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 wivesnamely, the mother of Yudhisthira, Bhima and Arjuna and the mother of Nakula and Sahadevawere 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.