Episode 1- The Hunting..

(Just after this introduction, chasing the deer by chariot, armed with bows and arrows on their hands, the king and Sarathi enter)

Charioteer- (Seeing the king and the deer)

God bless you! Glancing at the black deer,

equipped with properly prepared Bow to shoot 

you look like Lord Shiva, carrying Pinak Bow 

when he was chasing the legendry deer.               (6)

King- Charioteer! I am attracted upto this long distance by this deer. Again see-

Leaping high in the sky this deer occasionally runs on earth

Seeing back, beautifully turns his neck frequently 

Curves his back along with exterior part of body 

With a fear to be hurted by the arrow, being tired- 

Spreads half eaten Kusha on the path with open mouth.  (7)

Being chased by me, then, how this deer hardly worth seeing?

Charioteer- Ayusman! The land is zig-zag. So I have tied the bridles and the speed of the chariot is made  slow or decreased. That is why this deer has become an object with distance or It is for this reason that the  distance between chariot and  deer has increased. Now, on  plain land, this willn’t be unreachable.

King- Right then, loose the  bridles.
Charioteer- Ayusman as you  order.

   (Seeing the  speed of Charriot)

Ayusman! look , look-

Loosing the bridles the yoked horses of the chariot 

Are lengthening the exterior part of their body  

Making the upper part of their tail vibrationless 

The ears standing up unwavering or motionless 

Failing  to transgress the dust blowed up by themselves 

As  if, unable  to keep pace with the speed  of the deer. (8)

King- It’s true  These horses are defeating the horses of Sun or Indra- the king of Gods. For-

The tiny object becomes vast atonce

A thing broken amidst seems interlinked 

A thing broken amidst seems interlinked 

Though crooked by nature becomes straight for eyes 

For me, in a moment, no object is far and near  

As  the velocity of the chariot makes it so. (9)

Hey Charioteer ! see this deer being killed .

(Saying this he imposes to act shooting arrow.)

(Voice from behind the stage)

Hay king ! Hay King !

Oh king ! this is  tamed deer of  Ashram. This is not worth killing . Not worth killing !

Charioteer- (After hearing & seeing)  Ayusman ! These devotees  have come between you and this black deer.

King- (With perplexity). Then, stop the horses. 

Charioteer- Very well. (saying stops the horses). 

                    (Afterwards)

Excluding himself third i.e., the devotee enters with two pupils.

Vaikhanas-  (Raising his hand) Rajan ! This is Ashram’s deer. Not worth killing. Not worth killing. 

Shooting this tender deer is like burning the cotton heap

            Whereas the life of these young deers is so agile 

            Can’t be compared with the stroke of your sharp arrows            

Which are powerful and energetic like Thunderbolt.  (10)

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Characters in the scene

King : Dushyanta.....hero of the play.

Charioteer: Sarthi(in Hindi) Driver of king's Chariot.

Vaikhanas : An Ashram's devotee.

ACT- FIRST

        ACT -I

        I adore, the Eight Idol Shiva-

The watery-idol being the first creation of God

The Fire which carries all oblations 

And offers them to Heaven along with 

The Yajman, the performer of  ‘Yagya’

Two idols of Sun and Moon, creating time 

The vast Sky having the potential of world

Subject to ears, life germinator, the Earth

Being the prime cause of all seeds 

The Air, giving life to all creatures 

May Lord Shiva save you all !

Along with  his Eight aforesaid idols.   (1)

                                                     (After the completion of Avocation)

Sutradhar- (Looking upto the sky)  Arye ! if  stage preparations are finished, come here.

                                                                (After entrance )
Nati- Arya Putra! It is me. Order me which work should  I obey ?


Sutradhar-   Arye ! This  council is crowded with so many scholars. Today, definitely we have to produce a       new play namely Abhigyan Shakuntalam. Its theme  is created by Kalidas. So we have to make  efforts about every character .

Nati- After doing the practice of acting under the  directions of Arya, there will not be any drawback.
Sutradhar-   Arya ! I tell you the fact-

  I don’t think the use of my Acting Science right  

Highly educated  man’s mind is doubtful about them.     (2)

Nati- Arya! certainly it is so. Order me what I have to do next ?
Sutradhar-  Sing the song about  Autumn which has begun just now and is worth.  Because this time-

These days it’s good to bath in water 

The wood air is sweet with fragrance touching petals  

Under the dense shadow we sleep easily

At the end of the day these become beautiful. (3)

Nati-   Well, (She sings)

Kind hearted virgins full of love passion

A little having  kissed by flower- bees

Siris flowers are decorating their ears

With their delicate exterior part full of nector. (4)

Sutradhar- Arye! You have sung nice. The heart beating of audiences has tied up with Raga, and it seems as if  they are like paintings on canvas. Then , how to entertain them and under what matter?

Nati- Just  some time ago, it were you  respected  Arya who ordered  to act the grand  play— Abhigyan Shakuntalam.
Sutradhar- Arye! You remembered well. Certainly, this time I had
forgotten. Because—

The Raga of this heart captivating song has attracted me

As this king Dushyanta is being captivated by very fast deer. (5)

                            (After this discussion Sutradhar and Nati disappear from the stage)
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Characters On Stage: 
Sutradhar: (Anchor) One who operates the acting material and equipments of the play on stage, or in  other words who manages these things on the stage. In recent times Sutradhar  may be called stage Manager or Anchor.

Nati - Sutradhar’s wife or assistant, is  called Nati. Both of them introduce  about the writer of the  play and  give hints  about the story in advance.
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Introduction To AbhigyanShakuntalam

The Story of AbhigyanShakuntalam 

          There are many tales, fables and episodes in our folklore to which the dust of time has covered up and these are ultimately forgotten. Kalidas has selected his story out of such things .i.e., the  story of  Dushyanta and  Rishikanya. Shakuntala and by  giving it an artistic and cultural touch and puts it before his audiences in the form of a poetic  drama not only for entertainment but for moral purpose also.

In this play, chasing krishnsar deer by the chariot, King Dushyanta enters Kulpati karnva’s Ashram. Willing to kill the deer, the king listens the voice of Vaikhanas ( Yagyapurush)-

“King  this is the tamed deer of Ashram. Don’t kill him,  Don’t  kill him.” The king stops hunting and enters the Ashram in the absence of Maharshi karnva. There he sees Shakuntala who is walking  in Ashram’s garden with her  Sakhies –Priyamvada and  Ansuya. The  King is fascinated by the simplicity and matchless beauty of Shakuntala. She is also attracted towards the majestic king who is an embodiment of cupid and both of them fall in love with each other. Lost in the realms of love they cross all the moral limits. The King gives his royal ring to Shakuntala as a token  in the sweet memory of their Gandharva-vivah (Love-marriage) and  returns to his capital, Hastinapur. 

After sometime Karnva is back to his Ashram and comes to know all  about this incidence and also about Shakuntala’s pregnancy by his Tapoval. (Brahmgyan).

  Karnva being her spiritual father sends Shakuntala to her husband’s house, But  king Dushyanta doesn’t recognise Shakuntala due to Durvasha’s curse and he doesn’t  accept her as his wife. Shakuntala had already lost the royal ring and so she couldn’t show the evidence of their marriage and  with a dejected  heart goes to some unknown destination. After  sometime a fisherman (Dheevar) catches  a fish. When he cuts the fish he gets the royal ring in the belley of the fish. He handsover the ring to King Dushyanta. Seeing the ring, king  Dushyanta recalls all about his Gandharva vivah with Shakuntala. He is sad and the separation of Shakuntala makes him  worried.

In the meantime, the king gets the message of Indra by Matali and goes to Heaven where he defeats and kills Demon- Durjay. On his way back he gets down on to ‘Hemkoot Parvat to  meet and  pray Gods’ parents- kashyap and Aditi. There he comes across his brave son Sarvdaman (Bharat) and his wife Shakuntala . After taking the blessing of Kashyap and Aditi, the king happily comes back to his capital with his wife and son. Thus  divided into seven acts, the play ends..................Wait Till Next Post....:-)

 ABHIGYAN-SHAKUNTALAM (Love Story)

             Abhigyan Shakuntalam is one of the greatest Hindu Classic Play written by a towering personality of Sanskrit literature Kalidasa. Abhigyan Shakuntalam is a unique creation of Kalidas which is ever fresh and relevant due to  its artistic as well as cultural and spiritual values. As I think, after Ramcharitmanas, it is the second most popular play not in India but  in abroad also.

Here I am going to post whole Play as a sequence of act. A brief of the Play is discussed in this post.

The original story of Abhigyanshakutalam has been taken from Vedvyas' Mahabharat, Skandhpuran and other historical creations, but Kalidas has treated those historical events  by giving them a moral and literary touch indicating human nature as well as and inspired his spectators and readers. I will post short story of this amazing play in My Next Post......................:-)