At the same time that Aradhva was founding his Krishnaite sect in Southwestern Tndia, Rama nuja in the southeast (about Madras) was founding the first distinctively Ramaite Vaish nava sect. The Ramanu,ja sect remained in the south, but the sect founded by Ramannja's fol lower, Ramanand, was operative in the north in the fourteenth century, and to this sect are due in succession some of the reform movements of more recent times. The Northern School (Yadagalis) hold to the 'monkey doctrine,' while the Southern School (Tengalais) affect the 'cat doctrine.' The former doctrine holds that God saves the sinner as a monkey does its young, by allowing the young to embrace it and be carried to safety. The cat doctrine is Calvinistic, affirming that God saves as does a cat, by picking up the kitten without concur rence or the kitten's part. The Ten galais are the more numerous and have a theo logical literature written in Tamil.
But the great difference between Krishnaites and Ramaites is moral and intellectual. The Krislmaite Vaishnavas, with few exceptions, such as that of the high-caste :Madhya sect, are as epicurean and licentious in practice as they are unphilosophical in intellect. What literature they possess is small, apart from erotic poetry. On the other hand, the Rama schools have elabo rated complete theological systems, and, gener ally speaking, they are morally above reproach. Most Ramaites hold that the deity is not without qualities, and in logical conclusion they main tain that Rama as Vishnu has a heaven of pure delight in which the believer will lead a pure but joyful existence, not being absorbed into the divine essence. In consequence of the moral tone of the Rama Vaishnavas, it is from them rather than from the KrISImaites that the later re formers draw their inspiration. Such reformers
were in no sense themselves Vaislinavas, but rather deists and unitarians who are nnsectarian. Kabir, one of the disciples of Ramanand, founded the sect of the Kahir Panthis, which still has a large following in Northern India, but unites Rama and the divine monkey, Hanuman (q.v.), in one common worship. A purely deistic sect also claiming Ranianand as the teacher of their founder is that of the Dadu Panthis. The ture of the modern Vaishnava sects is best rep resented by the Ramraritmanas of Tulasidasa, the greatest of modern Hindu poets, and by the Prems-agar or 'ocean of love,' an erotic-religious poem of the Vallabha sect. For the older litera ture, see the article Visnxu.
It remains only to be said of the Vaishnavas that some of the sub-sects worship almost ex clusively the `female side of Vishnu,' in the form of his wife, Lakshmi, or in that of Sita, the wife of Rama. The Vaishnavas have several famous festivals, the chief being that of the Rath Ydha in Bengal, in which an image of the god is Car ried in a procession, the Junmastaini or birthday festival of the Child Krishna at Benares, and the Has Faha or dance festival, commemorating the dancing of Krishna with the Gopis, his mis tresses. The general sign of all Vaishnavas con sists of two perpendicular marks on the forehead. They revere as symbols the Tulasi-plant and the salagrama stone, a white pebble; the veneration for this latter as a symbol, however, is of recent origin. Consult : Wilson, Nketch of the Religious Sects of Hindus (edited by Rost, London, 18(39.) Williams, Brahmanism and Hinduism, or Reli gious Tito-tight and Life in India. (3d ed.,ib.,1857 Barth, Religions of Indio (ib., 1581) Hopkins, Religions of India (Boston. 1895).