ABSTRACT

OF

THE ARGUMENTS, &c.

SEVERAL Essays, Tracts, and Letters, written in defence of or against the practice of burning Hindoo widows alive, have for some years past attracted the attention of the public. The arguments therein adduced by the parties being necessarily scattered, a complete view of the question cannot be easily attained by such readers as are precluded by their immediate avocations from bestowing much labour in acquiring information on the subject. Although the practice itself has now happily ceased to exist under the Government of Bengal,* nevertheless, it seems still desirable that the substance of those publications should be condensed in a concise but comprehensive manner, so that enquirers may, with little difficulty, be able to form a just conclusion, as to the true light in which this practice is viewed in the religion of Hindoos. I have, therefore, made an attempt to accomplish this object, hoping that the plan pursued may be found to answer this end.

* The administration to which this distinguished merit is due, consisted of Lord W. C. Bentinck, governor general; Viscount Combermere, commander in chief; W. B. Bayley, Esq., and Sir C. T. Metcalfe, members of council.

The first point to be ascertained is, whether or not the practice of burning widows alive on the pile and with the corpse of their husbands, is imperatively enjoined by the Hindoo religion. To this question, even the staunch advocates for Concremation must reluctantly give a negative reply, and unavoidably concede the practice to the option of widows. This admission on their part is owing to two principal considerations, which it is now too late for them to feign to overlook. First, because Munoo in plain terms enjoins a widow to "continue till death forgiving all injuries, performing "austere duties, avoiding every sensual pleasure, and "cheerfully practising the incomparable rules of virtue "which have been followed by such women as were "devoted to one only husband;" (ch. v. ver. 158.) So Yagnuvulkyu inculcates the same doctrine: "A widow "shall live under care of her father, mother, son, bro"ther, mother-in-law, father-in-law, or uncle; since, "on the contrary, she shall be liable to reproach.” (Vide Mitakshura, ch. i.) Secondly, because an attempt on the part of the advocates for Concremation to hold out the act as an incumbent duty on widows, would necessarily bring a stigma upon the character of the living widows, who have preferred a virtuous life to Concremation, as charging them with a violation of the duty said to be indispensable. These advocates, therefore, feel deterred from giving undue praise to a few widows choosing death on the pile, to the disgrace of a vast majority of that class preferring a virtuous life. And in consideration of these obvious circumstances, the celebrated Smarttu Rughoonundun, the latest commentator on Hindoo law in Bengal, found himself com

pelled to expound the following passage of Unggira : "there is no other course for a widow beside Concre"mation;" as "conveying exaggerated praise of the "adoption of that course."

The second point is, that in case the alternative be admitted, that a widow may either live a virtuous life, or burn herself on the pile of her husband; it should next be determined, whether both practices are esteemed equally meritorious, or one be declared preferable to the other. To satisfy ourselves on this question, we should first refer to the Veds, whose authority is considered paramount; and we find in them a passage most pointed and decisive against Concremation, declaring that "from a desire during life, of future frui"tion, life ought not to be destroyed." (Vide Mitakshura, ch. i.) While the advocates of Concremation quote a passage from the Veds, of a very abstruse nature, in support of their position, which is as follows: "O fire, let these women, with bodies anointed with "clarified butter, eyes coloured with collyrium and "void of tears, enter thee, the parent of water,* that "they may not be separated from their husbands, "themselves sinless, and jewels amongst women." This passage (if genuine) does not, in the first place, enjoin widows to offer themselves as sacrifices. Secondly, no allusion whatever is made in it to voluntary death by a widow with the corpse of her husband. Thirdly, the phrase "these women" in the passage, literally implies women then present. Fourthly. Some commentators consider the passage as conveying an allegorical allu

* In Sungskrit writings, water is represented as originating in fire.

sion to the constellations of the moon's path, which are invariably spoken of in Sungskrit in the feminine gender-butter implying the milky path; collyrium meaning unoccupied space between one star and another; husbands signifying the more splendid of the heavenly bodies; and entering the fire, or, properly speaking, ascending it, indicating the rise of the constellations through the south-east horizon, considered as the abode of fire. Whatever may be the real purport of this passage, no one ever ventured to give it an interpretation as commanding widows to burn themselves on the pile and with the corpse of their husbands.

We next direct attention to the Smrittee, as next in authority to the Veds. Munoo, whose authority supersedes that of other lawgivers, enjoins widows to live a virtuous life, as already quoted. Yagnuvulkyu and some others have adopted the same mode of exhortation. On the other hand, Unggira recommends the practice of Concremation, saying: "That a woman "who, on the death of her husband, ascends the burning pile with him, is exalted to heaven as equal to Uroon"dhooti." So Vyas says, "a pigeon devoted to her "husband, after his death, entered the flames, and, as66 cending to heaven, she there found her husband." "She who follows her husband to another world, shall "dwell in a region of glory for so many years as there "are hairs in the human body, or thirty-five millions." Vishnoo, the saint, lays down this rule: "After the "death of her husband, a wife should live as an ascetic "or ascend his pile." Hareet and others have followed Unggira in recommending Concremation.

The above quoted passages from Unggira and others,