"Markandeya said, 'Having pondered over these words (of Narada) about
his daughter's marriage, the king began to make arrangements about the
nuptials. And summoning all the old Brahmanas, and _Ritwijas_ together
with the priests, he set out with his daughter on an auspicious day. And
arriving at the asylum of Dyumatsena in the sacred forest, the king
approached the royal sage on foot, accompanied by the twice-born ones.
And there he beheld the blind monarch of great wisdom seated on a
cushion of _Kusa_ grass spread under _Sala_ tree. And after duly
reverencing the royal sage, the king in an humble speech introduced
himself. Thereupon, offering him the _Arghya_, a seat, and a cow, the
monarch asked his royal guest,--_Wherefore is this visit?_--Thus
addressed the king disclosed everything about his intentions and purpose
with reference to Satyavan. And Aswapati said, "O royal sage, this
beautiful girl is my daughter named Savitri. O thou versed in morality,
do thou, agreeably to the customs of our order, take her from me as thy
daughter-in-law!" Hearing these words, Dyumatsena said, "Deprived of
kingdom, and taking up our abode in the woods, we are engaged in the
practice of virtue as ascetics with regulated lives. Unworthy of a
forest life, how will thy daughter, living in the sylvan asylum, bear
this hardship?" Aswapati said, "When my daughter knoweth, as well as
myself, that happiness and misery come and go (without either being
stationary), such words as these are not fit to be used towards one like
me! O king, I have come hither, having made up my mind! I have bowed to
thee from friendship; it behoveth thee not, therefore, to destroy my
hope! It behoveth thee not, also, to disregard me who, moved by love,
have come to thee! Thou art my equal and fit for an alliance with me, as
indeed, I am thy equal and fit for alliance with thee! Do thou,
therefore, accept my daughter for thy daughter-in-law and the wife of
the good Satyavan!" Hearing these words Dyumatsena said, "Formerly I had
desired an alliance with thee. But I hesitated, being subsequently
deprived of my kingdom. Let this wish, therefore, that I had formerly
entertained, be accomplished this very day. Thou art, indeed, a welcome
guest to me!"
"'Then summoning all the twice-born ones residing in the hermitages of
that forest, the two kings caused the union to take place with due
rites. And having bestowed his daughter with suitable robes and
ornaments, Aswapati went back to his abode in great joy. And Satyavan,
having obtained a wife possessed of every accomplishment, became highly
glad, while she also rejoiced exceedingly upon having gained the husband
after her own heart. And when her father had departed, she put off all
her ornaments, and clad herself in barks and cloths dyed in red. And by
her services and virtues, her tenderness and self-denial, and by her
agreeable offices unto all, she pleased everybody. And she gratified her
mother-in-law by attending to her person and by covering her with robes
and ornaments. And she gratified her father-in-law by worshipping him as
a god and controlling her speech. And she pleased her husband by her
honeyed speeches, her skill in every kind of work, the evenness of her
temper, and by the indications of her love in private. And thus, O
Bharata, living in the asylum of those pious dwellers of the forest,
they continued for some time to practise ascetic austerities. But the
words spoken by Narada were present night and day in the mind of the
sorrowful Savitri.'"