Savitri
SAVITRI.
[Source:
Dowson's Classical Dictionary
of Hindu Mythology]
1. The
holy verse of the Veda, commonly called Gayatri.
2. A name of Satarupa,
the daughter and wife of Brahma, who is sometimes regarded as a personification
of the holy verse.
3. Daughter of King Aswapati, and lover of Satyavan, whom
she insisted on marrying, although she was warned by a seer that he had only
one year to live. When the fatal day arrived, Satyavan went out to cut wood,
and she followed him. There he fell, dying, to the earth, and she, as she supported
him, saw a figure, who told her that he was Yama, king of the dead, and that
he had come for her husband's spirit. Yama carried off the spirit towards the
shades, but Savitri followed him. Her devotion pleased Yama, and he offered
her any boon except the life of her husband. She extorted three such boons from
Yama, but still she followed him, and he was finally constrained to restore
her husband to life.
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Modern
Languages MLLL-4993. Indian Epics. Laura Gibbs, Ph.D.
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Page last updated:
October 16, 2007 12:22 PM
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