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Sakuntala tossed and turned all night. Her mind raced at the previous events that had occurred that day. Her husband had completely denied their wedding had ever happened, and he acted as though he had no memory of her or their love. Once the moon was high in the starry night sky, she got up from her makeshift bed, making sure not to wake her aunt and uncles, and began to waddle around the forest with her pregnant belly protruding from her garments.
The soft grass felt nice on her aching feet, but it seemed as though nothing could ease her weary heart. She looked up at the moon and stared for a long while at its bright beauty. The wind lifted her long black hair softly before setting it back down along her back. Sakuntala began to softly cry, and soon the soft crying quickly turned into full on wails.
"Oh, mother," she cried to the moon, "won't you show me your face? Won't you show me your unconditional love?" Tears trickled down her face and her vision was blurry. "I am beginning to believe that there is no such thing as love and it is only a fairy-tale," she sobbed to the brightly lit moon. Sakuntala fell to her knees on the wet grass, and her tears mixed with the night time dew. She felt hopeless.
When she looked back up, clouds began to cover the stars and the wind became stronger. Sakuntala continued to cry and scream for her mother.
At last, the clouds opened up and the moon's light lit upon Sakuntala's frail, pregnant form.
"Dear daughter, do not despair," a soothing, motherly voice called to her. Sakuntala was startled, but not afraid. She had heard this calming voice before.
Arms wrapped around Sakuntala's shoulders in a comforting hug. The woman continued to hug her while she cried, until Sakuntala wiped her tears with the back of her hand and looked up into her mother's bright eyes. This was the first time since her birth that Sakuntala had seen her mother, but she knew immediately who she was and felt comforted.
"What am I to do, Mother? I cannot go back to the little village and let them see this sad state I am in, and I am not welcomed at my husband's kingdom. He was my love, my protector, and my baby's father. I am lost and forgotten," Sakuntala quietly said with tears in her eyes.
"You come from the moon, child. Bright, beautiful, bold, strong. The moon has many craters, many bruises, but it is still there and continues to live and shine light on darkness. You will make it through this bruise in your life, and I will be right here with you," her mother consoled her and stroked her daughter's black hair. "Come. I know a nearby village that will happily accept us and allow us to live in peace. They know nothing of the small village you came from, and will not question your life as long as you live with a good heart."
Her mother stood up and helped Sakuntala to her swollen feet. Sakuntala thought of her uncle Kanva and her aunt Goutami. They helped raise her ever since she was a young girl. She would miss them dearly if she left, but she knew what she had to do. They slowly walked toward the village her mother spoke about.
Goutami awoke the next morning and saw Sakuntala's empty bed. Worried, she and the uncles searched the forest in the rain, but all traces were washed away. Eventually, they headed back to their own small village, heavy-hearted.
By morning, the reunited mother and daughter were at a decorated wooden gate that was adorned with yellow flowers, indicating friendship and happiness. Sakuntala, her baby boy, and her mother lived happily for the next eight years, until a long lost stranger wandered into the yellow flowered village.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Before Sakuntala was born, the celestial nymph, Menaka, was asked by jealous devas to seduce the holy man Vishvanmitra. She does, and becomes pregnant. Vishvanmitra is shocked and upset, and leaves Menaka to try and pray for forgiveness for leaving his holy state. Menaka leaves Sakuntala with sakuntas, which are large birds. She is later found by Kanva, a hermit who lives in a nearby ashram, or village. She grows up in the ashram with her uncle Kanva and his sister, Goutami. One day in the forest, the king Dushmanta hears his name, and stumbles upon Sakuntala and her friends. Dushmanta falls in love with Sakuntala, and they get married at the ashram. He must return to his kingdom, so he gives her a ring and promises her that he will send messengers to bring her to the kingdom. She waits for him, but messengers never come. One day, a hungry hermit asks Sakuntala for food, but she is so caught up in her thoughts of Dushmanta that she does not notice the hermit. He becomes angry, and curses her so that the person she is thinking of will forget her, unless she has a souvenir from that person. Months go by, and she is very pregnant. Goutami and a couple of her uncles accompany Sakuntala to the kingdom. When they arrive, Dushmanta has no recollection of her whatsoever. Sakuntala reaches for the ring that he had given her back at the village, but she realizes that the ring is gone! They leave with absolute despair, and Sakuntala tells her aunt Goutami that she can no longer return to the small village because she was known as the happy one, and she is no longer happy. During the night, Sakuntala calls to her mother, Menaka, and asks her to come hold her and love her, so she does, and Sakuntala is never found the next day. The hermits sadly leave without Sakuntala, and head back to the village. Eventually, Dushmanta finds the ring he had given Sakuntala and he remembers his wife. Four years pass until he finally finds his son and Sakuntala. Sakuntala forgives him and she rules with Dushmanta for a long time. When their son, Bharat, finally takes the throne, they return to the forest where they live out the rest of their days.
I loved the ending of this part of the story, because it is very dramatic and mournful. After huge losses or upsetting events, all people want is something or someone to comfort them. I wanted to focus more on Sakuntala and her mother, because I feel like a mother's unconditional love is the greatest love. Sakuntala's mother isn't the moon in the original Indian Epic's story, and the moon is actually seen as masculine in Indian culture, however I thought it would make the story a bit more mystical to have Menaka, her mother, be the moon. In the original epic, she is described as a celestial fairy or nymph.
Image Information: (The moon, Pixabay)
Bibliography: Sakuntala, by Sunity Devee from "Nine Ideal Indian Women" pages 69-75.
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