Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 400

A DISPUTE FOR PRECEDENCE
360
husband, her decision is considered irrevocable. She cannot
afterwards retract
and should she refuse to proceed of
her own free will to the funeral pyre, she would be dragged
The Brahmins who regulate all the pro-
to it by force.
ceedings of the tragedy, and also her relatives, come by
turns to congratulate her on her heroic decision and on the
immortal glory which she is about to acquire by such a
death a death which will exalt her to the dignity of the
All possible means which fanaticism and supersti-
gods.
tion can suggest are brought to bear upon her in order to
keep up her courage, to exalt her enthusiasm, and to excite
her imagination.
When, at last, the fatal hour draws nigh,
the victim is adorned with rare elegance
she is clothed in
her richest apparel, is bedecked with all her jewels, and is
thus led to the funeral pyre.
It is impossible for me to describe the finishing scenes of
this dreadful ceremony without feelings of distress.
But,
in the meantime, I must solicit the indulgence of my readers
for a short digression which is not wholly disconnected with
my subject. When a husband has several lawful wives, as
often happens in the caste of the Rajahs, the wives some-
times dispute as to who shall have the honour of accom-
panying their common husband to the funeral pyre, and
the Brahmins who preside at the ceremony determine
which shall have the preference. Here is an instance to
the point extracted from the Mahabharata, one of thei