LOVE TRIUMPHS DEATH

LEGEND OF A PRINCESS WHO DEFIED GOD OF DEATH

      8            THE IMMORTAL LOVE STORY OF SAVITRI AND SATYAVAN

This story is taken from India’s great epic Mahabharata. During the wanderings of Pandava brothers in their exile period of thirteen years a number of great sages frequently visited the brothers and narrated real life stories to them  to  share their moment of suffering so as to lighten the miseries of their exile.

The famous story of Savitri, her victory over the  God of Death, Yama, having much more complexity and philosophical depth is well known. It has been a source of great inspiration for the Hindu women since ages.   On the one hand what is real in life and what is illusion, and on the other the character of a woman who acknowledges the authority of her own mind above others (even a male deity) are just two of the important philosophical points of this moving tale (Mbh.,III.291).

Asvapati was  an ancient ruler of the Madra state in the north western region of the country. His daughter Savitri,  the famous princess of Madra,   was in passionate love  with  the famous Salwa prince Satyavan.  The story in brief is stated as under;-

“Savitri was the beautiful daughter of Asvapati, a wise and powerful king  of the Madra dynasty. The fame of Savitri's beauty spread far and wide, but she refused to marry, saying that she would herself go out in the world and find a husband for herself. So the king chose the best warriors to protect her, and the princess wandered throughout the country searching for a prince of her choice. These ancient Indian princesses were very independent and chose their own princely suitors in their own way.

One day she reached a dense forest, where dwelt a king , Dyumatsena, who had lost his kingdom and fallen into his bad days. Old and blind, he lived in a small hut with his wife and son. The son, who was a handsome young prince, was the sole comfort of his parents. He chopped wood and sold it in the countryside, and bought food for his parents, and they lived in love and happiness. Savitri was strongly drawn towards them, and she knew her search had come to an end. Savitri fell in love with the young prince, who was called Satyavan and was known for his legendary generosity.

 Hearing that Savitri has chosen a penniless prince, her father was heavily downcast. But Savitri was hell-bent on marrying Satyavan.The king consented, but a sage Narada , who happened to be then present there, informed him that the young prince was under the shadow of a fatal curse: he was doomed to die within a year. The king told her daughter about the curse and asked her to choose someone else. But Savitri refused, and stood firm in her determination to marry the same prince. So strong was the single-minded love and determination of Savitri that she chose a noble young man for her husband, knowing that he had only a year to live, married him with all confidence. The king finally agreed with a heavy heart.

The wedding of Savitri and Satyavan took place with a lot of fanfare, and the couple went back to the forest hut. For a whole year they lived happily. On the last day of the year, Savitri rose early, and when Satyavan picked up his axe to go into the forest to chop wood she requested him to take her along, and the two went into the jungle together.

Under a tall tree, he made a seat of soft green leaves and plucked flowers for her to weave into a garland while he chopped wood. Towards noon Satyavan felt a little tired, and after a while he came and lay down resting his head in Savitri's lap. Suddenly the whole forest grew dark, and soon Savitri saw a tall figure standing before her. It was Yama, the God of Death. "I have come to take your husband," said Yama, and looked down at Satyavan, as his soul left his body. “Daughter give up this dead body,  know, death is the fate of mortals,  everyone has had to die. Death is the fate of man.”  

When Yama was about to leave, Savitri ran after him, and pleaded with  him to take her too along with him to the land of the dead or give back the life of Satyavan. Yama replied, "Your time has not yet come, child. Go back to your home. The Lord of Death is so moved by her demeanour and speeches that he grants Savitri several boons. She may ask anything of him except the life of her husband. After promising various wishes for the well-being of her family Death grants her one last boon which he will not refuse. She asks for Life in all its fullness.

 Yama ,the Lord of Death is surprised: is she not alive already? She challenges him by asking if he is true to his word or not. His admiration for her is such that he grants her the boon unequivocally. Then, she turns the tables: life "in all its fullness" for her is impossible without Satyavan. The sequence in which Savitri asks her boons reveals to us the depth of her character. Her first concern is towards the suffering of her father-in-law, and only later does she ask a boon for her own father.

What greater example can there be of complete surrender? Glory to Indian womanhood, shaped as it is by divine literature like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Truly did Savitri demonstrate how a virtuous woman can exalt two families at the same time.

Yama concedes; he sees the power of her emotion and the strength of her argument. Satyavan's body came back to life. He slowly woke up from the stupor and the two gladly walked back to their hut. Even the God of Death had to relent and surrender before her love and devotion.”

Savitri and Satyavan live on in the everyday life of Indian society, instilling such values that enrich our lives. That is real immortality which eluded all others who sought it.

Their story was later mythologised by the bards and missionaries of Hindu religion.

The mystery shrouded in the resurrection story of  Satyavan after death has been examined by various medical authorities In the opinion of Dr Aggarwal the story typically describes the signs and symptoms of sudden cardiac death and states ; 

Her fight with the Yama and bringing back the life of her husband by all means was some sort of cardio pulmonary resuscitation attempted by her on his dead body.The take home message is that we all should become Savitri and learn chest compression cardiac resuscitation to save some one’s life. You never know if you teach someone he may be the one saving your life when you need someone to resuscitate. (Dr K K Aggarwal is Padmashri and Dr B C Roy National Awardee, President Heart Care Foundation of India)

The moral of the story is that one can beat all odds in life through true love and devotion. So strong was the single-minded love and determination of Savitri that she chose a noble young man for her husband, knowing that he had only a year to live. She married him with all confidence. Even the God of Death had to relent, and bowed to her love and devotion.(Adapted From About.com: Hinduism And Wikipedia)

(The story of Savitri occurs in the Mahabharata in the Book of Forests (Vana Parva), chapters 293-299)