One of the favorite sticks with which सनातन धर्म is attacked is Sati Pratha. The moment any Hindu talks about the elevated position given to women in सनातन धर्म, the opponents say that सति प्रथा is the biggest blot on women and Sanatan Dharm is responsible for this heinous crime against women. NCERT has taken it to an all new level. The result is that Hindus become apologetic and run for cover.
The word प्रथा indicates a tradition. The vast corpus of Hindu literature has stray references of Sati but most of the women used to live normally. The example of Kunti and Madri is the best one for this. Madri chose to die with her husband and Kunti decided to live. The mothers of मर्यादा पुरुषोत्तम राम namely कौशल्या, सुमित्रा & कैकयी did not commit suicide at the death of their husband. The highest authority of सनातन धर्म, i.e. the Vedic literature does not talk of Sati. Rather it talks of widow remarriage and also नियोग, in which a woman and her family chose a respectable man to father the children of childless widow. That is how धृतराष्ट्र & पांडू were born to the widows of the son of Satyavati in Mahabharat.
Unlike the predatory religions which consider one book to be sufficient for all the aspects of human life, सनातन धर्म keeps on evolving. That is what gave rise to सती प्रथा & जौहर प्रथा। When barbaric invaders started violating our holy land, Hindu women had three choices at the death of their husbands:
- They could live to be captured and raped by the killers of their husbands and other relatives
- They could live and be sold into slave markets created in the Islamic world
- They could chose death
Not surprisingly, majority of them chose the third option. For nearly thousand years, starting with 715 AD (when Muhammad bin Qasim gained first victory on our motherland), Hindus, especially women, lived a horrid life. For details of Slavery as an Islamic institution, read the origins of Muslim slave system in India by K.S.Lal.
Any honest and patriotic historian will tell these facts to the students of the nation when talking about Sati. The operative words are - honest and patriotic.
The adjoining text is on page 135 of History textbook of class 12.
From many instances of Sati witnessed by 'Fancois Bernier', this one has been specially hand picked. It has been taken up for two reasons. It creates an impression that Hindu religion is bad and portrays Brahmans in poor light. So this insertion serves two purposes of missionaries at the same time.
The other references of Sati, as mentioned by Bernier, talk of Hindu widows participating in the act willingly. They have not been mentioned by NCERT because that will give the reader a hint as to the conditions of such extra ordinary measures. There are numerous instances when Hindu women immolated themselves so that they do not fall into the wretched hands of Muslim gangsters. The earliest reference can be found out when Muhammad bin Qasim was on verge of gaining the first victory for Islam on our holy land. The immortal words of Raja Jaisingh's wife tell the whole story:
Jaisiya is separated from us and Mohammad Kasim has come. God forbid that we should owe our liberty to these outcast cow eaters (म्लेच्छ गोमांस भक्षक)! Our honor would be lost. Our respite is at end, and there is no hope of any escape.; let us collect wood, cotton and oil, for I think we should burn ourselves and go to meet our husbands. If any wish to save herself, she may.
History of India as told by its own historians, Vol. 1 pp 152
In one of such incidents, Bernier was himself asked to talk to a widow who wanted to end her life. What transpired there can be read from his memoirs. Read it yourself:
There is one more description of a Sati on pp 309:
I ran at once to the spot, and going to the edge of a large and nearly dry reservoir, observed at the bottom a deep pit filled with wood : the body of a dead man extended thereon; a woman seated upon the same pile; four or five Brahmens setting fire to it in every part ; five middle-aged women, tolerably well dressed, holding one another by the hand; singing and dancing round the p i t ; and a great number of spectators of both sexes. The pile, whereon large quantities of butter and oil had been thrown, was soon enveloped in flames, and I saw the fire catch t h e woman's garments, which were impregnated with scented oil, mixed with sandalwood powder and saffron; but I could not perceive the slightest indication of pain or even uneasiness in the victim,
Now let us pay a little attention to the character of the author named Francois Bernier. Try to imagine a history textbook in America explaining the views of Muhammad Atta about American society. The mere thought sounds laughable. That is what is being done by NCERT. If someone thinks the analogy is stretching it too far, then read about the bigotry of Francois Bernier in his own words.
The Beths (Veds) render it obligatory upon every Gentile to say his prayers with his face turned to the East thrice in the twenty-four hours........Sometimes I objected to their religion that it contained a law which it would not be possible to observe in cold climates during the winter season, which was, in my mind, a clear proof that it possessed no divine original, but was merely a system of human invention. Their answer was amusing enough.
To an average reader, this question by Bernier may sound stupid or childish but then he was trapped in the prison house of Christian doctirnes as we will see. The Brahman replied in the typical accommodating nature of Hinduism.
'We pretend not,' they replied, ' that our law is of universal application. God intended it only for us, and this is the reason why we cannot receive a foreigner into our religion. We do not even say that yours is a false religion : it may be adapted to your wants and circumstances, God having, no doubt, appointed many different ways of going to heaven.'
The answer is what any Hindu can give even today. It is what Bernier records next will give the reader an insight into Bernier's mind. He writes:
I found it impossible to convince them that the Christian faith was designed for the whole earth, and theirs was mere fable and gross fabrication.
Replace 'Christian faith' with Islam and that is what Muhammad Atta or Osama Bin Laden would have said about christianity.
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