A man belonging to any caste except the impure ones can be initiated
as a Bairagi, and the order is to a large extent recruited from
the lower castes. Theoretically all members of the order should
eat together; but the Brahmans and other high castes belonging
to it now eat only among themselves, except on the occasion of a
Ghosti or special religious assembly, when all eat in common. As a
matter of fact the order is a very mixed assortment of people. Many
persons who lost their caste in the famine of 1897 from eating in
Government poor-houses, joined the order and obtained a respectable
position. Debtors who have become hopelessly involved sometimes find
in it a means of escape from their creditors. Women of bad character,
who have been expelled from their caste, are also frequently enrolled
as female members, and in monasteries live openly with the men. The
caste is also responsible for a good deal of crime. Not only is the
disguise a very convenient one for thieves and robbers to assume on
their travels, but many regular members of the order are criminally
disposed. Nevertheless large numbers of Bairagis are men who have given
up their caste and families from a genuine impulse of self-sacrifice,
and the desire to lead a religious life.