"The Controversial Death Ritual of Sati in Hindu and Indian Culture"
A Sociological Research Analysis of Ancient Hindu and Indian Society, Culture, Social
Stratification, and Art
Theodora Moses
515 Mullica Hill Road
Apt D209
Glassboro, NJ 08028
mosest45@students.rowan.edu
(732)673-9918
Prepared for the course “Sociology of Death, Dying, and Bereavement”
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Abstract
Sati is the ancient custom of widow Hindu brides following their husbands into
death by burning themselves alive on their deceased husbands’ funeral pryes. It was a
socially accepted and ritually approved sacrifice that brought a great deal of honor to the
widow’s family as well as exalting her to a goddess like position post mortem. While the
actual occurrences of recorded official satis are few in number, it is not the frequency of
the ritual that is significant. The society of ancient India which allowed and supported
this fatal ritual is what needs to be analyzed. The social and religious context in which
this ritual occurred will be examined in depth. The debate will be examined from both
sides – the supporters of the right to commit sati as well as those who are adamantly
against the ancient now outlawed practice. The method for analysis that will be used for
this discussion and analysis is that of scholarly interpretation coupled with sociological
theory. In addition, Sati as a ritual was portrayed frequently in ancient Hindu art and a
careful analysis of the social and religious meanings in these works of art will be
discussed and exhibited in the poster portion of this research.
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Sati is the ancient custom of widow Hindu brides following their husbands into
death by burning themselves alive on their deceased husbands’ funeral pryes. It was a
socially accepted and ritually approved sacrifice that brought a great deal of honor to the
widow’s family as well as exalting her to a goddess like position post mortem. While the
actual occurrences of recorded official satis are few in number, it is not the frequency of
the ritual that is significant. The society of ancient India which allowed and supported
this fatal ritual is what needs to be examined. The woman and ritual were endowed with
such a great amount of social prestige that every single Hindu caste has reported cases of
sati. The social and religious context in which this ritual occurred will be examined in
depth. The debate will be examined from both sides – the supporters of the right to
commit sati as well as those who are adamantly against the ancient now outlawed
practice. Sati as a ritual was portrayed frequently in ancient Hindu art and a careful
analysis of the social and religious meanings in these works of art will be discussed. The
method for analysis that will be used for this discussion and analysis is that of scholarly
interpretation coupled with sociological theory.
The actual word “sati” is derived from the Sanskrit root meaning “truth”. Sati is
used when referring to the ritual itself as well as the widow who commits it. So how did
this ritual begin? It is not entirely clear, but there is an accepted myth that tells of the
origin of sati in India. The origin myth states that the goddess Sati burned herself alive
outside of a ceremony being given by her father as a sign of protest and loyalty to her
husband, the god Shiva, as he was not permitted to attend or invited to take part in the
ceremony being given by her father. The goddess Sati was proclaimed to be the prototype
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of wifely virtue (Stein 467). Greek travelers to India have reported witnessing the ritual
first hand as far back as 4th century B.C.
Hinduism and its views of women plays a very important role in the support of
the ritual of sati. The way in which women were viewed as well as belief in the afterlife
made sati a reality. It was believed that women possess a greater amount of energy than
men. This great energy was considered wild and in order for a woman to safely be a part
of Hindu society this energy had to be harnessed to a man so he could safely direct it. It
was believed that the energy of female children was harnessed by their fathers, and when
they were married off this energy would continue to be harnessed by a male figure of
authority throughout their lives. This female energy supply, called “shakti” was
considered to be “ardhang”, meaning although this energy was great it only constituted
half a body’s worth of energy. Only when she was married would her energy be
complete, thus a married couple was viewed as being a single bodily unit and not as
individuals. If a married man were to lose his wife to death he was permitted and
encouraged to take a new wife, replacing the lost energy and becoming whole once again.
If a married woman were to lose her husband to death she was not permitted to remarry
under any circumstances. She was considered uncontrolled and dangerous, as her energy
was no longer harnessed to a man, thus justifying the ritual of sati. “After the death of her
husband, she is especially dangerous and must shave her head, cake it with mud, sleep on
a bed of stones…If a widow is chaste and young, she is so infected with magic power that
she must take her own life” (Stein 468).
The reason for her being unfit to remarry was that her body was now considered
unchaste, the epitome of female wickedness in ancient Hinduism. Women’s bodies
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commoditized so much so that once she has been married she could never again be
“used” by another man. “Like a dining leaf used previously by another person, she is
unfit to be enjoyed by another person” (Stein 468). Not only was the woman considered
to be inferior to her husband, her entire family was looked down upon as well. Upon her
marriage, a Hindu woman became a part of her husband’s family. If and when her
husband were to die she was then a burden on her in laws, and due to the patriarchal
nature of ancient Hindu society there was no longer a place for her in the world (Stein
469).
In addition to the position of women in Hindu society as a contributing factor to
the acceptance of sati was the religious support given to it by Hinduism. The Hindu
religion has strong belief in the life hereafter. The ancient interpretation of the life
hereafter was that one’s life after death was only as complete to the extent of which the
whole environment of the deceased was transferred into death with them. If a deceased
man were to be cremated without his property, including his wife, then his life in the
hereafter would not be whole or complete. This belief evolved over time from future life
replicating life in this world “into the view of future retributive justice” as in the theory of
karma (Fisch 305). Interestingly enough, at this point the practice of sati did not end. A
new definition was given to sati. It was no longer her obligation to follow her husband
into death so that his after life would be complete, it then became the wife’s duty to
liberate her husband and achieve an increased sense of morality for her family.
The actual ceremony of a sati was very elaborate and ritualistic. To begin with, a
woman was not allowed to burn if she was unfaithful to her husband. It was required that
she be in a state of ritual perfection and purity upon burning. This meant that if she was
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menstruating, she would not be allowed to go through with the sati as menstruation was
considered a temporary sign of being unchaste. Her voluntary self immolation and self
sacrifice was considered to be a sign of her constant and unwavering devotion to her dead
husband. The procession to the cremation ground included the widow and the body of her
dead husband as well as Hindu priests, mourners, and often times an excited crowd. Due
to the fact that satis were rare religious events it was not uncommon to find a large and
eager crowd gathered to see this divine and devout ritual. The sati herself would be
adorned in an elaborate gown and jewels, which she was to distribute along with money
to the witnesses in the crowd. Upon her death she was exalted to the status of goddess,
given the power to curse as well as to bless. The crematory funeral pyre was likened to
the couple’s marriage bed and after the ritual was complete the location of cremation
became a local shrine dedicated to the now considered saintly and glamorous sati (Stein
473).
It is important to further address the position of women in ancient Hindu Indian
society. Without the level of social inequality through which they were viewed, the
practice of sati would have never come to fruition. A married woman that had sons was
regarded highly and with much veneration, however if a woman was unmarried or
widowed she was suspect and all together dangerous. A Hindu woman was quoted as
saying “’We are not like you. In our society, we do not live alone’” (Stein 484). Marriage
was the only way that a woman could become to be considered a functional part of Hindu
society. Without marriage, she was not even considered to be a socially active being. This
inequality impressed upon them every day of their lives taught and conditioned them that
it was their duty to follow their husbands, even into death, and by doing so they were
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preserving society. Just as social stratification of the castes dictated that lower castes
must follow higher castes this inequality was translated to women (Fisch 300). The
prestige that came along with committing the ritual sati was institutionalized and
recognized by every caste. It was a telling expression of the power struggle between men
and women. Becoming a sati and choosing to die and burn along with her already dead
husband was the only chance for a woman to gain esteem. She brought value and prestige
to her family and herself came to be considered a goddess.
Debate continues to thrive in regards to the ancient custom of sati, almost one
hundred and eighty years after its initial prohibition. During the British colonization of
India sati was prohibited initially in 1829. Western outrage and astonishment at the
seemingly brutal practice caused Indian princes to follow suit and prohibit the ritual
officially in Indian law in 1862. Despite its prohibition it lingered on for decades,
surfacing as recently as 1987 (Fisch 293). It is difficult to report officially documented
cases of sati due to the controversy and remote locations often surrounding the ritual.
After the state made it illegal the social tolerance and acceptance of this ritual allowed it
to live on. Sati became an issue of great concern, a crime in eyes of the state versus a
prestigious religious tradition that must be kept alive in very devoutly religious and
traditional circles. Estimates range from satis being committed by one out of thirty six
widows to only one in one thousand. The average age of officially confirmed satis ranged
from twenty one to sixty years old, with an average of 2.3 surviving children for each
documented sati. Again, the significance of this ritual does not lie in the statistics, rather
in lies in the symbolic and social context (Fisch 295).
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Those who favored sati conceptualized it as being the ultimate connection of this
world to the next, an aspect that is central to Hinduism. While it does reflect, confirm,
and strengthen the subordination of women it was also seen as having a higher, more
divine purpose. Advocates for this voluntary self immolation of widows regard it as being
respectable religious act protected by religious freedom. It is seen as a rare miracle, a
divine event that should not and perhaps even cannot be understood by human standards
or judged by mortal law. A sati and the ritual of sati are symbols of ultimate bravery,
faithfulness, and chastity (van den Bosch 181). This divine act is seen as entirely
voluntary and a free willed self proclamation of heroinism.
The opposition and outrage that surrounds sati is founded in the belief that a sati
could not have been voluntarily committed by a Hindu woman due to the inherent
patriarchal and discriminatory nature of their society. Was it a divine act, or “only a
social evil and a crime, characteristic of a culture which is dominated by blameworthy
‘macho-values’ presenting themselves disguised in a religious luster of holiness?” (van
de Bosch 185). The culture these women lived in was one of great inequality. Opponents
of sati see women as victims of society, a society so imbued with violence that her going
through with her own self immolation should be viewed as a symbol of structural
violence and not as a voluntary action. Sati was not considered an act of free will but
rather either a cruel murder or stubborn suicide. The immense psychological pressure felt
by a widow both from her in laws as well as her religion would force her to comply in
following her husband into death (Fisch 324). In traditional Hindu society there was no
such thing as “free will” for women. They had never been taught how to make an
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independent decision and it is conceivable that they would be unable to grasp the concept
of making an independent decision.
Upon her husband’s death, a widow was faced with no other alternative that to
submit to what society told her to do, what she had been taught was the ultimate divine
act. She was forced to choose between physical and social death, the latter of which being
the only true threat. Physical death in the Hindu religion was nothing to be feared due to a
strong faith in life after death. To die socially in Hindu society would be a traumatic and
tragic death. The woman would be treated by the members of her community and society
as dangerous and unchaste, a disgrace to her family and a worthless nuisance. She would
be dead in the eyes of others by choosing to violate a cultural and religious rule so central
to her identity in society.
In 1987, the most recently documented and publicly recognized sati was
committed. This occurred one hundred and forty five years after it was prohibited by
Indian princes, and produced an understandably huge backlash in modern society both
within the Indian culture and across the Western world. The days of female inequality
were supposed to have been a thing of the past, a distant memory of the once oppressive
and violent nature that discriminated against Hindu women in India. On September 4,
1987 recently widowed Roop Kanwar self immolated herself and became a sati at
Deorala in the state of Rajasthan. The practice of sati was thought by most of the world to
be a thing of the past, but this highly publicized sati transmuted a cultural stereotype that
was thought to be long extinguished, and was called “the barbarity of a primitive practice
that blemishes the face of Indian democracy” (Weinberger-Thomas 89). The statistics tell
us a very different story. Conservative estimates state that between 1943 and Roop’s very
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public sati in 1987 that some thirty women committed sati in the state of Rajasthan alone
(Weinberger-Thomas 182). So why did all of those satis go unnoticed by the world
media, what was different about Roop Kanwar that garnered so much exposure and
reciprocal public outrage?
Roop Kanwar was only eighteen years old when she took her own life. She and
her recently deceased husband had only been married for eight months. He was twenty
four years old, six years her senior. His death was extremely sudden occurring only days
after a sudden illness and hospitalization. She had no children and her family approved of
her decision and shared in the triumph of her heroic deed which was considered to be a
rare divine event. She was given the title “sada suhagan”, a wife whose husband lives,
and “sati mata”, pure mother. Immediately following her death, people questioned
whether she willingly volunteered or was coerced into becoming a sati. Eleven people
were charged due to their connection with the illegal and very public ritual but were later
acquitted (Hawley 13). Roop Kanwar’s sati relit the fire concerning the controversial
ritual, which led to The Commission Of Sati Prevention Act, “an act to provide for the
more effective prevention of the commission of sati and its glorification and for matters
connected therewith or incidental thereto” (Weinberger-Thomas 194).
Sati as a Hindu death ritual was portrayed frequently in art throughout history.
Analysis of the manner in which the ritual is portrayed is very telling of the society of the
time’s perspective and opinion regarding sati. In a monochrome of Sarasvati Sati, a sati is
portrayed in the manner most representatively and of common practice within Hindu art.
The woman committing the sati is pictured; hands poised in prayer, with a calm and
serene look in her eyes. The light that encircles her head as she prays signifies her newly
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attained holiness due to the divine nature of the sati. Under the flames which are small,
controlled, and flowery, you can make out her dead husband’s face. The sun’s rays
penetrate the flames, acting as a divine match stick of sorts to ignite the holy sacrificial
fire. Two Hindu gods emerge from the clouds to bless the sati in her ritual, and the
swastikas are a Hindu holy symbol (Weinberger-Thomas 117). The picture is beautiful,
serene, and holy – much reflecting the acceptance and practice of widow burning in
ancient Hindu culture. Art is by no means imitating life in this case as we are able to see
in an actual photograph of a sati. Here we see a photo of Jasvant Kanvar on her husband’s
funeral pyre. The veil that covers her head is red which is a symbol for marriage in
Hinduism. The woman’s arms emerge out of the pile of coconuts holding her down, her
palms up and facing the sky, also a Hindu religious symbol. Her husband’s body and face
are unintelligible, but in the background you can see the bodies of at least 3 or 4 people
immediately next to the funeral prye, either active in the ceremony or onlookers. The
comparison of painting to photograph shows the drastic difference between Hindu
perception of sati, the ultimate holy and blessed event, to the reality of it – a woman
being burned alive as people stand by and watch.
To compare Hindu art depicting sati to art rendered by Europeans depicting the
same act contrasts drastically for obvious reasons. The socio-religious meaning and
symbolism given to and surrounding any ritual or act is entirely dependant upon the
values of the society it has been created by. To outsiders, sati is a brutal and cruel
sacrifice, contrary to the Hindu conceptualization as a divine self sacrifice. If one did not
know any better, it could easily be assumed that the manner in which “The Story Of
Baptist Missions In Foreign Lands” (1885) portrays sati, it is the tribal murder of an arch
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enemy (Barns). Here we view a large crowd of Indian natives adorned simply in loin
clothes surrounding a huge fire on the banks of a river. Flames leap towards the sky and
dark billowing clouds of smoke rise up, to a sky vacant of any religious symbolism or
Hindu gods looking down with approval. The widow lies face up on top of the flaming
funeral prye, her husband no where to be seen. Her arms are crossed over her chest, her
face reveals nothing. Many members of the crowd stand with arms outstretched upward,
signifying a sense of excitement. In the background the outlines of a village are apparent.
This European, outsider portrayal of the ritual sati, or as the they called it “suttee”, show
it for what it appears to be to them – a ritual sacrifice of a human being, not framed
within any religious context.
The controversial practice of widow burning in ancient Hindu tradition has yet to
completely fizzle out. As recently as 1987, within this lifetime, an eighteen year old
woman killed herself in honor of her husband and family in the form of sati at her
husband’s public cremation. Addressing the issues of social inequality, religion, the
stratification of gender roles, and the use of art as interpretation close out this research
with no real answers of right versus wrong, religion versus state, or voluntary action
versus coercion. What we can conclude is that the society and culture that it constructs
give meaning and to every single aspect of that society.
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Bibliography
Fisch, Jorg. “Dying for the Dead : Sati in Universal Context”. Journal of World History.
Vol 16, No 3. 2005. pp 293-325.
Barns, Chancy R., Rev. G. Winfred Henrvey. “The Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign
Lands”. 1885. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hindu_Suttee.jpg
Hawley, John Stratton. “Sati, the Blessing and the Curse : The Burning of Wives in
India”. Oxford University Press, 1994.
Stein, Dorothy. “Burning Widows, Burning Brides : The Perils of Daughterhood in
India”. Pacific Affairs. Vol 61, No 3. 1988. pp 465-485.
van den Bosch, Lourens P. “A Burning Question : Sati and Sati Temples as the Focus of
Political Interest”. Numen. Vol 37. 1990. pp 174-194.
Weinberger-Thomas, Catherine. “Ashes of Immortality : Widow Burning in India”. The
University of Chicago Press, 1999.