Savitri’s Chastity Defeats Death 

Narrator: Once upon a time, there ruled over the Madva people a great king called Asvapati, or “Lord of the horses.” His subjects loved him, his fame was great and his riches immense. But, he was not wholly happy, because he had no children. As he grew older, his longing for children increased and he fervently worshipped Brahma’s consort, the goddess Savitri, and became an anchorite (one who practices austerities to achieve a goal) that he might win her favor. So he prayed and observed tapasya (austerities) and offered every day ten thousand oblations in the sacred fire repeating the Gayatri mantra. For eighteen years, he repeated this performance. Finally, the goddess Savitri, the presiding deity of Gayatri mantra was pleased with Asvapati’s devotion and appeared before him:
Goddess Savitri: I am Savitri, the presiding deity of the Gayatri mantra. I am pleased with your devotion. O King Asvapati, O Lord of Horses, for eighteen years I have observed your piety and your pure life. I have vouchsafed you this vision in order that you may ask me a boon. Ask me a boon, therefore, and whatever it is, unless it is something evil, I shall happily grant it to you. 

King Asvapati: Great Goddess, I long for children! I practiced austerities and worshipped at your shrine that you might grant me them. If therefore you are pleased with me, graciously grant me this boon! 

Goddess Savitri: O King, I knew your desires before you told them to me. Before I left Brahmagiri, I entreated my husband, Lord Brahma, on your behalf. He has graciously listened to my entreaties and has promised me that you will have one daughter but she will be as strong and courageous as many sons. Soon, a beautiful daughter shall be born to you. This is Lord Brahmadeva's command; but do not thank him, for he has no need of a mortal's thanks.

King Asvapati: So be it.

Narrator: King Asvapati reverently bowed his head in gratitude and when he again lifted his eyes, the Goddess Savitri had vanished. A year later the king's eldest queen, Malavi, bore him a beautiful little baby girl, and because the goddess Savitri had vouchsafed her birth in answer to the king's prayers, he and Queen Malavi called the little girl Savitri, also. 

As the years passed Savitri grew into the loveliest maiden in all the land of the Aryas. Her father's subjects adored her as if she were a goddess. But, her tall form and imperious beauty so awed the young princes of India that none came forward to ask for her hand. King Asvapati grieved that no suitor wooed his beautiful maid. At last, he sent for Savitri in order to discuss her future.

King Asvapati: My daughter, you are a grown woman and it is time for you to marry. But, no suitor comes to win you. Go therefore through the land and seek some youth fit to be your husband!

Narrator: Savitri, blushing deeply, took leave of the king. In a short time, the king's charioteer drove a golden chariot to the door of her palace. Seated in it and accompanied by wise ministers and horse soldiers with glittering lances, Savitri journeyed for a year to the various shrines and holy places of India, meeting with noble persons and great saints up and down the coast of India (which at that time was known as Bharatavarsa). She even spent a few months searching the small villages of the interior regions. 

She ate the simplest of foods and slept under the stars. To meet her, none would have guessed that she was a princess, for she had left the fineries of the palace far, far behind her. Eventually, her travels brought her to a forest, where she chanced to see a handsome young man carrying an ax in one hand and a bundle of firewood in the other. At first, she thought him nothing more than a hunter or a forester, but there was something about him - the nobility of his bearing made her think again. Despite the roughness of his clothes and the meanness of his occupation, she could not help but wonder if he, like herself, was royally born, and, out of sheer curiosity (or at least she hoped it was out of sheer curiosity), she asked him to tell her about himself. 
Satyavan: My name is Satyavan, madam. Once, I lived in a great palace surrounded by servants. My father was a king, but in his old age he lost his sight. Then, his courtiers were able to conspire against him, and I was not old enough to defend him because I had no abilities then. He was overthrown and banished. Now, we live in poverty in a small cottage in the forest. It is a hard life, not so much for me, but it is very hard for my poor father. I am taking him this wood, now. I wish I could bring him something that would comfort him more! (Music)

Narrator: In her absence, the sage Narada Muni, who can see everything, visited the court of Asvapati, king of the Madvas. The king greeted the great sage with befitting reverence, and king and anchorite were talking together when a royal messenger announced that the Princess Savitri had returned and was driving through the outer gates of the royal palace. The sage Narada Muni asked the king where she had been and why he did not wed her to some Aryan hero. 

Narada Muni: O King, where did your daughter go? Where is she coming from? She is now marriageable, so why don't you obtain a husband for her?

King Asvapati: I sent her away for just that purpose! She will now announce to me whom she has chosen for her husband.

Narrator: Just then, the princess entered the royal hall and the king bade her tell him on what hero her love had fallen. 

Ashwapati: (to Savitri) Now, my dear, tell me about the man you have chosen.

Narrator: The princess blushed and said with a smile that made her lovelier that before:

Savitri: O King Asvapati, my father, there ruled some years ago in the land of the Salyas a noble king named Dyumatsena. But, while still in the prime of life and while his son was but a tiny child, the king's eyes failed him and he became blind. Hearing of this, a neighboring king, over whom King Dyumatsena had in earlier years triumphed, sought his revenge. He suddenly attacked the land of the Salyas, overthrew the king's army and forced King Dyumatsena to flee with his queen and the little prince to the forest. There, King Dyumatsena became a hermit and renounced the world. 

For eighteen years, he has lived with his wife and son. And now the son, Satyavan by name, has grown to splendid manhood. I have seen him and I love him, and he alone shall be my husband! 

Narrator: So saying, the lovely princess bowed before her father and the great sage Narada, until her head touched their feet. 

 Narada Muni: Alas! Alas! Your daughter, O King, has made a foolish choice!

King Asvapati: Venerable Sage, is not Prince Satyavan wise and brave, tender-hearted and handsome?

Narada Muni: He is indeed! Prince Satyavan is as wise as Brihaspati, as brave as the god Shiva, as tender-hearted as mother earth, and as beautiful as an eastern moon. But, I know his fate - exactly one year from today, Prince Satyavan's life will come to a close! 

King Asvapati: O my daughter, choose another husband! If you were to wed Satyavan, in a short time you would be a widow! 

Savitri: Death can only come once. A daughter can only be given away once. And a person can only say once, "I give this away." Similarly, whether Satyavan's life is short or long, virtuous or evil, I’ll only choose my husband once and I have done so!

No, my father, my love once given can never be given to another. I chose Prince Satyavan to be my husband. I love him and him only will I wed.
 
Narada Muni: (touched by her courage) O King, the maid will never wed any one but Satyavan. Let her, therefore, have him for her husband.

King Asvapati: (bowing before Narada Muni) Venerable Sir, as you will, so shall it be!

Narrator: The same day, Narada Muni took his leave and King Asvapati began to prepare for his daughter's wedding. On an auspicious day, he gathered round him the wisest Brahmans of the realm, and taking his daughter with him set out in his chariot for the hermitage of King Dyumatsena. When they reached the forest, he left his chariot and walked on foot until he found King Dyumatsena seated on a mat on kusa grass in the shade of a teak tree. King Asvapati bowed and told the royal hermit who he was and Dyumatsena offered him a cow from his herd by way of welcome. King Asvapati took the gift and in return told King Asvapati the reason for his coming. King Dyumatsena at first demurred:

King Dyumatsena: How will your daughter bear the hardships of the forest? In the old days, when I was king of the Salyas, I would gladly have accepted your offer. But today, when I am but a forest hermit, how can I?

King Asvapati: No, I have set my heart on the marriage; therefore do not thwart me.

King Dyumatsena: If that be so, let the wedding be this very day! 

Narrator: King Asvapati agreed. The two kings called together the Brahmans who had followed King Asvapati and those who lived in the hermitage, and that very day, they announced that Satyavan, the prince of the Salyas, would marry Savitri, the beautiful princess of the Madvas.
An iron ring was bound on Savitri’s left wrist and her veil was tied to Satyavan’s cloak, as custom dictated. A sacred fire was lit and hand in hand they walked around the fire seven times while the brahmanas chanted the ancient marriage prayer. Then, she went to live in the forest as the devoted wife of Satyavan and the dutiful daughter of his parents. 
Wedded to Satyavan, Savitri cast aside her ornaments and her silken garments and clothed herself in bark and in coarse red rags, so that she might not shame King Dyumatsena and those round him by her finery. She soon won the love of her husband's people and she gave herself wholly to her husband and thought of nothing else all day long but how to please him. But, a dark cloud hung over her happiness, for she could not forget the words which the sage Narada Muni had uttered, namely that Prince Satyavan must die within a year. 

Too soon, the appointed time was only three days off, and Savitri, in the hope of moving the Immortals, vowed that she would touch no food until Prince Satyavan had survived the hour fixed for his death. When the day itself dawned, Savitri worshipped the sun and the fire blazing on the hearth. Then, she bowed to all the Brahmans of the king's household, headed by Gautana Rsi, and to King Dyumatsena and to her mother-in-law, and they in turn blessed her:

Gautama Rsi: Daughter, may the gods grant that you never lose your husband!

Narrator: Then, they pressed her to eat. But, she secretly maintained her vow to let nothing pass her lips until Satyavan's hour of peril was over. Suddenly, the prince rose, took up his ax and set forth for the forest. Instantly, Savitri rose also.
 
Savitri: Wait my husband, let me go with you! Today, I cannot leave you!

Satyavan: No, my love, you are weak with fasting, and the paths are steep and rugged!

Narrator: But Savitri's love for the prince overcame her weakness and she begged him earnestly not to forbid her. Satyavan at last consented, but told her to bid the king and queen farewell for he was afraid that she might die of fatigue in the forest. Savitri did so, and explained to them that she could not bear to be away from Satyavan nor could she beg him not to go into the forest for he said that he wished to cut wood for the sacrificial fire. The king and queen understood and blessing her they bade her care for Satyavan. Savitri went back to the prince and the two entered the woods.
 
The prince pointed out to Savitri the streams sparkling in the sunlight and the flowering shrubs and the peacocks that looked down upon them from the boughs of tall, leafy trees. But Savitri's heart was heavy and although her lips answered Satyavan, her thoughts dwelt always on his coming peril. 
The prince, thinking nothing of the danger, climbed into the trees and plucked their fruit, and with his ax he cut down boughs for the sacrificial fire. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his head, his limbs began to ache and sweat stood out upon his body. Slowly, he walked back towards Savitri. 

Savitri, seeing his illness, ran to him and made him lie down in the shade of a banyan tree. Taking his head in her lap, she bade him sleep and rest. The prince was soon unconscious but Savitri, who knew that the hour of danger had come, looked anxiously about her. Soon, she saw by her side a giant of monstrous aspect. His face was black and yellow. His eyes were bloodshot. His clothes were red. A mighty noose was in his hands, and he wore a huge gold and jeweled crown that flashed back the rays of the sun. Bravely, she moved the prince's head from her lap to the ground and, rising to her full height, she faced the giant. Joining her hands together, she said with a trembling voice:

Savitri: My Lord, from your mighty form I know you to be no mortal but a god. Tell me who you are and what you desire? 

Lord Yamaraja: I am Yama, the god of Death. The prince's hours were numbered from his birth and, with the noose in my hand, I shall bind his soul and drag him away.

Savitri: Lord Yamaraja, how is it that you have yourself come to drag away the soul of Satyavan and not, as is your custom, sent one of your messengers? 

Lord Yamaraja: A prince so great and so noble as Satyavan deserved that I should come in person to take him away. It is only by the merits of your fasting and the purity of your chastity that you are able to see me.

Narrator: With these words, Lord Yamaraja bound with his noose the helpless form of the prince and drew the soul of Satyavan out from his heart and placed the soul in his own robes. Lord Yamaraja then strode away towards the South. Savitri, stricken with grief, followed. 
She followed Lord Yamaraja through the forest and into a second clearing where a waterfall splashed down into a rocky pool. Hearing her, Lord Yamaraja turned again, and Savitri could have sworn that she saw a flame flicker in each of the fierce demigod’s eyes, but she was not afraid. 
Lord Yamaraja: Go back, Princess, you must return home now, and there honor the dead prince with the last rites.

Savitri: (bravely faces him) The wise have said that by walking but seven paces together one contracts friendship with another. Thus, I have become your friend. Listen, therefore, I pray you, to what I say. It is my duty to follow my husband wherever you take him, even if I go to my death also for true happiness lies in wedlock and neither celibacy nor widowhood equal it in merit. 

Lord Yamaraja: I am touched with your words, Savitri. To tell you the truth, Princess, I, too, consider myself your friend. Ask me, therefore for any boon you will except only the life of your husband, and I shall grant it to you!

Savitri: Lord Yamaraja, my father-in-law is blind. Graciously give him back his sight.
That is the boon that I ask of you. 

Lord Yamaraja: Princess, I grant you the boon! King Dyumatsena will recover his sight. 

Narrator: But, Savitri still followed. Now, the forest grew into a jungle. Thistles sprang up and thorns pressed in on the path. Wild sparrows flitted in the air and owls screeched mysteriously in the shadows. But still, Savitri followed her husband. Shortly afterwards, King Lord Yamaraja turned and saw her. 

Lord Yamaraja: Princess, you are wearied with walking. Turn back home, I beg of you, for you will gain nothing by journeying further!

Savitri: Lord Yama, I feel no fatigue while I stay with my husband, and where he goes there also shall I go. Satyavan was a virtuous prince, and the wise have said that but a single day spent with the virtuous is a great gain. So, I desire to spend all my life in his company! 

 Narrator: My heart is again touched with your words, Princess. Your words are full of wisdom and they please me! Ask of me, therefore, a second boon! And, if it is not Satyavan's life I shall grant it to you!

Savitri: Lord Yamaraja, my father-in-law, King Dyumatsena, lost his kingdom through his blindness. Therefore, the second boon that I ask of you is this - grant that my father-in-law may recover his kingdom.

Lord Yamaraja: Princess, your boon is granted and Dyumatsena will soon be ruling happily over the kingdom of the Salyas! But now I pray you to return homewards for you are very weary! Why do you follow? Why do you not turn back?

Savitri: Lord Yama, even righteous mortals show mercy to their enemies when they seek their protection. You are a god and you are also my friend. It is proper for you, therefore, to show me mercy. 

Lord Yamaraja: Indeed, I will gladly show you mercy! But, I cannot grant you Satyavan's life.
Savitri: As you will, Lord Yamaraja. The boon that I ask for is this. My father, King Asvapati, has no son. Grant that he may have one hundred sons.

Lord Yamaraja: I grant you the boon and now I pray you retrace your steps! 
Narrator: But, Savitri followed on. The jungle grew darker and more savage. Now, strange figures could be seen gliding silently between the trees. Savitri could have sworn she saw a huge pink spider rush to hide behind a bush. A foul smelling swamp bubbled nearby. Tentacles of a white mist spread out over the ground. 
Lord Yamaraja: (furious) Still here! Never has a mortal so defied me! You are a woman with the courage of ten warriors, it seems! Very well, I will grant you one last wish! What will you have this time? So far, you have only favored your father and your father-in-law. What can I give you for yourself?
Savitri: Lord Yamaraja, you have shown me kindness and you have shown mercy. But, you are the Lord of Justice and it is for you now to show me justice. I therefore beg of you my lord Satyavan.

Lord Yamaraja: O Princess, the life of Prince Satyavan I cannot give you. Ask me any other boon and it shall be yours. 

Savitri: I thank you, Lord Yamaraja, and the boon that I ask is this - grant that I may bear to Prince Satyavan one hundred sons, as strong, brave and beautiful as their father.

 Lord Yamaraja: O Princess, I grant you this boon but I cannot grant you any more. So, turn back homewards and do not weary yourself in vain by following a dead husband.

Savitri: No, Lord Yamaraja (Savitri’s wan face light up with a smile of triumph), the boon which you have just granted me cannot take effect unless you give me back Satyavan. You are an Immortal and famed for your righteousness; you will not let your words prove false. Therefore, give me back Satyavan so that I may bear him a hundred sons! 

Narrator: King Lord Yamaraja thought deeply but he could see no escape from the snare in which the brave princess had placed. At last he said:

Lord Yamaraja: So be it! Princess, I set free your husband. Your will bear him a hundred sons, strong, brave and beautiful as he himself is. And, I add to the boons which I have given you yet another and it is this - you shall both live for four hundred years!

Narrator: With these words, King Lord Yamaraja unbound Prince Satyavan and departed immediately to his kingdom far away in the South. 
(Lord Yamaraja strides off the stage. There should be wild applause.)
Savitri turned around and to her amazement saw that she was back at the forest clearing where she had started her journey with the Lord of Death. Savitri went to her husband's body and, sitting down beside him, once more placed his head on her lap. In a short time, he awoke and looked round him, not knowing where he was. 
Satyavan: O Savitri, I have slept a long time! Why did you not wake me? Where is the monster that was dragging me away?

Savitri: Dear Lord, Yama, King of Death, came to take you away but reconsidered! He has gone, so let us hasten homewards! Already, night has fallen!
 
Satyavan: My wits are still wandering; tell me what happened to me! The last thing which I remember is that I fell asleep and then I dreamt that it grew dark and that a giant with a shining crown seized me! I can remember no more. Please tell me whether there was any truth in my dream. 

Savitri: Dear Lord, the night has fallen, let us hasten home. Tomorrow, I shall tell you all that happened while you slept! 

Satyavan: I look around and I see that the night is already dark. I bid you, Savitri, to stay where we are until sunrise. 
Savitri: As you will, my Lord. There is a forest fire on the hills and by its light we can guide our steps. But, if you wish to spend the night where we are, I shall kindle a fire here, and we can pass the hours happily until day dawns.

Satyavan: Of a sudden, I have thought of my parents! Dear Princess, we must go home! My mind was clouded with sleep and I forgot my father and mother!I am their only hope and happiness! They will be torn with anxiety because of my absence! Let us hurry home as quickly as we can!

Narrator: Savitri consented, and as her husband was still weak from his long trance, she took his ax in her right hand and supported him with her left and thus helping him, she led him home. 

Meanwhile, King Dyumatsena and his wife, Queen Saivya, were roaming to and from their hermitage searching in vain for Satyavan. They were very much afraid that some evil had befallen their only son.

King Dyumatsena had regained his eyesight just as King Lord Yamaraja had promised Princess Savitri. But, distracted by his fears for Satyavan he felt no joy in it and searched in every direction to find some trace of him. Every time a twig cracked or a leaf fell, he looked up joyfully saying, "Satyavan and Savitri have come back," and a moment later he would groan, finding out his error.

The Brahmans of his household strove to pacify him, and in a measure had succeeded, when suddenly Satyavan and Savitri came upon them unobserved. After the king had greeted them, the Brahmanas lit a fire and all sat round it. Then the Brahmans, headed by Gautama Rsi, questioned Satyavan saying:

Gautama Rsi: O Prince, why did you loiter so late in the forest, causing such pain to your father and your mother?
Satyavan: Reverend Sirs, I can tell you but little. While I was cutting wood in the forest, my head began suddenly to ache. Then, I fell asleep and slept longer than I have ever slept before! I had dreamed that a tall, fierce man had carried me away. Then, I awoke and immediately headed for home as to not worry my good parents. 

Gautama Rsi: (to Savitri) Wise Princess, tell us what you know, for we are greatly astonished. Prince Satyavan has never stayed away so long before. And in his absence, King Dyumatsena's eyesight returned to him! 

Savitri: Venerable sages, the wise Narada Muni foretold that my husband would die to-day. On that account, I did not leave him. It transpired as he has told you, he fell asleep after cutting some wood. As he slept, King Lord Yamaraja appeared, bound him with a noose and began to carry him away to his own kingdom in the South. But, I spoke to King Lord Yamaraja gently, and pleased him. He therefore gave me five boons:

Lord Yamaraja promised that King Dyumatsena would recover his eyesight.
He promised that King Dyumatsena would regain his kingdom.
He promised that my father King Asvapati would beget a hundred sons. 
He promised that I should bear Prince Satyavan a hundred sons.
And he promised that the prince and I should each live four hundred years.

All: (cheering loudly) 
Sri Yamaraja ki Jaya!
Lord Narayana ki Jaya!
Great King Aswapati ki Jaya!
Great King Dyumatsena ki Haya!
Satyavan ki Jaya! 
Savitri devi ki jaya!
Chaste Savitri devoted to Satyavan ki Jaya!

Narrator: After Savitri had brought an end to her tale and answered all their eager questions, the good residents felt great hope and wonder. Then, they all rose and went to their huts and slept until the sun rose. 

A few hours after sunrise, King Dyumatsena saw a great multitude approaching his hermitage. He came out of his hut and asked their business. 

Messenger: O King, we are men from the kingdom of the Salyas. We have come to tell you that your enemy has been killed by his minister, and with him have perished also his sons, his kinsmen and his followers. Therefore, O King, come back to the land of the Salyas, for we have thrown off the yoke of the foreigner and we wish you, blind though you are, to rule over us! 

King Dyumatsena: My people, I will gladly return to your land and reign over you! But, I am no longer blind, for the immortals have given me back my sight!

Narrator: When the multitude heard this, they were delighted. They bowed to the earth before him and bade him hasten back to their land and rule over them as their king. 

That very day, King Dyumatsena and Queen Saivya, with Prince Satyavan and Princess Savitri were borne in palanquins from the forest to the chief city of the Salya people. There, the Brahmans installed Dyumatsena as king and Prince Satyavan as his successor.
 
King Asvapati's queen, Malavi, bore him a hundred sons and Savitri bore to Prince Satyavan a hundred sons, strong, brave and beautiful as their father. Prince Satyavan and Savitri became, in due course, king and queen of the Salya people and ruled over them until they were found hundred years old. Then, they passed gently away and their subjects sorrowed over them for many years afterwards. 

Even today, many thousands of years later, the story of Savitri’s chastity and wisdom is told and retold in every Indian family and they hold an annual festival in her honor called Vata Purnima. Satyavan had lain under a banyan tree on the full moon day of the month of Jyeshtha (March),thus this day came to be celebrated as Vata (banyan) Purnima when married women, sometimes decked out in their bridal finery, observe a fast and pray for the long life of their husbands. 

They take a ritual bath, then put on new clothes and visit a banyan tree. They ceremonially water the tree, tie a raw cotton thread around the tree trunk and worship the tree by offering mangoes and bananas. They go around the tree seven times and pray that they may get the same good husband for the next seven lives. 
        
On returning home, they paint a banyan tree on the wall of their temple room with turmeric powder and sandalwood paste and worship it. After breaking their fast, fruits, clothes and other articles are placed in a bamboo basket and given in charity. Throughout the day and night, the glorious story of Chaste Savitri’s devotion to her husband, Satyavan, is narrated. (bhajan)