blazing as the blazing fire. O Janamejaya, he was endued with great beauty, magnanimity and all accomplishments.

The best of pious men, Kanvas, performed all the rites ordained by the scriptures on that intelligent boy who began to grow up day by day.

The boy was gifted with sharp, strong and pearly teeth; he was strong enough to kill lions, he had all auspicious signs on his palms, he had a broad forehead, he was beautiful and strong.

Like a celestial child, he began daily to grow up. When he grew six years old, he was so strong that he seized and bound tigers, boars, buffaloes and elephants to the trees that stood near the hermitage.

He rode on some of these wild beasts; he seized some of them and sometimes he pursued some of them in playful mood. The dwellers of the hermitage of Kanva, (finding all this), gave him a name. (They said,) “As he subjugated all beasts, let him be called Sarvadamana". Thus the prince came to be called Sarvadamana, endued as he was with great strength, energy and powers.

Seeing the extraordinary acts of the boy, the Rishi (Kanva) told Shakuntala that the time had come when he should be installed as the heir-apparent.

Seeing the great strength of the boy, Kanva spoke to his disciples thus, "Take Shakuntala with her son from the hermitage to the house of her husband, blessed with all auspicious signs."

"It is not fit for women to live for ever in the house of their paternal or maternal relations. Such residence destroys their good name, good conduct and virtue. Therefore, take her to her husband's house without delay."

The greatly effulgent disciples (of Kanva), having promised to do it, started with Shakuntala and her son towards the city of Hastinapur.

That beauty of fair eye-brows, taking her lotus-eyed son of celestial beauty with her, left the forest where she had first met Dushyanta.

Having sent words, she entered the royal court with her son, as effulgent as the morning sun. And she was then introduced to him.

The disciples of the Rishi, having told the king everything, returned to the hermitage. And Shakuntala, after duly worshipping the

Shakuntala said : O King, this is your son. Let him be installed as your heir-apparent. O King, this god-like boy was begotten by you on me. O best of men, fulfil now the promise you made of me.

O illustrious man, call to your mind the agreement you made with me on the occasion of our marriage at the hermitage of Kanva.

Having heard her words, the King remembered everything, but he said, “I remember nothing. O wicked ascetic woman, to whom do you belong?"

"I do not remember to have any connection with you with regard to (either) Dharma, Artha and Kama. Go or stay or do whatever you please."

Thus being addressed, the beautiful ascetic lady was filled with shame. She lost her consciousness from grief and she stood like a wooden post.

Soon became her eyes red like copper; her lips began to quiver; she cast upon the king her (angry) glances which seemed to burn him.

Her rising anger and blazing fire of her asceticism she kept down with a great effort.

Collecting her thought in a moment, she thus addressed her husband looking straight at him in grief and in anger. “O great king, knowing everything, how can you, like a mean and inferior man, say that you know nothing'?

Your heart is the witness to the truth or to the falsehood of my words. Therefore, speak the truth and do not degrade yourself.

He, who has one thing in his mind, but represents another thing to others, is a thief and a robber of his own self. What sin is he not capable of committing?

You think that you alone know what you did. But do you not know that the great Omniscient One dwells in your heart. He knows all your sins and you sin in his presence.

Man, when sinning, thinks that no one sees him. But he is seen by the celestials and by the Deity who dwells in every heart.

The sun, the moon, the air, the fire, the earth, the sky, the water, the heart, Yama, the day, the night, the twilight and Dharma see every act of man.

Yama, the son of Vivasvata, takes no account of the sins of that man with whom the Deity, the witness of all acts, remains pleased.

But that sinner, with whom the great Deity is not pleased, is punished by Yama for his wicked deeds.

He, who falsely represents his self and thus degrades himself, is never blessed by the celestials. Even his own soul does not bless him. I have come of my own accord, but I am a devoted wife to my husband. Do not disrespect me. I am your wife and deserve to be treated respectfully.

Why do you treat me before all these men like an ordinary woman? I am certainly not crying in the wilderness. Do you not hear me?

O Dushyanta, If you refuse what I ask you to do, your head will to day be divided into a thousand pieces.

The learned men of old say that the husband himself, entering into the womb of his wife, comes out as the son. Therefore, the wife is called Jaya.

The son, that is born to a wise man, rescues the spirits of his deceased ancestors.

Because the son rescues his ancestors from the hell, called Put, therefore he has been called by the self-created (Brahma) himself as Putra.

A man conquers the world by the birth of a son; he enjoys eternity by that of a grandson; the great grandfathers enjoy eternal happiness by the birth of a grandson's son.

She is a true wife who is a good housewife; she is a true wife whose heart is devoted to her husband; she is a true wife who is faithful to her husband,

A man's half is his wife, the wife is her husband's best of friends; the wife is the source of Dharma, Artha and Kama; the wife is the source of salvation.

Those that have wives can perform religious acts; those that have wives lead domestic lives. Those that have wives can be happy and those that have wives can achieve good fortune.

The sweet-speeched wives their husband's friends on the occasion of joy; they are as fathers on occasions of religious acts; they are as mothers in the hours of illness and are woe.

Even in the deep forest, the wife is the refreshment and solace to her roaming husband. He who has a wife, is trusted by all. The wife, therefore, is man's great means of salvation.

When the husband goes to the land of Yama, leaving this world, it is the devoted wife only that accompanies him there.

The wife, gone before (dying before her husband), waits for the spirit of her husband and if the husband goes before, the chaste wife soon follows him.

O king, for all these reasons, marriage exists (in this world). The husband enjoys the company of his wife, both here in this world and hereafter.

The learned men have said that a man himself is born as his son; therefore, a man whose wife has given birth to a son, should look upon her as his mother.

Looking at the face of the son, begotten on his wife, a man sees his own face as he does in a mirror; and feels himself as happy as a virtuous man attaining to heaven.

Men, burnt out by mental grief or afflicted by disease, feel as much relieved in the company of their wives as a perspiring man does in a cool bath.

No man, even in anger, should even do any thing that is disagreeable to his wife; for happiness, joy, virtue and everything depend on the wife.

Wife is the sacred soil in which the husband is born again. Even Rishis cannot create men without women.

What is a greater happiness to a father than what the father feels when his son, running to him, clasps him with his (tiny little) arms, though his body is full of dust and dirt?

Why are you treating with indifference this your son who has himself come to you and who is wistfully casting his glances towards you? Even ants support their off-spring and do not destroy their eggs. Why then should you not, being learned in the rules of piety, support your own child?

The touch of the sandal-paste, that of women and water, is not so pleasing as that of one's own infant son, locked in his embrace.

As the Brahmana is the best among bipeds (men), as cow is the best among quadrupeds, as preceptor is the best among all superiors, so is the son among all objects pleasing to the touch.

Let this handsome son touch you in your embrace. There is nothing in the world more pleasing to the touch than that of a son.

O chastiser of foes, O great king, I gave birth to this boy, the dispeller of your grief, after the completion of three years. O descendant of the Puru race, when I was in the lying-in room, the following words were uttered in the sky, He shall perform one hundred horse-sacrifices.

Men, going to places remote from their homes, take up other men's sons on their laps and smelling their heads, feel great happiness.

You know that the Brahmanas utter the following Vedic Mantras at the birthday, ceremony of the child.

“You are born of my body; you have sprung from my heart. You are myself in the form of my son. Live for one hundred years."

"My life depends on you. The continuation of my race also depends on you. Therefore, live in happiness for one hundred years."

He (this boy) has sprung from your body, he is a second being begotten from you. Behold your own self in your own son, as you see your image in the clear waters of the lake.

As the sacrificial fire is kindled from the domestic fire, so has this one (your son), sprung from you. Though you are one, you have divided yourself in two. O king, in your hunting expedition, I was approached by you when I was a virgin in my father's hermitage.

Urvashi, Purvachitti, Sahajanya, Menaka, Vishvachi and Ghritachi, these are the six foremost Apsaras.

Amongst them again, Menaka, born of a Brahmana, is the first. Descending from heaven on earth, she gave me birth from her association with Vishvamitra.

The Apsara Menaka gave me birth in a valley of the Himalayas. Devoid of affections, she went away, leaving me there, as if I was a child of some others.

What great sin did I commit of old in some other life that I was cast away by my parents in my infancy and now I am cast away by you?

Cast off from you, I am ready to go back to the hermitage. But you should not cast off this child who is your own son.

Dushyanta said : O Shakuntala, I do not know that I begot this child on you. Women generally speak falsehood. Who will believe your words? Your mother is lewd Menaka, destitute of affection; she cast off you in the valley of the Himalayas as one casts off the flowers after offering them to the gods.

Your father also is lustful Vishvamitra of the Kshatriya race, destitute of all affection, the ! man who was tempted to become a Brahmana.

But (if you say), Menaka is the foremost of Apsaras and Vishvamitra is the foremost of Rishis, why then do you, being their daughter, speak like a lewd woman?

Your these words deserve no credence. Are you not ashamed to utter them, specially before me? Go away, O wicked ascetic woman.

Where is now that best of great Rishis (Vishvamitra) and that best of Apsaras Menaka? And where are you, (though) in the humble garb of ascetics.

Your this son is very big and appears to be very strong. How has he, within so short time, grown up like a Sala sprout?

You are born very low, you speak also like a lewd woman. You were lustfully conceived by Menaka.

O ascetic woman, all that you say is quite unknown to me. I do not know you. Go away wherever you please.

Shakuntala said: O king, you (can) see the faults of others, though they may be as small as the mustard seed. But you can not see your own faults, though they are as big as the Bilva fruit.

Menaka is a celestial, (nay) Menaka is considered to be the best of celestial. O Dushyanta, my birth is noble than your own.

O great king, you walk on earth, but I roam in the sky. Know that the difference between you and me is like that of a mustard seed and the Meru (mountain).

O king, behold, I can go to the abodes of Indra, Kubera, Yama and Varuna.

O sinless man, there is a proverb which I am going to mention to you; (but I am not doing it) from any evil motive, but only as an example. Therefore, kindly pardon me for referring to it.

The ugly man, until he sees his face in a mirror, considers himself more handsome than others.

But when he sees his own face in the mirror, it is then that he perceives the difference between himself and others.

He, who is really very handsome, never taunts others. He, who too much vilifies others, is only considered to be a reviler.

As the swine seeks for the dirt and filth even when it is in a flower-garden, so does a wicked man chose only evil out of the evil and the good that others speak.

But as the geese always extract milk, though inixed with water, so does a wise man accept only what is good from the speech that is intermixed with both good and evil.

Honest men always feel pain to speak ill of others, but wicked men always derive pleasure in doing it.

Honest men always feel pleasure in showing respect towards the old (good men), but the fools always feel pleasure in abusing them. Honest men are happy in not seeking others' fault, but the fools are happy in doing it. The wicked always speak ill of honest men, but honest men never injure the wicked, even if injured by them.

What could be more ridiculous in the world than this, that those that are wicked should represent really honest men as wicked.

Even atheists are afraid of those who have fallen from truth and virtue, as all men are afraid of the snakes of virulent poison. (When such is the case with an atheist), what shall I speak of me who is atheist?

The man, who having begotten a son who is his own image, does not look after him, never gains the higher worlds. The celestial destroy his good fortune an wealth.

The Pitris (ancestors) have said that the son continues the race and supports the relations; therefore, to give birth to a son is the best of all pious acts. Therefore, your this son should not be abandoned.

Manu has said that there are five kinds of sons, namely those begotten by one on his wife, those obtained from others, those purchased for a price, those reared out of affection and those begotten on other women.

Sons support the religion and achievements of men; they increase their happiness; they rescue the dead ancestor from hell.

Therefore, O best of kings, it is not proper for you to abandon your son. O king of the earth, cherish your own self, truth and virtue, more more (by cherishing your this son). () best of the kings, it is not proper for you to play hypocrite's in this matter.

The dedication of a tank is meritorious than that of one hundred wells. A sacrifice is meritorious than the dedication of a tank. But (to beget a son) is inore meritorious than the celebration of sacrifices. Truth (however) is more meritorious than the birth of one hundred sons.

If one thousand horse-sacrifices and truth were weighed, truth would be found heavier than one thousand horse-sacrifices.

O king, I tell you, truth is equal to the study of the entire Vedas and ablutions in all the sacred pilgrimages.

There is no virtue equal to truth, there is nothing (in this world) superior to truth. And there is nothing (again) more sinful than falsehood.

O king, truth is the great Brahma, truth is the great vow; therefore, O king, do not violate your pledge. Let truth and yourself be ever united.

If, however, you are united with falsehood, li you do not place any credence on my word, I shall go away from this place of my own accord. Your companionship should not be sought after.

But, ( Dushyanta, (know this for a certainty), that when you are dead, my this son shall rule the whole earth, surrounded by the four seas and adorned by the king of mountains.

Vaishampayana said : Having said all this to the king, Shakuntala turned her back. Thereupon a voice from the sky, coming from one who had no visible shape, addressed Dushyanta who was sitting, surrounded by his ministers, priests and Ritvikas.

(It said), “O Dushyanta, the mother is but a sheath of flesh (within which the son dwells). The son, sprung from the father, is the father himself. Therefore, cherish your son and do not insult Shakuntala. O best of men, the son begotten by one's own self, rescues him from the abode of Yama. You are the father of this son. Shakuntala has spoken the truth. The husband divides his body in two parts and is born in the womb of his wife as the son.

O king, O Dushyanta, therefore, cherish your this son, born of Shakuntala. To forsake one's own son and to live thereafter is a great misfortune.

Therefore, O descendant of the Puru race, cherish your this high-souled son, born of Shakuntala. As you will cherish this child at our word, therefore, your this son will be known by the name of Bharata.

Having heard these words of the dwellers of heaven, the king of the Puru race was much pleased and addressing his priests and ministers, he said : “Hear all of you the words of the messenger of heaven."

"I myself know that this boy is my son. If I had accepted him as my son at Shakuntala's words, my people would have been suspicious and my son also would not have been considered to be pure (of pure birth).”

Vaishampayana said : O descendant of the Virata race, the king was exceedingly pleased, because the purity of the birth of his son was established by the messenger of heaven.

He then performed with joy all those rites which a father should perform for his son.

He smelt his son's head; he embraced him with affection. The Brahmanas uttered blessings on him and the bards began to applaud him. The king then enjoyed the great pleasure that one feels at the touch of one's own son.

Dushyanta also received his wife (Shakuntala) with all honour and affection. Affectionately pacifying her, he spoke to her thus,

“O lady, my union with you took place in private. None knew of it and therefore, it is natural that people should have thought that our union was only out of lust and that we were not husband and wife. This son, installed as my heir-apparent, would have been considered as a man of impure birth. Therefore, I was thinking how best to establish your purity.

"O dearest, O lady of beautiful eyes, I have forgiven you for all the hard words you have uttered in anger. You are my darling.”

O descendant of the Bharata race, having spoken thus to his dear queen (Shakuntala), the royal sage Dushyanta, received her with the presents of perfume, food and drink.

The king Dushyanta, thereupon, installed the son of Shakuntala as his heir-apparent bestowing upon him the name of Bharata.

From that day the invincible car of Bharata, like the car of the celestials, with its famous and bright wheels, traversed the whole earth, filling it with its rattle.

The son of Dushyanta (Bharata) brought under his sway all the kings of the world. He ruled his subjects virtuously and gained great fame.

That king (Bharata) was known by the name of Chakravarti and Sarvabhauma. He performed many sacrifices like Indra, the lord of the Marutas.

Kanva was the chief priest in those sacrifices and great offerings were made to the Brahmanas. The fortunate king performed both the cow and the horse-sacrifices. Bharata gave one thousand gold coins to Kanva as his sacrificial fee.

From this Bharata has followed this, "achievement of Bharata," from him has sprung this great race (of Bharata.) All kings that were born after him are called after his name.

And in this Bharata race were many godlike and greatly powerful best of monarchs. They were like Brahma himself. Their names are countless. O descendant of the Bharata race, I shall name only the chief ones, who were all blessed with great fortune and devoted to truth and honesty. They were all like the celestial.