Text 20
yadā na jagṛhe rājā
bhāryā-putrāv aninditau
śṛṇvatāṁ sarva-bhūtānāṁ
khe vāg āhāśarīriṇī
yadā — when; na — not; jagṛhe — accepted; rājā — the King (Duṣmanta); bhāryā-putrau — his real son and real wife; aninditau — not abominable, not accused by anyone; śṛṇvatām — while hearing; sarva-bhūtānām — all the people; khe — in the sky; vāk — a sound vibration; āha — declared; aśarīriṇī — without a body.
When the King refused to accept his wife and son, who were both irreproachable, an unembodied voice spoke from the sky as an omen and was heard by everyone present.
Mahārāja Duṣmanta knew that Śakuntalā and the boy were his own wife and son, but because they came from outside and were unknown to the citizens, he at first declined to accept them. Śakuntalā, however, was so chaste that an omen from the sky declared the truth so that others could hear. When everyone heard from the omen that Śakuntalā and her child were truly the King’s wife and son, the King gladly accepted them.