Sati

From Wikigender.org

Satī (Devanagari: सती,; also called suttee) was a funeral practice among some Hindu communities in which a [[Widow|recently-

Sati, the goddess who immolated herself after her husband's humilation

widowed woman]] would either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion immolate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. This practice is now very rare and outlawed in modern India. The Commission of Sati (Prevention) Act of 1987 Part I, Section 2(c) defines it as: The burning or burying alive of – (i) any widow along with the body of her deceased husband or any other relative or with any article, object or thing associated with the husband or such relative; or (ii) any woman along with the body of any of her relatives, irrespective of whether such burning or burying is claimed to be voluntary on the part of the widow or the women or other-wise

The term is derived from the original name of the goddess Sati (also known as Dakshayani), who immolated herself because she was unable to bear her father Daksha's humiliation of her (living) husband Shiva. The term may also be used to refer to the widow herself. The term sati is now sometimes interpreted as "chaste woman."

Practices of Sati

The act of sati is said to exist voluntarily but there were recorded cases of forced sati. The Prevention of Sati Act makes it illegal to abet, glorify or attempt to commit Sati. Abetment of Sati, including coercing or forcing someone to commit Sati can be punished by death sentence or life imprisonment, while glorifying Sati is punishable with 1-7 years in prison.

Sati reinforced the marriage bond between the widow and her deceased husband: she would wear marriage robes as if to re-enact the marriage. Accounts describe numerous variants in the sati ritual. The majority of accounts describe the woman seated or lying down on the funeral pyre beside her dead husband. Many other accounts describe women walking or jumping into the flames after the fire had been lit, and some describe women seating themselves on the funeral pyre and then lighting it themselves.

Justifications for Sati

Brahmin scholars of the second millennium justified the practice, and gave reasonings as to how the scriptures could be said to justify them. It was lauded by them as required conduct in righteous women, and it was explained that this was considered not to be suicide (suicide was otherwise variously banned or discouraged in the scriptures). It was deemed an act of peerless piety, and was said to purge the couple of all accumulated sin, guarantee their salvation and ensure their reunion in the afterlife.

Numbers

Sati is known to have been practiced throughout south Asia. 19th century figures suggest as high as 8, 000 women performed sati in a fifteen year period. Rare instances of sati still occur, usually in rural areas. One case in 1987 spurred authorities in Rajasthan, India to pass legislation (quoted above) outlawing the practice.

Suppression

By the Mughal Period (17th century), authorities tried to suppress sati. The Portuguese banned the practice in Goa by about 1515, and the Dutch and French also banned it in Chinsurah and Pondicherry. This movement was accelerated during the 19th century, largely propelled by the campaigns of Raja Rammohan Roy, who, traumatised by the sight of his sister-in-law committing sati spurred him to push for its abolition. The first formal British ban was imposed in 1798, in the city of Calcutta only. The practice continued in surrounding regions. Toward the end of the 18th century, the evangelical church in Britain, and its members in India, started campaigns against sati, partially motivatd to encourage conversion to Christianity. The last princely state to outlaw it, Jaipur, formally banned sati in 1846.