Who is Shakuntala? Shakuntala is a heroine in ancient Indian literature, best known for her portrayal in the ancient Sanskrit play Abhijnanashakuntalam which means ‘recognition of Shakuntala’, written by the classical poet Kalidasa in the 4th or 5th century AD in Sanskrit and some use of Prakrit. Her story, however, originates in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, where she appears in the Adi Parva. Shakuntala is the daughter of the sage Vishwamitra and the celestial nymph Menaka.