Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c18.s3.t5.7

v2.c18.s3.t5.7

According to the Hindu legists, sahagamana is optional. Thus says Viṣṇu: "After the death of her husband, to preserve her chastity or to ascend the pile after him...A good wife, who perseveres in a chaste life after the death of her husband, will go to heaven, like (perpetual) students, even though she has no son."⁴ Bṛihaspati says: "A wife is considered half the body (of her husband), equally sharing the result of his good or wicked deeds; whether she ascends the pile after him, or chooses to survive him leading a virtuous life, she promotes the welfare of her husband."¹ The freedom given to the widow in the mediaeval code of Śukra is thus stated: "When the husband is dead, the chaste women should accompany him or observe the vow, should not like to go to other's houses, and should always maintain *brahmacharyya* or control of passions, should give up the daily ornamentation of self."²