Sati

Sati, the practice of burning widows on the funeral pyre of her husband was voluntary during the Vedic Period and it was not forced upon widows. It was an approved method of suicide allowed for only those grieving widows who couldn’t even think about facing life without their husbands. Many widows chose to remarry in ancient times and they were not forced to enter the funeral pyre. Sati was prohibited if the widow had children to care for. Fire is also considered to be the portal into other worlds and hence it was believed that the widow’s soul would travel along with her husband. Women in general and princesses practiced sati only when their kingdom fell into the hands of the enemy and all the kings & princes have been killed in war. They preferred death over living as slaves in the harem of the enemy. India has been tormented by many invaders in the past. The invaders only came to rape & pillage. Many women were abducted along with other treasures especially during the Arab and Persian invasions carried out by Mohammad of Ghori & Mohammad of Ghazni. During later periods, the Hindu kingdoms were under attack by the Mughal army and other tyrannical rulers who tried to force every other kingdom to accept Islam. This was the reason sati was more prevalent during the reign of the Mughals in the Rajput kingdoms. During invasions if women were unable to protect themselves, they braved death. To them death was better than living a hellish life in the harem of the invader. Since they knew from all the theological studies that they are not the “body” & that they are the” soul” within the body, they were willing to sacrifice their bodies to save their souls. This to them was similar to casting off one’s dress that had caught fire to save their skin. Rani Durgavati commanded an army and fought bravely against the Mughals ; when she was defeated, she took her own life since she preferred death over being captured by the Mughals. Sati is different from the witch burnings in Europe. The Europeans hunted down women who were free thinkers and burnt them on a pyre because they wanted to destroy all free thinking women; whereas, Sati was offered as a choice to women who wanted to escape a hellish life in the hands of Muslim invaders. Like casting off ones dress that had caught on fire, they cast of their bodies to save themselves.
The word sati per the Vedas refers to anyone who is close to God. "Sat" is a name of God. "Sati" is a person man/woman who belongs to only God and is close to God.