Then the king was taken with desire to visit the holy sage, Kanva, he who is without darkness. So he divested himself of his royal insignia and entered the sacred grove alone. Bees were humming; birds trilled their many melodies; he heard the low chanting voices of Brahmans among the trees—those holy men who can take captive all human hearts.... When he reached the abode of Kanva, he wondered to find that it was empty, and called out: “Who is here?” and the forest echoed his voice. Then came towards him a beautiful black-eyed virgin, clad in a robe of bark. She reverenced the king and said: “What seekest thou? I am thy servant.” Said the royal Dushyanta to the maiden of faultless form and gentle voice: “I have come to honour the wise and blessed Kanva. Tell me, O fair and amiable one, whither he hath gone?” The maiden answered: “My illustrious sire is gathering herbs, but if thou wilt tarry he will return ere long.” Dushyanta was entranced by the beauty and sweet smiles of the gentle girl, and his heart was moved towards her, for she was in the bloom of youth. So he spake, saying: “Who art thou, O fairest one? Whence comest thou, and why dost thou wander alone in the woods? O comely maiden, thou hast taken captive my heart.” The bright-eyed one made answer: “I am the daughter of the holy and high-souled Kanva, the ever-wise and ever-constant.” Said the king: “But Kanva is chaste and austere and hath ever been a celibate, nor can he have broken his rigid vow. How came it that thou wert born the daughter of such a one?” Then the maiden, who was named Shakuntala, because that the birds (shakunta) had nursed her, revealed unto the king the secret of her birth. Her real sire was Vishwamitra[191], the holy sage who had been a Kshatriya and was made a Brahman in reward for his austerities. It came to pass that Indra became alarmed at his growing power, and he feared that the mighty sage of blazing energy would, by reason of his penances, cast down even him, the king of the gods, from his heavenly seat. So Indra commanded Menaka, the beauteous Ap'sara, to disturb the holy meditations of the sage, for he had already achieved such power that he created a second world and many stars. The nymph called on the wind god and on the god of love, and they went with her towards Vishwamitra. [191] _Pron._ vish-wah-mit´ra. Menaka danced before the brooding sage; then the wind god snatched away her moon-white garments, and the love god shot his arrows at Vishwamitra, whereupon that saintly man was stricken with love for the nymph of peerless beauty, and he wooed her and won her as his bride. So was he diverted from his austerities. In time Menaka became the mother of a girl babe, whom she cast away on the river bank. Now the forest was full of lions and tigers, but vultures gathered round the infant and protected her from harm. Then Kanva found and took pity on the child; he said: “She will be mine own daughter.”