Womens Day as per Shastras

Why Phalguna Month Jyeshta?Nakshatra?

It is as per the recommendation of Yama [ God of Death ] to a 12-year-old girl named Savithri. [ mentioned in the story of Satyavan and Savitri ]

Who is Savitri?

Savitri was the daughter of King Ashwapati and queen Malavi of Madra Kingdom. ( somewhere around present-day Bihar)

Malavi did tapasya for 1000+ Years and failed in her attempts to see Savitri devi. in an attempt to obtain and fulfill her wife's failure, Ashwapathi also did tapasya for 1000+ Years and Failed. On seeing the tireless efforts of the couple. Siddhars and Rishis advised reciting Gayatri Mantra by standing in Water [ further specifics about the details of the ritual-based tapasya - please refer to Devi Bhagavata purana]

Savitri is the wife of Satyavan [ A woodcutter ] son of exiled King Dyumatsena and Saubhari.

Vaivasvat Manu - Manu was the first human being and the progenitor of mankind (sun of Suryadev and Saranya/Sangya devi].

Ikshvaku - Ikshvaku was the son of Manu and the founder of the Ikshvaku dynasty, which was a prominent dynasty in ancient India. Ishvaku's Grandson Nimi then Ashwapathi. [ Sun dynasty ]

King Dyumatsena is from the [ Moon Dynasty ]

Details also include the transfer of power from the Sun Dynasty to the Moon Dynasty.

Why Ashwapathi and Malavi were so obsessed with Savitri devi and did such a long Penance?

Once Surya Dev ( Marthandam ) told Ashwapathi and Ishvaku that he was a great devotee of Savitri devi.

Sathyavan and Savitri Marriage:

At the age of 12, Savatri was roaming in a forest and saw Satyavan [ a woodcutter ]. She was very much impressed by Sathyavan's behavior and valor

[ Typical Love marriage ]

Savitri fall in love and was very adamant. with her great efforts, she convinced her parents, Ashwapathi and Malavi.

Sacrificed her life as a Princess and lived with Sathyavan in the forest.

Immediately after marriage, a surprise was waiting for her that made her realize that her husband's lifespan ends in a year.

then Savitri went on a Virath towards Devi with the intention to develop capabilities to protect her husband. The energy emanated from her tapasya disrupted the work of Yama ( God of Death ) and his associates in the locality.

Then Yama had to kill via trickery while Satyavan was cutting wood.

Savitri and Yama Dev :

Savitri was very much upset with Yama's actions and went on a chase to catch Yama.

Yama ( the Lord of Death ) understood that Savitri was crossing the boundaries of air and her further attempts to catch him would render her lifeless and her lifespan is nowhere near its end.

Then Yama approaches Savitri to convince her to go back [ refer to devi Bagavatha Purana about the detailed conversation she had with Yama]

The conversation flow happens in the manner described below: she starts greeting Yama and Praising him and tries to become a student of Yama, asking simple questions like "what is Karma ?"...... then about how Yama identifies the death time of a living being, then about Hell and places in hell.

Savitri became very much inclined with the answers of Yama and asks about Savitri Devi ( the deity named by her name ).

Yama answers: He is not capable of speaking about her characteristics, it's not only him but also not even possible for father Surya dev, Maha Vishnu, Saraswathi, Bramha, Karthikeya, Ganesha, and Shiva to speak about 1/16th of her characteristics

Yama Also says, But he can describe whatever his father - Suryadev told him. Karthikeya told the same to Vishu and Surya dev. The same was told by Shiva to Karthikeya.

I was when Yama was vexed and highly frustrated with everything in life and sat down to do tapasya. Surya dev told the same to him.

[ Please refer to Devi Bagavatha puranam for the exact content ] the context describes how Bramha, Vishnu, Shiva, and all the other deities play their roles and responsibilities to serve her, then the life span of Brahma and Vishnu and shiva - the key ingredient of starting and endings, and what she does and orders whom to initiate the pralaya ( grand dissolution of the galaxy ), when Yama Would commit suicide. And ends the context with the greatness of Devi Bakthi.

Significance of Phalguna Month Jyeshta?Nakshatra [ Today ]

Savitri ( the 12-year-old girl ) asks Yama for the blessing of Bakthi ( devotion ) towards Savitri Devi.

Yama says: on Phalguna Month Jyeshta?Nakshatra, start with the Virath towards Savitri devi for the next 14 years. After completion of the same, she shall live in this world as a representative of Savitri devi on this earth with a lifespan of 1 lac years with the same appearance as a 12-year-old girl - after that she shall live along with the Savitri devi and shall be Worshipped by tri-dev and all deities as Savitri Devi.

Even after these blessings, Savitri was not ready to let go of Yama, Then Yama brings her husband alive and an invitational message to her father-in-law about resuming his position as a king.

She lived for 1 Lac Years and Extended his lifespan to the extent he got bored of life, Had Kids and Grandchildren saw them succeeding in the kingship.

For Men :

All the 18 Siddhars are great devotees of Valai Parameshwari that are in a similar context to Savitri Devi.

Agasthiya Rishi also mentions in his songs about the same 14 years of Tapasya towards Valai Parameshwari / Valai Tripura Sundari that matches the very much same characteristics of Savitri devi.

There are also mentions that devotion towards her can yield faster results but its always tricky [ faster in the sense of obtaining the results of 1000+ years of Tapasya in a few days of tapasya ]

And there is very little information available about her.

Source and References for the above article :

[ Source: Devi Bagavatha Puranam - Also, co-relates with all the other 18 Puranas and several Siddhar songs ]

This article is more about adding more details to the female appearance in the core of the galaxy mentioned in my below-referenced article :

Also Credits to Chat GPT - used in a few contexts to fetch more details.