Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-23
THE HINDOO sUTTEE.
Burning on the Funeral Pyre of Her De-
ceased Husband.

Burning on the F~neraI Pyre of Her De-
ceased Husband.
calcutta Bengalee
In the remote village of Gader Dehee
in the district of Banhurah, there are to be
seen two small tombs on the bank of g
small lake, containing the holy ashes of q
young lady who burnt herself alive on the
funeral pyre of her deceased husband
The name of the husband of the lady was
Brahamand Gossain; and he died of feve,
In the morning. She wept not, but sat by
the dead body of her husband. How We
wished that she could give vent
to her feelings and relieve her.
self. But no; she sat and
uttered neither sigh nor groan. Atlast
she rose and proceeded st1aightway to
wards the Tkakoor BARGE to the image of
the god Krishna. There she went, followed
by many men and women, and prostrated
herself before the god. Then she stood
and began to divest herself Of the orna.
ments that she had on her person. One by
one she took them and placed them at the
foot of the god, for the first Tina speaking
"Here, my lord, take them; need them no
longer" And then she slowly came back to
where the body of her husband was lying
covered. She then addressed her brother
in law, and she said: "Prepare for the
ceremony OF cremation, and you know I
can't live without him. must ACCOMPANY
him."
Though her relations, friends and neigh
bors had all suspected that something
serious was impending, the first announce
ment was received with a shock which
could not be described. Then followed
discussions, and her friends, relations and
neighbors all began to dissuade her to no
purpose. The uncle-in-law, the mother-in-
law, whom Hindoo lady is bound to
revere next to her God, commanded, and
then earnestly pleaded to her to for
bear; but she was not to be moved.
Then came the guroo, the puro-
hit, whom, as her spiritual guides
she was bound to obey; they
tried their best, but she was determined.
Time rolled on, but she wavered not for a
moment. Then the last device was resort
ed to. Her fears were appealed to; they
described to her the horrible and painful
sufTerings of living man upon funeral
pile. At first she disdained to give replies
to their appeals to her fears, but at last.
when obliged to say something, she said
You need not be anxious; my soul
has fed with my lord. As for bodily suf-
ferings. shall show you that you need not
apprehend them"
There was lamp burning, under the
usual custom, by the corpse; and she put
one of her fingers upon the slow fire and
burnt it without wincing. Crowds had
then collected from all parts of the
country. 1t was then about p. M, and
the corpse was carried to the burning ,hgat
on the bank of the small lake, only about
couple of hundred yards from the house,
and the lady followed, followed by thou
sands of men chanting sHaribols.'' The
crowd then began to collect dry faggots,
and heaps were gathered in moment.
While the funeral pile was in the process
of being prepared, the corpse was bathed,
and the lady herself performed her ablu-
tions. She then put on vermilion on her
forehead and dressed herself in
new Saree (cloth for ladies),
and then slowly entered the
funeral pile. Her hair was properly ad-
justed by her friends, and they adorned
her with garlands and wreaths of flowers.
The crowd then with fearful eyes begged
of her blessings and some tokens from her
to be kept in remembrance of her self-sae-
rifice. She was supplied with cowries,
Plantains, betelnuts, etc., and she began to
throw handfuls of them amongst the
crowd. She then laid herself by the corpse
of her husband in the posture of warm
embrace. She gave the order, and the pile
was lighted in several places, and there
was at once a blazing fire. The Suffice
raised her right hand and began to utter
the name of Horse, turning her hand round
and round. She was dead before the fire
had reached her sacred person.