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Re: Questions about hinduism
Mani Varadarajan (mani@srirangam.esd.sgi.com) wrote:
: Sati was also a custom that was generally followed
: by ``respectable'' north Indian Hindu families,
: particularly in Rajasthan. What Dhruba has written
: above is only half the story. More often than not,
: women did not undertake the practice of Sati
: voluntarily.
: This dastardly practice was often forced upon the
: wife after her husband died. All too often, the
: in-laws believed that the woman's duty was to join
: her husband in heaven (or wherever he may be) and
: serve him there as well. God forbid she live a
: complete fulfilling life without her husband!
: Though it is rare, Hindu women to this day are
: sometimes immolated by their relatives after their
: husbands die. It is unfortunate that the leaders
: of the Hindu political renaissance would rather
: concentrate on inter-communal arguments than
: clean out their own closet.
Dear Maniji:
Thank you for your post. What you have written about is murder in the
name of sati. I have heard from my father about my great grandmother
commiting sati. She had two sons, and she proved to them that she wanted
to be a sati by putting her fingers in fire and letting them burn.
After that, her sons could not object anymore. For me, this is the
story of sati, not the murders some have commited.
With best regards,
Dhruba.
