534> Dr. Buchanan Hamilton on the Srcwacs or Jains. 



gachlia he chooses. The Sri-piijya is the Guru, or spiritual guide, of the 

 gachha, and as such (as is usual among Hindus of all sects) is worshipped 

 by his followers ; but whether or not he is exactly of the same rank with 

 Pandita Adidrija, whom I ha\e mentioned in my account of Mysore, 

 I cannot ascertain. The Sri-piijya is generally by birth a Srdwac, and 

 renounces all worldly pleasures : he educates a number of pupils in the 

 same strict practice, and is succeeded by one of them when he is translated 

 to heaven. None of the Sri-piijyas who resort to Bihar appear to reside 

 farther east than Gwalior. Each of them seems to have an abode which 

 may be considered as his head-quarters ; but they pass a great part of their 

 time in visiting their own flocks. Although it is for these alone tiiat they 

 perform the offices of delivering initiatory instruction (Upades), of distri- 

 buting consecrated ashes, and of reading the book called Pritikrama, yet 

 wherever they go they are received by the whole sect witli the utmost 

 respect -, and in all the principal places which they frequent, houses called 

 pausal have been built lor their accommodation. The Sri-piijyas and their 

 immediate pupils, I understand, in general possess some learning. The people 

 of each gachha are so scattered, that the Sri-piyyas have found it necessary to 

 appoint assistants, who act as deputies to perform the above-mentioned 

 ceremonies, and to-manage the temporal concerns of the Sri-piijya. These 

 assistants are the only persons who in these districts are called Yaiis, although 

 it would appear from Colonel Mackenzie's account* that in tlie south the 

 term is considered applicable to the whole priesthood. The Yatis are of 

 the order of Mahiiirata, described in the Asiatic Researches by Colonel 

 Mackenzie, and ought to observe with the utmost strictness the five great 

 virtues of the Jain law : 1 , respect for the Ufe of all creatures ; 2, truth ; 

 3, honesty; 4, chastity; 5, poverty: but this last is binding only while 

 they have no expectation of being elevated to the high dignity of Sri-pujya. 

 On this account it seems to be difficult to find persons willing to fill the 

 office, so that children are usually purchased for the purpose, and among 

 these the Srdu-acs are willing to take the children of Bruhmans. The two 

 Yatis at Bihar had originally been of this order, and being still sus- 

 pected of a hankering after the opinions of their youth, were far from being 

 respected, although one of them, as I have said, was a man of very consi- 

 derable learning and good manners, qualifications which, I am told, are 



As. Res., vol. vli. pp. 244-286. 



