The story of Savitri and Satyavan is from the great epic Mahabharata. It is one of the many told by Saga Markandeya to the Pandavas while they were in exile. Yudhishthira, the eldest Pandava prince, was depressed at witnessing the trials and tribulations of their wife Draupadi, whose devotion to her husbands remained constant despite her sufferings.

Markandeya explained to Yudhishthira that regardless of what one may have to suffer, the chastity and devotion of women will ultimately bring triumph to their loved ones and themselves. Draupadi’s goodness therefore, would ultimately deliver the five Pandava princes from their misfortunes, just as the chaste Savitri’s staunch devotion to her husband, but also to her parents and her husband’s parents. It was her intense devotion that gave her the strength to influence even Yama, the very God of Death, to release Satyavan from his clutches.