Savitri and Satyavan
Savitri (
The oldest known version of the story of Savitri and Satyavan is found in
Legend
The childless king of the Madra Kingdom, Ashvapati, engaged in penance for eighteen years and offered a hundred thousand oblations to propitiate Savitri, a consort of Brahma.[4] Pleased, the goddess Savitri appeared to him and asked him to choose a boon. Ashvapati sought the boon of having many sons to extend his dynastic line. The goddess, however, informed him that he would be blessed with a daughter instead.[2] After some time, the king's first queen, the princess of Malava, became pregnant, and gave birth to a girl. She was named Savitri by her father, in honour of the goddess.[5]
Savitri grew to become a beautiful woman, brimming with such energy that she was often regarded to be a celestial maiden. No man dared to ask for her hand in marriage. On an auspicious day, after she had offered her respects, her father told her to choose a husband with suitable qualities on her own. Accompanied by ministers, she embarked on a quest on her golden chariot, visiting a number of hermitages and forests. Upon her return to Madra, Savitri found her father seated with the sage Narada. She informed her father that she had chosen an exiled prince named Satyavan as her husband, the son of a blind king named Dyumatsena of the Shalva kingdom; Dyumatsena had been driven out of his kingdom by a foe and led a life of exile as a forest-dweller with his wife and son. Narada opined that Savitri had made a bad choice: although he was intelligent, righteous, generous, and handsome, Satyavan was destined to die one year from that day. In response to her father's pleas to choose a different husband, Savitri insisted that she had made up her mind. After Narada expressed his agreement with Savitri's decision, Ashvapati consented to his daughter's choice.[6]
Ashvapati and Savitri approached Dyumatsena and Satyavan in the forest to propose the marriage, which was joyfully accepted. Savitri and Satyavan were soon married. Immediately after the wedding, Savitri discarded her jewellery and adopted the bark and red garment attire of a hermit, and lived in perfect obedience and respect to her new parents-in-law and husband. Despite her happiness, she could not stop dwelling on the words of Narada. Three days before the destined death of Satyavan, Savitri started to observe a vow of fasting and stood day and night. Her father-in-law worried that she had taken on too harsh a regimen, but Savitri replied that she has taken an oath to perform these austerities, to which Dyumatsena offered his support. The day of her husband's predicted demise, Savitri offered oblations to the fire and obeisance to the
Satyavan stirred, regaining his consciousness, and returned to his parents along with his wife. Meanwhile, at their home, Dyumatsena regained his eyesight before Savitri and Satyavan returned. Savitri relayed the events that had occurred to her parents-in-law, husband, and the gathered ascetics. As they praised her, Dyumatsena's ministers arrived with news of the death of his usurper. Joyfully, the king and his entourage returned to Madra.[8][9]
In popular culture
In
It is believed that Savitri got her husband back on the first day of the Tamil month
In 1950 and 1951, Sri Aurobindo published his epic poem in blank verse titled: Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol.[10]
In England,
The new age group 2002 released an album inspired by the story of Savitri and Satyavan in 1995.[12]
Films and television
There have been about thirty-four film versions of the Savitri/Satyavan story produced in India.
Sati Savitri (1932), a sound film, was released in Hindi/Gujarati by
Many films, centering on this story, were made after
The Tamil-language films Doctor Savithri (1955) and Roja (1992) are contemporary adaptations of the story of Savitri and Satyvan.[18][19]
Satyawaan Savitri is a 2022 big budget Marathi TV series airing on Zee Marathi based on this story.
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-19-533261-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-89781-68-2.
- ^ "Section CCLXLI (Pativrata-mahatmya Parva)". Mahabharata Vana Parva. Translated by KM Ganguly. Retrieved 2021-11-23 – via Mahabharata Online.
- ISBN 978-90-04-15814-6.
- ISBN 978-3-030-73165-6.
- ^ Bibek Debroy. The Mahabharata, 10 Volumes by B. Debroy. pp. 1908–1911.
- ^ Bibek Debroy. The Mahabharata, 10 Volumes by B. Debroy. pp. 1913–1930.
- ^ Savitri
- ISBN 978-0-86131-684-7.
- ISBN 978-93-82474-02-9.
- ^ Head, Raymond, "Holst and India (III)" (September 1988). Tempo (New Ser.), 166: pp. 35–40
- ^ Savitri. 2002music.com.
- ISBN 978-1-134-06255-3.
- ^ ISBN 9780851706696. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
- ^ "Savitri 1923". citwf.com. Alan Goble. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ Ponram P (1 December 2014). Life in India: Culture. Ponram P. pp. 153–. GGKEY:43NZKK4BRBF. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Savitri Films List". citwf.com. Alan Goble. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ "Doctor Savithri: 1955". The Hindu. 4 August 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-670-08520-0.
- Bollywood Life. 2013-02-17.
Further reading
- The Mahabharata vol. 2, tr. J.A.B. van Buitenen (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975)
- The Savitri Brata Katha in Oriya