The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c9.27

c9.27

Purāṇas refer only to a few cases of Satī. This shows that by about 400 a. d., when the Purāṇas were given their present form, the custom was gradually coming into general vogue. It does not prove its antiquity. It is interesting to note that some of the Satī cases in Purāṇas are the imaginary creations of a later age, and go against the earlier tradition. Thus the Mahābhārata is unaware of any Yādava widows having burnt themselves on their husbands' funeral pyres; according to the *Padmapurāṇa*, however, all of them became Satīs (Uttarakāṇḍa, chap. 279). The vast majority of the widows that figure in Purāṇas survive their husbands.