LITR201

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Annie Heckel

Professor Harper

LITR201

28 September 2014

Dear Professor Harper,

I decided to write on the dharma in The Sakuntala and The Ramayana prompt because I

found it very interesting how these two works use the concept in parallel but different ways. I

wanted to try to articulate what those differences were in my paper. I did not have to choose what

works to write on, but I did enjoy reading these two works. I think my essay is strong because it

has a good thesis and I keep the focus of the essay on that thesis all the way through. I think that

I also chose strong examples from both works to use as support. The area that I think may be

weak is in the analysis of my evidence, and I would like feedback on that. Did I explain the

evidence well enough, or are there still some parts of it that need to be better explained?

-Annie

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Annie Heckel

Professor Harper

LITR201

28 September 2014

Love Over All: Love’s Triumph Over Dharma in The Sakuntala

In Hindu culture and belief, the idea of “dharma” or duty is an important concept that

shapes the life of individuals on many levels. When viewed through the lens of an individual’s

caste, it dictates what sorts of work that individual can do, as well as how the person must

respond to others of higher or lower castes, something we see in The Sakuntala in the scene with

the fisherman. In the individual’s personal life, dharma can require a person to respond in certain

ways to family members or other members of society, as shown in the section of The Ramayana

where King Dasaratha must grant Queen Kaikeyi’s request that he exile his beloved son Rama

even though the exile is unfair and against Dasaratha’s wishes. When considering The Sakuntala

and The Ramayana together, however, there are significant differences in the role that dharma

plays in the story. Duty in the Sakuntala is more of backdrop in the setting of the story, an

assumed quantity, and only when it is violated does it really become noticeable. Rather than the

emphasis being on dharma, as it is in The Ramayana, the main focus of The Sakuntala is on love,

and dharma’s influence is secondary to the power of love.

Early on in The Sakuntala, we do see dharma featured as a way to establish the main

characters as upright and good people. Dushyanta's acquiescence to the hermits' requests, and

deference to the hermits is an example of this (Kalidasa 379-382). Dushyanta’s honorable

response to the hermits, who as priests are of a higher social status than Dushyanta, can be seen

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as a manifestation of dharma because it shows Dushyanta knows and respects his place in the

caste system. This knowledge and respect of the caste system is also shown in Dushyanta’s wish

that Sakuntala might be “sprung from a caste different from that of the Head of the hermitage”

(Kalidasa 384); cross-caste marriages are not considered appropriate, and Dushyanta hopes that

dharma will not prevent their union. He knows that if Sakuntala is of the same caste as Kanwa,

the head of the hermitage, then Dushyanta, being of a different caste, cannot marry Sakuntala

without violating social restrictions, something he is not willing to do.

Another manifestation of dharma in The Sakuntala is shown through the importance of

Sakuntala’s proper observance of the rites of hospitality. Correct adherence to rites of hospitality

is shown on p. 386, when Sakuntala and her attendants are careful to offer Dushyanta the

appropriate greetings and actions of welcome. However, later on in the play, it is these same rites

that become the main cause of conflict when they are not observed. Sakuntala is daydreaming of

Dushyanta, and therefore the duty of respectful greeting owed to Durvasas is neglected, causing

Durvasas to utter the curse that makes Dushyanta forget Sakuntala:

He, even he of whom thou thinkest, he

Shall think no more of thee; nor in his heart

Retain thine image. Vainly shalt thou strive

To waken his remembrance of the past;

He shall disown thee, even as the sot,

Roused from his midnight drunkenness, denies

The words he uttered in his revellings. (Kalidasa 415)

Durvasas’ curse here specifically focuses on the object of Sakuntala’s daydream—it is an “eye

for an eye” kind of punishment that could be considered “instant karma” for her neglect of duty.

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Love has caused duty to be forgotten, so in order to enforce the importance of duty, love must be

forgotten in turn.

This “eye for an eye” curse for violating dharma might seem to indicate that duty is

considered more important than love since at this point in the play, neglect of duty causes love to

be lost. Love, however, and the romantic relationship between Dushyanta and Sakuntala, triumph

in the end; duty becomes just an agent used to add the conflict that drives the plot. In the conflict

between love and duty, love ends up winning out; Durvasas, being somewhat mollified by

Priyamvada, is willing to provide a way for his curse to be broken, even though Sakuntala never

actually rouses herself to greet him or beg forgiveness.

In the Ramayana, by contrast, duty seems to be a much stronger theme; it is duty, not

love, that drives the characters themselves the most, and duty will even interfere with the

motivations driven by love, as is the case with Dasaratha's constraint by duty to Queen Kaikeyi

when he is forced to exile his beloved son Rama. If duty were not paramount, Dasaratha would

not give in to what he knows to be Kaikeyi’s jealousy—his love and respect for Rama would

instead win. However, because Dasaratha has made an oath to grant Kaikeyi’s request, he is

forced by his duty to fulfill his word to do something repugnant to him and his love for his son.

Similarly, the problems with Rama and Sita's relationships after each time she has been

kidnapped show this issue of duty winning over love. Where in a love-focused story we might

expect that “love conquerors all” and Rama would have faith that Sita was pure, we instead see

that Sita must fulfill the demands of duty and prove her purity. By contrast, in Sakuntala, love is

the primary motivation, driver of action, and ideal. In the end, Sakuntala does not have to prove

her purity; it is instead Dushyanta must prove his love, as we eavesdrop on his lamentations

along with the nymph Sanumati in Act VI (Kalidasa 446-460). Dushyanta’s lovesick behavior

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and his subsequent obedience to the gods are what prove him worthy of recovering his lost wife

and meeting his superhuman son.

All in all, love is the focus in Sakuntala, and while dharma has a place, it is more as a

backdrop than as a central theme. When reading The Sakuntala in conjunction with The

Ramayana, where dharma is the main theme, it is very clear how small a role dharma and karma

play in the story of Dushyanta and Sakuntala. Though duty drives the action of The Sakuntala

and helps to show the audience what the characters are like, love is the main theme and the final

triumphant force of the play.

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Works Cited

Kalidasa. The Sakuntala. Trans. Sir Monier Monier-Williams. World Literature Through the

Renaissance. Ed. William Overton and Linda Silva. Vol. 2. Charles Town, WV:

APUS E-Press, 2011. 375-480. Web. 5 September 2011.

Valmiki. The Ramayana. Trans. Romesh C. Dutt. World Literature Through the Renaissance. Ed.

William Overton and Linda Silva. Vol. 2. Charles Town, WV: APUS E-Press,

2011. 323-372. Web. 5 September 2011.