2. The Riimeinandas Reimiivats. They are by far the most numerous class of sec taries in Gangetic India: in the district of Agra, they alone constitute seven-tenths of the ascetic population. They belong chiefly to the poorer and inferior classes, with the exception of the Rajpnts and military Brahmans. The founder of this sect was Ram ananda, who, by some, is considered to have been the immediate disciple of Ratnanuja; by others, the fifth in descent from that teacher, when he would have lived about the end of the 13th c. ; but other more reliable accounts place him toward the end of the 14th, or the beginning of the 15th century. According to common tradition, Raman anda seceded from the Ramanujas to whom he originally belonged, because, having spent some time in traveling through various parts of India, and in consequence having been suspected by his fellow-disciples not to have conformed to the rule of the Raman ujas in taking his meals, he was condemned to feed in a place apart from the rest of them, but did not aquiesce in the affront thus offered him. His residence was at Ben area, at the Pancha Gang(); Chat', where a math, or monastery, of his followers is said to have existed. The especial object of their worship is Vislin'u, in his incarnation as Ramachandra, and his consort SIM, and, as amongst the Ramanujas, these deities either singly or jointly. Some members of this sect also pay adoration to other forms of Vishn u; and the religious mendicants of the sect consider all form of adoration super fluous, being content with the incessant invocation of Krishn'a and Rama. Their prac tices are less precise than those of the Ramannjas; but the most important difference between them consists in the fact that Ramananda abolished the distinction of caste among the religious orders, and taught that a Vairdgin, or one who quitted the ties of nature and society, shook off at the same time all personal distinction. The initiatory formula of Ramananda is Sri Rd ma, or " blessed Rama." Their sectarian marks are the same as those of the Ramanujas, except that the red perpendicular streak on the forehead is varied in shape and extent, and generally narrower than that of the Raman ujas. Their are various subdivisions of this sect, believed to have been founded by several eminent disciples of Ramananda. Their doctrines vary often from that of the latter, but they maintain an amicable intercourse with the Ramanujas and with each other. The twelve chief disciples of Ramananda were As'dnand, Kabir, 1?aithis, Pipd, Sursurdnand, Suklainand, Bhava' nand, Dhavana, Sena, lfahcinand, Paramcinand, and S'ri,Anancl; and besides these Ncibhdji, the author of the Bliaktamala, Sar-Da's," Das, the translator in Hindi of the Ramayan'a, and the author of many popular works which exercise a considerable influence on the Hindu population, and the poet Jayaadeva, the author of the Gitagovinda. Many legends, of course, are related of these person ages, especially in the 13haktamilla, the favorite work of this sect.
3. The Kabir Panthis. The founder of this sect, one of the most interesting and important in upper and central India, except, perlfaps, in Bengal itself, was Kabir, the most celebrated of the twelve disciples of Ramananda before mentioned, who, therefore, probably lived about the end of the 14th century. The circumstances connected with his birth, life, and death are all related as miraculous; and 4o little is certain about his life that even the Mussulinaus claim him as one of their persuasion. But his great coutro versey with the Hindu Scistras, and his limited knowledge of the Mohammedan author ities, render such a supposition highly improbable. According to the doctrine of this sect, there is but one God, the creator of the world; but, in opposition to the Vedanta (q.v.), they assert that he has a body formed of the five elements of matter, and a mind
endowed with the three gun'ag, or polities: he is of ineffable purity and irresistible power, eternal, and free from the defects of human nature, but in other respects does not differ from loan. The pure man is his living resemblance; and after death, be comes his equal and associate. God and man are therefore not only the same, but both in the same manner everything that exists. For 79 ages, God was alone; lie then felt the desire to renew the world, which desire assumed the shape of a female form; and this form is Maya (q.v.), or illusion, with whom he begot the triad, Brahman, Vislin'u, and Siva. He then disappeared, and Maya approached her offspring in order to frame the universe. Vishn'u hesitated to associate with her, and is therefore more respected by the Kalil'. Panthis dem the other two gods of the triad; but the latter were frightened by her, and the result of their sulamission was the birth of Saraswati, Lakshmi, and lima, whom she wedded to the three deities to produce the world. To understand the falsehood of Maiya is, therefore, the chief aim of man; and so long only as he is ignorant of the source of life, he is doomed to transmigration (q.v.), which, according to the belief of this sect, is also extended to the planetary bodies—a falling star or meteor being a proof, for instance, that it undergoes a fresh change. The moral code of the Kahlr Pandas is, in many respects, creditable to them. Life, they teach, being the gift of God, must not be violated by his creatures. Humanity and truth are two of their cardinal virtues; retirement from the world is deemed desirable; and implicit devotion, in word, act, and thought, to the guru, or spiritual teacher, a supreme duty. But, as regards the latter point, it is characteristic that the pupil is enjoined first to scrutinize the teacher's doctrine and acts, and to be satisfied that he is the sage lie pretends to be, before he resigns himself to his control. It is no part of their faith to worship any deity, or to observe any ceremonies and rites of the Hindus; but they are recommended outwardly to conform to all the usages of tribe and caste, and some even pretend to worship the usual divinities, though this is not considered justifiable. They have no peculiar mode of dress, and though some wear the sectarian marks of the Vaishhn'avas, and the necklace and rosary, all these outward signs are considered of no importance. Though, therefore, properly speaking, they can scarcely be included amongst the Vaishn'ava sects, yet their paying more respec tto Vishn'u than to any other god of the Trimdrti (q.v.), and the fact of Kabir having been a disciple of Bilmananda, also the friendly intercourse which they maintain with most of the Vaishn'ava sects, cause them always to be looked upon as belonging to them. The doctrines of Knisir are taught in a great variety of works in different dialects of Hindi, all of which are the acknowl edged compositions of his disciples and successors. The principal are the &Alas, 5,000 in number, consisting of one stanza each; the Bijak, in 654 sections ; and the Sukh Nidlai a. The sect itself is split into a number of subdivisions, and twelve branches of it are traced to the following personhges: Srutgoplil Dds, the author of the Sukh Kidhan—his successors preside over the Chaura at Benares; Blaigo This, the author of the Bijak; 21Tardycsa Ms and Churarnan' Dds, the two sons of a merchant at Jabbalpur; Jaggo Dds, of Kuttack; Jiran Das; Kamol, of I3ombay; Rik S411, of Broda; Jncini, of Majjhul, near 8ahas'ram; Saheb Dries, of Cuttack; Nityanand, and Kamal in the Dekhan. The principal establishment of the sect is the Kabir Chaura at l3enares.