SECTION CCLXLIII
"Markandeya said, 'Having pondered over these words (of Narada) about his
daughter's marriage, the king began to make arrangements about the
nuptials. And summoning all the old Brahmanas, and Ritwijas together with
the priests, he set out with his daughter on an auspicious day. And
arriving at the asylum of Dyumatsena in the sacred forest, the king
approached the royal sage on foot, accompanied by the twice-born ones.
And there he beheld the blind monarch of great wisdom seated on a cushion
of Kusa grass spread under Sala tree. And after duly reverencing the
royal sage, the king in an humble speech introduced himself. Thereupon,
offering him the Arghya, a seat, and a cow, the monarch asked his royal
guest,--Wherefore is this visit?--Thus addressed the king disclosed
everything about his intentions and purpose with reference to Satyavan.
And Aswapati said, 'O royal sage, this beautiful girl is my daughter
named Savitri. O you versed in morality, do thou, agreeably to the
customs of our order, take her from me as your daughter-in-law!' Hearing
these words, Dyumatsena said, 'Deprived of kingdom, and taking up our
abode in the woods, we are engaged in the practice of virtue as ascetics
with regulated lives. Unworthy of a forest life, how will your daughter,
living in the sylvan asylum, bear this hardship?' Aswapati said, 'When my
daughter knoweth, as well as myself, that happiness and misery come and
go (without either being stationary), such words as these are not fit to
be used towards one like me! O king, I have come hither, having made up
my mind! I have bowed to you from friendship; it behoveth you not,
therefore, to destroy my hope! It behoveth you not, also, to disregard
me who, moved by love, have come to thee! Thou are my equal and fit for
an alliance with me, as indeed, I am your equal and fit for alliance with
thee! Do thou, therefore, accept my daughter for your daughter-in-law and
the wife of the good Satyavan!' Hearing these words Dyumatsena said,
'Formerly I had desired an alliance with thee. But I hesitated, being
subsequently deprived of my kingdom. Let this wish, therefore, that I had
formerly entertained, be accomplished this very day. Thou art, indeed, a
welcome guest to me!'
"Then summoning all the twice-born ones residing in the hermitages of
that forest, the two kings caused the union to take place with due rites.
And having bestowed his daughter with suitable robes and ornaments,
Aswapati went back to his abode in great joy. And Satyavan, having
obtained a wife possessed of every accomplishment, became highly glad,
while she also rejoiced exceedingly upon having gained the husband after
her own heart. And when her father had departed, she put off all her
ornaments, and clad herself in barks and cloths dyed in red. And by her
services and virtues, her tenderness and self-denial, and by her
agreeable offices unto all, she pleased everybody. And she gratified her
mother-in-law by attending to her person and by covering her with robes
and ornaments. And she gratified her father-in-law by worshipping him as
a god and controlling her speech. And she pleased her husband by her
honeyed speeches, her skill in every kind of work, the evenness of her
temper, and by the indications of her love in private. And thus, O
Bharata, living in the asylum of those pious dwellers of the forest, they
continued for some time to practise ascetic austerities. But the words
spoken by Narada were present night and day in the mind of the sorrowful
Savitri.'"
--------------------END OF PARVA 3 : UPA-PARVA 293 ---------------------
