Durvasa rishi, famed for his fiery temper, came to visit the ashrama of Kanva. Shakuntala, lost in thoughts of Dushyanta, was inattentive to him. The angry sage cursed her that whoever she thinking of would forget her. She begged his forgiveness, so Durvasa said that he would remember if she showed him something he gave her. On her way to Hastinapura by ferry, Shakuntala’s ring fell into the river and was swallowed by a fish. Due to the sage’s curse, Dushyanta did not recognize her, so she returned to the ashrama where their son, Bharata, was born. One day, a fisherman found the ring inside a fish. He took it to the king, who remembered his past. He went to the forest and found Bharata playing with a lion’s cub. He brought Shakuntala and Bharata to Hastinapura. Bharata became a great king. The Kauravas and the Pandavas were his descendants.
A Curse
