deteriorated. Widows were almost considered to
be dead. They had to shave their heads and dress
in white with no decoration. They were consid-
ered inauspicious and were often confined to the
home.
Because of the practice of marriage outside
one’s clan in North India, spouses generally
were from distant villages. As all marriages were
patrilocal, a woman whose husband had died
would find herself living with unrelated in-laws,
who often did not look upon her kindly. If the
woman had several children and particularly a
son, she might draw comfort and status from
them, but if she were newly married with no chil-
dren, she looked forward to a life of ascetic denial
and loneliness as remarriage was strictly forbid-
den. As a result, many women succumbed to the
social pressure of self-immolation on the fires of
their husbands; it is documented that many oth-
ers were coerced to do so. As an added incentive,
in certain regions, the woman who became a sati
was deified.
In the 19th century the British colonial admin-
istrators outlawed sati. Independent India also
outlawed the practice, and it largely fell into dis-
use after independence. However, the debate over
the practice never completely ceased. With the
modern Hindu revival some have argued that this
traditional practice should be encouraged; this
idea has spurred furious opposition from secular-
ists and women’s groups.
Further reading: John Stratton Hawley, ed., Sati, the
Blessing and the Curse: The Burning of Wives in India
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1994); John S.
Hawley and Donna M. Wulff, eds., Devi: Goddesses of
India (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996);
Stella Kramrisch, The Presence of Siva (Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1981); Rajeswari Sunder
Rajan, Real and Imagined Women: Gender, Culture, and
Postcolonialism (London/New York: Routledge, 1993).
sattva See GUNAS.
satyagraha See GANDHI, MOHANDAS
KARAMCHAND.Satyananda Saraswati, Swami See INTER-
NATIONAL YOGA FELLOWSHIP.Satya Sai Baba (1926– ) popular spiritual
teacher and miracle worker
Satya Sai Baba was born Satyanarayana Raju in
the village of Puttaparthi, Andra Pradesh, to a
pious KSHATRIYA family on November 23, 1926.
At the age of 14 he quit school and disclosed to
his parents that he was in fact the incarnation of
SAI BABA OF SHIRDI, the revered South Indian saint
of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He left
his family and stayed in the house of a BRAHMIN
neighbor during adolescence; there he began to
receive devotees.
In 1950, the first ashram dedicated to the
work of Satya Sai Baba was established near Put-
taparthi. Later, other ashrams were established
near Bangalore and Ootakamund.
Satya Sai Baba is well known for his miracu-
lous healings and materializations, and some
claim that he has even raised the dead. He is
known for materializing in his right hand objects
such as rings, lockets, amulets, and fruits out of
season. Devotees report that his photos in their
homes in different parts of the world are repeat-
edly covered with holy ash, vibhuti, even when he
is not nearby.
Satya Sai Baba has built several schools,
universities, and one modern hospital in India.
He is responsible for a number of social work
programs: colleges for both boys and girls,
educational courses on spirituality, community
building projects, welfare programs for the
poor, and clean water projects for South Indian
communities.
Claiming to be a full incarnation of KALKI, ava-
tar of the KALI YUGA, Sai Baba says that his task is
to behave in a human way so that humankind canSatya Sai Baba 389 J