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 Rāmānandis is said to be Om Rāmāya Nāmah, or Om, Salutation to Rāma. Om is a very sacred syllable, having much magical power. Thereafter the novice must journey to Dwārka in Gujarāt 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-shell 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 Dwārka, 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 Bairāgis 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 Bairāgi 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, gānja and bhāng or preparations of Indian hemp. A Hindu on meeting a Bairāgi will greet him with the phrase ‘Jai Sītārām,’ and the Bairāgi will answer, ‘Sītārām.’ This word is a conjunction of the names of Rāma and his consort Sīta. When a Bairāgi receives alms he will present to the giver a flower and a sprig of tulsi.