Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection

I really like this love story. Although, as a love story, the content of it is sort of normal as well as the ending which is ended by a happy reunion of king, Sakutala, and their son, the element of kinship is contained within the whole story, and some parts of that touched me while I was reading Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection.
Between Kanwa and Sakuntala, we can feel the strong kinship even though kanwa is not Sakuntala’s real father. Kanwa is a very nice sage. He took care of Sakuntala after he found her in the forest, and, in fact, he called Sakuntala daughter. At the day that Sakuntala was going to find her husband, the king, after she found out that she was pregnant, Kanwa walked around and sadly said: “My heart is touched with sadness since Sakuntala must go today, my throat is choked with sobs, my eyes are dulled by worry-if a disciplined ascetic suffers so deeply from love, how do fathers bear the pain of each daughter’s parting?” These heartfelt words coming from a father who really loves his daughter and worries about her future married life.
When the king Dushyanta first saw Bharata without knowing his identity, the subtle feeling between them was made by Kaldasa. When the king saw Bharata was playing with a lion’s mouth, he said “Why is my heart drawn to this child, as if he were my own flesh? I don’t have a son. That is why I feel tender toward him…” If you have kids, then, I believe you will understand. I do not know how to describe it, but I think Kaldasa tried to tell people the kinship ties every family member. So what Dushyanta felt about Bharata at that first time was the special bond between a father and his child.