“Thou hast,” so Savitri answered, “granted father's realm and might,
To his vain and sightless eyeballs hast restored their blesséd sight,
Grant him that the line of monarchs may not all untimely end,
That his kingdom to Satyavan's and Savitri's sons descend!”
“Have thy object,” answered Yama, “and thy lord shall live again,
He shall live to be a father, and your children too shall reign,
For a woman's troth abideth longer than the fleeting breath,
And a woman's love abideth higher than the doom of Death!”
VI
Return Home
Vanished then the Sable Monarch, and Savitri held her way
Where in dense and darksome forest still her husband lifeless lay,
And she sat upon the greensward by the cold unconscious dead,
On her lap with deeper kindness placed her consort's lifeless head,
And that touch of true affection thrilled him back to waking life,
As returned from distant regions gazed the prince upon his wife!
“Have I lain too long and slumbered, sweet Savitri, faithful spouse?
But I dreamt a Sable Person, in a noose took forth my life!”