Khalil Gibran’s concept of love reflected in Abhijňānaśākuntalam

Abstract

Khalil Gibran is a famous poet, painter, writer, philosopher, theologian and visual artist of the nationality of Lebanese and America. He was born in 1883. Gibran wrote a good number of books among those The Prophet, Sand and Foam, Wisdometc. are popular among the readers.Gibran’s best known work is The Prophet, a book composed of 26 poetic essays. The work speaks of love and marriage, joy and sorrow, reason and passion, beauty and death and conveys the yearning for a Unity of Being that can only be achieved through love.His unique concept of love is reflected even in the works of master poet Kālidāsaof 4th century A.D., who authored two Mahākāvyas, two Khaṇḍakāvyas and three dramas. One of those works where we find the reflection of Khalil Gibran’s concept of love is Abhijňānaśākuntalam. Abhijňānaśākuntalam, the master piece of poet Kālidāsa,is a famous drama in the whole range Sanskrit literature. This drama contains a famous love story between Duṣyanta, the hero and Śakuntalā, the heroine.Kālidāsa through this unique love story gives us some messages regarding how ephemeral love can be elevated to divine love. As we know Kalidas is a poet of love and nature so we find that in almost all his works the poet depicts his concept of love.Kālidāsaalways is in opinion that physical love is not at all real love. Physical love arises more or less from lust. It is not the true concept of love at all. True love evolves not from lust but from the core of heart. Thesekinds of concepts of love are also seen in the poems of Khalil Gibran. Therefore, in this paper it is proposed to discuss Khalil Gibran’s concept of love reflected in Abhijňānaśākuntalam.