The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c10.s2.32

c10.s2.32

In the absence of definite data, it is difficult to state what percentage of widows used to avail themselves of the opportunity of remarriage when it was permitted to them. Probably women with children did not usually think of remarriage. Among the rest also, many had a genuine love for their departed spouses and would not therefore think of remarriage. They tried, and tried with admirable success, to wade through the dreary life of widowhood, supported by their devotion to their husbands and such consolation as religion could afford. A few welcomed escape through the dreadful door of the Satī custom, when it became popular in later times. Some, however, found the ordeal of celibacy too trying and had recourse to remarriage. When that door was closed, they were driven to concubinage. This development should have induced society to change its attitude towards widow remarriage. The ascetic ideal of life had, however, acquired a complete ascendancy over the social mind. A large number of Jain, Buddhist and Hindu monks and nuns were following that ideal, and it was felt that widows also should do the same. Leaders of society should, however, have realised that what a few men and women could do out of intense religious conviction, could not be prescribed for a whole class. They should have realised that if the average widower found it difficult to pass his life without a second marriage, the average widow could not be in a different predicament. Society had, however, ceased to be guided by reason at this time, and had come under the complete sway of authority. Smṛiti texts, and Smṛiti texts too of the most recent date, which interdicted remarriage, were its sole sources of inspiration. Ancient authorities, which clearly permitted the widow remarriage, were silently ignored or ingeniously explained away.