"Vaishampaayana continued, 'The glances she (Shakuntala) now and then threw upon the king seemed to burn the latter. Her rising anger however, and the fire of her Tapas, she extinguished within herself by an extraordinary effort. Collecting her thoughts in a moment, her heart possessed with sorrow and anger, she thus addressed her lord in anger, looking at him, 'O monarch (Dushanta), knowing everything how can you, like an inferior person, thus say that you know it not? Your heart is a witness to the truth or falsehood of this matter. Therefore, speak truly without degrading yourself. He who being one thing represents himself as another thing to others, is like a thief and a robber of his own self. Of what sin is he not capable? You think that you alone have knowledge of your deed. But you know not that the Ancient, Omniscient one (Narayana) lives in your heart? He (Lord Narayana) knows all your sins, and you sin in His presence. He that sins thinks that none observes him. But he is observed by Devas and by Him also who is in every heart. The Sun, the Moon, the Air, the Fire, the Earth, the Sky, Water, the heart, Yama, the day, the night, both twilights, and Dharma, all witness the acts of man. Yama, the son of Surya, takes no account of the sins of him with whom (Lord) Narayana the witness of all acts, is pleased. But he with whom (Lord) Narayana is not pleased is tortured for his sins by Yama. Him who degrades himself by representing his self falsely, Devas never bless. Even his own soul does not bless him.
"I am a wife devoted to my husband. I have come of my own will, it is true. But do not, on that account, treat me with disrespect. I am your wife and, therefore, deserve to be treated respectfully. Will you not treat me so, because I have come here of my own will? In the presence of so many, why do you treat me like an ordinary woman? I am not certainly crying in the wilderness. Do you not hear me? But if you refuse to do what I ask you for, O Dushanta, your head this moment shall burst into a hundred pieces! The husband entering the womb of the wife comes out himself in the form of the son. Therefore is the wife called by those knowledgeable of the Vedas as Jaya (she of whom one is born). The son that is so born to persons knowledgeable of Vedic Mantras rescues the spirits of deceased ancestors. Because the son rescues ancestors from the hell called Put, therefore, has he been called by the Swayambu (Lord Brahma) Himself as Puttra (the rescuer from Put). By a son, one conquers the three worlds. By a son's son, one enjoys eternity. By a grandson's son, great-grand-fathers enjoy everlasting happiness.
"She is a true wife who is skilful in household affairs. She is a true wife who has borne a child. She is a true wife whose heart is devoted to her lord. She is a true wife who knows none but her lord. The wife is a man's half. The wife is the first of friends. The wife is the root of Dharma, Arthaa, and Kaamaa. The wife is the root of Moksha. They that have wives can perform acts of Dharma. They that have wives can lead domestic lives. They that have wives have the means to be cheerful. They that have wives can achieve good fortune. Sweet-speeched wives are friends on occasions of joy. They are as fathers on occasions of acts of Dharma. They are mothers in sickness and sadness. In the deep forest to a traveller a wife is his refreshment and comfort. He that has a wife is trusted by all. A wife, therefore, is one's most valuable possession. When the husband leaving this world goes into Yamaloka, it is the devoted wife that accompanies him there. A wife going before waits for the husband. But if the husband goes before, the chaste wife (Patni in Sanskrit) follows close. For these reasons, O king, does marriage exist. The husband enjoys the companionship of the wife both in this and in the other worlds.
"It has been said by learned persons that one is himself born as one's son. Therefore, a man whose wife has borne a son should look upon her as his mother. Seeing the face of the son, one has fathered upon his wife, like his own face in a mirror, one feels as happy as a man of Dharma, on attaining to heaven. Men burned by mental grief, or suffering under bodily pain, feel as much refreshed in the companionship of their wives as a sweating person in a cool bath. No man, even in anger, should ever do anything that is disagreeable to his wife, seeing that happiness, joy, and Dharma -- everything depends on the wife. A wife is the sacred field in which the husband is born himself. Even Rishis cannot create creatures without women. What happiness is greater than what the father feels when the son running towards him, even though his body be covered with dust, grasps his body? Why then do you treat with indifference such a son, who has approached you himself and who gives regretful glances towards you for climbing your knees?
"Even ants support their own eggs without destroying them; then why should not you, a man of Dharma that you are, support your own child? The touch of soft sandal paste, of women, of (cool) water is not so agreeable as the touch of one's own infant son locked in one's embrace. As a Brahmana is the foremost of all bipeds (two-footer beings), a cow, the foremost of all quadrupeds (four-legged beings), a protector, the foremost of all superiors, so is the son the foremost of all objects, agreeable to the touch. Let, therefore, this handsome child touch you in embrace. There is nothing in the world more agreeable to the touch than the embrace of one's son. O punisher of enemies (Dushanta), I have brought forth this child, O monarch, capable of removing all your sorrows after bearing him in my womb for full three years. O monarch of Puru's race (Dushanta), 'He shall perform a hundred Ashwamedha yagnas'--these were the words uttered from the sky (Asariri in Sanskrit) when I was in the lying-in room. Indeed, men going into places far away from their homes take up there others' children on their laps and smelling their heads feel great happiness.
"You know that Brahmanas repeat these Vedic mantras on the occasion of the consecrating rites of infancy -- You are born, O son, of my body! You are sprung from my heart. You are myself in the form of a son. You live to a hundred years! My life depends on you, and the continuation of my race also, on you. Therefore, O son, you live in great happiness to a hundred years.
"He (Sarvadamana) has sprung from your body, this second being from you! Look yourself in your son, as you see your image in the clear lake. As the sacrificial Agni is kindled from the domestic one, so has this one sprung from you. Though one, you have divided yourself. In course of hunting while engaged in pursuit of the deer, I was approached by you, O king (Dushanta), I who was then a virgin in the ashrama of my father.
"Urvashi, Purvachitti, Sahajanya, Menaka, Vishwachi and Ghritachi, these are the six foremost of Apsaras. Among them again, Menaka, born of (Lord) Brahma, is the first. Descending from heaven on Earth, after intercourse with (Rishi) Vishwamitra, she gave birth to me. That celebrated Apsara, Menaka, brought me forth in a valley of Himavat (present-day Himalayas). Without any affection, she went away, left me there as if I were the child of somebody else. What sinful act did I do, of old, in some other life that I was in infancy cast away by my parents and at present am cast away by you! Put away by you, I am ready to return to the refuge of my father. But it is your duty not to cast off this child who is thy own.'
"Hearing all this, Dushanta said, 'O Shakuntala, I do not know having fathered upon you this son. Women generally speak untruths. Who shall believe in your words? Not having any affection, the crude Menaka is your mother, and she cast you off on the surface of the Himavat as one throws away, after the worship is over, the flowery offering made to Devas. Your father too of the Kshatriya race, the lustful (Rishi) Vishwamitra, who was tempted to become a Brahmana, is destitute of all affection. However, Menaka is the first of Apsaras, and your father also is the first of Rishis. Being their daughter, why do you speak like a crude woman? Your words deserve no credit. Are you not ashamed to speak them, especially before me? Go hence, O wicked woman in guise of a Muni. Where is that foremost of Maharishis (Vishwamitra), where also is that Apsara Menaka? Why are you, low as you are, in the guise of a Muni? Your child too is grown up. You say he is a boy, but he is very strong. How has he soon grown like a Shala (botanical name is Shorea robusta) sprout? Your birth is low. You speak like a crude woman. Lustfully you have been begotten by Menaka. O woman of guise of a Muni, all that you say is quite unknown to me. I don't know you. Go wherever you choose.'
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