Shloka 20
Ajñātavāsa-saṅkalpaḥ — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Resolve and Dhaumya’s Exempla on Concealment
यम उवाच निवर्त गच्छ सावित्रि कुरुष्वास्यौर्ध्वदेहिकम् कृतं भर्तुस्त्वया5<नृण्यं यावद् गम्यं गतं त्वया,यमराज बोले--सावित्री! अब तू लौट जा, सत्यवानका अन्त्येष्टि-संस्कार कर। अब तू पतिके ऋणसे उऋण हो गयी। पतिके पीछे तुझे जहाँतक आना चाहिये था, तू वहाँतक आ चुकी
yama uvāca—nivarta gaccha sāvitrī kuruṣvāsya ūrdhva-dehikam; kṛtaṁ bhartus tvayā ṛṇyaṁ yāvad gamyaṁ gataṁ tvayā.
Yama said: “Turn back, Sāvitrī. Perform for him the rites due after death (antyeṣṭi). You have now discharged the debt you owed to your husband; you have accompanied him as far as a wife is bound to go.”
यम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma as both devotion and disciplined duty: Sāvitrī’s fidelity is honored, yet Yama marks a rightful boundary—having fulfilled her marital obligation, she must return to complete the prescribed post-death rites, showing that love is expressed through ethical action and ritual responsibility.
As Sāvitrī follows Yama who has taken Satyavān’s life, Yama commands her to stop and go back. He acknowledges that she has accompanied her husband to the proper limit and instructs her to perform the funeral and post-funeral rites for Satyavān.