





          The next day, the King gathered his priests and travelled with 
     Savitri to the hermitage to arrange the marriage. 
          Satyavan was overjoyed to be offered such a bride. But his 
     father, the blind king, said, "Savitri knows only the life of a 
     princess. Can she bear the hard life of the hermitage?" 
          He spoke to Savitri. "Will you set aside jewelry and colorful 
     clothes? Will you wear instead the simple robe and matted bark of the 
     hermit? Will you be happy eating only fruit and plants of the wild?" 
          Savitri said, "I care nothing about comfort or hardship. In 
     palace or in hermitage, I am content." 
          That very day, Savitri and Satyavan walked hand in hand around 
     the sacred fire in the hall of worship. In front of all the priests 
     and hermits, they became husband and wife. 




