Sakuntala: A Love So Beautiful !!!

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yawares
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Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2012 3:23 pm

Sakuntala: A Love So Beautiful !!!

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Dear Members,

This Sunday I, Yawares proudly present one of the most beautiful love story of all time and my favorite song by Michael Bolton.
A Love So Beautiful: :heart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn4K3_OF ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sakuntala is considered to be the hottest romantic Indian story, which was ever written with full of romance and suspense. It is a love story between world's the most beautiful woman and the handsome brave young king of Hastinapur.The story has often been printed, and there are many translations into the languages of Europe .

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Sakuntala: A Love So Beautiful!
[Edited by Yawares Sastri from: voices.yahoo.com/sakuntala and http://kunjunny.blogspot.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Sakuntala was the daughter of sage Viswamitra born of the celestial damsel, Menaka. Her beauty was incomparable in the three worlds. The sage was performing long years of penance performing a number of sacrificial rituals (Yajna) that terrified Indra, the king of gods. There is a tradition that one who performed one hundred such rituals qualified himself to the heavenly throne. Indra wanted to disturb the meditation of Viswamitra by whatever means at his disposal. The first and easiest choice fell on Menaka, one of the most beautiful and talented among the celestial damsels. That was normally an unfailing tool in the hands of the king of gods.

Menaka was apprehensive of the sage and his powers from meditation. Indra assured her of her safety. That was how the heavenly lady set out on her mission. Menaka sang sweetly and danced seductively and waited for the sage to open his eyes. When it was time for sage Viswamitra to open his eyes a gentle breeze blew, apparently instigated by Indra, to expose the curves of Menaka. Indra did not go wrong in his calculation.The pent up emotions of sage Viswamitra was roused at the sight of the pretty and voluptuous Menaka. The result was their union and the birth of a pretty babygirl. It is said Menaka abandoned her at birth, as nursing the baby was not part of the deal. Viswamitra’s only concern was to get back to his penance and make up for all the damage that was done to it by his not so pious adventure. The hapless baby found only the company of some little birds that perched around and took care of her.

Sage Kanav happened to pass by the scene and stumbled upon the abandoned child. He adopted the babygirl out of kindness and left it under the care of his good lady. The baby was named Sakuntala as she was saved by the little birds known by the name, Sakunta.

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King Dushyanta

It is said that Dushyanta presided over an empire that spread as far as the oceans on all sides. He was a just king and ruled the land strictly by the law. There was plenty everywhere and the people lived happily without fear of robbers and thieves.

The hunting expedition

The kings in those days frequently used to go hunting. It was partly for the fun and partly to protect hermits from wild animals, and demons who harassed them. One day Dushyanta set on such an expedition. An army of assistants accompanied the king with hunting equipment and taking with them horses and dogs to chase game animals. The citizens watched with pride as their king march through the land and were all in his praise looking at his handsome figure.

The party hunted in a forest not too far away from the palace. What lay ahead was a place of heavenly beauty and absolute peace. Green meadows were interspersed with trees in full blossom. Flowers that fell from the trees made patterns over the meadows. Birds of various types sang with an abandon. Bees sat on tree trunks and helped themselves lavishly on honey that was in plenty. Vedic hymns gently resonated out of a few hermitages that were concealed behind the thick growth of trees. There was a river that quietly flowed behind the row of the hermits’ huts. Perfect tranquility prevailed over the entire terrain.

One day while the king was hunting a golden deer in the woods met with an accident and had to be attended with first aid. So the hunting party proceeded to the sage Kanav Ashram, which was the nearest one. It was god's coincidence and providence that except Sakuntala no other human being was present in the Ashram.

Therefore as desired by destiny Sakuntala had to attend the wounded prince. Seeing the divine and extraordinary beauty of Sakuntala, king Dushyanta could not take his eyes off her, and her hospitality made him fall in love with her at once. She too was attracted by the fine-looking handsome king. They both fell in love with each other at the first sight. As if "Kamdev" the god of love had striked both with his arrows of love. It seemed as if god has stopped the time just to enjoy the beautiful experience of love between two young extraordinary beings.

When their love reached its pinnacle, one day Dushyanta proposed Sakuntala to marry him. Both of them got married in front of goddess in the nearest temple, by exchanging garlands of flowers in the Gandharva cult.
Next day Dushyanta got news that his father was ill and he had to leave the ashram. Unwilling to leave his bride behind the ashram but only to attend his ailing father he left the ashram. He gave a ruby ring which was his kingly sign and went to his castle with a promise to tell his parents about their marriage and take her to his kingdom very soon.

As time passed by, king Dushyanta didn't returned. Slowly the time ticked away and Sakuntala became pregnant. Her father sage Kanav understanding the delicate situation without wasting time took Sakuntala to Hastinapur. But fate had something else stored for Sakuntala. King Dushyanta was unable to remember Sakuntala nor remember his marriage with her. After lot of persuasion, Dushyanta asked Sakuntala about the proof that they both got married.

Suddenly she remembered the ruby ring which Dushyanta gave her at the time of separation. But Alas! She lost it. The ruby ring which was given to her by Dushyanta was lost in a river on her travel to Hastinapur. At that time she remembered the "Curse" given by sage Durvasa when once he visited the ashram and was asking about sage Kanav but Sakuntala was lost in the thoughts of Dushyanta and didn't pay attention to him. Seeing her attitude he at once gave the curse that whoever she was remembering at that moment that person should forget her. As soon as sage Kanav came back and hearing the curse by sage Durvasa he pleaded him to forgive her. Then sage Durvasa told him that a curse couldn't be taken back but it could be remedied. So he gave a relief by saying that the person who saw the thing which was very dear to both, then he would remember. So she lost the ring and couldn't prove her marriage, and with heavy heart came back to her Ashram in the forest.

Meanwhile Sakuntala gave birth to a beautiful babyboy and he was being reared by the saints of Ashram. Sage Kanav performed all the ceremonies that were due for a royal child from birth onwards. The boy grew playing with the wild animals that roamed near the hermitage and soon was acclaimed to be one of extraordinary strength and courage. Accordingly, he was named Sarvadamana or one who subdued all around him.

There is a saying time is very powerful, it so happened when Sakunlata on her way to Hastinapur lost the ruby ring in the river, which was swallowed by a big fish. The same fish was caught and brought by the fisherman tribe as a gift to king Dushyanta. While cutting the fish the royal cook found the ruby ring and came running to the king Dushyant. The moment King Dushyanta saw the ring his lost memory came back like a flash to him. He immediately set out to meet Sakuntala. When he found her, he took her back to his kingdom along with his son who was given a royal name, Bharata.

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Note: Prince Bharata became a legend, the head of a long race of kings, who has given his name to India (Bharatavarsha), and the wars of whose descendants are sung in the Mahabharata.

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Love Buddha's dhamma,
yawares/sirikanya :heart:
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