In the royal court, wise words were spoken about the nature of virtue and truth. It was said that those ignorant of faults live happily, while those who constantly search for faults in others find no such peace. Just as the virtuous are praised by others, so too do people speak of those who focus only on faults. There is nothing more laughable, it was observed, than when the wicked accuse the virtuous of wickedness, while they themselves are guilty. The world brings its own sorrows and hardships, and the ancestors once counseled their descendants about the importance of preserving the family lineage. Among all duties, they taught, one must never abandon a son, especially one born of one’s own wife and raised according to proper agreements. Manu himself declared that sons born of purchased wives and those begotten upon maidens are heirs; there are six kinds of heirs by kinship and six by inheritance. Sons fulfill religious duties for their fathers and bring joy to their hearts. Born as the lifeboats of righteousness, they rescue their fathers from hell. Therefore, O lion among kings, you must not abandon your son. Protect both your son and the truth, for in doing so you guard both yourself and the law of righteousness. Never speak falsehood, O king; preserve yourself and the law of truth, and bear no deceit. It was said that a pond is better than a hundred wells, a sacrifice is better than a hundred ponds, a son is better than a hundred sacrifices, but truth stands above a hundred sons. If a thousand horse sacrifices were weighed against truth, truth would surpass them all. The study of all the Vedas and bathing in every holy place cannot equal even a sixteenth part of truth. There is no duty higher than truth, nor any sin more severe than falsehood. Truth is the highest duty, yet agreement—one’s solemn promise—is higher still. Do not break your word, O king; let truth be joined with you always. If one commits a sinful act and does not recognize it, there is no greater sin than falsehood. Since your heart knows what is true and what is false, act righteously and seek what is truly beneficial. The highest person is one who does not transgress due to desire, anger, or enmity, whether toward friend or foe. If you are inclined toward falsehood, whether you believe it or not, I wish to leave for the hermitage; for there can be no companionship with one like you. If you doubt your sonship, examine it with your own intellect—consider lineage, voice, memory, character, conduct, knowledge, and valor. When qualities such as courage, nature, and even the whorls and arrangement of body hair are the same, then surely he is your son. A likeness has been drawn from your very body, O lord of men; do not speak in vain to one who calls you ‘father.’ Except for the milk of a she-donkey, my son will drink milk; except for you, O Duṣyanta, and the queen crowned by mountains, my son will rule this earth. O Śakuntalā, your son will become a universal emperor—so spoke the great Indra, and it will not be otherwise. I have named many witnesses—divine messengers and others—but they do not speak truth or falsehood in this matter. Lacking a witness and fortune, I will depart as I came. Having spoken thus, Śakuntalā set out; the fire of her anger, with smoke, was visible upon her head. Struggling to restrain the fire of anger within her flawless body, she departed with her son into the forest. Then, from the sky, a bodiless voice resounded to Duṣyanta, who sat among his priests, preceptors, teachers, and ministers. The voice declared: “Just as a bellows is the mother and the son is born from the father, so this child is truly yours. Accept your son, O Duṣyanta; Śakuntalā has spoken the truth. A son is born directly from all the limbs; for this reason, the self is called ‘son.’ Having placed yourself in him, protect this child; wait for the one who is not other than yourself, and do not disregard Śakuntalā. “Women are pure and unequaled in this, O Duṣyanta, according to dharma; month by month, their cycles remove impurities. Then, from every direction, all beings spoke at once. The bearer of the seed raises his son from the realm of Yama, O king; you are the nourisher of the embryo, and Śakuntalā has spoken the truth. “The husband enters the wife, and in her he is born again; such is their mutual nature—do not disregard Śakuntalā. The wife gives birth to a son from her own body, made of two parts; therefore, O Duṣyanta, bear your son Śākuntala, O king. This is a great fortune, not to be abandoned; let your life sustain your own son. Support the great-souled Śākuntala, the Paurava. “Because he is to be maintained by you, even more than by our command, let this son of yours be named Bharata. From Bharata comes the renowned name by which this lineage is called Bhārata; those who came before and those who follow are known as Bhāratas.” Having spoken thus, the gods and ascetic sages, radiant with austerity, joyfully showered a rain of flowers, praising Śakuntalā as a devoted wife. Hearing these words of the gods, the descendant of Puru, King Duṣyanta, rose from his throne and bowed in reverence to the immortals.