VAISHN'AVAS is the name of one of the three great divisions of Hindu sects. See INDIA, section Religion. The word, derived from Vishn'a (q.v.). designates the wor shipers of this deity, and comprises a great variety of sects; but this variety itself differs according to different periods of the mediaeval history of India, old divisions becoming extinct, and new ones taking their place. Thus, the account of the Vaishn'avas, as given in a celebrated work of Anandagiri, the S'ankara-dig-rijaya, or the victory of the great theologian S'ankara over his religious adversaries, would no longer apply in detail to the present condition of the Vaishn'avas; and even some of those varieties mentioned by the late prof. Wilson in his Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus, written in 1832, would seem to have disappeared already in our days. The common link of all the sects comprised under the name of Vaishn'avas, is their belief in the supremacy of Vislin'u over the other gods of the Trimarti (q.v.). Their difference consists in the character which theyassign to this supremacy, and to the god Vishn'u himself in the religious and other practices founded on the nature of their belief, and in their sectarian marks. The following sects belonging to this category may especially be noticed here.
1. The Ramanujas, or Sri Vaishn'avas, or Sri-Sampradilyins. They derive their origin from Raintinuja, a celebrated reformer, who was born at Perumbur, in the s. of India, about the middle of the 12th c., and is considered by his followers as an biennia of S esha (q.v.), the serpent of Vishn'u. He studied at Conjeveram, resided afterward at S'riranga, and then traveled over different parts of India, wht.re he was especially engaged in combating the professors of different creeds, particularly the S'aivas. On his return to S'Aranga, he was seized by the king Kerika'la Chola, but effected his escape, and found refuge with the Jain king of Mysore, Yitala Deva, whom he con verted to the Vaishn'ava faith. For 12 years he then remained at Mysore; but at the death of the Chola king, returned to S'riranga, where he spent the remainder of his life in religious seclusion. The Ramanujas address their worship to Vishn'u and his con sort, Lakshmt (q.v.), and their respective incarnations, either singly or conjointly. Hence their sect consists of corresponding subdivisions, according as Narayan'a or Lakshmi, or Lakshmi-Narayan'a, or Rama., or Sita or Sita-Rama, or any other incarna tion of these deities, is the preferential object of the veneration of the votary. Their most striking peculiarity is the preparation and the scrupulous privacy of their meals; for should the meal during its preparation, or while they are eating it, attract even the looks of a stranger, the operation is instantly stopped, and the viands buried in the ground. The marks by which they distinguish themselves from other sects are two per
pendicular white lines, drawn with a white earth, gopichandana, from the root of the hair to the commencement of each eyebrow, and a transverse streak connecting Ilium across the root of the nose; in the center is a perpendicular streak of red, made with red sanders. or a preparation of tumeric and lime; other marks, representing several of the attributes of Vislin'u, they have either painted or impressed on the breast and each upper arm; and, besides, they wear a necklace of the wood of the Tulasi (holy basil), and carry a rosary of the seeds of The same plant, or of the lotus. The sacred formula with which a member of this sect is initiated into it consists merely of the words Om Tarnow Darnall'," Om, salutation to Rama." Their principal religious tenet is the belief that Vishn u is the cause and creator of all the Worlds; that lie and the universe are one, though he is of a twofold form, the supreme spirit or cause, and the gross one, the effect or matter. In distinction from the Vedanta, with which their doctrine has other wise many points of contact, they regard their supreme deity as endowed with qualities, all of which are of course excellent; and teach that the universe consists of chit, think ing or spirit, achit, unthinking or matter, and iitcara, or god; the relation of which is that of enjoyer, the thing enjoyed, and the ruler of both. The deity, they assume, is or has been visibly present in five modifications, in the objects of worship, as images, etc.; in the incarnations (see under VISnNM; in certain forms called Vyfihas, viz., Vasudeva or Kr'ishn'a; Balarama, Pradyumna, and Aniruddlia; and in the subtle form which comprises six quhlities—absence of passion, immortality, exemption from pain or care, absence of natural wants, love, and practice of truth—and the human soul; all of which have to be worshiped seriatim, as the votary ascends in the scale of perfection. The chief authoritative works in Sanskrit of this sect are the Vedeinta &liras, with several commentaries, several works on the Vedanta (q.v.) philosophy, the Parneltartitra of Narada; of Puran'as (q.v.), 'the Vishn'u-, Gm-tra-, Padina-, Varciha-, and Blidgarata-Purlin'a; and besides, the works of Venice' a, and several popular works on the dialects of the south. It is in the s. that the followers of Ramanuja, and their tem ples and establishments, are still numerous; in the n. of India, where they are better known as SriVaishn'avas, they are not of frequent occurrence.