sinners descending and ascending—­descending soiled with sin, ascending purged from it.  “The liar, the thief, the murderer, and the adulterer may here wash and be clean,” says the Rev. Mr. Parker, in his book.  Very well.  I know Mr. Parker, and I believe it; but if anybody else had said it, I should consider him a person who had better go down in the tank and take another wash.  The god Vishnu dug this tank.  He had nothing to dig with but his “discus.”  I do not know what a discus is, but I know it is a poor thing to dig tanks with, because, by the time this one was finished, it was full of sweat—­Vishnu’s sweat.  He constructed the site that Benares stands on, and afterward built the globe around it, and thought nothing of it, yet sweated like that over a little thing like this tank.  One of these statements is doubtful.  I do not know which one it is, but I think it difficult not to believe that a god who could build a world around Benares would not be intelligent enough to build it around the tank too, and not have to dig it.  Youth, long life, temporary purification from sin, salvation through propitiation of the Great Fate —­these are all good.  But you must do something more.  You must

10.  Make Salvation Sure.  There are several ways.  To get drowned in the Ganges is one, but that is not pleasant.  To die within the limits of Benares is another; but that is a risky one, because you might be out of town when your time came.  The best one of all is the Pilgrimage Around the City.  You must walk; also, you must go barefoot.  The tramp is forty-four miles, for the road winds out into the country a piece, and you will be marching five or six days.  But you will have plenty of company.  You will move with throngs and hosts of happy pilgrims whose radiant costumes will make the spectacle beautiful and whose glad songs and holy pans of triumph will banish your fatigues and cheer your spirit; and at intervals there will be temples where you may sleep and be refreshed with food.  The pilgrimage completed, you have purchased salvation, and paid for it.  But you may not get it unless you

11.  Get Your Redemption Recorded.  You can get this done at the Sakhi Binayak Temple, and it is best to do it, for otherwise you might not be able to prove that you had made the pilgrimage in case the matter should some day come to be disputed.  That temple is in a lane back of the Cow Temple.  Over the door is a red image of Ganesh of the elephant head, son and heir of Shiva, and Prince of Wales to the Theological Monarchy, so to speak.  Within is a god whose office it is to record your pilgrimage and be responsible for you.  You will not see him, but you will see a Brahmin who will attend to the matter and take the money.  If he should forget to collect the money, you can remind him.  He knows that your salvation is now secure, but of course you would like to know it yourself.  You have nothing to do but go and pray, and pay at the