Aśvapati of Madra

Aśvapati was the righteous king of Madra and the father of Sāvitrī. Madra lay in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent. The Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa describes him as a model king, a man of tapas (austerity) and renunciation, who had no sons. He performed long tapas to the devī Sāvitrī and received a daughter as her gift.

His part in the account is that of a father who honours his daughter’s own choice and stands by her in the hardest decision of her life.

Character and tapas

Aśvapati was a king of deep dharmic character. He was prosperous, just and gentle, and he was devoted to the devas. Yet he had no heir, which was a serious lack for a king.

He did not take another wife or turn to political means. Instead he undertook long tapas to the devī Sāvitrī, the devī of the Gāyatrī mantra, who stands for the power of light and knowledge. His devotion lasted for years. Pleased with his tapas, the devī appeared to him and gave him a daughter of her own essence. The girl was named Sāvitrī after the devī.

Freedom for his daughter

Aśvapati gave Sāvitrī complete freedom to choose her husband. He saw that his daughter was no ordinary woman but a person of rare discernment. He sent her on her own journey with a company of wise elders, honouring her right to choose.

Sāvitrī returned and chose Satyavān, the son of a blind king who had lost his kingdom and lived in the forest. Aśvapati first asked the ṛshi Nārada whether the choice was a good one. Nārada said Satyavān was the finest of men in every quality, but that he was fated to die within the year. Aśvapati then asked Sāvitrī to think again.

Sāvitrī answered firmly that she had chosen once and would not change her mind. Aśvapati did not force her. He accepted her reasoning and gave his blessing.

The wedding

Aśvapati arranged and performed the wedding rites for Sāvitrī and Satyavān with full dharmic care. He also went himself to the āśrama (forest dwelling) of Dyumatsena to offer Sāvitrī to the blind king as a daughter-in-law. In this he showed respect for Dyumatsena, who had lost his kingdom but was still a king by nature and by worth.

Aśvapati in the Mahābhārata

The Sāvitrī Upākhyāna of the Vana Parva (Chapters 293–299) gives details of Aśvapati’s tapas that the Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa does not give. In this account Aśvapati kept the Puṃsavana vrata (a vow) for eighteen years. He made one offering at each dusk and kept strict discipline all through. When the eighteen years were complete, the devī Sāvitrī herself appeared from the yajña fire and gave him a daughter who would be her own portion in the world. Sāvitrī was thus born from the yajña flame as a divine avatāra.

The Vana Parva also records a detail about descent. Yama gave Aśvapati a vara (a boon) of one hundred sons by his Mālavī wife. These hundred sons became the forefathers of the Mālava people. This is the Mahābhārata’s account of how the Mālavas arose as a people and a line.

Sources

• Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Uttarārdha (Dvitīya Khaṇḍa), Chapters 4–7
• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 293–299 (Sāvitrī Upākhyāna)