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As central authority, the Satras also diffuse spiritual education, regulate and control religious life and also administer moral discipline on the laity through the agency of the Namghars. The Satras very much encourage literacy and learning among the laity. They enforce that not only theBhaktas should study but the laity also should read regularly the Vaishnava Sastras and remember them by heart. The Satra functionaries very frequently visit the outlying villages, come into close contact with the laity, make earnest effort-to familiarize them with liturgical and religious texts. They hold in the Namghars special religious discourses and recitals.
In expounding the scriptures, they always bring them down to practical issues, with the idea of giving the people guidance for everyday living. They occasionally enquire into their faults and failings in religious life and recommend penance and punishment The Satradhikar’s accompanied by Satra functionaries pay periodical visits to the
villages, and stay either in the Namghars or Bahars, temporary camps.
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