According to Hindu mythology, Sati or Dakshayani is the goddess of marital felicity and longevity. An avatar of Devi, Sati is the first consort of Shiva, the second being Parvati. Sati took human birth at the bidding of Brahma, being born as a daughter of Daksha Prajapati.
Brahma had planned that she should please Shiva with her humble devotion, and thus marry him. So, as Sati grew to be a young woman, she gave up the luxuries of her father's palace and retired to a forest, devoting herself to a life of austerity. Her penance finally bore fruit when Shiva consented to make her his bride.
When Sati returned home to tell her father the news, she found him reluctant to give his approval. But eventually Sati's wishes were granted and the wedding was held. After the wedding, the angry Daksha disowned his daughter. Sati however had no idea of her father's rage - and when a grand yagna was organised with the omission of Shiva and Sati, she was bewildered. However, she thought that since she was family, a formal invitation was not needed, and so she set off home.
Sati was received coldly by her father. Sensing the reason behind his treatment of her, she confronted him about the issue. Their argument soon turned into a fullfledged fight. Sati realised that her father was incapable of appreciating her husband. Filled with rage, she prayed that she might, in some future life, be born the daughter of a father whom she could respect - and immolated herself. The act of sati, in which a Hindu widow immolated herself on her husband's funeral pyre, is supposedly patterned after this tragedy.
However, such a heinous practice was banned by the end of the 18th century, in all territories held by the European powers.
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