BFF is blamed for Sakuntala’s sadly life
Priyamvada, a young female ascetic, is one of the best friends of Sakuntala. Her identity and behaviors remind me the godmother of Cinderella; both of them wish their heroines have a good marriage and a happy life. They drive the plot by helping our hero and heroine to be together. Priyamvada is humorous, but she has a big mouth; she is sophisticate but dishonest. Priyamvada directly causes Sakuntala’s curse, and the way that she hides the truth lead to Sakuntala’s abandon.
Priyamvada is humorous. She always makes fun of Sakuntala, laughing at her breasts, saying she longs a husband. Her humor makes her active. Her joke of marriage foreshadows Sakuntala’s secret marriage. She jokes that Sage Kanva is looking for a “suitable husband” for Sakuntala, which gives confidence to Dusyanta to chase Sakuntala. However, humorous people always come with a big mouth, and Priyamvada is one of them. When Sage Durvasas responses to the rite, Priyamvada tells him that Sakuntala’s heart is “far away”. Durvasas gets angry and then curses Sakuntala. If Priyamvada keeps silent, nothing will happen.
Priyamvada is sophisticate. She notices Sakuntala is in a period of longing love. She understands the love attachment between Sakuntala and Dusyanta. When she notices Sakuntala is sick because of the love to him, she tells her to “compose a poem to declare your love”. She speaks actively for Sakuntala to reveal the love to Dusyanta, since Sakuntala’s modesty and good breeding prevent her from doing that. Then, she leaves Sakuntala and the King alone when they need space. After financial crisis, we know that sophisticate people are dishonest, same as Priyamvada. She knows about the curse, but she doesn’t tell Sakuntala clearly. Instead, she states “if the king seems slow to recognize you, show him the ring engraved with his name!” Without knowing the truth, everyone will treat this as a general care, including Sakuntala.
People may say it is Sakuntala’s own fate leads to her abandon. I don’t want to argue about the realistic of fate. Instead of relying on a faraway “fate”, or destiny, I believe in the solid fact that Priyamvada does cause the curse and Sakuntala’s abandon because of Priyamvada’s characters.
In conclusion, people, especially girls, think they can rely on their best friend. But, they should also consider that best friends may be the biggest threat of your life. Priyamvada is very nice and does help Sakuntala a lot, but she also attributes to Sakuntala’s sadly life as a single mother.
4 responses so far
I, at first, wouldn’t think of Priymvada as being humorous, but you do support your opinion which I tend to agree with. But, I want to point out that if it wasn’t for Priymvada, Sakuntala wouldn’t have been saved from the curse in the first place. After Durvasa’s curse, Priymvada was the one to bravely stop him and ask for a solution to the curse. “’You can’t leave without offering a solution to your curse!’ she demands breathlessly. Her eyes glow with such intensity that Durvasa stares at her.” Because of her, Durvasa gives in and states: “Ask her to show a symbol to the person she pines for.” Priymvada could have easily been cursed by Durvasa, but she put herself in harm’s way to help her friend be with the man she loves. To me, that’s the ultimate best friend right there. And Priymvada not telling Sakuntala about the curse was her way of not letting Sakuntala become disappointed. If Sakuntala heard that there was a curse in place she may have been so overcome with fear and broken heart that she would not have even try to win her king back. So, Priymvada not telling her friend the curse was more beneficial than if she did.
-Miriam McCallion
Adding on to the previous comment, I think Priymvada played the best friend role well. She did everything a best friend would do today. Not telling Sakuntala about the spell turned out to be the right thing to do for her. And about fate, if you look at it how you put it, it was meant for everything to happen the way it did because of her fates. If you ask me, maybe it wasn’t fate. It could of been the actions of her so called helpful friends or the desperately looking for love king!
I find Priyamvada to be like any best friend; one who takes care and looks out for a friend. I guess in some ways she kind of does causes or prevent things from happening but also, if it weren’t for her, the two love birds would probably not be together. All in all she’s like any human. I believe she took action in the best way possible; keeping in mind the sake of her best friend.
Priymvada is portrayed well as the best friend as Sakuntela. She is the one who guides Sakuntela to pursue a relationship with the king. She cared for her happiness and wanted the best for her as any best friend would. She knew the lifestyle she lived was not for many woman. As you pointed out, the concern for Sakuntela well being suggest good intentions on her behalf.