Reading Notes: Devee's Savitri and Damayanti
I chose to continue my reading of Sunny Devee's Nine Ideal Indian Women, and found myself in awe with Sati Savitri.
Quick facts:
Daughter of Maharajah Ashwapati, ruler of Abanti
Fell in love with a man doomed to live for one year
Left her home, family, and life of luxury
Lived in total happiness with her husband in poverty
Story breakdown:
Savitri accepted her husband's mortality, and was aware she was marrying a man with an expiration date. Their life is idyllic but shadowed in doom; she is present at his death. When Yom, the God of Death appears to take him, she pleads that he will take her too. After arguing for hours and walking to the very edge of the underworld, she traps Yom into realizing he has no choice but to restore her husband. This is cleverly accomplished via a series of boons he grants in hopes of sending her away. He inadvertently "blesses" this widow with sons, which cannot be called a gift for a woman whose husband is dead; her virtue would be compromised and her life ruined.
Thoughts:
I want to know why the husband was doomed to live for but one year. No mention of this is made in the source material, and while the easiest go-to would be some family curse, the idea of this woman caring for a cancer-ridden man fits very well with what is known of Savitri.
I would also love to expand on the conversation with death. That could be a whole story right there; phrased in the source material as a polite conversation, this could be a very suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse. Death is portrayed as a kindly, dignified persona gently shooing away this grief-stricken woman, but what if Savitri prepared for this moment? She knew her husband would die within a year of marrying her, and she almost exiled herself to a remote village to be with him. She could have been training, reading, and learning everything she could (as it is mentioned that she is of an age where women are educated and given the same status as men) about Yom in preparation for this battle for her husband's life. The image of "Death and the Lady," from Joseph Hall's vaudeville collection, really sums up how I felt reading this story. She has nothing to lose, and gambles her life against that of her dead husband. Because she wins, she is lauded as the hero of widows, and there is even a vow Hindu wives make today, "Savitri-brata," which is said to ward off the dangers of losing one's husband.
I was intrigued by Damayanti's appeal to not one, but four gods, but found myself much more interested with Savitri's story.
Bibleography
Nine Ideal Indian Women, Sunity Devee
Quick facts:
Daughter of Maharajah Ashwapati, ruler of Abanti
Fell in love with a man doomed to live for one year
Left her home, family, and life of luxury
Lived in total happiness with her husband in poverty
Story breakdown:
Savitri accepted her husband's mortality, and was aware she was marrying a man with an expiration date. Their life is idyllic but shadowed in doom; she is present at his death. When Yom, the God of Death appears to take him, she pleads that he will take her too. After arguing for hours and walking to the very edge of the underworld, she traps Yom into realizing he has no choice but to restore her husband. This is cleverly accomplished via a series of boons he grants in hopes of sending her away. He inadvertently "blesses" this widow with sons, which cannot be called a gift for a woman whose husband is dead; her virtue would be compromised and her life ruined.
Thoughts:
I want to know why the husband was doomed to live for but one year. No mention of this is made in the source material, and while the easiest go-to would be some family curse, the idea of this woman caring for a cancer-ridden man fits very well with what is known of Savitri.
I would also love to expand on the conversation with death. That could be a whole story right there; phrased in the source material as a polite conversation, this could be a very suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse. Death is portrayed as a kindly, dignified persona gently shooing away this grief-stricken woman, but what if Savitri prepared for this moment? She knew her husband would die within a year of marrying her, and she almost exiled herself to a remote village to be with him. She could have been training, reading, and learning everything she could (as it is mentioned that she is of an age where women are educated and given the same status as men) about Yom in preparation for this battle for her husband's life. The image of "Death and the Lady," from Joseph Hall's vaudeville collection, really sums up how I felt reading this story. She has nothing to lose, and gambles her life against that of her dead husband. Because she wins, she is lauded as the hero of widows, and there is even a vow Hindu wives make today, "Savitri-brata," which is said to ward off the dangers of losing one's husband.
"Death and the Lady"
Joseph Hall
Image Source: Pinterest
I was intrigued by Damayanti's appeal to not one, but four gods, but found myself much more interested with Savitri's story.
Bibleography
Nine Ideal Indian Women, Sunity Devee
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