Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/148

 114 THE PRACTICE OF SUTTEE persons who ate the ashes, and were tempted by money to overcome their repugnance for such disgusting food. At the same time, it is believed that the filthy lucre thus earned can never be attended with much advan- tage to the recipients. Amidst the ashes, too, were picked up small pieces of melted gold, the remains of the ornaments worn by the princesses. Presents were given to the Brahmans who presided at the obsequies, and to those who had honoured the ceremonies with their presence. To the king's guru was given an elephant. The three palanquins which had served to carry the corpse of the king and the two victims to the pile were given away to the three lead- ing Brahmans. The presents distributed among the other Brahmans consisted of cloths and of money amounting to nearly twenty-five thousand rupees. Sev- eral bags of small coin were also scattered among the crowds on the roadside as the funeral procession was on its way to the pyre. Finally, twelve houses were built and presented to the twelve Brahmans who had the courage to swallow the powdered bones of the deceased, and by that means to take upon themselves all the sins of the dead. A few days after the funeral the new king made a pilgrimage to a temple a few leagues distant from his capital. He there took a bath in a sacred tank, and was thus purified of all the uncleanness that he had contracted during the various ceremonies of mourning. On this occasion also presents were given to the Brah- mans and to the poor of other castes.