They with the Kokila’s melodious cry
Their answer make.
Thereupon the following good wishes are uttered by voices in the air—
Thy journey be auspicious; may the breeze,
Gentle and soothing, fan thy cheek; may lakes
All bright with lily cups delight thine eye;
The sunbeams’ heat be cooled by shady trees;
The dust beneath thy feet the pollen be
Of lotuses.
The fifth act, in which Çakuntalā appears before her husband, is deeply moving. The king fails to recognise her, and, though treating her not unkindly, refuses to acknowledge her as his wife. As a last resource, Çakuntalā bethinks herself of the ring given her by her husband, but on discovering that it is lost, abandons hope. She is then borne off to heaven by celestial agency.