Mr. CoLEBRQOKE 011 the Philosoph2/ of Indian Sectaries. 575 



Pdnchardtras or Bhcigavatas. 

 Among the Vaishn'avas or special worshippers of Vishnu, is a sect distin- 

 guished by the appellation of Pcmchardtras, and also called risJm'u-B/idgu- 

 vatas, or simply Bhdgavatas. The latter name might, from its similarity, 

 lead to the confounding of these wth the followers of the Bhagavad-gitd, 

 or of the Sri-Bhdgavata-purdn'a. The appropriate and distinctive appella- 

 tion then is that of Fdnchardtra, derived from the title of the original 

 work which contains the doctrine of the sect. It is noticed in the 

 Bhdrata, \vith the Sdnc'hya, Yoga and Pdsfupata, as a system deviating 

 from the Vedas ; and a passage quoted by Sancara-acharya seems to 

 intimate that its promulgator was Sandilya, who was dissatisfied with the 

 Vedas, not finding in them a prompt and sufficient way of supreme excel- 

 lence ( paras' rey as) and final beatitude ; and therefore he had recourse to 

 this s'dstra. It is, however, by most ascribed to Narayan'a or Vasudeva 

 himself; and the orthodox account for its heresy, as they do for that of 

 Buddha's doctrines, by presuming delusion wilfully practised on mankind 

 by the holy or divine personage, who revealed the tatitra, or dganici, that 

 is, the sacred book in question, though heterodox. 



Some of its partisans nevertheless pretend, that it conforms with one of 

 the ^d(fhds of the veda, denominated the Ecdyana. This does not, how- 

 ever, appear to be the case ; nor is it clear, that any such s'dc'hd is forth- 

 coming, or has ever existed. 



Many of this sect practise the (sanscdras) initiatory ceremonies of rege- 

 neration and admission to holy orders, according to the forms directed by 

 the Vdjasanej/i-s'dc'hd of the Yajur-veda. Others, abiding rigidly by their 

 own rules, perform the initiatory rites, in a different, and even contrary 

 mode, founded, as is pretended, on the supposed Ecdyana-^ddhd. But 

 their sacerdotal initiation is questioned, and their rank as Bruhman'as con- 

 tested, on the ground of the insufficiency of tlieir modes unsanctioned by 

 either of the three genuine and authoritative vedas. 



The religious doctrine of the sect is, by admission of Sancara and other 

 commentators of the Veddnta, reconcileable on many points with the Veda ; 

 but in some essential respects it is at direct variance witli that autliority, 

 and consequently deemed heretical ; and its confutation is the object of the 

 8th or last adhicaran'a in the controversial chapter of the Brafime-sutras 

 (2. 2. 8). 



Yet Ramanuja, in his commentary on those siitras, defends the super- 



