Another proposed that they should give the girl to the king, and save themselves from ruin. Others suggested that it would be best to marry the king to a substituted girl, to secrete the coveted girl, or to bribe the ministers to induce the king to abandon his intention of marrying her. The last of these proposals was adopted, and a few elders were sent to Rajamundry, to negotiate the affair. They first argued that, though they promised to give the girl in marriage, the promise was made through fear of the king's anger, and they could not give the girl in contravention of the rule of menarikam. The king, in his fury, ordered that the troops should immediately besiege the eighteen towns, imprison the inhabitants in dark dungeons, and carry off the girl in a palanquin. On this, the envoys heavily bribed the ministers, and begged them not to march the army on their towns. But the king would not yield, and sent his troops on Penugonda. The envoys returned home, and narrated their sad tale. A further meeting of the castemen was called at the instance of Bhaskaracharya, the caste guru, and it was resolved that all who wished to maintain the caste rule of menarikam should prepare to kill themselves in burning fire-pits. The majority fled rather than comply with the resolution. Those, however, who determined to sacrifice themselves in the fire-pits were 102 gotras in number, and they assembled in council, and asked Kusuma Sreshti to induce his daughter (who was only seven years old) to die with them. To this she consented, and showed herself in her true form of Paramesvari, the wife of Siva. On this, the Setti chief returned to his castemen, who asked him to get 103 fire-pits ready in the western portion of the town before the arrival of the king. These were accordingly dug, and decorated with festoons and plantain trunks at the four corners. Then the heads of the 102 gotras assembled, with their wives, in the courtyard of the temple of Nagaresvaraswami, where Vasavambika was symbolically married to the god. The headmen then tied on vira kankanams (heroes' wrist-threads), and marched in a body, with Vasavambika, to the fire-pits. There they gave counsel to their children that they should not ask voli (bride-price) for the marriage of their daughters, or communicate their secrets to females, or allow karnams (village accountants), rulers, unbelievers, or those universally abused into their homes. They further counselled them to give their daughters in marriage to the sons of their paternal aunts, even though they should be black-skinned, plain, blind of one eye, senseless, or of vicious habits, and though their horoscopes did not agree, and the omens were inauspicious. They were warned that, if they failed in so doing, they would lose their riches, and misfortune would fall on their families. Moreover, full power was given to the castemen to excommunicate the delinquents, and put them outside the town limits.