ade 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 assembly, when all eat in common. As a
matter of fact the order is a very mixed assortment 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 th