To be revenged, the monarch refused to invite Shivŭ to a sacrifice which he was about to perform. Sŭtēē, the king’s daughter, however, was resolved to go, though uninvited and forbidden by her husband. On her arrival, Dŭkshŭ poured a torrent of abuse on Shivŭ, which affected Sŭtēē so much that she died.
In memory of this proof of great affection, a Hindoo widow burning with her husband on the funeral-pile, is called a Sŭtēē.
The following passages are from the Hindoo Shāstrs:—
“There are 35,000,000 hairs on the human body. The woman who ascends the pile with her husband, will remain so many years in heaven.”
“As the snake draws the serpent from its hole, so she, rescuing her husband (from hell), rejoices with him.”
“The woman who expires on the funeral-pile of her husband, purifies the family of her mother, her father, and her husband.”
“So long as a woman, in her successive transmigrations, shall decline burning herself, like a faithful wife, on the same fire with her deceased lord, so long shall she not be exempted from springing again to life in the body of some female animal.”
TEMPLE OF BHAWĀNĪ AND SUTTEES ALOPEE BĀGH.
On Stone by Major Parlby.