S'AIVAS is the name of one of the three great divisions of Hindu sects. Sec INDIA. The word designates the votaries of Siva, and comprises different special sects, which varied in number at different periods of media:val Hinduism. To judge by the number of shrines dedicated to S Iva in his form as Linga, it would seem that the worship of this deity was the most prevalent of all the modes of adoration; but these temples are scarcely ever the resort of numerous votaries, and they are -regarded with comparatively little veueration by the Hindus. In upper India, the worship of S'iva has, indeed, never assumed a popular form. No legends are recorded of this deity of a poetic of- pleasing character; the S'aivas, unlike the Vaishnavas, have no works in any of the common dia lects, such its the Rtionlyan'a, the Veirttet, or the Bleuktavtdeci; nb establishments in Hin dustan, like S'rincith or Purl; and their teachers of repute, like S'ankara (q.v.), are too philosophical and speculative to be really popular. '1 he worship of Siva seems, there fore, to have been, from a remote period, more that of the learned and speculative classes, than that of the masses of the people. In a renowned work called the ganlamr-dig c.(;oya, or the victory of S'ankara over the world, composed by Anandagiri, one of the disciples of S'ankara, several subdivisions of the S'aivas are named—viz., the S'airee, properly A) called—who wore the impression of the Lill MI on both arms—the flandras, who had a trident stamped on the forehead; the Ullms, who had the drum of Siva on their arms; the Bhciktax, with an impression of the Linga on their foreheads; the Janga niers, who carried a figure of the Linga on their head; and the Pas'upatas, who imprinted the same symbol on the forehead, breast, navel, and arms. The present divisions of the S'aivas, however, are the following: The Dan'd'ins and Das'etimi-Dandins; the Yogins; the Jangamas; the Paramahansas; the Aghorins; the Urdltahilhus; Akils'inukhins and Nakleins; the Gadaras; the Ritleharas, S0kharas, and likhartts; the Kiirillingins; the Brahmachilrins; and the Meas.
The Dittedins, or staff-beaters, properly so called, are the representatives of the fourth order, or mendicant life. into which a Hindu is to enter after lie passed through the
stages of a religions student, householder, and hermit. The Dan'd'iu is distinguished by carrying a or small staff, with several projections from it, and a piece of cloth dyed with red ocher—in which the Brahruani•al cord is supposed to be enshrined— attached to it. lle shaves his hair and beard, wears only it cloth round his loins, and subsists on food obtained ready dressed from the Louses of the Brahmans once a day only. which he deposits in the-sm 11 1 a.. clay pot that he always carries with hint. Ile should live alone, and near to, but not a city; this latter rule, however, is rarely observed. The genuine Dan'd'in is not necessarily of the S'aiva sect ; but those who worship Siva, especially in his form as or the Terriffic, have, at the ceremony of initiation, a small incision made on the inner part of the knee, the blood drawn by this process being deemed an acceptable offering to the god. The Das'nami-Dan'd'ins arc included in this class; but they admit none but Brahmans into their body, and are considered to be the descendants of the original members of the fraternity, who refer their origin to the celebrated Sankara or Sanfrareiehárya (q v.). He is said to have had disciples, who are Padmapit'da, Hastilmalaka, Sures'wara or ,Mandana, and Tr,±It'aka. Of these, the first had two pupils. Tirtha and As'imu-a; the second two, Vane Aran'ya; the third had three, Saraswath Purl, and Bhfiratl; and the fourth had also three, Giri or Gir, Parvata. and SAgara. These ten constitute collectively the Das'Irand (Goin dwt'an, ten, and na' man, name); and when a Brahman enters into either class, he attaches to his denomination that of the class of which lie becomes a number; as Tirtha, Girl. etc. The philosophical tenets of this sect are mainly those of the Vedanta (q.v.), as taught by S'ankara and his oisciples; but they generally superadd the practice of the ), and many of them have adopted the doctrines of the Tantras (q.v.).