Balâi, Balâhi[45].—A tribe of weavers and labourers in the Central Duâb. They have no exogamous or endogamous divisions. They marry only in their own caste, but not in the gotra of their mother or grandmother. They can marry two sisters. There is no prohibition of marriage based on social position, occupation, or sectarial belief. They say themselves that they are the descendants of Panwâr Râjputs, and that their original home is Kota Bûndi and Bikâner. They are settled and not nomadic. They do not admit outsiders into the caste. Marriage is both infant and adult, and sexual license both before and after marriage is not tolerated. Polyandry is prohibited, and polygamy to the extent of two wives is allowed.
Marriage. 2. The marriage is celebrated in the usual way, and the binding part of it is the seven perambulations (bhanwar) round the sacred fire. A Brâhman priest officiates. Marriage under the form known as Dharaicha is also permitted. This is the form used in widow marriage. The widow can, if she please, live with the younger brother of her late husband; but she can, if she chooses, marry an outsider to the family, and her right of choice is fully recognized. A woman can be expelled [[135]]for infidelity, and she has the right of appeal to the tribal council. Such a divorced woman can marry again by the Dharaicha form.
Religion. 3. They are Hindus of the Vaishnava sect, and their chief god is Bhagwân. They worship Hanumân every Tuesday and Saturday, and Devi in the months of Chait and Kuâr. Zâhir Pîr is venerated on the ninth of the first half of Bhâdon. The offerings consist of flowers, sweetmeats, fruits, etc., and after presentation they are consumed by the worshippers. They employ Brâhmans as priests who do not incur any social discredit by serving them.
Disposal of the dead. 4. The dead are cremated. Poor people leave the ashes at the pyre; wealthier people send them to the Ganges. They perform the usual annual srâddha in the month of Kuâr.
Occupation. 5. Weaving is their main occupation, but some of them work as masons and day-labourers.
Social rules. 6. They eat pork and flesh of cloven-footed animals, except the cow. They drink spirits. They will not eat the flesh of monkeys, fish, fowls, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, rats or other vermin, or the leavings of other people. The lowest well known caste with which the caste will eat pakki is the Nâi. They eat kachchi cooked by Kâyasths, Gûjars or Ahîrs.
Bâm-Mârgi.—(Sans. Vâma-mârgi, “the left hand path”).—The notorious left hand or Sâkti sect, which presents one of the most degraded forms of modern Hinduism. On these Sir Monier Williams[46] writes:—“It can scarcely be doubted that Sâktism is Hinduism arrived at its worst and most corrupt stage of development. To follow out the whole process of evolution would not be easy. Suffice it to say that just as Hinduism resolved itself into two great systems, Saivism and Vaishnavism, so the adherents of these two systems respectively separated into two great classes. The first are now called “followers of the right hand path” (Dakshina-mârgis). These make the Purânas their real Veda (Nigama), and are devoted to either Siva or Vishnu in their double nature as male and female. But they do not display undue preference for the female or left-hand side of the deity; nor are they addicted to mystic or secret rites. The second class are called “followers [[136]]of the left-hand path” (Vâma-mârgis). These make the Tantras their peculiar Veda (Agama), tracing back their doctrines to the Kaula Upanishad, which is held to be the original authority for their opinions, whence their system is called Kaula as well as Sâkta, and they call themselves Kaulikas.
2. “And it is these left-hand worshippers who, I repeat, devote themselves to the exclusive worship of the female side of Siva and Vishnu; that is the goddess Durga or Kâli (Amba Devi) rather than to Siva; to Râdha rather than to Krishna; to Sîta rather than to Râma; but above all to Amba or Devi, the mother goddess, sometimes confounded with Siva’s consort, but rather, in her more comprehensive character, the great power (Sakti) of Nature, the one mother of the Universe (Jaganmâta, Jagadamba), the mighty mysterious force, whose function is to direct and control two quite distinct operations; namely, first, the working of the natural appetites and passions, whether for the support of the body by eating and drinking, or for the propagation of living organisms through sexual cohabitation; secondly, the acquisition of supernatural faculties (Siddhi), whether for man’s own individual exaltation or for the annihilation of his opponents.”
The sect devotes itself to what are technically known as the five Ms. which are named in the verse,—
Madyam mânsam cha minam cha mudrâ maithun mewa cha;