The mighty king Dushyanta falls during a hunt into the peaceful forest monastery of hermits and meets three young girls there, watering flowers and trees. In one of them, Shakuntalu, he falls in love at first sight. Posing as a royal servant, the Dushyant asks who she is, for she fears that, being of a different origin than him, she will not be able to belong to him according to the law of caste. However, he learns from Shakuntala's friends that she, too, is the daughter of King Viswamitra and the divine Virgin Menaka, who left her in the care of the head of the monastery of the sage Canva. In turn, when the Rakshasa demons attack the monastery and Dushyanta has to defend it, it turns out that he is not a royal servant, but a great king himself.

Shakuntala is captivated by the courage, nobility and courteous behavior of Dushyant no less than he is by her beauty and modesty. But for a while, lovers do not dare to reveal their feelings to each other. And only once, when the king accidentally overhears the conversation of Shakuntala with his friends, in which she admits that she passionately loves Dushyant, day and night, the king makes her a reciprocal confession and swears that although there are many beauties in the palace, “there are only two make up the glory of his family: the land surrounded by the seas and Shakuntala. "

The foster father of Shakuntala Canva was not at the monastery at that time: he went on a long pilgrimage. Therefore, Dushyanta and his lover enter into a marriage union according to the ritual of the Gandharvas, which does not require the consent of the parents and the wedding ceremony. Soon after, summoned by urgent imperial affairs, Dushyanta, as he hopes, briefly leaves for his capital. And just in his absence, the sage Durvasas visits the monastery. Immersed in thoughts of the Dushyant, Shakuntala does not notice him, and the angry sage curses her for involuntary inhomogeneity, condemning him that she whom she loves will not remember her “like a drunken man does not remember the words he said before.” The friends ask Durvasas to soften his curse, which Shakuntala, fortunately, did not even hear, and, propitiated by them, he promises that the curse will lose its strength when the king sees the ring presented to him by Shakuntala.

Meanwhile, Father Canva returns to the monastery. He blesses the marriage of his adopted daughter, who, according to him, is already expecting a child who brings benefit to the whole world, and, giving her wise instructions, sends with his two disciples to his consort king. Shakuntala comes to the majestic royal palace, striking in its splendor, so unlike her modest monastery. And here Dusyanta, bewitched by the curse of Durvasas, does not recognize her and sends her away. Shakuntala tries to show him the ring that he himself has presented, but discovers that there is no ring - she lost it on the road, and the king finally rejects it. In despair, Shakuntala prays to the earth to open up and swallow it, and then, in a flash of lightning, her mother Menaka descends from heaven and takes her away with her.

After some time, the palace guard brings a fisherman suspected of stealing a precious ring. It turns out that this ring is the Shakuntala ring, which the fisherman found in the belly of the fish he caught. As soon as Dushyanta saw the ring, his memory returned. Love, remorse, sorrow of separation torment him: "My heart fell asleep gazookaya, and now it has awakened to taste the pangs of repentance!" All the efforts of the courtiers to console or entertain the king prove to be in vain, and only the arrival of Matali, the charioteer of the gods Indra, awakens Dushyant from hopeless sadness.

Matali urges Dushyanta to help the celestials in their struggle with the powerful demons, asuras. The king ascends to heaven with Matali, performs many feats of arms, and after defeating the demons, having earned Indra's gratitude, he descends on an air chariot to the top of Mount Hemakuta in the monastery of the ancestor of the gods, holy sage Kasyapa. Near the monastery, Dushyant meets a boy playing with a lion cub. According to his behavior and appearance, the king realizes that before him is his own son. And then Shakuntala appeared, who, as it turns out, had lived all this time in the monastery of Kashyapa and had given birth to a prince there. The soul-maker falls at the feet of Shakuntala, prays for her forgiveness and receives it. Kashyapa tells loving spouses about the curse that caused them to suffer innocently, blesses their son Bharata and predicts him power over the whole world. On the chariot of Indra, Dushyanta, Shakuntala and Bharata return to the capital of the kingdom.