Hindu Widow Marriage

In this complex and finely wrought volume, Brian A. Hatcher provides the first full translation of Ishvarchandra Vidyasagar's treatise on why Hindu widows--many of them mere girls--should be allowed to marry. The work raised a furious storm in India when it was published in 1855, and few scholars have been as celebrated and vilified as Vidyasagar. Hatcher's splendid book pays homage to a man of dazzling character and ability while also introducing us to a maelstrom of difference--sexual, social, colonial--that even such a man could not tame. -- John Stratton Hawley, Barnard College Should Hindu widows be allowed to remarry? Hindu Widow Marriage brings together two master exegetes: Isvaracandra Vidyasagar, architect of the reforms that freed widows for remarriage in the mid-1850s; and Brian A. Hatcher, highly respected Vidyasagar expert. In this first complete English translation of the arguments that Vidyasagar marshaled, in Sanskrit and Bengali, Hatcher brings Vidyasagar's voice alive. I found myself liking Vidyasagar, appreciating his zest for argumentation, and thankful for his appeals on behalf of girls and women without sexual outlet. Sadly, Hindu widows today still need a Vidyasagar on their side. This makes Hindu Widow Marriage poignantly and powerfully prophetic. -- Rachel Fell McDermott, Barnard College, author of Revelry, Rivalry, and Longing for the Goddesses of Bengal: The Fortunes of Hindu Festivals

Before the passage of the Hindu Widow's Re-marriage Act of 1856, Hindu tradition required a woman to live as a virtual outcast after her husband's death. Widows were expected to shave their heads, discard their jewelry, live in seclusion, and undergo regular acts of penance. Ishvarchandra Vidyasagar was the first Indian intellectual to successfully argue against these strictures. A Sanskrit scholar and passionate social reformer, Vidyasagar was a leading proponent of widow marriage in colonial India, urging his contemporaries to reject a ban that caused countless women to suffer needlessly. Vidyasagar's brilliant strategy paired a rereading of Hindu scripture with an emotional plea on behalf of the widow, resulting in an organic reimagining of Hindu law and custom. Vidyasagar made his case through the two-part publication Hindu Widow Marriage, a tour de force of logic, erudition, and humanitarian rhetoric. In this new translation, Brian A. Hatcher makes available in English for the first time the entire text of one of the most important nineteenth-century treatises on Indian social reform. An expert on Vidyasagar, Hinduism, and colonial Bengal, Hatcher enhances the original treatise with a substantial introduction describing Vidyasagar's multifaceted career, as well as the history of colonial debates on widow marriage. He innovatively interprets the significance of Hindu Widow Marriage within modern Indian intellectual history by situating the text in relation to indigenous commentarial practices. Finally, Hatcher increases the accessibility of the text by providing an overview of basic Hindu categories for first-time readers, a glossary of technical vocabulary, and an extensive bibliography.