Re: Who says “Sati” is not practiced in India???
Let me stick to the topic and talk about sati in hindu scriptures. For the past few months, i have been researching and reading and visiting every other website and every other scripture. Now about the “famous” so called sati hymn mentioned in rig-veda.
In vedas every hymn is of more than 2 verses dedicated to one particular deity or cosmic energy. In this case the verses are about ‘death’.Vedas are nothing but poems and poems are not read literally always.
As far as sati goes, these verses are 10:18:7 and 10:18:8(two verses in particular)
7 Let these unwidowed dames with noble husbands adorn themselves with fragrant balm and unguent. Decked with fair jewels, tearless, free from sorrow, first let the dames go up to where he lieth.
This is a traliteration by griffith. Interpretation i have drawn-
The first verse (10:18:7) itself makes it clear - “Unwidowed dames” - unwidowed means you know its meaning. dames means a “respectable woman”. If the woman is unwidowed, why would she commit sati in the first place?.
and during her suhaag raath or first night(or at-the most can be taken as bridegrooms house), the verse is asking her to dress herself with good jewelry and also asking her to be tearless, without sorrow born of thinking about going to in-laws house. and who the heck will commit sati wearing jewelry and applying fragrant balm and fragrant unguent?. Unguents apart from being medicines, are usually applied to eyes to make women look prettier.
and this whole verse(18:7) describes the events after marriage. nothing else.
Now for the next verse (18:8)
8 Rise, come unto the world of life, O woman: come, he is lifeless by whose side thou liest. Wifehood with this thy husband was thy portion, who took thy hand and wooed thee as a lover.
In hindu custom, husband and wife is considered as the other half of each other after marriage. (know that in mythology, shiva is other half of parvathi and parvathi is other half of shiva. without parvathi, shiva is ‘shava’ (dead body)). So the word “lifeless” gives better meaning now. These very words “wifehood with thy husband was thy portion”, confirms husband and wife as portions of each other.
This hymn has 14 verses refering to death. If u Read carefully, it is asking ‘death’ not to come near people those are supposed to live. It also says to let them live for atleast 100 autumns (100 years). and asking death to leave the unwidowed dames.
Overall vedas are open for interpretation. In puranas, it may have mentioned women commiting sati and not promoting as such. I dont know.
**
