The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume II Part 8

Among the Bairagis, besides the four Sampradayas or main orders, there are seven Akharas. These are military divisions or schools for training, and were inst.i.tuted when the Bairagis had to fight with the Gosains. Any member of one of the four Sampradayas can belong to any one of the seven Akharas, and a man can change his Akhara as often as he likes, but not his Sampradaya. The Akharas, with the exception of the Lasgaris, who change the red centre line of the Ramanandis into a white line, have no special sect-marks. They are distinguished by their flags or standards, which are elaborately decorated with gold thread embroidered on silk or sometimes with jewels, and cost two or three hundred rupees to prepare. These standards were carried by the Naga or naked members of the Akhara, who went in front and fought. Once in twelve years a great meeting of all the seven Akharas is held at Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain or Hardwar, where they bathe and wash the image of the G.o.d in the water of the holy rivers. The quarrels between the Bairagis and Gosains usually occurred at the sacred rivers, and the point of contention was which sect should bathe first. The following is a list of the seven Akharas: Digambari, Khaki, Munjia, Kathia, Nirmohi, Nirbani or Niranjani and Lasgari.

The name of the Digamber or Meghdamber signifies sky-clad or cloud-clad, that is naked. They do penance in the rainy season by sitting naked in the rain for two or three hours a day with an earthen pot on the head and the hands inserted in two others so that they cannot rub the skin. In the dry season they wear only a little cloth round the waist and ashes over the rest of the body. The ashes are produced from burnt cowdung picked up off the ground, and not mixed with straw like that which is prepared for fuel.

The Khaki Bairagis also rub ashes on the body. During the four hot months they make five fires in a circle, and kneel between them with the head and legs and arms stretched towards the fires. The fires are kindled at noon with little heaps of cowdung cakes, and the penitent stays between them till they go out. They also have a block of wood with a hole through it, into which they insert the organ of generation and suspend it by chains in front and behind. They rub ashes on the body, from which they probably get their name of Khaki or dust-colour.

The Munjia Akhara have a belt made of _munj_ gra.s.s round the waist, and a little ap.r.o.n also of gra.s.s, which is hung from it, and pa.s.sed through the legs. Formerly they wore no other clothes, but now they have a cloth. They also do penance between the fires.

The Kathias have a waist-belt of bamboo fibre, to which is suspended the wooden block for the purpose already described. Their name signifies wooden, and is probably given to them on account of this custom.

The Nirmohi carry a _lota_ or bra.s.s vessel and a little cup, in which they receive alms.

The Nirbani wear only a piece of string or rope round the waist, to which is attached a small strip of cloth pa.s.sing through the legs. When begging, they carry a _kawar_ or banghy, holding two baskets covered with cloth, and into this they put all their alms. They never remove the cloth, but plunge their hands into the basket at random when they want something to eat. They call the basket Kamdhenu, the name of the cow which gave inexhaustible wealth. These Bairagis commonly marry and acc.u.mulate property.

The Lasgari are soldiers, as the name denotes. [106] They wear three straight lines of sandalwood up the forehead. It is said that on one occasion the Bairagis were suddenly attacked by the Gosains when they had only made the white lines of the sect-mark, and they fought as they were. In consequence of this, they have ever since worn three white lines and no red one.

Others say that the Lasgari are a branch of the Digambari Akhara, and that the Munjia and Kathia are branches of the Khaki Akhara. They give three other Akharas--Niralankhi, Mahanirbani and Santokhi--about which nothing is known.

10. The Dwaras.

Besides the Akharas, the Bairagis are said to have fifty-two Dwaras or doors, and every man must be a member of a Dwara as well as of a Sampradaya and Akhara. The Dwaras seem to have no special purpose, but in the case of Bairagis who marry, they now serve as exogamous sections, so that members of the same Dwara do not intermarry.

11. Initiation, appearance and customs.

A candidate for initiation has his head shaved, is invested with a necklace of beads of the _tulsi_ or basil, and is taught a _mantra_ or text relating to Vishnu by his preceptor. The initiation text of the Ramanandis is said to be _Om Ramaya Namah_, or _Om_, Salutation to Rama. _Om_ is a very sacred syllable, having much magical power. Thereafter the novice must journey to Dwarka in Gujarat and have his body branded with hot iron or copper in the shape of Vishnu's four implements: the _chakra_ or discus, the _guda_ or club, the _shank_ or conch-sh.e.l.l and the _padma_ or lotus. Sometimes these are not branded but are made daily on the arms with clay. The sect-mark should be made with Gopichandan or the milkmaid's sandalwood. This is supposed to be clay taken from a tank at Dwarka, in which the Gopis or milkmaids who had been Krishna's companions drowned themselves when they heard of his death. But as this can seldom be obtained any suitable whitish clay is used instead. The Bairagis commonly let their hair grow long, after being shaved at initiation, to imitate the old forest ascetics. If a man makes a pilgrimage on foot to some famous shrine he may have his head shaved there and make an offering of his hair. Others keep their hair long and shave it only at the death of their _guru_ or preceptor. They usually wear white clothes, and if a man has a cloth on the upper part of the body it should be folded over the shoulders and knotted at the neck. He also has a _chimta_ or small pair of tongs, and, if he can obtain it, the skin of an Indian antelope, on which he will sit while taking his food. The skin of this animal is held to be sacred. Every Bairagi before he takes his food should dip a sprig of _tulsi_ or basil into it to sanctify it, and if he cannot get this he uses his necklace of _tulsi_-beads for the purpose instead. The caste abstain from flesh and liquor, but are addicted to the intoxicating drugs, _ganja_ and _bhang_ or preparations of Indian hemp. A Hindu on meeting a Bairagi will greet him with the phrase 'Jai Sitaram,'

and the Bairagi will answer, 'Sitaram.' This word is a conjunction of the names of Rama and his consort Sita. When a Bairagi receives alms he will present to the giver a flower and a sprig of _tulsi_.

12. Recruitment of the order and its character.

A man belonging to any caste except the impure ones can be initiated as a Bairagi, and the order is to a large extent recruited from the lower castes. Theoretically all members of the order should eat together; but the Brahmans and other high castes belonging to it now eat only among themselves, except on the occasion of a Ghosti or special religious a.s.sembly, when all eat in common. As a matter of fact the order is a very mixed a.s.sortment of people. Many persons who lost their caste in the famine of 1897 from eating in Government poor-houses, joined the order and obtained a respectable position. Debtors who have become hopelessly involved sometimes find in it a means of escape from their creditors. Women of bad character, who have been expelled from their caste, are also frequently enrolled as female members, and in monasteries live openly with the men. The caste is also responsible for a good deal of crime. Not only is the disguise a very convenient one for thieves and robbers to a.s.sume on their travels, but many regular members of the order are criminally disposed. Nevertheless large numbers of Bairagis are men who have given up their caste and families from a genuine impulse of self-sacrifice, and the desire to lead a religious life.

13. Social position and customs.

On account of their sanct.i.ty the Bairagis have a fairly good social position, and respectable Hindu castes will accept cooked food from them. Brahmans usually, but not always, take water. They act as _gurus_ or spiritual guides to the laymen of all castes who can become Bairagis. They give the Ram and Gopal Mantras, or the texts of Rama and Krishna, to their disciples of the three twice-born castes, and the Sheo Mantra or Siva's text to other castes. The last is considered to be of smaller religious efficacy than the others, and is given to the lower castes and members of the higher ones who do not lead a particularly virtuous life. They invest boys with the sacred thread, and make the sect-mark on their foreheads. When they go and visit their disciples they receive presents, but do not ask them to confess their sins nor impose penalties.

If a mendicant Bairagi keeps a woman it is stated that he is expelled from the community, but this rule does not seem to be enforced in practice. If he is detected in a casual act of s.e.xual intercourse a fine should be imposed, such as feeding two or three hundred Bairagis. The property of an unmarried Bairagi descends to a selected _chela_ or disciple. The bodies of the dead are usually burnt, but those of saints specially famous for their austerities or piety are buried, and salt is put round the body to preserve it. Such men are known as Bhakta.

14. Bairagi monasteries.

The Bairagis [107] have numerous _maths_ or monasteries, scattered over the country and usually attached to temples. The Math comprises a set of huts or chambers for the Mahant or superior and his permanent pupils; a temple and often the Samadhi or tomb of the founder, or of some eminent Mahant; and a Dharmsala or charitable hostel for the accommodation of wandering members of the order, and of other travellers who are constantly visiting the temple. Ingress and egress are free to all, and, indeed, a restraint on personal liberty seems never to have entered into the conception of any Hindu religious legislator. There are, as a rule, a small number of resident _chelas_ or disciples who are scholars and attendants on the superiors, and also out-members who travel over the country and return to the monastery as a headquarters. The monastery has commonly some small endowment in land, and the resident _chelas_ go out and beg for alms for their common support. If the Mahant is married the headship may descend in his family; but when he is unmarried his successor is one of his disciples, who is commonly chosen by election at a meeting of the Mahants of neighbouring monasteries. Formerly the Hindu governor of the district would preside at such an election, but it is now, of course, left entirely to the Bairagis themselves.

15. Married Bairagis.

Large numbers of Bairagis now marry and have children, and have formed an ordinary caste. The married Bairagis are held to be inferior to the celibate mendicants, and will take food from them, but the mendicants will not permit the married Bairagis to eat with them in the _chauka_ or place purified for the taking of food. The customs of the married Bairagis resemble those of ordinary Hindu castes such as the Kurmis. They permit divorce and the remarriage of widows, and burn the dead. Those who have taken to cultivation do not, as a rule, plough with their own hands. Many Bairagis have acquired property and become landholders, and others have extensive moneylending transactions. Two such men who had acquired possession of extensive tracts of zamindari land in Chhattisgarh, in satisfaction of loans made to the Gond zamindars, and had been given the zamindari status by the Marathas, were subsequently made Feudatory Chiefs of the Nandgaon and Chhuikhadan States. These chiefs now marry and the States descend in their families by primogeniture in the ordinary manner. As a rule, the Bairagi landowners and moneylenders are not found to be particularly good specimens of their cla.s.s.

Balahi

1. General notice.

_Balahi._ [108]--A low functional caste of weavers and village watchmen found in the Nimar and Hoshangabad Districts and in Central India. They numbered 52,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, being practically confined to the two Districts already mentioned. The name is a corruption of the Hindi _bulahi_, one who calls, or a messenger. The Balahis seem to be an occupational group, probably an offshoot of the large Kori caste of weavers, one of whose subdivisions is shown as Balahi in the United Provinces. In the Central Provinces they have received accretions from the spinner caste of Katias, themselves probably a branch of the Koris, and from the Mahars, the great menial caste of Bombay. In Hoshangabad they are known alternatively as Mahar, while in Burhanpur they are called Bunkar or weaver by outsiders. The following story which they tell about themselves also indicates their mixed origin. They say that their ancestors came to Nimar as part of the army of Raja Man of Jodhpur, who invaded the country when it was under Muhammadan rule. He was defeated, and his soldiers were captured and ordered to be killed. [109] One of the Balahis among them won the favour of the Muhammadan general and asked for his own freedom and that of the other Balahis from among the prisoners. The Musalman replied that he would be unable to determine which of the prisoners were really Balahis. On this the Balahi, whose name was Ganga Kochla, replied that he had an effective test. He therefore killed a cow, cooked its flesh and invited the prisoners to partake of it. So many of them as consented to eat were considered to be Balahis and liberated; but many members of other castes thus obtained their freedom, and they and their descendants are now included in the community. The subcastes or endogamous groups distinctly indicate the functional character of the caste, the names given being Nimari, Gannore, Katia, Kori and Mahar. Of these Katia, Kori and Mahar are the names of distinct castes, Nimari is a local subdivision indicating those who speak the peculiar dialect of this tract, and the Gannore are no doubt named after the Rajput clan of that name, of whom their ancestors were not improbably the illegitimate offspring. The Nimari Balahis are said to rank lower than the rest, as they will eat the flesh of dead cattle which the others refuse to do. They may not take water from the village well, and unless a separate one can be a.s.signed to them, must pay others to draw water for them. Partly no doubt in the hope of escaping from this degraded position, many of the Nimari group became Christians in the famine of 1897. They are considered to be the oldest residents of Nimar. At marriages the Balahi receives as his perquisite the leaf-plates used for feasts with the leavings of food upon them; and at funerals he takes the cloth which covers the corpse on its way to the burning-_ghat_. In Nimar the Korkus and Balahis each have a separate burying-ground which is known as Murghata. [110] The Katias weave the finer kinds of cloth and rank a little higher than the others. In Burhanpur, as already stated, the caste are known as Bunkar, and they are probably identical with the Bunkars of Khandesh; Bunkar is simply an occupational term meaning a weaver.

2. Marriage.

The caste have the usual system of exogamous groups, some of which are named after villages, while the designations of others are apparently nicknames given to the founder of the clan, as Bagmar, a tiger-killer, Bhagoria, a runaway, and so on. They employ a Brahman to calculate the horoscopes of a bridal couple and fix the date of their wedding, but if he says the marriage is inauspicious, they merely obtain the permission of the caste _panchayat_ and celebrate it on a Sat.u.r.day or Sunday. Apparently, however, they do not consult real Brahmans, but merely priests of their own caste whom they call Balahi Brahmans. These Brahmans are, nevertheless, said to recite the Satya Narayan Katha. They also have _gurus_ or spiritual preceptors, being members of the caste who have joined the mendicant orders; and Bhats or genealogists of their own caste who beg at their weddings. They have the practice of serving for a wife, known as Gharjamai or Lamjhana. When the pauper suitor is finally married at the expense of his wife's father, a marriage-shed is erected for him at the house of some neighbour, but his own family are not invited to the wedding.

After marriage a girl goes to her husband's house for a few days and returns. The first Diwali or Akha-tij festival after the wedding must also be pa.s.sed at the husband's house, but consummation is not effected until the _aina_ or _gauna_ ceremony is performed on the attainment of p.u.b.erty. The cost of a wedding is about Rs. 80 to the bridegroom's family and Rs. 20 to the bride's family. A widow is forbidden to marry her late husband's brother or other relatives. At the wedding she is dressed in new clothes, and the foreheads of the couple are marked with cowdung as a sign of purification. They then proceed by night to the husband's village, and the woman waits till morning in some empty building, when she enters her husband's house carrying two water-pots on her head in token of the fertility which she is to bring to it.

3. Other customs.

Like the Mahars, the Balahis must not kill a dog or a cat under pain of expulsion; but it is peculiar that in their case the bear is held equally sacred, this being probably a residue of some totemistic observance. The most binding form of oath which they can use is by any one of these animals. The Balahis will admit any Hindu into the community except a man of the very lowest castes, and also Gonds and Korkus. The head and face of the neophyte are shaved clean, and he is made to lie on the ground under a string-cot; a number of the Balahis sit on this and wash themselves, letting the water drip from their bodies on to the man below until he is well drenched; he then gives a feast to the caste-fellows, and is considered to have become a Balahi. It is reported also that they will receive back into the community Balahi women who have lived with men of other castes and even with Jains and Muhammadans. They will take food from members of these religions and of any Hindu caste, except the most impure.

Balija

1. Origin and traditions.