अप्सरा का शाप
APSARA KA SHAAP
-Yashpal ( यशपाल )
DEDICATION
“Apsara ka Shaap” is a modern day representation by
Yashpal to the very mythological male dominant society where they used to ill-treat
the females on the name of pride, religion and rules & regulations,
grieving for them.
And
comparing with the present day situation of the females, where they have become
self-dependent, and salute to their spirit.
INTRODUCTION
Yashpal has written this story based on the
mythological story of SHAKUNTALA and DUSHYANT, inspired by the writings of Kalidasa’s “ABHIGNYANAM
SHAAKUNTALAM” ( अभिज्ञानम् शाकुन्तलम् ),
he has tried to bring out the difference between the mythological belief and
the modern view about the incident of the love story of SHAKUNTALA and DUSHYANT. According
to Yashpal and many other authors DUSHYANT can’t be considered as the hero of the story,
because he is considered as a person with ill-mannered nature, who didn’t know
the value of women’ importance in the society and had cheated SHAKUNTALA by not accepting her as his wife after his
marriage with her.
In
“Apsara ka Shaap”, Yashpal has
treated the incidence of DUSHYANT forgetting his
marriage with SHAKUNTALA as the backbone of this
mythological story. In the mythological writings, they have tried to consider
this as an un-intentional offence since SHAKUNTALA
was cursed by RISHI DURVASA
that DUSHYANT would forget her and therefore
this great event took place. But here Yashpal has tried to bring the story as
depicted in the epic “MAHABHARATA” that DUSHYANT refused to accept SHAKUNTALA
to be her wife unless the Devatha’s announced that SHAKUNTALA
was married to her through ‘Aakaashavaani’. After the ‘Aakaashavaani’ was done
by the Devatha’s he accepted SHAKUNTALA as his wife and her child as his son.
Therefore
he has tried to bring out the story in the present day thoughts…
अप्सरा का शाप
APSARA KA SHAAP
-
Yashpal
( यशपाल )
Our
country has derived its name from the great king “BHARATH”( भरत ).
He was the son of SHAKUNTALA and king Dushyanth. Shakuntala was the daughter of
Rajarishi Vishwamitra and the angel of the heavens “Menaka”.
According
to the mythological description Menaka was not a human but was the angel from
the so called “Swarga”.
Maharishi
Vishwamitra wanted to achieve the post of Brahmarishi
( ब्रह्मर्षि ). The Devatha’s accepted
to give him the position of Rajarishi because he was a Kshatriya by birth but
not the Brahmarishi position. Due to this differentiation of the Devatha’s
based on his caste he decided to create his own world according to his principles.
The Devatha’s were as ignorant thinking that Vishwamitra would be unsuccessful
in accomplishing such a dare-devil act because it was very difficult to be
achieved. But when they saw that Vishwamitra was getting success in the task he
took up, they decided to try and disturb Vishwamitra’s concentration on his
tapasya (तपस्या ).
Since
this task was not a child’s play, Devaraaj Indra decided to send her best
Apsara Menaka. He knew that any kind of offers will not bring Vishwamitra to
get distracted from his plans. Therefore he decided to aim at the most weak
point of human’s nature, sexual attraction. He asked Menaka to sexually attract
Vishwamitra and make him drop his plans of building his own world. Menaka came
to the earth ( मृत्युलोक ).
She carefully attracted Vishwamitra using her beauty as bait for him and then
distracted him from his plans. After a long period of time Menaka understood
that just being with Vishwamitra would not help her task to be completed.
Therefore she gave birth to a female child and after a few days left the
child’s responsibility on Vishwamitra and left for her destination Swarga ( स्वर्ग ).
During
the day when it was long time that Menaka didn’t return he understood that he
has been cheated by Devaraaj Indra to get him distracted from his goal. After
the child slept of crying due to hunger, he decided to leave her at the Ashram
of Maharishi Kanva situated at the banks of the river Malini. He leaves the
child under a tree near the river bank expecting Maharishi Kanva to pick up her
from there and give her shelter and all the basic necessities. He departs
towards the great Himalaya mountain ranges to start and accomplish his goal of
creating his own world.
On
the other side, when Menaka reached the Swarga, she was appraised for her
efforts and success in the task given to her. She was very happy to accomplish
such a great task. But then having taken the form of human for so many days she
inherited the quality of motherly affection and she couldn’t forget her
daughter. She appointed Saanumathi to keep an eye on her daughter and her
well-being. Saanumathi used to inform Menaka all the happenings on the earth.
On
earth, Maharishi Vishwamitra started his dream work with double
enthusiasm. Maharishi Kanva noticed the
child between a group of birds called as Shakunth ( शकुन्त
), he gets mesmerized by the beauty of the
child and takes her to his Ashram where her sister Gautami after listening to the whole scenario names
the child as Shakuntala ( शकुन्तला ). The kid was no less than being like an
angel. As the time passed by Shakuntala grew to be a very beautiful girl with
big eyes, red & soft lips and long hair hanging up to her knees. Even
Saanumathi was mesmerized by her beauty.
Once,
the great king of Hasthinapur (
हस्तिनापुर )Dushyanth arrived nearby Malini River and after
following a huge rein-deer (
बारहसिंगे ) he entered into the territory of Maharishi Kanva,
where a passerby told him not to hunt the animals because this place was
guarded by Maharishi Kanva. On hearing this he took this opportunity to meet Maharishi
Kanva’s blessings. He asked his friend and Vidhooshak ( विदूषक )
Maadhavya
( माधव्य ).
He asks his Vidhooshak friend to wait for him until he arrives back from the Ashram.
At
the Ashram, in the garden Anusooya ( अनुसूया )
and Priyamvada ( प्रियंवदा )
were
watering the plants and the trees in the Ashram. They were making fun of
Shakuntala who was nearby watering the Java Kusum ( जवा कुसुम ) flower plants,
where there was a small habitat of large wasps, disturbed them and one of the
wasp started rotating around Shakuntala scaring her and in terror she shouted
for help. Dushyanth standing by the grass border around the Ashram watches
Shakuntala and gets attracted towards her. Shakuntala notices Dushyanth peeping
and advices Anusooya and Priyamvada to stop making jokes on her but they don’t
stop.
Dushyanth
comes to the door-way of the Ashram and tells them that he heard somebody
scream from the Ashram therefore he came for help. Then the Ashram people
invite him into the Ashram and ask him to introduce himself but he tells them
that he is just a hunter ( अहेरी ). Maata Gautami and the Ashram-Vaasi ( आश्रमवासी )[Shaarangrav
(
शारंगरव ), Shaaradhvath( शारंद्वत )] feed him with all the available stuffs.
He
then tells them that he would be glad to meet Kanva Rishi and gain his
blessings. On knowing the fact that Kanva Rishi is not in the Ashram he decides
to come again and leaves. Throughout his presence in the Ashram his
concentration was on Shakuntala.
In
the evening after all the work and dinner everybody in the Ashram came by the
Homakund and sat beside it. Shaaradhvath put some Neem leaves and a bit of
cow-dung into the Homakund. They then, at the arrival of Maata Gautami,
listened to the story of the war between the Devathas and Asuraas. After that
Priyamvada and Shakuntala used to massage Maata Gautami’s body and then go to
sleep. Later when they sleep, Priyamvada asks Shakuntala about the incidence of
the coming of the hunter. Shakuntala tries to negotiate her talks but she has a
different feeling in her heart for the hunter.
Introduction to
Priyamvada:
(Priyamvada was an 8 year old when her
mother expired. Later her father re-married. Her step mother used to never like
her. Her father let her stay at her maternal-uncles’ house for 3 years and then
at her maternal-aunts’ house and then her paternal-uncles’ house but he
couldn’t handle this anymore. He thought of getting her educated for having
patience and discipline until she becomes able to get married. Therefore, he
left her at the Ashram of Maharishi Kanva.
She
was Shakuntala’s friend for five odd years. Because she had been in the family
places when compared to Shakuntala, Shakuntala got to hear, many things about
family life and the life style of the people whether they were good or not for
her to listen. Since Shakuntala was unaware of these entire matters she used to
listen to these matters with a lot of enthusiasm. But Maata Gautami and
Anusooya had to just warn them but they never knew about their talks.)
Priyamvada
asks Shakuntala about the hunters’ arrival and then starts teasing Shakuntala
by taking the hunters’ matter again and again. Just then Shakuntala decides to
sleep and closes her to negotiate Priyamvada’s eyes but then all the incidences
of the morning became all clear in her mind.
On
the other side, when raja Dushyanth walks back to his stopping station, he
finds two of his men coming towards him in search of him. When he reaches, he
finds Maadhavya, his friend, arising from his rest. He gets to know that the nights
stop for the king was arranged in the village of Mittal ( मित्तल
).
The
king reaches the village of Mittal, with all his others in his chariot, but
during the journey Dushyanth’s friend, Maadhavya, notices that Dushyanth is not
having his concentration in his talks but has lost his wits somewhere. The
citizens of the Mittal village were all enthusiastic about the arrival of king
Dushyanth and had done a lot of preparations for his arrival and staying. The
villagers had arranged various kinds of entertainment and enjoyment facilities
for the king. But mean while Maadhavya tried to find out the kings problem.
Maadhavya tries to intrigue Dushyanth to tell what is the matter? And tells if
it is the matter of any girl that the king saw in the Ashram then he could
bring the girl by just sending his few men to the Ashram. But then Dushyanth
scolds Maadhavya for going against the rules of being a leader and asks him to
be quite. Dushyanth had no interest in all these things and after sitting for a
while with all the villagers to just satisfy them he gets up and wishes to
sleep.
Later,
Dushyanth keeps visiting the Ashram Dushyanth proposes Shakuntala when she was
alone for marrying her. At that time, Gautami Maata was in Chitraang Rishi’s Ashram
and Priyamvada leaves her alone purposefully. But Shakuntala denies Dushyanth’s
proposal giving the reason that it would be taken by Kanva Maharishi and Maata
Gautami. Dushyanth puts this proposal before Maata Gautami but she too denies
and tells that she wouldn’t give her child to a hunter who has no address or
home. She leaves the decision on Kanva Maharishi and asks Dushyanth to not
return again unless Kanva Rishi is back.
Dushyanth
doesn’t turn up back to the Ashram for a few days and mean-while Shakuntala
starts feeling her love for Dushyanth. She begins to behave very differently
and becomes ill. Gautami suspects the hunter to have done some kind of black
magic on Shakuntala. She calls for many Vaidhya’s and the black magicians to
bring her back to normal, but in vain. One of the Vaidhya asks them to make
Shakuntala sleep on lotus leaves and petals for her quickly recovery. On trying
this, Shakuntala takes a leaf and writes her feelings for Dushyanth on it and
dozes off. Anusooya, to her surprise, finds the leaf and is astonished to see
the quotes written by Shakuntala and reports this to Maata Gautami. Gautami
doesn’t tell anything to Shakuntala regarding this.
When
Dushyanth returns back on the decided date, finds that Kanva was not yet back.
Then he meets Gautami and tries to convince her again but in vain. Therefore,
he decides to reveal his true identity and shows his ring as the proof of his
identity. When Dushyanth moreover promises to give the position of Queen to
Shakuntala and the position of the Prince to her birth given son, Maata Gautami
becomes convinced of Shakuntala's future being secure and she with the will of
Shakuntala lets the both to get married by Gandharva Vivaah (गंधर्व विवाह). After the marriage both spend a lot of
time together and then time comes when Dushyanth has to leave for Hasthinapur and
he asks the Ashram-Vaasi to bid farewell to Shakuntala but they resist sending
her, without the blessings of Kanva Maharishi and Shakuntala too supports the
view of theirs. Therefore, Dushyanth leaves Shakuntala back in the Ashram
promising all to either come by himself or send his men to pick her up.
After
reaching his palace Dushyanth finds out that his Queen Lakshana (
लक्षणा ), the daughter of the
king of Madhra ( मद्र ) kingdom, is pregnant and she is to deliver a male
child as per the predictions of the Astrologers. Dushyanth falls into a dilemma
on the thought of bringing Shakuntala to Hasthinapur. But then he with the
assistance of his ministers ( मंत्रियों
),
he
decides to not bring Shakuntala back to Hasthinapur. He then tries to console
and pacify himself by attaining materialistic pleasure and loads of work. In
this way, he starts forgetting Shakuntala day by day.
On
the other side, in the Ashram of Kanva, Shakuntala also attains pregnancy and
is taken good care by Maata Gautami and the others. On the return of Maharishi
Kanva, Maata Gautami takes the opportunity of explaining all the incidences
which took place in his absence and tells him about the marriage of Shakuntala
with the king of Hasthinapur, Dushyanth. As the time passed by, the worry in
the hearts of all the Ashram Vaasi begins to increase and they try to figure
out the reason for the delay in Dushyanth’s approach to pick up Shakuntala. One
day, Maharishi Durvaasa ( दुर्वासा ) arrives to the Ashram
of Kanva and starts scolding Shakuntala for having not given heed to welcome
him. But then the others try to pacify Maharishi Durvaasa. Maharishi Kanva
dictates the whole incident behind Shakuntala's mental status and Durvaasa
understand her problem. He then advices Kanva to send her back to her mother-in-law’s place so that Shakuntala
could be at the peace of her mind and take care of herself very well.
One
fine day, Kanva sends forward the news of Shakuntala's pregnancy through Rishi Vaageesh
( वागीश ).
Even then there was no reply from the king. Therefore, Maharishi Kanva with
Durvaasa’s help chooses a good day for Shakuntala’s departure from the Ashram to
Hasthinapur. All the Ashram Vaasi and the other Ashram’s people also join in
the sending ceremony of Shakuntala. Kanva sends Anusooya and Shaarangrav with
Shakuntala as her companions. As they start off their journey, a Chakravaaki [
A bird which is said to be the indicator of separation of one from their
partner ( चक्रवाकी )]. But Anusooya and Shaarangrav console
her saying that it is not confirmed that it is a Chakravaaki. They then pursue
their journey towards Hasthinapur.
On
the other side, in the palace, Vaageesh Rishi reaches the palace of Dushyanth
and conveys the news of Shakuntala and others waiting for his approach to call
her to Hasthinapur. Dushyanth turns a deaf ear to his message and starts
concentrating on his chores. But after a long time, since there was no more
approach from the Ashram, he becomes confident that they have forgotten him or
might have got Shakuntala married to someone else. But just in a few days he is
shocked by the news that some Rishi’s from Kanva’s Ashram have arrived. At this
he asks the news passer to let the guests stay in the Ashram palace built out.
He then goes to his friend Maadhavya and asks him to support him to take a
decision in such a tough situation. Maadhavya listens to the whole incidents
and ask Dushyanth a few questions an finds out that Kanva Rishi was absent
during the whole incident and therefore, he asks Dushyanth to behave as if he
doesn’t know the Ashramvaasi’s and stay calm.
Dushyanth
reaches the stoppage place of Shakuntala and the others with Maadhavya. He then
asks about the well-being of the Ashramvaasi’s and then queries for any help
needed. This query of his shocks all the three and they try to remind the
incident of the marriage of Dushyanth and Shakuntala. Dushyanth behaves as if
he didn’t ever go to the Ashram and neither had ever heard of Shakuntala. This
makes the hearts of all the three to tremble with fear and anger for
Dushyanth’s behavior being so weird. Shaarangrav asks Shakuntala not to sit
like a stone statue but show the ring given by the king as the proof of his
marriage with her. But to the fate of Shakuntala not in her favour she lifts
her hand to find the ring lost from her finger. She then remembers that she
might have lost in the lake at Shakravataar ( शक्रावतार
)
called as Shachitheerth( शचीतीर्थ )
This
lets Maadhavya take a pick on Shakuntala and the others and applauds them for
having done such a good drama. This pricks the heart of Shakuntala even more
and then she starts to weep. When Anusooya sees this she asks her to talk to
Dushyanth. But Shakuntala tells her that when her husband, himself doesn’t
recognize her then what’s the use of pleading before him. Dushyanth and
Maadhavya leave the room and then Maadhavya returns back and asks them to
collect their prize money for having done such good performance. Bu they then
tell him that they don’t want any prize and leave the place and begin their
return journey to the Ashram.
Shakuntala
was very much hurt at this behavior of Dushyanth and then she decides to give
her life but then after Anusooya and Shaarangrav console her, she decides to
live for her child. But due to her pregnancy she falls ill soon and she becomes
very weak to pursue the journey and they stop at Shachitheerth. She decides to
not go back to the Ashram but stay in the forest where she would not be a reason
for the humiliation of Maharishi Kanva. She then stays with Anusooya and
Shaarangrav in the forest. One fine day Shakuntala falls ill and she doesn’t
show any signs of recovery. This makes the two to worry about her and then
Shaarangrav decides to go to look for some Vaidhya in the nearby villages.
During his quest to search a Vaidhya he meets the Kinnari great Narthaki Shoor
Sen (
नर्तकी शूरसेन ) and he requests her to help Shakuntala.
Introduction to the Kinnari Prajaathi ( किन्नरी प्रजाती
)
The Kinnari’s are a
category of people who live in the Kinnar Pradesh of Himaanchal. They were
returning after proving themselves best in the places in and around with
respect to their talent in dance. They are the closest next to the Apsaras
therefore they are like sisters to each others.
Therefore, Shakuntala and Shoor Sen are related as maternal aunty and her
niece. Narthaki Shoor Sen put forward the idea of Shakuntala moving with her to
the Kinnar Pradesh where Shakuntala can live peacefully without all the tension
of what happened to her. Shakuntala too feels comfortable and she accepts to go
with Shoor Sen and then she leaves for her place.
On the other side, Dushyanth’s queen
Lakshana starts gaining complexities in her case of pregnancy with the time’s
flow. She doesn’t take care of the points that she has to not consume hard
drinks etc. Everybody in the Raaj Mahal are worried about the baby and
Lakshana. But alas!!! Lakshana gives birth to a lifeless child. This disturbs
the mind of Dushyanth, forcing him to think that this could be the result of
the curse laid by Shakuntala after he had misbehaved with her and refused to
accept her as his wife and humiliated her.
Once
when he was seated in his court a fisherman named Paarak ( पारक ) is brought into
the court. Convicted of trying to sell a royal ring (
राजमुद्रा ) in the mart, he explains that he
obtained the ring from the stomach of a huge fish which he captured in the
Shachitheerth Lake. On cutting the fish he found the ring. Dushyanth listens to
the whole explanation by the fisherman and then gets reminded of the fact that
Shakuntala too had lost her ring in the same lake. He then decides to not
punish the fisherman and instead award him for his truthfulness.
He
then starts being very disturbed and his health status starts deteriorating. He
starts living on the medicines provided by his Vaidhyas and loses his natural
strength and takes some Ayurvedic medicines. These all consequences were
because he started over drinking and started taking a lot of pressure on
himself. One fine day, he gets bed-ridden and is not even able to go for the
yearly chariot festival where he shows up to his men once in a year. But then,
due to some medicines helping him out he starts recovering his health.
Dushyanth also loses hope of getting his child as the next king of the kingdom.
On seeing at the pitiful situation of Dushyanth, Saanumathi asks Menaka about
her views. But, Menaka blames Dushyanth for his pitiable situation.
Once,
he receives a message from his best friend, Devaraaj Indra, requesting him to
help him in a battle against the Asurs who were attacking his men and troubling
them. Since there was a traditional friendship and peace between the Devathas
and Aaryavarth ( आर्यावर्थ ),
he couldn’t refuse the help and ordered his army to get ready for the long
journey. The Vaidhyas too support Dushyanth’s decision to travel for a change
in the weather can do wonders to his health. Dushyanth leaves for the
Himalayas, the home of Devathas. He there helps Devaraaj to defeat the evil
Asurs and restore peace in his kingdom. Devaraaj in return has Dushyanth as his
guest in his kingdom for six months and provides him with all the treatment he
can and all the luxury to fulfill his needs. But, Menaka doesn’t come before
Dushyanth due to her anger on his injustice done to Shakuntala.
Dushyanth stays there happily and then takes his way back to
Hasthinapur. On the way back, he stops at the Ashram of Maharishi Kashyap ( कश्यप ). Here he sees a small
kid trying to reach for a lion baby to play with it. He is astounded by the
bravery of the child (Sarvadhaman - सर्वदमन ) and enters the Ashram. The old lady who was holding the child
in her weak hands welcomes Dushyanth and asks him the reason to have shown up
in the Ashram. He tells that he had arrived to seek the blessings of Maharishi
Kashyap. She asks him to wait. Dushyanth being impressed by the bravery of the
child of a Brahmin child asks about him to find out that he is not a child of a
Brahmin. He enquires more about the child to know that he is a Kshatriya and
his father is a great ruler.
Dushyanth enquires about the child’s parents. He comes to
know that he is the son of Shakuntala, but she refuses to tell the father’s
name since he had done injustice to Shakuntala. And she criticizes his father
for having done so. Dushyanth then enquires about Shakuntala whether she is the
daughter of Maharishi Kanva’s daughter to find out that his guess to be true.
He then takes the child in his arms and gives him a tight hug and confesses to
the lady that he is that unjust person who had left Shakuntala in the situation
she is in! The lady is shocked but then starts to praise Dushyanth. Dushyanth
asks the lady to let him meet Shakuntala. The lady then tells Dushyanth that it
may cause Shakuntala to again feel the pain which she had started to forget.
But then Dushyanth tells that he wants to confess to Shakuntala for having done
such an injustice to her. The lady then calls Shakuntala out. Shakuntala is
shocked to see Dushyanth standing before her. She bows down but then she again
gets up and goes away into the cottage.
Dushyanth says that he either wants to be forgiven by
Shakuntala or be punished by her else he would not leave the place. Shakuntala
forgives Dushyanth and apologizes for having not welcomed him. Dushyanth takes
this opportunity to ask Shakuntala to come with him to Hasthinapur as the
queen. But then Shakuntala leaves the decision on Maharishi Kashyap. Dushyanth
swears to not return to Hasthinapur without Shakuntala. They then go to Maharishi
Kashyap and then Dushyanth asks for his permission to take Shakuntala back with
him. Kashyap tells Dushyanth that this decision can only be taken with the
consent of Maharishi Kanva and Apsara Menaka. On this Dushyanth tells that
taking permission from these two people staying in far-away places from this Ashram
would be time consuming and also a lot of journey to done. Kashyap then thinks
for some time and then asks Shakuntala whether she is ready to go with
Dushyanth. Shakuntala nods her head in yes with shyness. Kashyap asks the Ashramvaasi’s
to begin the preparations for the departure of Shakuntala. All the Ashramvaasis
are very sad on the departure of Shakuntala and Sarvadhaman.
Saanumathi gives Menaka the news that Shakuntala has accepted
to go with Dushyanth and she is about to leave for Hasthinapur. Menaka stresses
on the point that how can she accept to go with a person who cheated her so
much? How can she forgive such a person? What if Dushyanth had a healthy and
alive child taking birth from the womb of Lakshana then would he have
approached Shakuntala? She tells that Dushyanth was doing all these things only
to get a child to take care of his entire kingdom, he is selfish. She asks
Saanumathi to bring the flying chariot until she takes the permission from
Devaraaj to go to earth. She then comes with a flash of light to the Ashram of
Kashyap.
Shakuntala, on seeing her mother arriving, bows down to seek her
blessings. Menaka then questions Shakuntala about how could she forgive such a
person? She also asks Shakuntala whether a lady’s only responsibility is to
take care of her husband and obey his orders. She also questions on the
rightfulness of the existence of self-respect, self-dependence and self-esteem
in a women’s life other than her husband? But Shakuntala denies to accept any
of the statements placed by Menaka and then tells her that she cannot hear
anything ill about her husband. Menaka in anger raises her finger to curse
Shakuntala but then she stops herself and blesses Shakuntala to do everything
as she desires and leaves the place. All the Ashramvaasis are shocked to see
this conservation between Shakuntala and Menaka. They are even more shocked to
see Shakuntala move with her son and Dushyanth towards Hasthinapur.
But the questions raised by Menaka still stand immortally
even today from so many years. . . . Still answer is to be found. . . .
समाप्त
THE - END
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Summary.
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