Shakuntala, also known as The Recognition of Shakuntala, The Sign of Shakuntala is a Sanskrit play by Kalidasa, dramatizing the story of Shakuntala told in the epic Mahabharata. It is considered to be the best of Kalidasa's works. Sacontalá or The Fatal Ring, Sir William Jones' translation of Kalidasa's play, was first published in Calcutta, followed by European republications in 1790, 1792 and 1796.