Widows
Compiled by
P.R.Ramachander
I was translating
a prayer.
I n one place it has been told
If a widow chants
it, she will die quickly!
In another place
it has been told
If a widow chants
it,
In her next
birth she will not become a widow
I was shocked.My mind went back to my childhood.
When I think of my
child hood I remember some young ladies
with head shaved completely . After
growing up I came to know that
they were widows , I also remember a common word of abuse among Brahmins , which I much latter knew that it means
“Widow”.Over time when I came to know
about of the plight of those fourth class
citizens of the community, I felt sad.When I was young my father told me
that they are not elegible for
properties of their husband or father.
My uncle told me
a Sanskrit sloka , which said, one widow
will destroy a family, two the street, three the country
Later I read about
Easwar Chandra Vidhya Sagar of Bengal
who fought against society for
permitting them to get married again,
When I was a
boy I came to know that ladies of
Brahmin families considered them as
ill omen.I also came to know that if they do not shave their head( ie
give away their beauty) they were
kept outside the society.I heard
about Matas of Hindus where such widows are not permitted to enter
I then read my translation of Vamiki Rammayana to see whether the
widows of Dasaratha lived a normal
life. In the chapter on Rama
Pattabisheka the following a verse
occurs
Afterwards the very joyful Kausalya who
loved her sons made auspicious decoration of the wives
of all monkeys with great
effort.
128.18
Which clearly indicated that Kausalya was alive when Rama returned and had a honourable position.
WE all
know About the role Kunti the widow of
Pandu played in making her sons great.
Things have changed a lot
.I personally know few widows in
a family known to me, who had remarried and leading a happy married life.
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