198 THE ARAB AL-BIRUNI ON HINDU RELIGION the head which causes the eclipse of sun and moon, the other ponds would not visit this pond." The ponds become particularly famous for holiness either because some important event has happened at them, or because there is some passage in the holy text or tradition which refers to them; and the Hindus have some places which are venerated for reasons con- nected with their law and religion, such as Baranasi (Benares), for their anchorites wander to it and stay there for ever, as the dwellers of the Ka'ba stay for ever in Mecca. They want to live there to the end of their lives, that their reward after death may be the better for it. They say that a murderer is always held respon- sible for his crime and punished with a punishment due to his guilt, except in case he enters the city of Benares, where he obtains pardon. Regarding the cause of the holiness of this asylum they relate the following story: " Brahma was four-headed in shape. Now some quarrel happened between him and Sankara (Siva), and the fight which ensued had the result that one of the heads of Brahma was torn off. At that time it was the custom for the victor to take the head of the slain adversary in his hand and let it hang down from his hand as an act of ignominy to the dead and as a sign of his own bravery. Thus the head of Brahma was dishonoured by the hand of Mahadeva, who always took it with him wherever he went and whatever he did. He never once separated himself from it when he entered the towns, till at last he came to Benares.
