ed sons. And I myself have obtained a hundred
sons. And my husband Satyavan hath obtained a life of four hundred
years. It was for the sake of my husband's life that I had observed that
vow. Thus have I narrated unto you in detail the cause by which this
mighty misfortune of mine was afterwards turned into happiness." The
_Rishis_ said, "O chaste lady of excellent disposition, observant of
vows and endued with virtue, and sprung from an illustrious line, by
thee hath the race of this foremost of kings, which was overwhelmed with
calamities, and was sinking in an ocean of darkness, been rescued."'

"Markandeya continued, 'Then having applauded and reverenced that best
of women, those _Rishis_ there assembled bade farewell to that foremost
of kings as well as to his son. And having saluted them thus, they
speedily went, in peace with cheerful hearts, to their respective
abodes.'"

SECTION CCLXLVII

"Markandeya continued, 'When the night had passed away, and the solar
orb had risen, those ascetics, having performed their morning rites,
assembled together. And although those mighty sages again and again
spake unto Dyumatsena of the high fortune of Savitri, yet they were
never satisfied. And it so happened, O king, that there came to that
hermitage a large body of people from Salwa. And they brought tidings of
the enemy of Dyumatsena having been slain by his own minister. And they
related unto him all that had happened, viz., how having heard that the
usurper had been slain with all his friends and allies by his minister,
his troops had all fled, and how all the subjects had become unanimous
(on behalf of their legitimate king), saying, "Whether possessed of
sight or not, even he shall be our king!" And they said, "We have been
sent to thee in consequence of that resolve. This car of thine, and this
army also consisting of four kinds of forces, have arrived for thee!
Good betide thee, O King! Do thou come! Thou hast been proclaimed in the
city. Do thou for ever occupy the station belonging to thy father and
grand-father!" And beholding the king possessed of sight and
able-bodied, they bowed down their heads, their eyes expanded with
wonder. Then having worshipped those old and Brahmanas dwelling in the
hermitage and honoured by them in return, the king set out for his city.
And surrounded by the soldiers, Saivya also accompanied by Savitri, went
in a vehicle furnished with shining sheets and borne on the shoulders of
me