Shakuntala (play)
Abhijñānaśākuntalam (
Origin of Kālidāsa's play
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Plots similar to the play appear in earlier texts. There is a story mentioned in the Mahābhārata. A story of similar plot appear in the Buddhist Jātaka tales as well. In the Mahābhārata the story appears as a precursor to the Pāṇḍava and Kaūrava lineages. In the story King Duṣyanta and Śakuntalā meet in the forest and get estranged and ultimately reunited. Their son Bharata is said to have laid the foundation of the dynasty that ultimately led to Kaūravas and Pāṇḍavas.[3][4][5][6]
Title
Manuscripts differ on what its exact title is. Usual variants are Abhijñānaśakuntalā, Abhijñānaśākuntala, Abhijñānaśakuntalam and Abhijñānaśākuntalam.[7] The Sanskrit title means pertaining to the recognition of Śakuntalā, so a literal translation could be Of Śakuntalā who is recognized. The title is sometimes translated as The token-for-recognition of Śakuntalā or The Sign of Śakuntalā.[citation needed] Titles of the play in published translations include Sacontalá or The Fatal Ring and Śakoontalá or The Lost Ring.[8][9]
Synopsis
The protagonist is
While Kaṇva and the other elders of the hermitage are away on a pilgrimage,
One day, the anger-prone sage
She later travels to meet him, and has to cross a river. The ring is lost when it slips off her hand as she dips it in the water playfully. On arrival the king is unable to recognize the person he married and therefore refuses to acknowledge her. Śakuntala is abandoned by her companions who declare that she should remain with her husband. They then return to the hermitage.
Fortunately, the ring is discovered by a fisherman in the belly of a fish, and presents it in the king's court. Duṣyanta realizes his mistake - too late. The newly wise Duṣyanta is asked to defeat an army of
In other versions, especially the one found in the '
Reception
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By the 18th century, Western poets were beginning to get acquainted with works of Indian literature and philosophy.[citation needed] Shakuntala was the first Indian drama to be translated into a Western language, by Sir William Jones in 1789. In the next 100 years, there were at least 46 translations in twelve European languages.[11]
Sanskrit literature
Introduction in the West
Sacontalá or The Fatal Ring, Sir William Jones' translation of Kālidāsa's play, was first published in Calcutta, followed by European republications in 1790, 1792 and 1796.
Wilt thou the blossoms of spring and the fruits that are later in season,
Wilt thou have charms and delights, wilt thou have strength and support,
Wilt thou with one short word encompass the earth and the heaven,
All is said if I name only, [Shakuntala], thee.
Education in British India
Shakuntala was disapproved of as a text for school and college students in the British Raj in the 19th century, as popular Indian literature was deemed, in the words of Charles Trevelyan, to be "marked with the greatest immorality and impurity", and Indian students were thought by colonial administrators to be insufficiently morally and intellectually advanced to read the Indian texts that were taught and praised in Britain.[18]
Unfinished opera projects
When Leopold Schefer became a student of Antonio Salieri in September 1816, he had been working on an opera about Shakuntala for at least a decade, a project which he did however never complete.[19] Franz Schubert, who had been a student of Salieri until at least December of the same year, started composing his Sakuntala opera, D 701, in October 1820.[19][20] Johann Philipp Neumann based the libretto for this opera on Kālidāsa's play, which he probably knew through one or more of the three German translations that had been published by that time.[21] Schubert abandoned the work in April 1821 at the latest.[19] A short extract of the unfinished score was published in 1829.[21] Also Václav Tomášek left an incomplete Sakuntala opera.[22]
New adaptations and editions
Kālidāsa's Śakuntalā was the model for the libretto of Karl von Perfall 's first opera, which premièred in 1853.[23] In 1853 Monier Monier-Williams published the Sanskrit text of the play.[24] Two years later he published an English translation of the play, under the title: Śakoontalá or The Lost Ring.[9] A ballet version of Kālidāsa's play, Sacountalâ, on a libretto by Théophile Gautier and with music by Ernest Reyer, was first performed in Paris in 1858.[22][25] A plot summary of the play was printed in the score edition of Karl Goldmark's Overture to Sakuntala, Op. 13 (1865).[22] Sigismund Bachrich composed a Sakuntala ballet in 1884.[22] Felix Weingartner's opera Sakuntala, with a libretto based on Kālidāsa's play, premièred the same year.[26] Also Philipp Scharwenka's Sakuntala, a choral work on a text by Carl Wittkowsky, was published in 1884.[27]
Bengali translations:[relevant?]
- Shakuntala (1854) by Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar
- Shakuntala (1895) by Abanindranath Tagore
Tamil translations include:[relevant?]
- Abigna Sakuntalam (1938) by Mahavidwan R.Raghava Iyengar. Translated in sandam style.
Felix Woyrsch's incidental music for Kālidāsa's play, composed around 1886, is lost.[28] Ignacy Jan Paderewski would have composed a Shakuntala opera, on a libretto by Catulle Mendès, in the first decade of the 20th century: the work is however no longer listed as extant in overviews of the composer's or librettist's oeuvre.[29][30][31][32] Arthur W. Ryder published a new English translation of Shakuntala in 1912.[33] Two years later he collaborated to an English performance version of the play.[34]
Alfano's opera
Italian Franco Alfano composed an opera, named La leggenda di Sakùntala (The legend of Sakùntala) in its first version (1921) and simply Sakùntala in its second version (1952).[35]
Further developments
Chinese translation:[relevant?]
- 沙恭达罗 (1956) by Ji Xianlin
Fritz Racek's completion of Schubert's Sakontala was performed in Vienna in 1971.[21] Another completion of the opera, by Karl Aage Rasmussen, was published in 2005[36] and recorded in 2006.[20] A scenic performance of this version was premièred in 2010.[citation needed]
Norwegian electronic musician Amethystium wrote a song called "Garden of Sakuntala" which can be found on the CD Aphelion.[citation needed][relevant?] According to Philip Lutgendorf, the narrative of the movie Ram Teri Ganga Maili[when?] recapitulates the story of Shakuntala.[37][relevant?]
In
A production directed by Tarek Iskander was mounted for a run at London's Union Theatre in January and February 2009.[citation needed] The play is also appearing on a Toronto stage for the first time as part of the Harbourfront World Stage program.[failed verification] An adaptation by the Magis Theatre Company [1][failed verification] featuring the music of Indian-American composer Rudresh Mahanthappa had its premiere at La MaMa E.T.C. in New York February 11–28, 2010.[citation needed]
Film adaptations
It is one of the few
Notes
- ISBN 978-1438108735.
- ^ Sheldon Pollock (ed., 2003) Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, p.79
- ISBN 978-81-8475-388-2. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
- ISBN 978-0-393-24645-2. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
- ^ Automation, Bhaskar (2019-06-13). "महाभारत की शकुंतला और कालिदास के अभिज्ञान शाकुंतलम का किया चित्रण". Dainik Bhaskar (in Hindi). Retrieved 2019-07-26.
- ISBN 978-0-8147-8815-8. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
- ^ Stephan Hillyer Levitt (2005), "Why Are Sanskrit Play Titles Strange?" (PDF), Indologica Taurinensia: 195–232, archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-22
- ^ a b Jones 1789.
- ^ a b Monier-Williams 1855.
- ^ Apte, Vaman Shivaram (1959). "भरतः". Revised and enlarged edition of Prin. V. S. Apte's The practical Sanskrit-English dictionary. Poona: Prasad Prakashan.
- complete reviewwebsite.
- ^ Rapin, Claude (1992). La Trésorerie du palais hellénistique d'Aï Khanoum. L'Apogée et la chute du royaume grec de Bactriane, Fouilles d'Aï Khanoum VIII, Mémoires de la Délégation archéologique française en Afghanistan XXXIII (PDF). Paris: De Boccard. p. Plaque 87 (reconstruction). also Reconstruction by Claude Rapin
- ^ a b c Evison 1998, pp. 132–135.
- ^ Jones 1791.
- ^ Jones 1803.
- ^ Figueira 1991, pp. 19–20.
- ^ Mueller, Max A History Of Ancient Sanskrit Literature
- ^ Viswanathan, Gauri (1989). Masks of Conquest: Literary Study and British Rule in India. Oxford University Press. pp. 5–6.
- ^ a b c Manuela Jahrmärker and Thomas Aigner (editors), Franz Schubert (composer) and Johann Philipp Neumann (librettist). Sacontala (NSE Series II Vol. 15). Bärenreiter, 2008, p. IX
- ^ a b Margarida Mota-Bull. Sakontala (8 june 2008) at www
.musicweb-international .com - ^ ISBN 9783761805718, pp. 411–413
- ^ a b c d Boston Symphony Orchestra Twenty-Third Season, 1903–1904: Programme – pp. 125–128
- ^ Allgemeine Zeitung, No. 104 (Thursday 14 April 1853): p. 1662
- ^ Monier-Williams 1853.
- ^ Gautier 1858.
- ^ Hubbard, William Lines (1908). Operas, Vol. 2 in: The American History and Encyclopedia of Music. Irving Squire, p. 418
- ^ § "Works without Opus Number" of List of works by Philipp Scharwenka at IMSLP website
- ^ Felix Woyrsch – Werke at Pfohl-Woyrsch-Gesellschaft website
- ^ Riemann, Hugo (editor). Musik-Lexikon , 7th edition. Leipzig: Hesse, 1909, p. 1037
- IMSLPwebsite
- ^ Małgorzata Perkowska. "List of Works by Ignacy Jan Paderewski" in Polish Music Journal, Vol. 4, No. 2, Winter 2001
- ^ Catulle Mendès at www
.artlyriquefr .fr - ^ Ryder 1912.
- ^ Holme & Ryder 1914.
- ^ Background to the opera from The Opera Critic on theoperacritic.com. Retrieved 8 May 2013
- ^ Sakontala (score) at Edition Wilhelm Hansen website
- ^ Ram Teri Ganga Maili Archived 2011-12-28 at the Wayback Machine at Notes on Indian popular cinema by Philip Lutgendorf
- ISBN 81-86365-78-8
- ISBN 978-1-134-06255-3.
- ^ "In pics: Samantha's stunning stills from the sets of 'Shakuntalam'". The News Minute. 2021-03-16. Retrieved 2021-03-19.
- ISBN 978-0-948911-40-8.
- ^ "Bharat Ek Khoj | Episode-18 | Kālidāsa, Part—I". Prasar Bharati Archives.
- Telegraph India.
- ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
References
- Evison, Gillian (1998). "The Sanskrit Manuscripts of Sir William Jones in the Bodleian Library". In Murray, Alexander (ed.). Sir William Jones, 1746-1794: A Commemoration. ISBN 0199201900.
- Figueira, Dorothy Matilda (1991). Translating the Orient: The Reception of Sakuntala in Nineteenth-Century Europe. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0327-3.
- Gautier, Théophile (1858). Sacountalâ: ballet-pantomime en deux actes, tiré du drame indien de Calidasá. Paris: Vve Jonas. Other on-line version: Project Gutenberg
{{cite book}}
: External link in
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- Holme, Garnet; Ryder, Arthur W. (1914). Shakuntala: An acting version in three acts. Berkeley: University of California Press. Other on-line versions: Hathi Trust – Hathi Trust
{{cite book}}
: External link in
(help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)|postscript=
- Jones, William (1789). Sacontalá or The Fatal Ring: An Indian Drama by Cálidás, Translated From the Original Sanskrit and Prakrit. Calcutta: J. Cooper. On-line versions:
1792 (3rd. ed., London): Internet Archive
1807 (pp. 363–532 in Vol. 9 of The Works of Sir William Jones, edited by Lord Teignmouth, London: John Stockdale): Frances W. Pritchett (Columbia University)
1870 reprint London: Sacontalá; or the Fatal Ring at English Wikisource{{cite book}}
: External link in
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- Jones, William (1791). Sakontala oder der entscheidende Ring. Translated by Forster, Georg. Mainz: Fischer.
- Jones, William (1803). Sacontala, ou l'Anneau fatal. Translated by Bruguière, Antoine [in French]. Paris: Treuttel et Würtz.
- Monier-Williams, Monier (1853). Śakuntalá, or: Śakuntalá Recognised by the Ring, a Sanskrit Drama, in Seven Acts, by Kálidása; The Devanágarí Recension of the Text (1st ed.). Hertford: Stephen Austin. Other on-line versions: Internet Archive – Internet Archive – Google Books – Hathi Trust
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- Clarendon Press. Other on-line versions: Internet Archive – Internet Archive – Internet Archive – Google Books – Hathi Trust)
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- OCLC 58897839. Other on-line versions: Hathi Trust)
1856 (3rd ed.): Internet Archive – Internet Archive – Hathi Trust
1872 (4th ed., London: Allen & Co.): Internet Archive – Google Books – Google Books – Google Books
1885 (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.): Internet Archive – Hathi Trust – Hathi Trust – Johns Hopkins
1895 (7th ed., London: Routledge): Internet Archive{{cite book}}
: External link in
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- Monier-Williams, Monier (1898). Śakoontalá or The Lost Ring: An Indian Drama Translated Into English Prose and Verse, From the Sanskṛit of Kálidása (8th ed.). London: Routledge. Other on-line versions: Project Gutenberg
{{cite book}}
: External link in
(help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)|postscript=
- Monier-Williams, Monier (1898). Śakoontalá or The Lost Ring: An Indian Drama Translated Into English Prose and Verse, From the Sanskṛit of Kálidása (8th ed.). London: Routledge. Other on-line versions: Project Gutenberg
- ISBN 1776535138): Google Books