Shakuntala () is a 1945

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

i epic poem written by

Laxmi Prasad Devkota Laxmi Prasad Devkota () (1909-1959) was a Nepalis, Nepalese poet, playwright, novelist, and politician. Honored with the title of Mahakabi () in Nepali literature, he was known as a poet with a golden heart, and is considered one of the most fam ...

and published by

Sajha Publications Sajha Publications () is the oldest publishing house of Nepal. It was established in 1913 and is funded by the Government of Nepal. Headquartered in Lalitpur, it has regional branches in Biratnagar, Pokhara, Nepalgunj and Dhangadi. Litterateur ...

. It is considered to be one of the greatest works of Laxmi Prasad Devkota and Nepali literature.

Introduction

The epic is based on the classical play

Shakuntala Shakuntala () is a heroine in ancient Indian literature, best known for her portrayal in the ancient Sanskrit play '' Abhijnanashakuntalam'' (The Recognition of Shakuntala), written by the classical poet Kalidasa in the 4th or 5th century AD ...

by ancient Sanskrit poet

Kālidāsa Kālidāsa (, "Servant of Kali (god), Kali"; 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on Hindu Puranas and philosophy. ...

and is considered the first original epic in the

Nepali language Nepali (; , ), or ''Gorkhali'' is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Himalayas region of South Asia. It is the official and most widely spoken Languages of Nepal, language of Nepal, where it also serves as a ''lingua fr ...

. Although it is based on an ancient work, the work has sufficient originality to be considered as such, specially compared to the first Nepali epic

Bhanubhakta Ramayana ''Bhanubhakta Ramayana'' (), commonly known as ''Ramayan'', is the Nepali translation of Valmiki Ramayana by ''Adikavi'' Bhanubhakta Acharya. It was posthumously published in its complete form in 1887. It is widely considered to be the first Ne ...

which was a translation of

Valmiki Valmiki (; , ) was a legendary poet who is celebrated as the traditional author of the epic ''Ramayana'', based on the attribution in the text itself. He is revered as ''Ādi Kavi'', the first poet, author of ''Ramayana'', the first epic poe ...

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

. It was published in 1945. Devkota took just three months to complete the entire epic.

Translation

Laxmi Prasad Devkota translated the epic into English himself. It was published posthumously in 1991.

Adaptations

Shakuntala has been adapted into a play and performed by the students of Bidya Shankar School under the guidance of Sunil Pokharel, the director of Aroha Gurukul.

References

Bibliography

*“Shakuntala.” A Survey of Nepali Literature in English. (M. Phil. Course Packet. Unit 1: Poetry). Kathmandu: IACER, 2006. 45-57. {{Shakuntala 1945 poems Epic poems in Nepali Works based on Shakuntala (play) Works based on the Mahabharata Nepalese books 20th-century Nepalese books Nepalese epics Nepali-language books