A Comprehensive Collection - Swami Vivekananda

"Never"514 THE MAHABHARATA.roots and herbs, helping and feeding his old father andmother living in a cottage.Then, the father consulted the court astrologers andthey declared it was the most ill-omened choice that wasever made ;and they said "Within :eighteen months fromthis time, this young nian will die." Then the kingsays :"Savitri,this young man is going to die in eighteen mo^thrand you will have to become a widow, think of that."mind, father, you don t ask me to be impure bymarrying another person I love that ;man."Well, Savitri had to marry that young man. Thefather had to come down and Savitri quietly went fromthe palace into the forest, to live with her husband andhelp her husband s parents. And Savitri knew tiiaoxactdate when this young man was to die and keptit hiddenfrom her husband. And they both then went into the depthof the forest, collected fruits and flowers, gathered fagots,and they came back to the cottage, cooked their meals,and helped these old people. Thus went on their livestill the fatal day came and that ; day Savitri would notallow him just to go even a foot without her and; thenthe young man "says We must collect some : fagots ;and he climbed up a tree and in a few; minutes, he says:My head is and he came downdizzy;" ;and the wifesays : "Come, lay your head on my and he laid hislap,"head on the lap of his wife and expired. And there she satand then came the emissaries of Death to take away thesoul of Satyavan. But they could not approach within amile of where Savitri sat with the dead body of her husband, his head in her lap it was a zone of; fire, and notone of the emissaries of Death could come within it ; theyall fled back. They told their king, the god of Death, thatthey couldn t get the soul of that man. Then came Yama