The Recognition of Śakuntal-a: A Play in Seven Acts ; Śakuntal-a in the Mah-abh-arataKING Yes. I shall release you -SAKUNTALA When?KING When? When, like a bee, I kiss the bud of your unbruised lip And flood my thirsting mouth with nectar.Kalidasa's play about the love of King Dusyanta and Sakuntala, a hermitage girl, their separation by a curse, and eventual reunion, is the supreme work of Sanskrit drama by its greatest poet and playwright (c.4th century CE). Overwhelmingly erotic in tone, in peformance The Recognition of Sakuntalaaimed to produce an experience of asethetic rapture in the audience, akin to certain types of mystical experience.The pioneering English translation of Sakuntala in 1789 caused a sensation among European composers and writers (including Goethe), and it continues to be performed around the world. This vibrant new verse translation includes the famous version of the story from the Mahabharata, a poetic anddramatic text in its own right and a likely source for Kalidasa. The introduction discusses the play in the aesthetic and cultural context of ancient India. |
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Abhijñānaśākuntalam Abhinavagupta ACTOR-MANAGER Aditi aesthetic Aloud ANASUYA ANASŪYĀ AND PRIYAMVADĀ ashram audience beautiful Bhagavad Gita Bharata birth blossom brahmin CATURIKA CHAMBERLAIN chariot child COURT PRIEST curse darling daughter dear deer demons dharma DOORKEEPER DRIVER Duşyanta duty earth entering epic exits father feel female ascetic flowers follower of Kanva forest gandharva GAUTAMI girl Gitomer gods grove Hastinapura heart hermitage holy honour husband India Indra jasmine Kalidasa's Kālidāsa's play kāma Kanva King Duşyanta king's lady Listen looking lord lotus Lunar Dynasty Mahābhārata Majesty mango Mārīca marriage MĀTALI Menaka Miller nymph Oxford World's Classics Paurava penance performed Playworld Playworld of Sanskrit Prakrit PRIYAMVADĀ Puru rasa Recognition of Śakuntalā ring rite ritual sacrifice sage SAKUNTALA Sanskrit Drama SANUMATI SARNGARAVA SECOND ASCETIC seer Śiva smiling tell Theater of Memory there's trans translation trees University Press Vedic verse Victory VIDŪŞAKA Viśvāmitra wife women