And there he beheld the blind monarch of great wisdom seated on a
cushion of _Kusa_ grass spread under _Sala_ tree. And after duly
reverencing the royal sage, the king in an humble speech introduced
himself. Thereupon, offering him the _Arghya_, a seat, and a cow, the
monarch asked his royal guest,--_Wherefore is this visit?_--Thus
addressed the king disclosed everything about his intentions and purpose
with reference to Satyavan. And Aswapati said, "O royal sage, this
beautiful girl is my daughter named Savitri. O thou versed in morality,
do thou, agreeably to the customs of our order, take her from me as thy
daughter-in-law!" Hearing these words, Dyumatsena said, "Deprived of
kingdom, and taking up our abode in the woods, we are engaged in the
practice of virtue as ascetics with regulated lives. Unworthy of a
forest life, how will thy daughter, living in the sylvan asylum, bear
this hardship?" Aswapati said, "When my daughter knoweth, as well as
myself, that happiness and misery come and go (without either being
stationary), such words as these are not fit to be used towards one like
me! O king, I have come hither, having made up my mind! I have bowed to
thee from friendship; it behoveth thee not, therefore, to destroy my
hope! It behoveth thee not, also, to disregard me who, moved by love,
have come to thee! Thou art my equal and fit for an alliance with me, as
indeed, I am thy equal and fit for alliance with thee! Do thou,
therefore, accept my daughter for thy daughter-in-law and the wife of
the good Satyavan!" Hearing these words Dyumatsena said, "Formerly I had
desired an alliance with thee.
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