Why and when did gurjar Women practice sati
Answers
In the minds of Rajputs the transformation of a woman into a sati does not, as is often assumed, result from the act of self-immolation. The word sati means "a good woman" and not, as English speakers tend to think, an act.[7] We may speak of sati as something one commits, but Hindi speakers define sati as that which one becomes (sati ho jana ). This usage reflects the understanding all Rajput women have of the sati : becoming a sati is a process, a process instigated at the moment of marriage or occasionally even at the moment of betrothal. As we shall see, because there is parallel fire symbolism in the marriage ritual and sati cremation, circumambulating a funeral pyre transforms a fiancée into a wife, who can then become a sati . Thus the transcendent powers that a sati wields are thought not merely the consequence of the act of dying; they are the result of her successful development of pativrata character as a married woman or even as a fiancée. In short, the sati serves women as an accessible ideal, for she has become a sati by fulfilling the role that they aspire to fulfill, that of the pativrata .
Before investigating the standard scenario that is thought to transform a woman into a sati , let me reiterate that today the practice of dying as a sati is largely extinct.[8] It is also illegal. On those rare occasions when it does occur, both the government and the press vigorously condemn it.[9] The near elimination of the custom, however, has not caused the worship of satis to diminish. On the contrary. Rajput women continue to revere past satis and admire their spirit as pativratas , but most women now reject self-immolation as an option for themselves—not least of all, they readily say, because their relatives could be tried as accomplices. Becoming a sati would harm rather than help the family. The women in one thikana told me that not long ago a sati simultaneously appeared in all the dreams of the women in their household and ordered the family to allow no more satis .
Nevertheless, Rajput women remain visibly proud of the courage and conviction that satis have shown in dying and remain steadfast in their sati veneration. Because of this continuing reverence (and because self-immolation of this type still occasionally occurs), I use the present tense in describing sati tradition. When speaking of self-immolation, however, I intend the present largely in its historical sense.