In the ancient story, the legend is narrated to King Yudhisthira, the eldest of Pandavas when he along with his brothers and wife is wandering through the forests.

It is undertaken rather to establish the supremacy of love over all else, to find the pathways to immortality even while surrounded by the shadow of death, to master the most external being and outer nature to the extent as to make it escape from the ‘seemingly inescapable’ law of death. Savitri’s yoga is not done for her own sake, not for finding some peace or the silence of nirvana here or in an after-life. This indeed is the beauty of this story that it integrates our inner and outer life. They had discovered a way to make this discovery which was for them the most important discovery, one that could change not only their inner orientation of life, their psychological being but also impact and influence outer events and circumstances however challenging they may be. The Rishis of the Vedic Age however believed that man can change his fate if he discovers the strength that resides within his soul. The story is a stark contradiction to later Indian thought that became fatalistic. The persona of Savitri is often regarded as the quintessence of ideal womanhood whose love has the power to change destiny and bring back the dead to life. This is one of the powerful messages of Savitri. The greatest Godhead, the Lord and Master of Existence dwells within us and it is through His intervention that destiny can be changed.

Destiny can be changed though not through wishful thinking or crying to evoke sympathy of the gods. Unlike the later fatalistic thought that we see creeping into the Indian mind, Savitri (and other such tales of earlier times) show us how to face and take on the challenge of Destiny. Even though its deeper meaning often remains veiled to the common understanding, yet it points to a possibility of the future as well as inspiring us to live with courage and hope, love and faith. It has been preserved in the memory of the race through tradition and ritual. The story, belonging to the Vedic cycle is, like many other such stories, clearly symbolic. Savitri is an ancient Indian tale of conjugal love conquering Death.

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