Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis c7.53

c7.53

The Yogī castes of the Central Provinces¹ rank as Hindus of the menial group, from whom no good Hindu would take either food or water. They accept cooked food from respectable castes; permit the marriage of widows, using their own priests² in the ceremonies; allow divorce and follow the social customs of the cultivating castes of the locality. They are divided into sub-sects which are determined according to occupation or profession, as follows: Barwa or Gārpagārī who ward off hail storms from the standing crops; Maṇihārī, pedlars who travel about to bazaars, selling various small articles such as hand mirrors, spangles and dyeing powder, coral beads, imitation jewelry, pens, pencils and other articles, securing pearls and coral from Bombay to sell in the villages; Rītabikanāth, who prepare and sell soap-nut; Patbina, who make hempen thread for gunny bags used in carrying grain on bullocks; and Ladāimār, who hunt jackals and sell and eat their flesh.³