The recognition of Śakuntalā
Subtitle: a play in seven acts
By: Kālidāsa ; translated with an introduction and notes by W.J. Johnson.
Contributors: Johnson, W. J., 1951-
Series: Oxford world's classics; Oxford world's classics (Oxford University Press)
Publisher: Oxford University Press; Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Oxford; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 147
ISBN-13: 9780199540600
Subjects: Kālidāsa; Śakuntalā (Hindu mythology) in literature; Indic drama -- History and criticism
Other titles: Mahābhārata. Ādiparva. English. Selections.
Work titles: Śakuntalā.
Description: KING 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 Sakuntala aimed to produce an experience of aesthetic 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 and dramatic 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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Notes: "Śakuntalā in the Mahabhārata (Mahābhārata 1.62-9)."

Includes bibliographical references.

Includes translations from Sanskrit.