The thesis is an attempt to trace back the origin of the satī ritual (which consists of the self-immolation of widows on their husbans' funeral pyre) to the myth involving the goddess Satī, Dakṣa's...Show moreThe thesis is an attempt to trace back the origin of the satī ritual (which consists of the self-immolation of widows on their husbans' funeral pyre) to the myth involving the goddess Satī, Dakṣa's daughter, who immolated herself in the in the fire during Dakṣa's sacrifice, to which Satī and her husband Śiva had not been invited. She thus burns herself out of her rage towards her father, for not being invited and for not accepting Śiva as her husband. The link between the ritual and the myth is hypothetically found in the myth involving the goddess Saṃdhyā, the first goddess created by Brahmā (according to some versions of the myth of creation), who committed self-suicide by burning herself in the fire.Show less