Note 65 — Chapter XXVII · THE TRIAL AT THE HIGH COURT.

The story of these two is found in the Bhagavadgita, which, with the Chandi or Hymn to Durga, forms the favourite reading of the class of Pundits. Many Brahmins make a living as itinerary readers of the Bhagavadgita, or Ramayana: they halt for weeks at a time at various places, and erect a temporary booth, where they read and explain to all who may come to hear them: at the end of a course of reading they are presented with presents: one man in Patna is reputed to make as much as five hundred rupees for one course of reading the Ramayana which may take him about six weeks.