NAGA. All Hindu sects have followers to whom this designation was applied. The Naga in all essential points were of the same description as the Viragi or Sanyasi, but in their zeal they used to leave off every kind of covering and go naked, and were the most worthless and profligate members of the Hindu religion. They always travelled with weapons, usually a matchlock, a sword, and shield, and sanguinary conflicts have occurred between Naga mendicants of opposite sects. The Saiva Naga were the leading actors in the bloody fray at Hardwar in 1790, which ex cluded the Vaishnava from the great fair there until the country came under the sway of the British. On that occasion 18,000 Viragi were left dead on the field. A party of them attacked Colonel Goddard's troops in their march between Dorawal and Herapur, and on a critical occasion 6000 of them aided Siudia. The Saiva Sanyasi smear their bodies with ashes, allow their hair, beards, and whiskers to grow, and wear the pro jecting braid of hair called the jata ; like the Viragi Naga, they used to carry arms, and wander about in bodies soliciting alms or levying contribu tions. The Saiva Naga were generally the refuse of the Dandi and Atit orders, or men who have no inclination for a life of study or business. When weary of the vagrant and violent habits of the Naga, they re-entered one of the better-disposed classes which they had originally quitted.
Naga is also applied to a class of the Dada Panthi Hindu sect, who carried arms and served Hindu princes, making good soldiers. A sect of the Gosain are likewise termed Naga, because they perform their ablutions (Sth'nanam) in a state of nudity. These Gosain profess asceticism, but well informed Hindus believe that almost all of them originally adopt the tenets of the sect with the object of securing a living without labour, and that few, not more than one in a hundred, live as celibates ; and the personal appearance of these men, sleek, with well-covered muscles, supports this view. They wander to very distant places, begging for their mat'h or monastery, and have very scanty clothing, only a small strip of cloth between their thighs. Immoralities, when de tected, are punished by fine. The ascetic Gosain can withdraw from the monastery on payment of a fine, can marry and engage in business. Only the Brahman, Kshatriya, and Vaisya are admitted as Gosains. The heart of- the mat'h is styled mahant. In the 19th century, under the settled rule of the British Government, the Naga migrants have greatly disappeared, especially" from the towns, seats of busy commerce.