Sāvitrī Upākhyāna (Matsya Purāṇa)

The Matsya Mahā Purāṇa tells the Sāvitrī Upākhyāna in Chapters 207–213. Princess Sāvitrī of Madra was born by the grace of the devī Sāvitrī to King Aśvapati, who had no children. By her devotion to her husband (pativratā-dharma) and by the teaching she gave to Yama himself, she won back the life of her husband Satyavanta.

The account is told inside the frame of Bhagavān Matsya teaching Manu. It answers Manu’s question: which pativratā (wife devoted to her husband) is greater than all others, and which one conquered death itself?

The birth of Sāvitrī

King Aśvapati of the Śākala line of Madra had no children. In his grief he did ārādhanā (worship) to the devī Sāvitrī in a great yajña performed by one hundred brāhmaṇas for ten months. At the end of a caturthī tithi (the fourth day of the lunar fortnight), the devī appeared before him and said: “You have been my faithful devotee without a break. I shall give you an excellent daughter. By my grace, this daughter given by me will be of shining beauty.” With these words the devī became unseen, as if she had never been there.

In time the king’s devoted wife Mālatī gave birth to a daughter who looked like the devī Sāvitrī herself in beauty. Because she was given by Sāvitrī through her grace, the ṛshis said her name should be Sāvitrī. (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 207)

The marriage to Satyavanta

When Sāvitrī came of age, her father arranged her marriage to Satyavanta, son of King Dyumatsena. But the divine ṛshi Nārada came to the king and warned him: “This prince will not live long. He will die within a year. O king, a bride must be given only after careful thought.” In spite of this warning, the king gave Sāvitrī to the noble Satyavanta.

Satyavanta’s father Dyumatsena had lost his sight and had been driven from his kingdom. Sāvitrī knew Nārada’s words in her heart and carried the weight of what she knew. Even so, she went to her husband’s āśrama in the forest. There she served her blind father-in-law and her mother-in-law with steady devotion, and she cared for her husband in the forest. Dyumatsena was not fully content, for it pained him that a king’s daughter had to share his hardships. Sāvitrī never let her own anguish show. (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 207)

The day of death

Sāvitrī knew the fourth day was the day of Satyavanta’s death, as Nārada had said. She fasted for three days and nights. On the fourth day she decked herself with flowers, ate fruits, and went into the great forest with her husband, with her father-in-law’s leave. She had not told him her fear, because she thought he would not let her go if she did.

In the forest Satyavanta gathered fruits and chopped wood. Soon the effort gave him a severe headache. He came to Sāvitrī and said: “I have a headache from this work. It is as if I am going into darkness. I cannot understand anything. Let me rest with my head in your lap.” He fell asleep in her lap.

Then Sāvitrī saw Yama himself arrive before her, with no escort of messengers, coming alone. He was dark as a blue lotus petal and dressed in yellow. Lightning shone around him like a rain-cloud full of water. His crown shone like the sun. Many garlands hung on his chest, and his arms had bracelets of many colours. Kāla and Mṛtyu walked with him. This was Dharmarāja Yama, come to this place himself.

From Satyavanta’s body Yama drew out the jīva (the living self) in a sūkshma-deha (subtle body) the size of a thumb. He bound it with the cord of karma and began to go toward the south. (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 209)

The Sāvitrī–Yama saṃvāda: four conversations

Sāvitrī saw her husband’s body lifeless and did not wait even a moment. She got up and followed Yama to the south, her heart trembling and her hands folded in respect. Four conversations passed between them.

First conversation and vara

Sāvitrī spoke of three great duties. Devotion to the mother brings happiness in this world. Devotion to the father brings happiness in the middle world. Service to the guru brings Brahmaloka. These three are the essence of all dharma. Whoever honours these three honours all dharma. For whoever does not, all other acts bear no fruit.

Yama was pleased and said: “Pativratā, I am satisfied with you. Ask any vara (boon) except Satyavanta’s life.” Sāvitrī asked: “May my father-in-law, who has lost both his kingdom and his eyes, get both back.” Yama gave it and told her to turn back. (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 209)

Second conversation and vara

Sāvitrī answered: “For the good, meeting with the righteous brings no grief. The good are a refuge to all, righteous and unrighteous alike. But the unrighteous are a refuge to none.” She spoke further of how the wicked harm the world without cause, and how a king must protect his people as a farmer protects his seed.

Yama said: “Wide-eyed one, I am pleased with your words full of dharma. Ask any vara except Satyavanta’s life.” Sāvitrī asked: “May a hundred brothers, sons of my father’s own body, be born to my father.” Yama gave this and told her to go back. (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 210)

Third conversation and vara

Sāvitrī spoke at length about dharma. It is dharma that goes with the jīva after death. Everything else perishes with the body. A person is born alone and dies alone, and only dharma walks beside him. She said: “O Dharmarāja, I feel no weariness in following you, for this is the highest dharma, service at the feet of the wise. Death comes without waiting. Therefore a person must practise dharma from childhood.”

Yama was moved again and gave a third vara: a hundred sons born from Sāvitrī’s own womb by Satyavanta. He told her to go back. (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 211)

Fourth conversation: Satyavanta is set free

Sāvitrī praised Yama by seven names and gave the reason for each:

Yama, because he holds the people in check by law.
Dharmarāja, because he makes people glad through dharma.
Mṛtyu, because the dead come to him.
Kāla, because he measures life in the smallest units of time.
Antaka, because he is the great end of all beings.
Vaivasvata, because he is the first son of Vivasvān (Sūrya).
Sarvapraṇahara, because he takes back all life when its āyus (span of life) and prārabdha (karma already begun) are used up.

She said: “O Dharmarāja, it is by your grace that the dharma of the three Vedas has not perished. The people stand in dharma. The dharmas do not mix with one another. You are the refuge of all good people. You are the master who guards the order of the world.”

Yama was moved by her bhakti (devotion) and her stotra (hymn of praise). He said: “Woman who knows dharma, I am satisfied with you and your bhakti. I set Satyavanta free. He will rule as king for four hundred years in your company. After that you will rise to svarga together. From Satyavanta a hundred mighty sons will be born to you, the Sāvatrīs, who will be famous for ever as kings. And in your father’s court a hundred kshatriya brothers will be born by Mālavī, famous as the Mālavas.”

With these words the mighty Yama set free Satyavanta’s sūkshma-deha and vanished with Kāla and Mṛtyu. (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 212)

The return and the restoration

Sāvitrī came back by the path she had taken. At sunset she found Satyavanta beginning to open his eyes in her lap. He stirred and said: “Where is the dark man who held me and dragged me away? Dear one, I have slept long and had a strange experience. Why did you let me sleep so? Why do you look so troubled?”

Sāvitrī comforted him. Together they went back to the āśrama before dark. Even before they got there, Dyumatsena had got his sight back. At the very end of the night, the king’s ministers and people came to announce that the usurper who had taken Dyumatsena’s kingdom had been killed, and that his old kingdom was waiting for him.

Sāvitrī told the gathered ṛshis everything that had happened. Dyumatsena went with his fourfold army and won back his whole kingdom, by the grace of Dharmarāja. Soon Sāvitrī had a hundred brothers through her father. As Yama had promised, she lived with Satyavanta for four hundred years and then rose to svarga.

The Matsya Purāṇa ends the account with these words: “People must honour pativratās as they honour the devas, for it is by their grace that the three worlds are held up. Whatever a pativratā declares becomes truth itself. Those who want all their wishes fulfilled must always honour them.” (Matsya Purāṇa, Chapter 213)

Sources

Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 207–213
Chapter 207: the birth of Sāvitrī and the marriage
Chapter 209: the day of death and the first conversation
Chapter 210: the second conversation
Chapter 211: the third conversation
Chapter 212: the fourth conversation
Chapter 213: the return and the ending