PURPORT

Formerly, a ksatriya king was generally the husband of many wives, and after the death of the king, especially in the battlefield, all the queens would agree to accept saha-marana, dying with the husband who was their life. When Pandu Maharaja, the father of the Pandavas, died, his two wives-namely, the mother of Yudhisthira, Bhima and Arjuna and the mother of Nakula and Sahadeva-were both ready to die in the fire with their husband. Later, after a compromise was arranged, Kunti stayed alive to care for the little children, and the other wife, Madri, was allowed to die with her husband. This system of saha-marana continued in India even until the time of British rule, but later it was discouraged, since the attitude of wives gradually changed with the advancement of Kali-yuga. Thus the system of saha-marana has practically been abolished. Nevertheless, within the past fifty years I have seen the wife of a medical practitioner voluntarily accept death immediately when her husband died. Both the husband and wife were taken in procession in the mourning cart. Such intense love of a chaste wife for her husband is a special case.