Sage Kanva Leading Shakuntala Out of the Hermitage

As Shakuntala bids farewell to her companions and sets out towards Hastinapur for King Dushyant’s palace, the old sage Kanva leads the way out of the hermitage with Shakuntala and her entourage following him. The artist depicts him right outside the stone fenced boundary of the little hut in the green clearing stippled with little grass. While one of Shakuntala’s dear friends accompanies her, her other friend Anasuya trails behind, and Shakuntala’s foster mother Gautami advises her to refrain from exhibiting her sorrow at Shakuntala’s parting, lest her display immerses Shakuntala in further grief.

The two young sages accompanying Shakuntala are depicted with all the outer markings of hermits; they carry the water vessels used by ascetics in one hand, and hold a rosary in the other. Their matted locks and jewellery of the sacred seeds of the rudraksha tree, as well as the deer skin that they wear wrapped around their bodies are symbols of their relinquishing worldly material objects in pursuing the path of spiritual enlightenment.

The slouching shoulders, the white matted locks and the wrinkled visage of the aged sage are contrasted with the supple musculature of the boy sage right behind him. The artist presents their bodies and colouring as a contrast - the sunken stomach of the old sage and his bony arms are rendered in opposition to the soft plump protrusion of the boy sage’s belly and the freshness of his skin. The old sage’s eyes gaze tiredly in front, little creases around his eyes marking his later years. The artist contrasts this with the innocent inquiry in the gaze of the boy sage as he turns his head to look at the other sage following Shakuntala and her companion.

The face of Gautami is rendered in a strange manner. In an attempt to shade the far side of Gautami’s face with shadow, the artist has first rendered her in profile and then extended the eye and little portions of her forehead and cheek, but the manner of delineating the face makes it seem that she has two separate faces joined together. The wise Gautami is depicted as gesturing an instruction to Anasuya who listens wide eyed.