Sakuntala - Ideal Girl or Homewrecker?

Does beauty trump everything else?  I couldn't help but ask that question while reading Kalidasa's story.  Sure Sakuntala is kind to animals, but other than beauty what else does she really have going for her?  She lives at a hermitage in the forest where she spends her days focussed on the things that are important to her.  She has a few friends, but has never really ventured far enough to see what the world outside her hermitage is like.  We, as readers, never get to know the real Sakuntala.  We don't get to see the things that make her King Dusyanta's ideal girl.

Now the great King Dusyanta who is not only a man of the world, but also its leader, has seen many great things and he has done many great things.  But the minute he sees the young Sakuntala, he immediately falls in love.  Now this must mean that beauty is the single most important factor in judging people.  What else could he possibly be using to judge her?  He has had no interaction with her.  He doesn't know anything else about her, except for the fact that she likes animals.

I must admit that I am not someone who believes in love at first sight.  But even if you take my personal bias out of the equation, it is very hard to see what King Dusyanta must see in Sakuntala other than her beauty.  I certainly believe in attraction at first sight, but I think that is quite a different thing than falling head over heels in love with a person.  Within seconds of first seeing her, King Dusyanta is willing to give up almost everything he holds dear to love her.  He no longer worries about his responsabilities back in the capitol including his current wives. 

Now clearly this story still has relevance in modern times.  King Dusyanta is not the first man, nor will he be the last, to forget all about his current family when he sees a pretty face.  But doesn't the King get to see a lot of pretty faces?  What makes Sakuntala so special?  Unfortunately readers will never know the answer.  We don't know whether or not he has an unhappy life with his other wives.  We don't know if he just has a thing for young girls.  What we do know is that after just one look, nothing in his world is as important to him as Sakuntala.

It is a good thing that King Dusyanta lived in a time before the Indian tabloids really got going.  Can you imagine the field day that tabloid reporters would have with a married King seducing one of the underage daughters of one of the country's religious leaders?  I'm sure the Indian version of Inside Edition would have nightly coverage of the story.  People would be demanding that the government have the King arrested.  Luckily for Dusyanta, he lived in different times.