ll be their
plight! I hate that slumber of mine for the sake of which my unoffending
mother and my father have both been in trouble, and I myself also, am
placed in such rending distress! Without my father and mother, I cannot
bear to live. It is certain that by this time my blind father, his mind
disconsolate with grief, is asking everyone of the inhabitants of the
hermitage about me! I do not, O fair girl, grieve so much for myself as I
do for my sire, and for my weak mother ever obedient to her lord! Surely,
they will be afflicted with extreme anguish on account of me. I hold my
life so long as they live. And I know that they should be maintained by
me and that I should do only what is agreeable to them!'

"Markandeya continued, 'Having said this, that virtuous youth who loved
and revered his parents, afflicted with grief held up his arms and began
to lament in accents of woe. And seeing her lord overwhelmed with sorrow
the virtuous Savitri wiped away the tears from his eyes and said, 'If I
have observed austerities, and have given away in charity, and have
performed sacrifice, may this night be for the good of my father-in-law,
mother-in-law and husband! I do not remember having told a single
falsehood, even in jest. Let my father-in-law and mother-in-law hold
their lives by virtue of the truth!' Satyavan said, 'I long for the sight
of my father and mother! Therefore, O Savitri, proceed without delay. O
beautiful damsel, I swear by my own self that if I find any evil to have
befallen my father and mother, I will not live. If thou hast any regard
for virtue, if thou wishest me to live, if it is thy duty to do what is
agreeable to me, proceed thou to the hermitage!' The beautiful Savitri
then rose and tying up her hair, raised her husband in her arms. And
Satyavan having risen, rubbed his limbs with his hands. And as he
surveyed all around, his eyes fell upon his wallet. Then Savitri said
unto him, 'Tomorrow thou mayst gather fruits. And I shall carry thy axe
for thy ease.' Then hanging up the wallet upon the bough of a tree, and
taking up the axe, she re-approached her husband. And that lady of
beautiful thighs, placing her husband's left arm upon her left shoulder,
and embracing him with her right arms, proceeded with elephantic gait.
Then Satyavan said, 'O timid one, by virtue of habit, the (forest) paths
are known to me. And further, by the light of the moon between the trees,
I can see them. We have now reached th