Adi Parva in the context of "Rishi"

Shakuntala (Sanskrit: शकुन्तला, romanized: Śakuntalā) is a heroine in ancient Indian literature, best known for her portrayal in the ancient Sanskrit play Abhijnanashakuntalam (The Recognition of Shakuntala), written by the classical poet Kalidasa in the 4th or 5th century AD. Her story, however, originates in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata (c. 400 BC - 400 AD), where she appears in the Adi Parva ("The Book of Beginnings"). In both narratives, Shakuntala is the daughter of the sage Vishwamitra and the celestial nymph Menaka. Abandoned at birth, she is raised by the sage Kanva in a forest hermitage. She later falls in love with King Dushyanta and becomes the mother of Bharata, a celebrated emperor of India.

In the Mahabharata, Shakuntala introduces herself to Dushyanta when he visits her hermitage during a hunting expedition in the absence of her foster father, Kanva. The two fall in love and secretly marry according to the Gandharva tradition (a love marriage), consummating their union in the forest. Afterward, Dushyanta returns to his palace life and gradually forgets about Shakuntala. Years later, she approaches him with their son, Bharata, but he hesitates to acknowledge them. Outspoken and fearless, Shakuntala rebukes him forcefully until a celestial voice intervenes to confirm the truth, compelling Dushyanta to accept her and their son.

Bharata (Sanskrit: भरत, romanized: Bharata) is a legendary emperor featured in Hindu literature. He is a member of the Chandravamsha dynasty, and becomes the Chakravarti (Chakra possessing emperor). He is regarded to be the ancestor of the Pandavas, the Kauravas, Brihadratha and Jarasandha.

The legend of Bharata is featured in the Adi Parva of the Mahabharata, where he is mentioned as the son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. The story of his parents and his birth is related in Kalidasa's famous play, Abhijñānashākuntala. He is a descendant of rajarshi Vishvamitra.

Nannayya Bhattaraka or Nannayya Bhattu (sometimes spelled Nannaya; c. 11th century) was a Telugu poet and the author of Andhra Mahabharatam, a Telugu retelling of the Sanskrit-language Mahabharata. Nannaya is generally considered the first poet (Adi Kavi) of Telugu language. He was patronized by Rajaraja Narendra of Rajamahendravaram. Rajaraja Narendra was an admirer of Mahabharata and wanted the message of the Sanskrit epic to reach the Telugu masses in their own language and idiom. He commissioned Nannaya, a scholar well versed in Vedas, Puranas, and Itihasas for the task. Nannaya began his work in c. 1025 CE and wrote Adi Parvam, Sabaparvam, and a part of Aranyaparvam.

Nannaya is the first of the three Telugu poets, called the Kavitrayam ("trinity of poets"), who wrote Andhra Mahabharatam. His work, which is rendered in the Champu style, is chaste and polished and of a high literary merit. The advanced and well-developed language used by Nannaya suggests that prior Telugu literature other than royal grants and decrees must have existed before him. However, these presumed works are now lost. Legends also credit him with writing the Sanskrit-language Andhra-shabda-chintamani, said to be the first work on Telugu grammar.