“”Leave for begging at ten o'clock daily on the dates given. If anyone puts a coin in your satchel along with grains or foodstuffs, and you have seen it, then request the giver to take the coin back. If the person refuses to take it back, then empty the bag, then and there, along with its contents. If you have no knowledge of the coin being there with or in the foodstuff, then it is not your fault.
Do not smoke when you are out begging. Wear a chaddi [underwear] under the kafni. Keep the brass vessel immaculately clean, as I, too, will eat the cooked food from it. Bhiksha is to be received at the door of a house or dwelling. After receiving bhiksha, salaam with folded hands and depart. All this is chiefly for the training in begging at Benares.
Also, do not make a beginning of the begging life by begging from a eunuch — it will not be auspicious. Later on, after January 1, it won't matter a bit.
In the afternoon Baba asked Vishnu and Sadashiv to study the Hindu almanac and let him know the important dates during the one-month celebration of the Kumbha Mela to be held in Hardwar in 1950. The significant dates were 2, 13 and 17 April. Don was sent to Sarnath the same day to look at prospective bungalows, as Baba wished to stay there for several days.
As decided and permitted, during the next three days, the companions went to the market to buy their personal necessities such as soap, toothpaste, razors, et cetera. Kaka, Gustadji and Pendu remained with Baba, whose requirements were bought by Adi and Vishnu. Eruch purchased the women's necessities.
On the evening of Tuesday, 22 November 1949, Ghani joked to the companions in sarcastic fashion: "The meaning of the New Life is only this: To do routine things at odd times; to create a difficulty where none exists; to pull up with a jerk an otherwise smooth-going situation — all such things have gone to make what we have been calling the New Life!"
Baba overheard his remarks and asked Ghani to explain. Ghani amplified, "Look at the unearthly time for our morning tea — 5:00 A.M.! We have no religious devotions to perform so early in the morning, such as arti, puja, kusti-sadra, namaz, and yet, in this God-awful, biting cold weather, we are required to crawl out of bed, groaning, hissing, shivering and coughing, at 4:30 in the morning, just for the cold pleasure of a cup of tea and a chapati (if available!) at 5:00 A.M. Really speaking, it should be called 'mourning' tea!"
