Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c6.74

c6.74

According to one report the regular Yogī who slits the ears inserts the knife and then asks the novice whether he be willing to renounce the world or not; and if he is unwilling he withdraws the knife. If the novice says that he is willing to follow the precepts of the sect and become an ascetic, the ear-slitter moves the knife up and down, finishing the operation; pieces of a twig of *nīm*-wood, soaked in oil, are inserted in the wounds for three days, when ear-rings are inserted.⁴ One of the pictures shows an initiate whose ears are not yet healed, wearing ear-rings.