Reading Diary A: Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee

This week I am reading Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee.  The women I read about today were Savitri and Damayanti.  Both of these women had amazing stories of devotion to their husbands.  One of my favorite stories of these two women is from Savitri.  It occurred after Savitri had married Satyaban and was when Satyaban died.  I found it interesting that Yom would go to such lengths to get Savitri to go away but it was not until after the last wish that Savitri got what she wanted.  She first wished for healing for her father in law then a son for her father then she wished for a son as well.  It is odd that Yom did not pay attention and understand the implications of granting the third wish.  But Savitri understood and used the wish to her advantage and told Yom that it would not be good for her to have a child as a widow.  So after that Yom realized what he had granted and gave Satyaban back to Savitri and promised that she would never be a widow.  Then the story ended with Satyaban’s father getting back his kingdom.  One story of Damayanti that I liked was the story of her finding her husband, Nal again.  It was amusing that to bring out Nal she decided to say that she was getting married again.  But she knew that by saying that she would be able to find Nal.  Then when she found Nal again, they remarried again, and then Nal went back, got his kingdom back from his brother, and then forgave his brother.

Damayanti and the messenger swan (Source: wikimedia)