Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/316

Rh most of these Pandits subsequently altered their mind, and stood against widow-marriage. Syama Charan Das was completely baffled in his attempts. Some say that contemporaneously with Vidyasagar, the Chief of Kota in Rajputana tried to introduce widow-marriage into his State, but was equally unsuccessful. The well-known Bengali writer, Babu Bihari Lal Sarkar, in his biography of Vidyasagar, says,—'The Hindus of the orthodox class are staunch believers in fatalism. They firmly believe in regeneration. They also believe that the happiness or affliction of the human race is the fruit of their own piety or otherwise of their pre-birth. They, therefore, hold to the tenets of their Sastras and the customs of their country so tenaciously, that it is never an easy matter to induce them to take to an innovation.'

After the appearance of the numerous protest papers against the re-marriage of Hindu widows, Vidyasagar published in October, 1855, his second pamphlet titled "Whether widows ought to be married or not." In this paper, attempts were made to refute the arguments of the antiparty. Its language is serious, elegant, easy and plain. It testifies to his vast erudition and faculties of research. But most of the illustrious Pandits of the different parts of Bengal, and even of Benares, protested against it.

It is needless to enter into a detailed