Nandita Dasgupta, the secretary of the Raja Ram Mohan Roy Memorial museum is rattled and too disturbed today when she found out through Twitter, Newspaper that a scatter brain ninny of a woman, (I am truly ashamed of my womanhood today which I always celebrate every day of my life!) is trying to glorify “SATI PRATHA” which was abolished by Raja Ram Mohan Roy. The Bengal Sati Regulation which banned the Sati practice in all jurisdictions of British India was passed on December 4, 1829 by the then Governor-General Lord William Bentinck. Miss Dasgupta opined that the starlet creating waves on Social media by misinterpreting and glorifying SATI,”knows nothing.” And I agree with her.
It is a fact that Raja Ram Mohan Roy did want to bring a western touch to the prevalent education system in Bengal by introducing subjects like physics, mathematics, chemistry, because Sanskrit was already being taught, his prudence reflects on this idea of teaching these scientific subjects alongside Sanskrit, his intentions were purely out of love for his own countrymen and not an iota of selfishness was there, yet he has been tainted as a TRAITOR today by a loony bin woman.
Now let me take another look to find out if our Hindu Scriptures like Vedas supported Sati or not? Well, just for your information Miss Rohatgi, we Hindus have four or 4 Vedas, let me just refresh your otherwise birdbrain which prompts you to make untoward comments.
The Four Vedas of Hinduism are- 1. Rig Veda, 2. Sam Veda, 3. Yajur Veda and 4. Atharva Veda.
Let us see if any of these VEDAS did support or propagate the idea of SATI.
Origin of Sati Pratha is being attributed to Vedas. This is a big misconception. In reality Sati Pratha is nowhere mentioned in Hindu scriptures. There is no advice of forceful widow burning in Vedas. This confusion was created in middle ages by ignorant commentators of Vedas for their own selfish reasons. In Bengal little girl children of merely 5 or 7 Years old were forced to marry an unwell octogenarian, who died in no time after marriage and those hapless young girls were forcefully dragged to the fire of the funeral pyre to be burnt alive. We call that A HUMAN GESTURE? A YOUNF WOMAN, A LITTLE GIRL USED TO GET SMOLDERED AND INCENERATED WHEN THAT PYRE WAS TORCHED, THEIR SCREAMS FOR HELP COUL NOT BE HEARD DUE TO LOUD BEATINGS OF DRUMS, ON PURPOSE. SOMETIMES THEY WERE EVEN INTOXICATED SO THAT THEY COULDNOT PROTEST WHILE BEING DRAGGED TO THE FIRE and here this twerp Payal Rohatgi is sitting in the comforts of her home and glorifying this savage, merciless and cruel custom which took lives of all those poor women who were alive and wanted to live.
Time to analyze the VEDAS now:
Atharva Veda 18.3.1 is mostly quoted as Vedic Mantra which supports Sati Pratha.
This mantra is interpreted as
Choosing her husband’s world, O man, this woman lays herself down beside thy lifeless body. Preserving faithfully the ancient custom. Bestow upon here both wealth and offspring. [Translation by Griffith]
In this Mantra the word ‘Choosing her husband’s world’ is often interpreted as Wife is advised to join the Dead Husband in afterlife in next world. So she must burn herself in funeral pyre of her husband.
And now the Correct interpretation of this Mantra is
This Woman has chosen her Husband’s world earlier. Today she is sitting besides your dead body. Now bestow upon here both wealth and offspring for rest of her life to continue her afterlife in this world.
Thus, this mantra speaks about continuation of worldly affairs by Women in this world after her husband’s death.
In the very next Mantra of Atharva Veda 18.3.2 the same advice is attested by the authority of the Vedas. It says.
Rise, come unto the world of life, O woman: come, he is lifeless
by whose side thou liest.
Wife hood with this thy husband was thy portion who took thy
hand and wooed thee as a lover. [Translation by Griffith]
This Mantra clearly speaks to Women to rise besides the dead body of her husband and start worldly affairs in this living world.
Even Vedas speaks of Widow Remarriage for a Widow.
Evidence from Rig Veda 10:18:8
The Rig Veda contains a famous passage mentioning Sati and preventing it. To a widow who is with her husband on his funeral pyre, the text says: rise up, abandon this dead man and re-join the living.
This mis-interpretation of Vedic Mantras was done in the middle ages by ignorant class of Priests. The fraud related to interpretation of Rig Veda 10.18.7 was exposed by none other than Maxmuller.
In this mantra widow women as was advised to go ahead (Agre) in her life rather than go in funeral pyre (Agne means fire) after her husband’s death. The word Agre was mis-interpreted as Agni. Maxmuller condemned this fraud widely. He quotes, “This is perhaps the most flagrant instance of what can be done by an unscrupulous priesthood. Here have thousands of lives been sacrificed, and a practical rebellion threatened on the authority of a passage which was mangled, mistranslated and misapplied.”
In Mahabharata Madri burned herself to death not due to custom of Sati Pratha but due to regret. It was her own choice; nobody dragged her to the funeral pyre of her dead husband. She felt that it was her who was responsible for death of her husband Pandu. There is no evidence of Women performing Sati Pratha in Mahabharata post war whose husbands were killed in the Great War.
Thus it is proved that Vedas never supports Sati Pratha. Its mere a palpable falsification of a Vedic Hymn which forcibly killed thousands of innocent widows. This ill practice prevailed in Middle Ages only.
Vedas advise a widow to return from her Husband’s corpse and live a happy life in her remarriage.
