Page:Vidyasagar, the Great Indian Educationist and Philanthropist.djvu/74

 old grandmother. The sradh ceremony was performed at Birsingha in orthodox fashion and in spite of his being the originator of widow marriages, nearly three thousand people assembled to partake of the sumptuous feast. The expenditure was necessarily heavy.

His only source of income was the Sanskrit Press and the Depository, where at first his own books were kept for sale, but soon the works of other authors were stocked as well. He turned to the firms to see if they were properly managed and if they could yield better profits. Dissatisfied with what he saw, he made his associate Raj Krishna Banerjee manager of the book-shop in December 1859 on Rs. 150 a month. Under his watchful eye the business prospered. But no income however large could satisfy the needs of one so charitably disposed. He bore the major part of the expenses on widow marriages and provided for the married couples and their families, who were generally excom-