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270
THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES
VI.
ON THE SUPPOSED VAIDIK AUTHORITY
FOR TIIE BURNING OF IUNDU WIDOWS,
AND ON
THE FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF THE
IIINDUS.
From the Journal of the R. Asiatic Society, Vol. XVI (1854), p. 201-14.
In the lecture on the Vedas which I read during our last session I had occasion to notice some very remarkable passages in one of the Súktas, or Hymns of the Rich, relating to the disposal of the dead, and especially to the burning of widows, for which the hymn in question was always cited as authority. I stated then that the text quoted for that purpose had a totally different tendency, and that there was some reason to doubt if it was the ancient practice of the Hindus to burn their dead at all, quoting texts which seemed to enjoin burying, not burning. I added, however, that I had not had time to consider the passages with that care which they required, and that I communicated only the results of my first impressions. I have since examined the passages more deliberately, and propose now to offer to the Society the conclu
