Abhijñānaśākuntalam 4.5
यास्यत्यद्य शकुन्तलेति हृदयं संस्पृष्टमुत्कण्ठया
कण्ठः स्तम्भितबाष्पवृत्तिकलुषश्चिन्ताजडं दर्शनम्।
वैक्लव्यं मम तावदीदृशमिदं स्नेहादरण्यौकसः
पीड्यन्ते गृहिणः कथं नु तनयाविश्लेषदुःखैर्नवैः॥
yāsyaty adya śakuntaleti hṛdayaṃ saṃspṛṣṭam utkaṇṭhayā
kaṇṭhaḥ stambhita-bāṣpa-vṛtti-kaluṣaś cintā-jaḍaṃ darśanam
vaiklavyaṃ mama tāvad īdṛśam idaṃ snehād araṇyaukasaḥ
pīḍyante gṛhiṇaḥ kathaṃ nu tanayā-viśleṣa-duḥkhair navaiḥ
Tap any word to see what it means and how it works in the line.
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The thought — she leaves today — takes hold of my heart. My throat closes on tears I will not shed; my eyes see nothing. And I am only an ascetic of the forest, who loves her. What must ordinary fathers feel when a daughter leaves home?
How the sense would be said plainly today.
Metre
Śārdūlavikrīḍita
— — — ⏑ ⏑ — ⏑ — ⏑ ⏑ ⏑ — | — — ⏑ — — ⏑ —
Nineteen syllables, 'the tiger's play' — a long, powerful measure with a pause after twelve. Sanskrit drama reserves it for moments of full emotional weight.
— is a long beat, ⏑ a short one.
Why this verse matters
- The image
- The grief is anatomical: heart, throat, eyes, each reported separately, as if the speaker were listing symptoms he cannot control.
- The craft
- Three clauses of physical detail, then one general reflection. Kaṇva, who has renounced family life, discovers that he has one anyway — and measures his pain by imagining a greater pain he has never had.
- The moment
- Act Four, the act Indian tradition holds to be the summit of the play. The sage Kaṇva is sending his foster-daughter to her husband's court.
A short practice
Rebuild the movement of the verse, from the thought to the reflection.