DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52359#0155
XXVI, I.
WOMEN.
I 11
11. Not to stand near the doorway or by the
windows (of her house) ;
12. Not to act by herself in any matter ;
13. To remain subject, in her infancy, to her
father; in her youth, to her husband; and in her
old age, to her sons.
14. After the death of her husband, to preserve
her chastity, or to ascend the pile after him.
15. No sacrifice, no penance, and no fasting is
allowed to women apart from their husbands ; to
pay obedience to her lord is the only means for a
woman to obtain bliss in heaven.
16. A woman who keeps a fast or performs a
penance in the lifetime of her lord, deprives her
husband of his life, and will go to hell.
17. A good wife, who perseveres in a chaste life
after the death of her lord, will go to heaven like
(perpetual) students, even though she has no son.
XXVI.
i. If a man has several wives of his own caste,
14. Nand. states that the self-immolation of widows (Sattee) is a
specially meritorious act, and not obligatory. Besides, he quotes
several passages from other Smrz’tis and from the Brz'hannaradiya-
purazza, to the effect that in case the husband should have died
abroad, a widow of his, who belongs to the Brahmazza caste, may
not commit herself to the flames, unless she can reach the place,
where his corpse lies, in a day; and that one who is in her courses,
or pregnant, or whose pregnancy is suspected, or who has an infant
child, is also forbidden to burn herself with her dead husband.
English renderings of all the texts quoted by Nand. may be found
in Colebrooke’s Essay on the Duties of a Faithful Hindu Widow.
See also above, XX, 39. Nand., arguing from a passage of Bau-
dhayana, takes the particle va, ‘ or,’ to imply that the widow is at
liberty to become a female ascetic instead of burning herself.
XXVI. 2. M. IX, 86. — 4. M. IX, 87. — 1-4. Colebrooke, Dig.
WOMEN.
I 11
11. Not to stand near the doorway or by the
windows (of her house) ;
12. Not to act by herself in any matter ;
13. To remain subject, in her infancy, to her
father; in her youth, to her husband; and in her
old age, to her sons.
14. After the death of her husband, to preserve
her chastity, or to ascend the pile after him.
15. No sacrifice, no penance, and no fasting is
allowed to women apart from their husbands ; to
pay obedience to her lord is the only means for a
woman to obtain bliss in heaven.
16. A woman who keeps a fast or performs a
penance in the lifetime of her lord, deprives her
husband of his life, and will go to hell.
17. A good wife, who perseveres in a chaste life
after the death of her lord, will go to heaven like
(perpetual) students, even though she has no son.
XXVI.
i. If a man has several wives of his own caste,
14. Nand. states that the self-immolation of widows (Sattee) is a
specially meritorious act, and not obligatory. Besides, he quotes
several passages from other Smrz’tis and from the Brz'hannaradiya-
purazza, to the effect that in case the husband should have died
abroad, a widow of his, who belongs to the Brahmazza caste, may
not commit herself to the flames, unless she can reach the place,
where his corpse lies, in a day; and that one who is in her courses,
or pregnant, or whose pregnancy is suspected, or who has an infant
child, is also forbidden to burn herself with her dead husband.
English renderings of all the texts quoted by Nand. may be found
in Colebrooke’s Essay on the Duties of a Faithful Hindu Widow.
See also above, XX, 39. Nand., arguing from a passage of Bau-
dhayana, takes the particle va, ‘ or,’ to imply that the widow is at
liberty to become a female ascetic instead of burning herself.
XXVI. 2. M. IX, 86. — 4. M. IX, 87. — 1-4. Colebrooke, Dig.