190 THE AKAB AL-BIRUNI ON HINDU RELIGION Now as regards the right of the body of the living, the Hindus would not think of burning it save in the case of a widow who chooses to follow her husband, or in the case of those who are tired of life, and are dis- tressed over some incurable disease of body, some irre- movable bodily defect, or old age and infirmity. This, however, no man of distinction does, but only Vaisyas and Sudras, especially at those times which are prized as the most suitable for a man to acquire in them, for a future repetition of life, a better form and condition than that in which he happens to have been born and to live. Burning oneself is forbidden to Brahmans and to Kshatriyas by a special law. Such being the case, if they wish to dispose of themselves by committing sui- cide, they do so at the time of an eclipse in some other manner, or they hire somebody to drown them in the Ganges, keeping them under water till they are dead. At the junction of the two rivers Yamuna (Jumna) and Ganges there is a great tree called Prayaga, a tree of the species called Vata (?). It is peculiar to this kind of tree that its branches send forth two species of twigs, some directed upwards, as is the case with all other trees, and others directed downward like roots, but without leaves. If such a twig enters into the soil, it is like a supporting column to the branch whence it has grown. Nature has arranged this on purpose, since the branches of this tree are of an enormous extent and require to be supported. Here the Brahmans and Kshatriyas are in the habit of committing suicide by
