Chapter 30 — The Death of a Young Brahmin Husband

Literal. Gopinath, a rich Brahmin at Mahur, has a son who marries at sixteen, falls ill at nineteen with consumption, and dies en route to Ganagapur to seek Shri Guru's help. The wife, sixteen, is determined to commit sati (self-immolation) on his pyre. A bright sannyasi (later revealed as part of the chapter) consoles them — the body is like a bubble, life is short, do not mourn the perishable.

Symbolic. The chapter sets up the sati-and-revival arc that completes in Chapter 32. The young wife's commitment to sati is established as a real and morally-reasoned choice (not impulsive) that will then be honored — and simultaneously redirected.