Śaibya, Wife of Dyumatsena

Śaibya, also called Śaibyadevī, was the wife of King Dyumatsena of the Śālva kingdom. She was the mother of Satyavat, the husband of Sāvitrī.

When Dyumatsena lost both his sight and his kingdom, Śaibya went with him into the forest. She lived there as a tapasvinī (a woman who lives by austerity). She welcomed Sāvitrī as a daughter-in-law with warmth and treated her as a true daughter. Her story is told in the Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata.

Life in forest exile

When Dyumatsena lost his sight and was driven from his kingdom, Śaibya did not stay in the palace or look for another home. She went with her husband into the forest and took up the life of a forest ascetic. The āśrama (hermitage) where they settled was near the āśramas of ṛṣis (seers). It was her home through all this time. She supported her husband’s tapas (austerity) and kept the duties of the household in the āśrama alongside him.

Their son Satyavat grew up there. Śaibya and Dyumatsena together shaped his character: his truthfulness, his devotion, and his complete service to his parents in spite of their hard life.

Receiving Sāvitrī

Sāvitrī came with her father Aśvapati to offer herself in marriage to Satyavat. Śaibya took part in welcoming her. She heard, together with Dyumatsena, that the ṛṣi Nārada had spoken of Satyavat’s coming death. When it was clear that Sāvitrī had chosen with full knowledge and complete intention, Śaibya accepted her as a daughter-in-law without holding back.

The narrative tells how Sāvitrī served both Dyumatsena and Śaibya with full devotion through the year of her marriage. She attended to them and treated them as her own parents. Śaibya received this service with love and answered it with the warmth of a mother toward a daughter.

The day of Satyavat’s death

Sāvitrī had kept the tri-rātra-vrata (a vow of three nights). On the day she insisted on going with Satyavat to the forest, Śaibya and Dyumatsena tried to understand why. Sāvitrī asked for their blessing before she left with Satyavat. Both parents gave it. They did not know what lay ahead, and they trusted their daughter-in-law’s steadiness in dharma.

Satyavat died in the forest, and Sāvitrī followed Yama. When neither Satyavat nor Sāvitrī had come back by dusk, Dyumatsena searched anxiously with the ṛṣis. Śaibya shared his anxiety. Then both returned, Satyavat alive and Sāvitrī victorious. This ended the day of terror.

Restoration

Dyumatsena’s sight was restored, and news came of the death of the enemy. Śaibya went back with her husband, her son and her daughter-in-law to their kingdom. The forest exile, which she had entered of her own will and kept with full faithfulness, was over. When the kingdom was restored, she was queen again.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 293–299