The heroine and the protagonist of the play, Sakuntala is the adopted daughter of Sage Kanva and the biological daughter of the celestial nymph Maneka and the powerful king-turned-sage Vishvamitra. Her name is derived from white sakuna birds (large birds, perhaps storks or cranes). It is said that a flock of sakuna birds looked over her in the forest after she was abandoned by her birth parents.

At the start of the play, Sakuntala is described as being very young, perhaps in her late teens, and extraordinarily beautiful. Seen through the eyes of Dusyanta, she emerges as an archetype of feminine beauty, modesty, and grace. Being a forest-dweller, Sakuntala wears simple garments and jewelry, her clothes fashioned from bark and her ornaments from flowers. The garments are symbolic of her character, since Sakuntala is identified with the beauty and purity of nature. She is loved by the animals and trees of the forest, with fawns drinking only the water Sakuntala brings them. Sakuntala is the light of her father Kanva’s life, and her journey away from Kanva’s hermitage plunges her closest friends into despair. This shows that Sakuntala exists in harmony and communion with her human and natural family, much like the earth itself.