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Sati: Widow-Immolation
The sheer profundity of the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse endureed often poses self-immolation as the optimal solution.
Linguistically, the word sati stems from the Sanskrit word, sati pratha, signifying purity or piety. In effect, widow self-immolation, recognized as pure and pious, appears culturally revered.
Sati originates in Hindu mythology, when Lord Shiva’s wife, Sati, burned herself “to protest her father, Daksha’s hatred for her husband” (Jain). The Mahabharata, a sacred Hindu epic, includes instances of sati as well; Madri, Krishna’s five wives, and Vasudeva's four wives all self-immolate upon reaching widowhood. Inspired by religious texts, various communities adopted the practice.
Voluntary self-immolation stems from fear of
enduring the physical, sexual, and psychological abuse resulting from residential ostracization coupled with societal confinement.
For many, sati symbolizes a wife's commitment to her husband. Societal mores, molded by Vedic tradition, emphasize the significance of a dutiful wife. Communities, in turn, establish the causal association between an undutiful wife and the death of her husband. Redemption, then, arrives at the cost of her own life with sati considered the highest expression of wifely devotion to a dead husband." Following her husband into the after-life signifies utmost commitment, courage, and heroism.
Societal interpretations of Vedic scripture fuel the construction of sati temples: a designated location encouraging widows to self-immolate. Such temples view widows who perform sati as an incarnate of Sati Devi, a goddess signifying piety and rede,redemption. Daily, widows fill sati temples,pressured to perpetuate a social evil: to die for the dead.
Cultural perceptions of women portray sati as the ultimate demonstration of womanly honor, devotion, and piety.
Economically speaking, destitution pervading rural India further encourages participation in sati. Rural, agrarian communities view widows through a transactional lens, investing in additional financial burden without significant return. Further familial prohibition from bearing children (an integral role to preserving financial stability) renders widows purposeless. Consequently, Sati remains a financially optimal choice, disburdening families, barely surviving through the economic obstacles of rurality.
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