Women in Mahabharata - Savitri
Born after the blessings imparted by the goddess Savitri, she is the daughter of Madra's King Ashvapati and his queen Malavi, who names her after the goddess herself.
Her fierce, independent personality threw off most men from seeking marriage, and therefore her father finally allowed Savitri to find her own life partner.
Savitri traveled across many forests and kingdoms until she came across Chitrashva-Satyavana, the son of the blind king Dyumatsena of the Shalva cluster.
After Narada and Ashvapati vehemently refust to endorse this marriage, Savitri debates them in open court until they give in.
Once the one-year time-frame elapses, Satyavana collapses with a headache (that was maybe just a retcon, and the actual issue could have been something like an aneurysm). Savitri debates with Yama (nurses him back to health?). She employs a clever play of words in order to save her husband
She, and one of Shalva's ministers later helps (physically or emotionally) her father-in-law reascend to the throne of Shalva.
To me, there are a few points of interest:
Shalva and Madra are both primarily oligarchical settings, so a marriage between them is honestly not unusual.
Also, the Madra and ashva (horse) connection. Madra is basically the modern Kashmir area, which is in any case, along with Gandhara, known for its efficient horses even in the Vedic time. Even Shalya, Madri's brother is one of the best known charioteers and is a well-known 'horse-whisperer'.
Interestingly, contrary to all the men who were 'afraid' of her, Savitri chooses Satyavana primarily because of his qualities which were noted as shy, polite and gentle. He seemed to be the yin to her yang- a person who would quietly support her more forceful personality.
It is honestly pitiful, that her rather wholesome story is disfigured into a tale promoting 'paativratya'- a woman's loveless 'duty' to her husband, negating the entirety of her love and dedication to Satyavana (something that didn't need a literal converse law to keep her bound to him). This is very similar to what is done to Rama-Seeta, limiting their story to 'duty' and only duty, and not the true love that they actually shared.
