places and imbue each one with
additional significance for the
Pushti Marg.
Bajrang Dal
(“Hanuman’sHost”) The Bajrang Dal
is a modern Hindu organization that
has strong connections with the Hindu
nationalist Vishva Hindu Parishad
(VHP), although both are nominally
independent. The Bajrang Dal is
sometimes characterized as the VHP’s
“youth wing,” and its primary function
is to aid the VHPin carrying out its reli-
gious, political, and social campaigns,
particularly by supplying members to
build a crowd. The god Hanuman is
best noted for his prodigious strength,
and it is this quality that the Bajrang
Dal seems to have emphasized in
choosing him as their symbol.
Membership is open to young men
from all social strata, but the organiza-
tion reportedly draws much of its fol-
lowers from lower-caste groups.
Although local chapters of the Bajrang
Dal often perform social services and
philanthropic activities (as one might
find with any organized group), as a
whole the organization is widely seen
as an instrument of the VHP, to be used
when the situation calls for producing
a crowd, intimidation, or violence.
Baka
In Hindu mythology, a demonkilled by
the god Krishna during Krishna’s
childhood in Braj. Baka is one of the
demon assassins sent by Krishna’s
wicked uncle, Kamsa, to try to get rid
of the god. He comes to Braj in the
form of a giant crane (baka) and swal-
lows Krishna and his companions, but
he is killed when Krishna expands to
such a giant size in Baka’s stomach that
the demon explodes.
Bakasur
In the Mahabharata, the later of the
two great Hindu epics, Bakasur is a fero-
cious man-eating demon. To preserve
their lives, the local villagers send
Bakasur a daily sacrificial victim who
is chosen by lot, along with a wag-
onload of food that the demon also
eats. One day the lot falls to the brah-
minwho is hosting the Pandavas, the
five heroic brothers who are the epic’s
protagonists. When the brothers’
common wife, Draupadi, discovers
what has happened, she asks one of
the brothers, Bhima, to deliver the
food in the brahmin’s place. Bhima
drives the wagon to the cave, goads
the demon into battle by eating the
food in front of him, and then slays
Bakasur with one mighty blow.Baksheesh
(from the Persian word bakhshidan,
meaning “to give”) A gift, usually of
money, given to facilitate service. This
is usually paid in advance but can also
be given after the fact. In some cases
this is unabashed bribery, but most
often it is simply a way to ensure con-
tinuing service and attention, or a gra-
tuity for services already rendered.Balabhadra
Epithet of the mythic hero Balarama,
the god Krishna’s older brother.
Although he is a fairly minor mythic
figure, he is important for his connec-
tion with the temple of Jagannathin
the city of Puri. The temple’s presid-
ing deityis Jagannath (“Lord of the
World”), a tribal god who has been
assimilated into the Hindu pantheon
as a form of Krishna. The image of
Jagannath appears together with two
other images, Balabhadra and their
sister Subhadra, and the three deities
invariably appear as a group.
The poet Jayadeva, in his list of the
ten avatars (“divine incarnations”)
typically associated with the god
Vishnu, named Balabhadra as the
eighth avatar, the place normally
occupied by Krishna. According to
Jayadeva, Jagannath/Krishna is not aBajrang Dal