Indian Writings are enriched with stories and themes drawn from Vedas, Upanishada, Purana, Geeta, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Buddhist Scriptures. The concept of Hindu culture is founded by many myths and folklores such as Vedic Shloka, Epics, Purana and Regional tales. Indian English literature is highly rich with the greatness of historical and religious background of India. The present paper is an attempt to study the use of myth in Kalidasa's Abhijnanasakuntalam. In Abhijnanasakuntalam, Kalidasa used myth as a major tool to enrich the traditional history of India. India is known for its mythical background of religious belief. Here Kalidasa has described the mythical character namely Shakuntala, who falls in love with the mythical king called Dushyanta, who is considered as the ruler of Puru Dynasty. Even their birth, love, marriage, separation and reunion have mythical elements within it. As a result, Kalidasa has brought out a great mythical love story which depicts the historical and religious values of India. In Kalidasa’s Abhijnanasakuntalam, Shakuntala is the real daughter of Sage Vishvamitra and nymph Menka. However, she is adopted and brought up by Sage Kanva and his wife Gautmi. She is a rustic girl, brought up in a hermitage. With the progress of the play, she is married to King Dushyanta who forgets her because of a curse. Later, she was adopted by sage Kashyapa and his wife Aditi. She gives birth to a brave child Bharat and finally reunites with her husband.
The present Research paper uses theoretical perspective of Myth criticism which involves analyzing the play’s narrative through the lens of existing myth.
Publication Date: 2026-06-19