Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v2.c16.11

v2.c16.11

the celibacy of widows has not yet made its way everywhere. Crooke, *The North-Western Provinces*, 228 f., writes of this part of India : “Recent enquiries show that out of a population of 40,000,000 of Hindu, 9,000,000 or 24 per cent prohibit widow marriage, while 30,000,000 or 76 per cent both permit and even encourage the practice. . . . As a matter of fact, among all but the very highest castes, every young widow finds another mate, and the levirate, or custom by which the younger brother-in-law takes over the widow of his older brother, widely prevails.” Cp. too Chavannes, *Cinq cents contes*, ii, 293 ff. (the wife of a man that has vanished weds again) ; Bulloram Mullick, *Home Life in Bengal*, p. 123.