Page 10 - GALIET LOVE, FATE AND REMORSE: Sakuntala IV

Galiet & Galiet
struggle between the real and the ideal as his emotions fluctuate between real remorse 3⁄4 manifesting in sleepless nights and inability to govern efficiently 3⁄4 and the ideal of reunion: hence, Sakuntala’s portrait is painted with the blue colors of his hope; the holy greens of her mercy and pity; and the white lilies of his dreams of mutual restoration and peace. The introductory summary of Act Six shall splash our memory with its crucial events and lead us to an understanding of the hermeneutics of the ring, Indra’s Ford and the fish and to dwell on King Dushyanta’s bereavement and remorse as he suffers the tragic tensions between the real and the ideal.
Introductory Summary. Act Six’s prelude shows two royal guards arresting a fisherman for presumably stealing King Dushyanta’s ring. The fisherman tells the Superintendent how he, accidentally, finds the ring inside a carp’s belly at Indra’s river. In turn, the superintendent, aware of the ring’s “fishy smell”, meets with King Dushyanta who, upon recognizing the ring, becomes romantically moved. In gratitude, he rewards the fisherman with a bracelet as valuable as the ring.
After the prelude, Misrakesi, a celestial nymph and friend of Sakuntala’s mother,
invisibly oversees the King’s doings, under Sakuntala’s request. Misrakesi learns that the Spring Festival shall not be celebrated as a result of King Dushyanta’s daunting depression and blown despair at having rejected6 Sakuntala earlier. Consequently, King Dushyanta does not attend to his royal duties and retires with the clown to the “arbour of spring creepers” in the Pleasure Garden to contemplate and find comfort in the portrait of Sakuntala he has painted.
At the garden, King Dushyanta reveals his heart. He tells the clown how he promised Sakuntala that she would be escorted to his palace as soon as she counted all the letters of his name engraved on his ring. King Dushyanta, feeling remorse for his distraction and spurning of Sakuntala, also tells how the carp swallowed the ring after it slipped from Sakuntala’s hand while she worshipped the water at Indra’s Ford. Just as he wanders how he could have spurned Sakuntala, Misrakesi wanders why King Dushyanta’s love needs a token of recognition. Neither Misrakesi nor the King realizes, at this point, Durvasas’ curse.
Next, King Dushyanta, mesmerized, dreams up the vivid landscapes, ornaments and
6 Rejection of Sakuntala takes place in Act Five.
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