but the Suthra Shahi must have his drink
of sugar and water.' [346]

Parmarthi Sect

_Parmarthi Sect_.--A Vishnuite sect of which 26,000 persons were
returned as members in the census of 1901. Nearly all of these
belonged to the Uriya State of Kalahandi, since transferred to Bihar
and Orissa. The following account of the sect has been furnished by
Rai Bahadur Panda Baijnath, formerly Diwan of Kalahandi State.

This sect penetrated the State from the Orissa side, and seems to
belong to Bengal. In the beginning it consisted only in pure devotion
to the worship of Krishna, but later it has been degraded by sexual
indulgence and immorality, and this appears to be the main basis of
its ritual at present. Outwardly its followers recite the Bhagavad Gita
and pretend to be persons of very high morals. Their secret practices
were obtained from one of his officials who had entered the sect in
the lowest grade. On the day of initiation there is a great meeting
of members at the cost of the neophyte. A text is taught to him, and
the initiation is completed by all the members partaking together
of a feast without distinction of caste. The food eaten at this is
considered to be Mahaprasad, or as if offered to Vishnu in his form
of Jagannath at Puri, and to be therefore incapable of defilement. The
_mantra_ or text taught to the disciple is as follows:

O Hari, O Krishna, O Hari, O Krishna,
O Krishna, O Krishna, O Hari, O Hari,
O Hari, O Ramo, O Hari, O Ramo,
O Ramo, O Ramo, O Hari, O Hari.

The disciple is enjoined to repeat this text a prescribed number
of times, 108 or more, every day. To those pupils who show their
devotional ardour by continual repetition of the first text others
are taught.

The next step is that the disciple should associate himself or herself
with some other Parmarthi of the opposite sex and tend and serve
them. This relation, which is known as _Asra-patro_, cannot exist
between husband and wife, some other person having to be chosen in each
case, and it results of course in an immoral connection. Following
this is the further rite of _Almo-Samarpana_ or offering of oneself,
in which the disciple is required to give his wife to the Guru or
preceptor as the acme of self-sacrifice. The _guru_ calls the disciple
by a female name of one of the milkmaids of Brindaban to indicate
that the disciple regards Krishna with the same devotion as they
did. Sometimes the _guru_ and a woman