Shakuntala was a beautiful maiden who was the adopted daughter of Sage Karnva. She lived with him and her pet deer, in his hermitage in the forest. One day, King Dushyanta, the king of Hastinapur, came hunting
in the forest. He saw the beautiful deer and shot an arrow at it.
Shakuntalsa found her deer whimpering in pain and tried to comfort it.
Shakuntala loved the animals of the forest and her affection for the animal touched King Dushyanta's heart and he asked her to forgive him for his cruelty. She forgive him but asked him to stay in the forest for a few days to tend the wounded deer. They fell in love and King Dushyanta married Shakuntala and gave her a wedding ring his name on it. The king then left for his king-Dom after promising to return soon and take Shakuntala back with him.
One day , Sage Durwasa came to Shakuntala's door. He repeatedly asked
for water, but Shakuntala was lost in thoughts of King Dushyanta and paid no
attention. The sage Durwasa was insulted and got very angry. Known for his
temper, he cursed Shakuntala saying that the person whom she was thinking about
would forget her. When Shakuntala heard the cause, she was frightened
and begged the sage Durwasa to forgive her. The sage Durwasa said that he could not the back the curse but he could change, if she showed King Dushyanta something he had given her then he will remember again about her.
Due to the curse King Dushyanta forgot Shakuntala. After days of waiting
for him to return, Shakuntala decided to go to the capital to meet him.
On the way, as Shakuntala was crossing a river, her wedding ring fell into the water. A fish swallowed the ring. When Shakuntala arrived at the palace,
the king Dushyanta did not recognize her. He asked her to prove her identity but
Shakuntala didn't have the ring to show him, as it was lost. She wept
and told the king about the time he had spent with her in the forest but
he couldn't remember anything. Feeling sad she left the palace.
Ashamed to return to her father's home, she started living alone in
another part of the forest where she gave birth to a son. She called him
Bharata. Bharata was a brave boy. He grew up among the animals of the
forest and would play with wild animals.
One day at the king's palace, a fisherman brought him a ring. He told
the king that he had found the ring in the stomach of a fish that he
had brought it straight to him. As soon as the king saw the ring, the
curse was broken and the king Dushyanta remembered Shakuntala. He was very upset
and hurried at once to her home in the forest to look for her, but could
not find her. In despair, he returned to his palace.
Few years passed. The king Dushyanta again went hunting in the forest. There he
was surprised to find a boy playing with a lion cub. The boy fearlessly
held open the mouth of the cub and said, " O king of the jungle! Open
your mouth wide, so I can count your teeth." The king went up to the boy
and asked him about his parents. The little boy
replied that he was the son of king Dushyanta and Shakuntala. King Dushyanta
was very happy to have found Shakuntala and asked the boy to take him
to his mother. The family was united and King Dushyanta took Shakuntala and
Bharata along with him to Hastinapur. Bharata grew up to become a great
king.
While the Pandavas were in exile, one day, the sun god (lord Surya Deva) gave King Yudhisthira the bowl of plenty (akshaypatra) and said , "Give this to Sati Draupadi. Once a day, she can take out as much food as she wants until she herself has eaten. Till then, this bowl will not run empty."
