दुःषन्त उवाच
न पुत्रम् अभिजानामि त्वयि जातं शकुन्तले ॥
असत्यवचना नार्यः कस् ते श्रद्धास्यते वचः ॥
मेनका निरनुक्रोशा बन्धकी जननी तव ॥
यया हिमवतः पृष्ठे निर्माल्येव प्रवेरिता ॥
स चापि निरनुक्रोशः क्षत्रयोनिः पिता तव ॥
विश्वामित्रो ब्राह्मणत्वे लुब्धः कामपरायणः ॥
मेनकाप्सरसां श्रेष्ठा महर्षीणां च ते पिता ॥
तयोर् अपत्यं कस्मात् त्वं पुंश्चलीवाभिधास्यसि ॥
अश्रद्धेयम् इदं वाक्यं कथयन्ती न लज्जसे ॥
विशेषतो मत्सकाशे दुष्टतापसि गम्यताम् ॥
क्व महर्षिः सदैवोग्रः साप्सरा क्व च मेनका ॥
क्व च त्वम् एवं कृपणा तापसीवेषधारिणी ॥
अतिकायश् च पुत्रस् ते बालो ऽपि बलवान् अयम् ॥
कथम् अल्पेन कालेन शालस्कन्ध इवोद्गतः ॥
सुनिकृष्टा च योनिस् ते पुंश्चली प्रतिभासि मे ॥
यदृच्छया कामरागाज् जाता मेनकया ह्य् असि ॥
सर्वम् एतत् परोक्षं मे यत् त्वं वदसि तापसि ॥
नाहं त्वाम् अभिजानामि यथेष्टं गम्यतां त्वया ॥
duḥṣanta uvāca
na putram abhijānāmi tvayi jātaṃ śakuntale ||
asatyavacanā nāryaḥ kas te śraddhāsyate vacaḥ ||
menakā niranukrośā bandhakī jananī tava ||
yayā himavataḥ pṛṣṭhe nirmālyeva praveritā ||
sa cāpi niranukrośaḥ kṣatrayoniḥ pitā tava ||
viśvāmitro brāhmaṇatve lubdhaḥ kāmaparāyaṇaḥ ||
menakāpsarasāṃ śreṣṭhā maharṣīṇāṃ ca te pitā ||
tayor apatyaṃ kasmāt tvaṃ puṃścalīvābhidhāsyasi ||
aśraddheyam idaṃ vākyaṃ kathayantī na lajjase ||
viśeṣato matsakāśe duṣṭatāpasi gamyatām ||
kva maharṣiḥ sadaivograḥ sāpsarā kva ca menakā ||
kva ca tvam evaṃ kṛpaṇā tāpasīveṣadhāriṇī ||
atikāyaś ca putras te bālo 'pi balavān ayam ||
katham alpena kālena śālaskandha ivodgataḥ ||
sunikṛṣṭā ca yonis te puṃścalī pratibhāsi me ||
yadṛcchayā kāmarāgāj jātā menakayā hy asi ||
sarvam etat parokṣaṃ me yat tvaṃ vadasi tāpasi ||
nāhaṃ tvām abhijānāmi yatheṣṭaṃ gamyatāṃ tvayā ||
Dushyanta said: 'O Shakuntala, I do not recognize any son supposedly born of you; women are false in speech — who would believe your word? Your mother Menaka is a merciless wanton, by whom you were cast off on the ridge of the Himalayas like a withered garland. And your father too is merciless — born from a kshatriya's womb, greedy for brahminhood, devoted to passion — that same Vishvamitra. Menaka is the finest of the apsaras, and your father the foremost of sages; being their child, why do you speak like a harlot? Speaking this implausible tale, you feel no shame, especially before me; O wicked ascetic woman, be gone. Where is that ever-terrible great sage, where is that apsara Menaka — and where are you, so wretched, wearing the garb of an ascetic? Your son is huge of body; though but a child, he is strong — how has he grown in so short a time, like the trunk of a shala tree? Your origin is utterly base; to me you seem a harlot, for by chance, out of lust, you were born of Menaka. O ascetic woman, all that you say is unknown to me and beyond my verification; I do not know you — go wherever you wish.'
35f71964f71c · published Jul 12, 2026, 3:37:30 PM UTC
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Here the king answers righteous speech with a flood of insults, and the scripture does not spare him: before us stands the sorrowful image of a man who, fearing gossip, not only lies but mocks the innocent, accusing her of the very thing he himself is guilty of. Telling is his chief 'proof': 'women are false in speech' — a slander against the whole of womankind, meant to justify his own falsehood. Here is the depth to which fear can drag a man down: dread of public judgment ('especially before me', that is, before the assembly) reduces the king to cruelty and dishonor. Note the bitter irony: the king condemns Menaka for abandoning her child — while at this very moment abandoning his own wife and son; he reproaches Vishvamitra for being 'devoted to passion' — he himself being the one who took Shakuntala in passion and now disowns her. Thus the scripture lays bare the hypocrisy of sin: the sinner accuses others of his own sin. But tradition will not leave the truth defiled: as the next chapter will show, a voice from heaven will confirm Shakuntala's words, and the king (who had secretly been waiting for such testimony) will accept his son. Thus the darkness of falsehood is dispelled by the light of truth from above — and the righteous woman's truth prevails.