This document summarizes the Hindu mythological story of Shakuntala and Dushyanta. It describes how Shakuntala was born and raised by the sage Kanva in his ashram. Dushyanta encounters Shakuntala while hunting in the forest and falls in love. They marry in the ashram. Dushyanta must leave but gives Shakuntala a ring as a promise to return. However, the sage Durvasa curses Shakuntala so that Dushyanta will forget her.

1. The Happy Mirror Story
“The Happy Mirror Story” is a Japanese folktale. The English translation is below. Many thanks
to Westfield for originally posting this; I’ve edited it for grammar and punctuation and so on. By
the way, “mirror” in Japanese is “kagami” (鏡).
Many years ago in Japan, there lived a father, a mother, and their dear little girl. There was not a
happier family in all of Japan. They took their little daughter to the temple when she was just
thirty days old. She wore a long kimono, as all the Japanese babies do. For her first doll festival,
her parents gave her a set of dolls. There was no finer set anywhere. Her dolls had long, black
hair, silky and smooth, and were clad in gowns of satin and silk.
Her third birthday was a happy day. Her first sash of scarlet and gold was tied around her small
waist. When that happened, she was no longer their baby daughter. She was their little girl, fast
growing up. By the time she was seven, she was helping her parents in many ways. She could
talk and dance and sing, and oh! Her parents loved her dearly.
One day, a messenger brought exciting news. The emperor had sent for the father. He had to
leave for Tokyo at once. Tokyo was a long way off and the roads were rough. The father would
have to walk every step of the way, for he had no horse. There were no railways nor even
rickshaws to travel on. The little girl was glad her father was going to Tokyo. She knew that
when he came back, he would tell her many interesting stories. And she knew that he would
bring her presents. The mother was happy because the father had been sent for by the emperor, a
great honor.
At last, all was ready. The father looked very fine as he started out on his long trip. He was going
to meet the emperor, so he dressed in fine robes of silk and satin. The little family stood on the
porch of the little house to bid him goodbye. “Do not worry. I will come back soon,” said the
father. “While I’m away, take care of everything. Keep our little daughter safe.” “Yes, we shall
be alright. But you must take care of yourself. Come back to as soon as you can,” said the
mother. The little girl ran to his side. She caught hold of his sleeve to keep him a moment.
“Father,” she said, “I will be very good while waiting for you to come back.”
Then he was gone. He went quickly down to the little garden and out through the gate. There,
they could see him go down the road. He looked smaller as he went farther away. Soon all they
could see of him was his peaked hat. Then that was out of sight, too.
The days seemed very long for the mother and the little girl. Many times each day, they would
pray for the good father, for his journey to be safe. The days slipped by and one morning, the
little girl saw someone coming over the mountains. She ran to tell her mother. Could that be her
father?
They both went to the garden gate to watch. As he came nearer, they knew that he was the father.
They both ran to meet him, little girl on one side, mother on the other. They were all happy
again.
Inside the house, the little girl ran to untie her father’s straw sandals. The mother lovingly took

2. off his large straw hat. They all sat down on the white mat, for he had bought presents. There in a
bamboo basket was a beautiful doll and a box full of cakes. “Here,” he said to the little girl, “is a
present for you. It is a prize for taking care of Mother and the house while I was away.”
“Thank you, Father dear,” said the little girl. Then she bowed her head to the ground. In a
second, she had picked up her lovely new doll and gone to play with it. Again, the husband
looked into the basket. This time, he brought out a square wooden box tied with gaily-colored
ribbon. He handed it to his wife saying, “And this is for you, my dear.”
The wife took the box and opened it carefully. One side had beautifully carved pine trees and
storks on it. The other side was bright and shining as smooth as a pool of water. Inside, there was
something made of silver. She had never seen so lovely a present. She looked and looked at the
pine trees and stork, which seemed almost real. Then she looked closer at the shining side.
Suddenly she cried: “I see someone looking at me in this round thing! She is very lovely.”
Her husband laughed but said nothing. Then the mother’s eyes grew big with wonder. “Why, the
lady I see has a dress just like mine! She seems to be talking to me!”
“My dear,” her husband answered, “that is your own face that you see. What I have given you is
a mirror. All the ladies in Tokyo have them. If you bring a smiling face to the mirror, you will
see a smiling face. If you are cross, you will see a cross face.”
The wife thanked her husband for the lovely gift. She promised to always bring a happy face to
the mirror. Then she shut the box and put it away.
Often, the mother would take out the box and look inside. Each time, she was surprised. She
liked to see her eyes shine. She liked to see how red her lips were. She always brought a happy
smiling face to the mirror, that she might see a smiling face reflected. But eventually, she grew
tired of looking in that mirror, and she put it away. In time, opening that box and gazing upon
that happy mirror became no more than a yearly ritual.
Then the mother decided to save that lovely gift for her lovely daughter when she grew up. The
years went by. The girl grew to be a young lady and no longer played with dolls. Instead each
day, she helped her mother about the house. How proud her father was of her! He saw that she
was growing more like her mother. Her hair was the same; her eyes were the same; her mouth
was the same. She was the very image of her mother.
One day, the mother called her daughter and said, “My daughter, I have something to give you.
Once each year, you are to gaze into it.” She took the square wooden box from the drawer.
Carefully, the daughter untied the ribbon. Wondering, she lifted the cover and looked into the
mirror.
“Why, Mother!” she cried. “It’s you! You look just as you used to look when I was a little girl.”
“Yes, dear, that is the way I looked when I was young. Be sure to smile when you look at me and
I will smile back to you.”

3. From that day forth, the young woman kept the mirror near her. Once every year, she would
open it up. Her mother’s words always proved true and within that mirror she saw her mother’s
face. Oh, the joyful surprise! It was her mother, more beautiful each time that she looked. She
seemed to smile at her daughter and the daughter smiled back at her. As long as she kept a smile
on her face, that happy mirror reflected her mother’s smile back at her.
THE CALABASHI KIDS
Once there was a woman named Shindo, who lived in a village at the foot of a snow-capped
mountain. Her husband had died, and she had no children, so she was very lonely. And she was
always tired too, for she had no one to help with the chores.
All on her own, she cleaned the hut and yard, tended the chickens, washed her clothes in the
river, carried water, cut firewood, and cooked her solitary meals.
At the end of each day, Shindo gazed up at the snowy peak.
“Great Mountain Spirit!” she would pray. “My work is too hard. Send me help!”
One day, Shindo was weeding her small field by the river, where she grew vegetables and
bananas and gourds. Suddenly, a noble chieftain appeared beside her.
“I am a messenger from the Great Mountain Spirit,” he told the astonished woman, and he
handed her some gourd seeds. “Plant these carefully. They are the answer to your prayers.”
Then the chieftain vanished.
Shindo wondered, “What help could I get from a handful of seeds?” Still, she planted and tended
them as carefully as she could.
She was amazed at how quickly they grew. In just a week, long vines trailed over the ground,
and ripe gourds hung from them.
Shindo brought the gourds home, sliced off the tops, and scooped out the pulp. Then she laid the
gourds on the rafters of her hut to dry. When they hardened, she could sell them at the market as
calabashes, to be made into bowls and jugs.
One fine gourd Shindo set by the cook fire. This one she wanted to use herself, and she hoped it
would dry faster.

4. The next morning, Shindo went off again to tend her field. But meanwhile, back in the hut, the
gourds began to change. They sprouted heads, then arms, then legs.
Soon, they were not gourds at all. They were children!
One boy lay by the fire, where Shindo had put the fine gourd. The other children called to him
from the rafters.
“Ki-te-te, come help us!
We’ll work for our mother.
Come help us, Ki-te-te,
Ourfavorite brother!”
Kitete helped his brothers and sisters down from the rafters. Then the children ran through the
hut and yard, singing and playing.
All joined in but Kitete. Drying by the fire had made the boy slow-witted. So he just sat there,
smiling widely.
After a while, the other children started on the chores. They quickly cleaned the hut and yard, fed
the chickens, washed the clothes, carried water, cut firewood, and cooked a meal for Shindo to
eat when she returned.
When the work was done, Kitete helped the others climb back on the rafters. Then they all turned
again into gourds.
That afternoon, as Shindo returned home, the other women of the village called to her.
“Who were those children in your yard today?” they asked. “Where did they come from? Why
were they doing your chores?”
“What children? Are you all making fun of me?” said Shindo, angrily.
But when she reached her hut, she was astounded. The work was done, and even her meal was
ready! She could not imagine who had helped her.
The same thing happened the next day. As soon as Shindo had gone off, the gourds turned into
children, and the ones on the rafters called out,
“Ki-te-te, come help us!
We’ll work for our mother.
Come help us, Ki-te-te,
Ourfavorite brother!”
Then they played for a while, did all the chores, climbed back to the rafters, and turned again
into gourds.

5. Once more, Shindo was amazed to see the work all done. But this time, she decided to find out
who were her helpers.
The next morning, Shindo pretended to leave, but she hid beside the door of the hut and peeked
in. And so she saw the gourds turn into children, and heard the ones on the rafters call out,
“Ki-te-te, come help us!
We’ll work for our mother.
Come help us, Ki-te-te,
Ourfavorite brother!”
As the children rushed out the door, they nearly ran into Shindo. She was too astonished to
speak, and so were the children. But after a moment, they went on with their playing, and then
with their chores.
When they were done, they started to climb back to the rafters.
“No, no!” cried Shindo. “You must not change back into gourds! You will be the children I
never had, and I will love you and care for you.”
So Shindo kept the children as her own. She was no longer lonely. And the children were so
helpful, she soon became rich, with many fields of vegetables and bananas, and flocks of sheep
and goats.
That is, all were helpful but Kitete, who stayed by the fire with his simple-minded smile.
Most of the time, Shindo didn’t mind. In fact, Kitete was really her favorite, because he was like
a sweet baby. But sometimes, when she was tired or unhappy about something else, she would
get annoyed at him.
“You useless child!” she would say. “Why can’t you be smart like your brothers and sisters, and
work as hard as they do?”
Kitete would only grin back at her.
One day, Shindo was out in the yard, cutting vegetables for a stew. As she carried the pot from
the bright sunlight into the hut, she tripped over Kitete. She fell, and the clay pot shattered.
Vegetables and water streamed everywhere.
“Stupid boy!” yelled Shindo. “Haven’t I told you to stay out of my way? But what can I expect?
You’re not a real child at all. You’re nothing but a calabash!”
The very next moment, she gave a scream. Kitete was no longer there, and in his place was a
gourd.

6. “What have I done?” cried Shindo, as the children crowded into the hut. “I didn’t mean what I
said! You’re not a calabash, you’re my own darling son. Oh, children, please do something!”
The children looked at each other. Then over each other they climbed, scampering up to the
rafters. When the last child had been helped up by Shindo, they called out one last time,
“Ki-te-te, come help us!
We’ll work for our mother.
Come help us, Ki-te-te,
Ourfavorite brother!”
For a long moment, nothing happened. Then slowly, the gourd began to change. It sprouted a
head, then arms, then legs. At last, it was not a gourd at all. It was—
Kitete!
Shindo learned her lesson. Ever after, she was very careful what she called her children.
And so they gave her comfort and happiness, all the rest of her days.
Story of Shakuntala&Dushyanta
In Hindu mythology Shakuntala is considered to be the mother of Emperor Bharata and the wife
of Dushyanta who was the founder of the Pauravvansha (Paurav Dynasty). Shakuntala was born
of Vishvamitra and Menaka. Rishi Kanva found her in the forest surrounded and protected by
birds (Shakunton in Sanskrit), so she was named Shakuntala.
Once, while out on a hunt with his army, Dushyanta passed through a forest full of bilv, ark,
khadir, kapith, dahv etc. trees. The forest undulated with interspered rocky hillocks and extended
over several yojanas and there was no trace of any man. It was full of wildlife.
Dushyanta, along with his powerful army, happened to pass through extensive desert after which
he reached a good forest. This forest was full of ashramas (hermitages) and there were fruit-
bearing trees but no xerophytic trees. Here Dushyanta came across the ashrama of Rishi Kanva,
the son of Kashyapa Rishi. It was surrounded by the Malini River.

7. Menaka had come at the behest of the King of the Gods Indra to distract the great sage
Vishvamitra from his deep meditations. She succeeded in distracting him, and sired a child by
him. Vishwamitra, angered by the loss of the virtue gained through his many hard years of strict
ascetism, distanced himself from the child and mother to return to his work.
Realizing that she could not leave the child with him, and having to return to the heavenly
realms, Menaka left Shakuntala, just after birth, on the banks of the Malini River on the peaks of
the Himalayas. As stated above, Rishi Kanva found the newly born girl in the forest surrounded
and protected by birds and thus named her Shakuntala. According to a source Titwala, a small
town near Kalyan in Maharashtra, is considered to be the site of the hermitage where Shakuntala
was born.
Dushyanta, pursuing a male deer wounded by his arrow into the ashrama, saw Shakuntala
nursing the deer, her pet, and fell in love with her. He profusely begged her forgiveness for
harming the deer and spent some time at the ashrama. They fell in love and Dushyanta married
Shakuntala there in the ashrama. Having to leave after some time due to unrest in the capital city,
Dushyanta gave Shakuntala a royal ring as a sign of their love, promising her that he would
return for her.
Shakuntala spent much time dreaming of her new husband and was often distracted by her
daydreams. One day, a powerful rishi, Durvasa, came to the ashram but, lost in her thoughts
about Dushyanta, Shakuntala failed to greet him properly. Incensed by this slight, the rishi
cursed Shakuntala, saying that the person she was dreaming of would forget about her altogether.
As he departed in a rage, one of Shakuntala's friends quickly explained to him the reason for her
friend's distraction. The rishi, realizing that his extreme wrath was not warranted, modified his
curse saying that the person who had forgotten Shakuntala would remember everything again if
she showed him a personal token that had been given to her. Time passed, and Shakuntala,
wondering why Dushyanta did not return for her, finally set out for the capital city with her
father and some of her companions. On the way, they had to cross a river by a canoe ferry and,
seduced by the deep blue waters of the river, Shakuntala ran her fingers through the water. Her
ring slipped off her finger without her realizing it.
Arriving at Dushyanta's court, Shakuntala was hurt and surprised when her husband did not
recognize her, nor recollected anything about her. Humiliated, Shakuntala returned to the forests
and, collecting her son, settled in a wild part of the forest by herself. Here she spent her days as
Bharat, her son, grew older. Surrounded only by wild animals, Bharat grew to be a strong youth
and made a sport of opening the mouths of tigers and lions and counting their teeth!
Meanwhile, a fisherman was surprised to find a royal ring in the belly of a fish he had caught.
Recognizing the royal seal, he took the ring to the palace and, upon seeing his ring,Dushyanta's
memories of his lovely bride came rushing back to him. He immediately set out to find her and,
arriving at her father's ashram, discovered that she was no longer there.
He continued deeper into the forest to find his wife and came upon a surprising scene in the

8. forest: a young boy had pried open the mouth of a lion and was busy counting its teeth! The king
greeted the boy, amazed by his boldness and strength, and asked his name. He was surprised
when the boy answered that he was Bharata, the son of King Dushyanta. The boy took him to
Shakuntala, and thus the family was reunited.