DRAMATIS PERSONÆ

KING DUSHYANTA.
BHARATA, nicknamed All-tamer, his son.
MADHAVYA, a clown, his companion.
His charioteer.
RAIVATAKA, a door-keeper.
BHADRASENA, a general.
KARABHAKA, a servant.
PARVATAYANA, a chamberlain.
SOMARATA, a chaplain.

KANVA, hermit father.
   his pupils:
     SHARNGARAVA
     SHARADVATA
     HARITA
DURVASAS, an irascible sage.

The chief of police.
   policemen:
     SUCHAKA
     JANUKA
A fisherman.

SHAKUNTALA, foster-child of Kanva.
   her friends:
     ANUSUYA
     PRIYAMVADA
GAUTAMI, hermit-mother.

KASHYAPA, father of the gods.
ADITI, mother of the gods.
MATALI, charioteer of heaven's king.
GALAVA, a pupil in heaven.
MISHRAKESHI, a heavenly nymph.

Stage-director and actress (in the prologue), hermits and hermit-women, two court poets, palace attendants, invisible fairies.

The first four acts pass in Kanva's forest hermitage; acts five and six in the king's palace; act seven on a heavenly mountain. The time is perhaps seven years.

Next: Prologue