This week, we’re finally beginning on the Mahabharat! Kind of. We won’t get to the main story, but we’ll cover what happened at the very very beginning. There are some ties to the Ramayana as well. We’ll learn that if you ever get engaged to someone you shouldn’t just forget about them! Also, if you lose a ring in a river, it might show up sooner or later – on your dinner table!
The King walked up to the girl whom he had never met and said “Hello, Have you seen a deer with an arrow in it? And will you marry me?”
But let’s skip back a little. Or maybe a lot. Shakuntala was the daughter of Vishwamitra and Menaka. We’ve encountered Vishwamitra before during the Ramayan Episode 15 – “Rishi vs Rishi: Un-civil war” and Episode 16 – “Six…teen flags”. Those episodes are not essential for you to enjoy this one.
Vishwamitra, whose name literally translates to “the friend of the world” nevertheless has powers that can destroy the world when he’s angry. Sort of like the Incredible Hulk.
Menaka, Shakuntala’s mom, was an Apsara. Apsaras were basically the Indian mythology version of a cross between a fairy and a beauty contest winner. Like fairies, they had some limited amount of magic, and like beauty contest winners, they could be counted on to sell lots of self-care products to millions of followers.
Vishwamitra who’d started off as a King went through a few rounds of praying to the Gods before he acquired all his powers. Meanwhile, Indra, the King of the Devs felt threatened and decided to do something about it. He sent down Menaka to distract Vishwamitra from his prayers. And it worked! But it worked a little too well. Menaka and Vishwamitra had a baby girl together. They named her Shakuntala. And right after they gave her up for adoption.
It was a tricky situation. Vishwamitra was on a revenge mission against someone who’d denied him a magic cow. He couldn’t babysit! And Menaka had to return to Heaven, it was her home. And that home wouldn’t allow an ordinary human in – so she had to leave her newborn baby daughter behind.
So they left the baby near Rishi Kanva’s hut and quickly exited the scene, stage left.
When the Rishi came back home, he was shocked to discover a baby girl at his doorstep! But she was okay, some birds were taking care of her!
Kanva named the girl Shankuntala, which literally means “protected by birds”. He brought her up as if she were his own daughter. When she grew up, she took after her mom. She had the charisma of an Apsara, not that of a big mean, green angry monster.
Shakuntala lived in a hut with her adoptive father. While he was out for days at a time praying and stuff, she managed her home and garden.
And she was in the garden when she met King Dushyant.
Dushyant had been hunting as Kings often do to escape the pressures of palace life.
He’d shot an arrow which had definitely hit a deer, but not killed it. So the deer had wandered off and he’d tracked it somewhere close. He stumbled into Shakuntala’s garden.
It was love at first sight for both of them. And that’s how he came to ask the very awkward question at the beginning of the story.
Shakuntala replied – No of course she wouldn’t help him find a wounded deer. Didn’t they have better things to do, like planning their wedding?
Dushyant spent a few days with Shakuntala, but then he had to go back to his kingdom.
He couldn’t neglect it forever. Besides he liked having cooks, maids, and miscellaneous household staff wait on him. At the hut it was a brutal world, where he’d even had to tie his own shoelaces, can you imagine?
Dushyant did give her an engagement ring of sorts, however. Being a King he had several on his fingers and one of them would do just as well.
He invited Shakuntala to go along.
But Shakuntala couldn’t go! Her dad, Kanva, had to be informed somehow. It’s not like he had a cellphone she could call him upon.
So she would stay back. But she promised to come to him at the palace the moment her father returned.
Neither of them thought of simply sending him an email, or maybe just leaving a letter for him.
Dushyant hurried away back to his palace, while Shakuntala attempted to get back to her routine. She didn’t manage very well though because her thoughts were constantly filled with eager anticipation of having a grand wedding and becoming the Queen.
That’s why, when the Rishi Durvasa arrived at her doorstep she did not notice him right away.
And that, angered Durvasa!
If there’s one Rishi whom you do not want to displease that’s Durvasa. Vishwamitra is quick to get angry as well, but Vishwamitra even in his darkest moments isn’t petty. Durvasa on the other hand goes out of his way to make life difficult for others. We’ll see more of this in future episodes.
So anyway, Durvasa arrived at Shakuntala’s doorstep looking for a handout, a good dinner, and a place to sleep that night.
Durvasa almost tripped on the stairs. That put him in a foul mood. And when no one answered the doorbell a few times, he got angrier!
But he couldn’t very well fault the owners for not being home. He turned away and started to move on to the next house. And then he saw Shakuntala. She was in the garden daydreaming about life with Dushyant.
Shakuntala saw Durvasa and rushed to him. But it was too late. That her thoughts were on Dushyant was not enough of an excuse.
Durvasa cursed her on the spot! This person she was thinking of, this Dushyant, would forget her!
And at that very moment, far away in his palace, Dushyant experienced a sudden jolt. He looked again at the phone he was holding and wondered – why was he browsing for wedding decoration ideas on Pinterest? It’s almost as if a wedding had been planned. Which was completely silly – no one he knew was going to get married.
And wait a minute, it seemed like he was missing a ring on his finger? Oh well, it must have fallen off on his hunting trip. The recent hunting trip that lasted a whole week, and during that time absolutely NOTHING happened.
Shakuntala meanwhile pleaded with Durvasa to please not be so harsh on her! Her whole life was at stake.
Durvasa was petty but he couldn’t stand to see Shakuntala crying. Especially after she’d rolled out the red carpet for him, breaking out the best wine and cooking exquisite meals and even allowing him to use the presidential suite in the hermitage. He finally relented. “Alright, alright, enough with the tears” he said. “Dushyant will get his memory back if he sees an object that connects the two of you”.
This delighted Shakuntala. She immediately looked at the ring that Dushyant had given her.
She thanked Durvasa who then went on his way
Not long after Shakuntala’s dad returned. She filled him in on everything that had happened.
And the two immediately set off for Dushyant’s palace.
On the way, they stopped to drink some water in a nearby river. While grabbing some water from the river, the King’s ring slipped off Shakuntala’s finger. Within an instant it was out of sight. Nothing she could do to get it back. She cried out in despair.
Nothing could be done now.
She resolved to keep her cool. Maybe the King would remember her without the ring as well. Durvasa hadn’t specified what qualified as a means to bring back Dushyant’s lost memories. Would seeing her do the trick? What had she got to lose anyway?
Turns out, she had plenty to lose. Face, for one thing. Dushyant received them warmly enough but as if there were any of his other subjects. Not as a wife and father in law. When they began their story, it was clear to him that Shakuntala and her “dad” were just scammers. Hadn’t the police department just issued a cautionary note about potential tricksters in the area, just the other day? These must be the ones. He had the crying daughter and her screaming father kicked out of course.
Shakuntala was devastated. She had no hopes of ever being back with Dushyant now that her ring was irretrievably lost.
She went back to her life in the hut, but things never went back to normal. And a few months later, she gave birth to a baby boy. She named him Bharat.
Many years later, let’s cut back to Dushyant. Or rather to Dushyant’s dinner table.
His chef had cooked his favorite! Fish! But as he began to dig in, something fell on to his plate with a clink!
It looked like a ring. Yes! It was a ring. His ring! The one he’d been missing.
Amazing, it must have been in the fish. But he didn’t recall losing it near a river or something.
He took a closer look and then had a sudden jolt as his memories of Shakuntala came flooding back! He immediately panicked. His Shakuntala, what had happened to her after all these years!
He rushed back to what he remembered of her home. As he got closer, he came across a curious scene. There was a little boy about 7 or 8 years old who seemed to be some kind of circus trainer or something. He was literally putting his hand in the lion’s mouth.
He rushed to the boy’s assistance, but the boy simply shooed him away. “Stop or you’ll make me lose track” said the boy.
The boy had been counting teeth in the lion’s mouth. It wasn’t a tame lion, but the boy had no problems in keeping it under control.
Amazed at this boy’s courage, Dushyant asked who he was.
“I am prince Bharat, son of Shakuntala and Dushyant”
The answer immediately filled the King with pride and emotion at the same time.
Father and son went home together. There was a tearful reunion, with the three of them hugging each other.
Shakuntala did get the grand celebration she had been hoping for. And Bharat would go on to rule the country.
That’s all for now
A few notes
We haven’t met Menaka before, but we have met another Apsara – Anjana in “Episode 25 – Up, Up and Away”, as Hanuman’s mom.
Vishwamitra is one of the direct links between the Ramayan and the Mahabharat.
The story of how the Mahabharat was written is itself an interesting tale, but I’ll reserve that for a future episode.
Most of the Mahabharat characters are descendants of Bharat.
Bhaarath as an alternative name for India comes from Prince Bharat’s name.
This Bharat should not be confused with Ram’s brother in the Ramayan, who is a completely different person.
That’s all for this week.
Next Time
Later this week in the character of the Week Mini-Episode, we’ll meet an avatar of Vishnu. He’s short in stature when he wants to be, and all he wants is just the bit of land that he can cover in three steps
I’ll see you later!