The Mahabharata/Book 1: Adi Parva/Section LXXIII
Section LXXIII.
( Sambhava Parva continued. )
Vaisampayana continued, "King Dushmanta hearing all this said, 'Well-spoken by thee, O princess, all that, O blessed one, thou hast said! Be my wife, O beautiful one! What shall I do for thee? Golden garlands, robes, ear-rings of gold, whitest and handsomest pearls from various countries, golden coins, finest carpets, I shall present thee this very day. Let the whole of my kingdom be thine to-day, O beautiful one! Come to me, O timid one, wedding me, O beautiful one, according to the Gandharva form! O thou of tapering thighs, of all modes of marriage, the Gandharva is regarded as the first.'
"And Sakuntala, hearing this, said, 'O king, my father hath gone from this asylum for fetching fruits. Wait but a moment, he will bestow me on thee!'
"And Dushmanta replied, 'O thou beautiful and faultless one, I desire that thou shouldst be my companion. Know thou that I exist for thee and my heart is in thee. One is certainly one's own friend, and one certainly may depend upon one's own self. Therefore, according to the ordinance, thou canst certainly bestow thyself. There are, in all, eight kinds of marriage. These are Brahma, Daiva, Arsha, Prajapatya, Asura, Gandharva, Rakshasa, and Paishacha the eighth. The self-create Manu hath spoken of the appropriateness of all these forms according to their order. Know thou, O faultless one, that the four first of these is fit for the Brahmanas, and six first for the Kshatrias. As regards kings, even the Rakshasa form is permissible. The Asura form is permitted to the Vaisyas and the Sudras. Of the five first, three are proper, the other two being improper. The Paishacha and the Asura forms should never be practised. These are the institutes of religion, and one may act according to them. The Gandharva and the Rakshasa forms are consistent with the practices of Kshatrias. Thou needst not entertain the least alarm. There is not the least doubt that whether according to any of these last mentioned forms, or according to a union of both of them, our wedding may take place. O thou of the fairest complexion, full of desire as I am, thou also in a similar mood canst be my wife according to the Gandharva form.'
"Sakuntala having listened to all this, answered, 'If this be the course sanctioned by religion, if, indeed, I am my own disposer, hear thou, O thou foremost of the Purava race, what are my terms. Promise truly to gie me what I ask thee amongst ourselves alone. The son that shall be begotten in me shall become thy heir-apparent. This, O king, is my fixed resolve. And, O Dushmanta, if thou grantest this, then let our union take place.'"
Vaisampayana continued, "The monarch, without taking time to consider, at once told her 'Let it be. And I will even take thee, O thou of agreeable smiles, with me to my capital. I tell thee truly. O thou beautiful one, thou deservest all this! And so saying, that first of kings then wedded the handsome Sakuntala of graceful tread, and knew her as her husband. And assuring her duly he came away, telling her repeatedly, 'I shall send for thy escort my troops of four classes. Indeed, it is even thus that I shall take thee to my capital, O thou of beautiful smiles.'"
Vaisampayana continued, "O Janamejaya, having promised so to her the king went away. And as he retraced his way homewards he began to think of Kasyapa. And he asked himself, 'What shall the illustrious ascetic say, after he hath known all?' Thinking of this, he entered his capital.
"The moment the king had left, Kanwa arrived at his abode. But Sakuntala, from a sense of shame, did not go out to receive her father. That great ascetic, however, possessed of spiritual knowledge, knew all. Indeed, beholding everything with his spiritual eye, the illustrious one was pleased and addressing her said, 'Amiable one, what hath been done by thee today in secret, without having waited for me, viz, intercourse with a man, hath not been destructive of thy virtue. Indeed, union according to the Gandharva form, of a wishful woman with a man full of desire, without mantras of any kind, it is said, is the best for Kshatrias. That best of men, Dushmanta, is also high-souled and virtuous. Thou hast, O Sakuntala, accepted him for thy husband. The son that shall be born of thee shall be mighty and illustrious in this world. And he shall have sway over the whole of this earth bounded by the sea. And the forces of that illustrious king of kings, while he goeth out against his foes, shall be irresistible.'
"And Sakuntala then approached her fatigued father and washed his feet. And taking down the weight he had on and placing the fruits in proper order, told him, 'It behoveth thee to give thy grace to that Dushmanta whom I have accepted for my husband, as well as to his ministers.'
"Kanwa replied, 'O thou of the fairest complexion, for thy sake, I am inclined to bless him. But receive from me, thou blessed one, the boon that thou desirest.'"
Vaisampayana continued, "Sakuntala thereupon moved by the desire of benefiting Dushmanta, asked the boon that the Paurava monarchs might ever be virtuous and never be deprived of their thrones."
And so ends the seventy-third Section in the Sambhava of the Adi Parva.