Sati (practice) - Justifications and Criticisms

Justifications and Criticisms

Brahmin scholars justified the practice, and gave reasonings as to how the scriptures could be said to justify them. Among them were Vijnanesvara, of the 12th-century Chalukya court, and the later Madhavacharya, theologian and minister in the late 14th century of the court of the Vijayanagara empire, according to Shastri, who quotes their reasoning. They lauded the practice as required conduct in righteous women, and said that it was not to be considered suicide, which was otherwise variously banned or discouraged in the scriptures. They deemed it an act of peerless piety, which was said to purge the couple of all accumulated sin, guarantee their salvation, and ensure their reunion in the afterlife.