DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.638#0235
CHAPTER IX
Prelude to the Great Bharata War
Dushyanta and Shakuntala—Romantic Wooing — Birth of Bharata—
Shakuntala's Appeal—Her Claim vindicated—King Bharata's Reign—King
Hastin and King Kuru—King Shantanu's Bride a Goddess—Seven Babes
drowned—Story of Satyavati—Vyasa, Poet and Sage—Bhishma's Terrible
Vow—Fisher Girl becomes Queen—Marriage by Capture—A Childless King
—Origin of Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura.
Now the sire of the great King Bharata1 was royal
Dushyanta of the lunar race, the descendant of Atri, the
Deva-rishi, and of Soma, the moon; his mother was
beautiful Shakuntala, the hermit maiden, and daughter
of a nymph from the celestial regions. And first be it
told of the wooing of Shakuntala and the strange child-
hood of her mighty son.
One day King Dushyanta, that tiger among men,
went forth from his stately palace to go a-hunting with
a great host and many horses and elephants. He entered
a deep jungle and there slew numerous wild animals;
his arrows wounded tigers at a distance; he felled those
that came near with his great sword. Lions fled from
before him, wild elephants stampeded in terror, deer
sought to escape hastily, and birds rose in the air utter-
ing cries of distress.
The king, attended by a single follower, pursued a
deer across a desert plain, and entered a beautiful forest
1 Pron. bah'ra-ta or bhah'ra-ta.
157
Prelude to the Great Bharata War
Dushyanta and Shakuntala—Romantic Wooing — Birth of Bharata—
Shakuntala's Appeal—Her Claim vindicated—King Bharata's Reign—King
Hastin and King Kuru—King Shantanu's Bride a Goddess—Seven Babes
drowned—Story of Satyavati—Vyasa, Poet and Sage—Bhishma's Terrible
Vow—Fisher Girl becomes Queen—Marriage by Capture—A Childless King
—Origin of Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura.
Now the sire of the great King Bharata1 was royal
Dushyanta of the lunar race, the descendant of Atri, the
Deva-rishi, and of Soma, the moon; his mother was
beautiful Shakuntala, the hermit maiden, and daughter
of a nymph from the celestial regions. And first be it
told of the wooing of Shakuntala and the strange child-
hood of her mighty son.
One day King Dushyanta, that tiger among men,
went forth from his stately palace to go a-hunting with
a great host and many horses and elephants. He entered
a deep jungle and there slew numerous wild animals;
his arrows wounded tigers at a distance; he felled those
that came near with his great sword. Lions fled from
before him, wild elephants stampeded in terror, deer
sought to escape hastily, and birds rose in the air utter-
ing cries of distress.
The king, attended by a single follower, pursued a
deer across a desert plain, and entered a beautiful forest
1 Pron. bah'ra-ta or bhah'ra-ta.
157