40 IN THE VISION OF GOD
The chela released a satchel from his shoulder, and
extracted from it two small pouches, a cliilam or earthen
pipe, a coil of coir rope and a match box. From one of the
pouches he took out a compressed lump of green leaves—
ganja, and placing it tenderly upon his left palm, soaked it
freely with water from his lota. After removing the seeds
and squeezing the "water out, he opened the other pouch
and, inserting his fingers, took out a goodly pinch of dry
yellow tobacco. Then he mixed the tobacco with the rinsed
ganja on his palm.
Now pressing the mixture into a hit of a cake he laid it
on Ms thigh. Next he cut out a small length of the coir
rope and, making it into a ring, set fire to it. While it -was
burning he filled the chilam with the mixture of ganja and
tobacco. The coir ring—burnt into red live cinder—he
swiftly carried with his fingers to the mouth of the chilam.
" Maharaj-ji," he called out to his guru who was now
deeply engaged in a talk with another sadhu, who
had coine from the other side, seeing the active pre-
paration for a ganja smoke. The chelu offered the chilam
to Ms guru.
With eyes red with anger the guru growled at his chela :
'*Idiot, where is my safi?" (i.e. the small piece of cloth
used at the smoking end of the chilam.) " How dare you
offer me the chilam without it?—you fool."
The chela—like a scared animal—searched for the rag
while, all the time, his guru was fuming with rage. How-
ever, he got the thing and no sooner had he wetted it than
the guru snatched it away from him and rolled it on the
nether end of the chilam. But before taking it to his lips,
in a loud and shrill voice he chante^d out the usual invoca-
tion to Bhankar, the Lord of Kailas:
" Bora—Boni—Mahadev —Kailaspati—Bholanath—Shan-
ker" etc. He then lifted the pipe to his mouth and took a
prolonged pull at it, giving vent, at the same time, to a
sharp hissing noise* Lowering the pipe he let out the smoke