Shakuntala Part 6: Maybe she was just a girl!!

Why am I assuming that Shakuntala was a woman!? She might be a girl!! May be

It's because I grew up admiring the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma.

Note: Ravi Varma is regarded as one of India's distinguished, prominent, and celebrated painters and artists. He was like India's Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Francesca from the Renaissance. His religious depictions of Hindu deities and works from Indian epic poetry and Puranas have received profound acclaim. He is particularly noted for his paintings depicting episodes from the stories of Dushyant and Shakuntala, as well as Nala and Damayanti, from the Mahabharata.

In his paintings, Ravi Varma depicted Shakuntala as a fully developed and grown woman. Even in the movies that came after, Shakuntala was portrayed as a woman. The concepts of "Major" and "Minor" as age metrics were introduced in the modern world. Before that, child marriages were prevalent. This is a well-known fact to the entire world. Now, if we think about it, Kanva expects Shakuntala to be a 'good girl.' Because she might be a girl, Shakuntala believed that what happened to her was justifiable because she might be a girl who was not fully developed either mentally, physically, or emotionally. She never saw the outside world and was raised in a forest by an unmarried ascetic Rishi Kanva. The Rishi took pity on her when her parents abandoned her as a defenseless infant in the middle of a jungle and adopted her. Just imagine what it does to one's self-esteem after knowing that their parents, who were supposed to protect them, committed this heinous act towards them!! Imagine how she could have felt when she observed the animals in the forest caring for their young ones. She was a girl who was taught and trained to believe in and obey her elders, follow the rules and restrictions (doctrine) dictated by the Hindu religion, which were imposed mainly by men in general, even to this day!

Back to the story -

When Dushyant left the hermitage, having made a promise to Shakuntala, she gave birth to a boy of immeasurable energy. When the child was only three years old, in all splendor, he became as blazing as the blazing fire. He was endowed with great beauty, magnanimity, and all accomplishments.