Reading section 49

[_Both raise their hands to their breasts and look at each other in astonishment._

KING.--Why did you try to prevent my touching it?

FIRST ATTENDANT.--Listen, great Monarch. This amulet, known as "The Invincible," was given to the boy by the divine son of Maríchi, soon after his birth, when the natal ceremony was performed. Its peculiar virtue is, that when it falls on the ground, no one excepting the father or mother of the child can touch it unhurt.

KING.--And suppose another person touches it?

FIRST ATTENDANT.--Then it instantly becomes a serpent, and bites him.

KING.--Have you ever witnessed the transformation with your own eyes?

BOTH ATTENDANTS.--Over and over again.

KING [_with rapture. Aside_].--Joy! joy! Are then my dearest hopes to be fulfilled? [_Embraces the child_.

SECOND ATTENDANT.--Come, my dear Suvratá, we must inform Śakoontalá immediately of this wonderful event, though we have to interrupt her in the performance of her religious vows. [_Exeunt._

CHILD [_to the King_].--Do not hold me. I want to go to my mother.

KING.--We will go to her together, and give her joy, my son.

CHILD.--Dushyanta is my father, not you.

KING [_smiling_].--His contradiction convinces me only the more.

_Enter Śakoontalá, in widow's apparel, with her long hair twisted into a single braid_.

ŚAKOONTALÁ [_aside_].--I have just heard that Sarva-damana's amulet has retained its form, though a stranger raised it from the ground. I can hardly believe in my good fortune. Yet why should not Sánumatí's prediction be verified?

KING [_gazing at Śakoontalá_].--Alas! can this indeed be my Śakoontalá? Clad in the weeds of widowhood, her face Emaciate with fasting, her long hair Twined in a single braid, her whole demeanor Expressive of her purity of soul: With patient constancy she thus prolongs The vow to which my cruelty condemned her.

ŚAKOONTALÁ [_gazing at the King, who is pale with remorse_]. Surely this is not like my husband; yet who can it be that dares pollute by the pressure of his hand my child, whose amulet should protect him from a stranger's touch?

CHILD [_going to his mother_].--Mother, who is this man that has been kissing me and calling me his son?

KING.--My best beloved, I have indeed treated thee most cruelly, but am now once more thy fond and affectionate lover. Refuse not to acknowledge me as thy husband.

ŚAKOONTALÁ [_aside_].--Be of good cheer, my heart. The anger of Destiny is at last appeased. Heaven regards thee with compassion. But is he in very truth my husband?

KING.--Behold me, best and loveliest of women, Delivered from the cloud of fatal darkness That erst oppressed my memory. Again Behold us brought together by the grace Of the great lord of Heaven. So the moon Shines forth from dim eclipse, to blend his rays With the soft lustre of his Rohiní.

ŚAKOONTALÁ.--May my husband be victorious------ [_She stops short, her voice choked with tears._

KING.--O fair one, though the utterance of thy prayer Be lost amid the torrent of thy tears, Yet does the sight of thy fair countenance, And of thy pallid lips, all unadorned And colorless in sorrow for my absence, Make me already more than conqueror.

CHILD.--Mother, who is this man?

ŚAKOONTALÁ.--My child, ask the deity that presides over thy destiny.

KING [_falling at Śakoontalá's feet_].--Fairest of women, banish from thy mind The memory of my cruelty; reproach The fell delusion that overpowered my soul, And blame not me, thy husband; 'tis the curse Of him in whom the power of darkness reigns, That he mistakes the gifts of those he loves For deadly evils. Even though a friend Should wreathe a garland on a blind man's brow, Will he not cast it from him as a serpent?

ŚAKOONTALÁ.--Rise, my own husband, rise. Thou wast not to blame. My own evil deeds, committed in a former state of being, brought down this judgment upon me. How else could my husband, who was ever of a compassionate disposition, have acted so unfeelingly? [_The King rises_.] But tell me, my husband, how did the remembrance of thine unfortunate wife return to thy mind?

KING.--As soon as my heart's anguish is removed, and its wounds are healed, I will tell thee all. Oh! let me, fair one, chase away the drop That still bedews the fringes of thine eye; And let me thus efface the memory Of every tear that stained thy velvet cheek, Unnoticed and unheeded by thy lord, When in his madness he rejected thee. [_Wipes away the tear_.

ŚAKOONTALÁ [_seeing the signet-ring on his finger_].--Ah! my dear husband, is that the Lost Ring?

KING.--Yes; the moment I recovered it, my memory was restored.

ŚAKOONTALÁ.--The ring was to blame in allowing itself to be lost at the very time when I was anxious to convince my noble husband of the reality of my marriage.

KING.--Receive it back, as the beautiful twining plant receives again its blossom in token of its reunion with the spring.

ŚAKOONTALÁ.--Nay; I can never more place confidence in it. Let my husband retain it.

_Enter Mátali_.

MÁTALI.--I congratulate your Majesty. Happy are you in your reunion with your wife: happy are you in beholding the face of your son.

KING.--Yes, indeed. My heart's dearest wish has borne sweet fruit. But tell me, Mátali, is this joyful event known to the great Indra?

MÁTALI [_smiling_].--What is unknown to the gods? But come with me, noble Prince, the divine Kaśyapa graciously permits thee to be presented to him.

KING.--Śakoontalá, take our child and lead the way. We will together go into the presence of the holy Sage.

ŚAKOONTALÁ.--I shrink from entering the august presence of the great Saint, even with my husband at my side.

KING.--Nay; on such a joyous occasion it is highly proper. Come, come; I entreat thee. [_All advance_.

_Kaśyapa is discovered seated on a throne with his wife Aditi_.

KAŚYAPA [_gazing at Dushyanta. To his wife_].--O Aditi, This is the mighty hero, King Dushyanta, Protector of the earth; who, at the head Of the celestial armies of thy son, Does battle with the enemies of heaven. Thanks to his bow, the thunderbolt of Indra Rests from its work, no more the minister Of death and desolation to the world, But a mere symbol of divinity.

ADITI.--He bears in his noble form all the marks of dignity.

MÁTALI [_to Dushyanta_].--Sire, the venerable progenitors of the celestials are gazing at your Majesty with as much affection as if you were their son. You may advance towards them.

KING.--Are these, O Mátali, the holy pair, Offspring of Daksha and divine Maríchi, Children of Brahmá's sons, by sages deemed Sole fountain of celestial light, diffused Through twelve effulgent orbs? Are these the pair From whom the ruler of the triple world, Sovereign of gods and lord of sacrifice, Sprang into being? That immortal pair Whom Vishnu, greater than the self-existent, Chose for his parents, when, to save mankind, He took upon himself the shape of mortals?

MÁTALI.--Even so.

KING [_prostrating himself_].--Most august of beings, Dushyanta, content to have fulfilled the commands of your son Indra, offers you his adoration.

KAŚYAPA.--My son, long may'st thou live, and happily may'st thou reign over the earth!

ADITI.--My son, may'st thou ever be invincible in the field of battle!

ŚAKOONTALÁ.--I also prostrate myself before you, most adorable beings, and my child with me.

KAŚYAPA.--My daughter, Thy lord resembles Indra, and thy child Is noble as Jayanta, Indra's son; I have no worthier blessing left for thee, May'st thou be faithful as the god's own wife!

ADITI.--My daughter, may'st thou be always the object of thy husband's fondest love; and may thy son live long to be the joy of both his parents! Be seated.

[_All sit down in the presence of Kaśyapa_.

KAŚYAPA [_regarding each of them by turns_].--Hail to the beautiful Śakoontalá! Hail to her noble son! and hail to thee, Illustrious Prince! Rare triple combination Of virtue, wealth, and energy united!

KING.--Most venerable Kaśyapa, by your favor all my desires were accomplished even before I was admitted to your presence. Never was mortal so honored that his boon should be granted ere it was solicited. Because, Bloom before fruit, the clouds before the rain-- Cause first and then effect, in endless sequence, Is the unchanging law of constant nature: But, ere the blessing issued from thy lips, The wishes of my heart were all fulfilled.

MÁTALI.--It is thus that the great progenitors of the world confer favors.

KING.--Most reverend Sage, this thy handmaid was married to me by the Gandharva ceremony, and after a time was conducted to my palace by her relations. Meanwhile a fatal delusion seized me; I lost my memory and rejected her, thus committing a grievous offence against the venerable Kanwa, who is of thy divine race. Afterwards the sight of this ring restored my faculties, and brought back to my mind all the circumstances of my union with his daughter. But my conduct still seems to me incomprehensible; As foolish as the fancies of a man Who, when he sees an elephant, denies That 'tis an elephant, yet afterwards, When its huge bulk moves onward, hesitates, Yet will not be convinced till it has passed Forever from his sight, and left behind No vestige of its presence save its footsteps.

KASYAPA.--My son, cease to think thyself in fault. Even the delusion that possessed thy mind was not brought about by any act of thine. Listen to me.

KING.--I am attentive.

KASYAPA.--Know that when the nymph Menaká, the mother of Śakoontalá, became aware of her daughter's anguish in consequence of the loss of the ring at the nymphs' pool, and of thy subsequent rejection of her, she brought her and confided her to the care of Aditi. And I no sooner saw her than I ascertained by my divine power of meditation, that thy repudiation of thy poor faithful wife had been caused entirely by the curse of Durvásas--not by thine own fault--and that the spell would terminate on the discovery of the ring.