282 Lieut.-Colonel Tod on the Religions EstabUshments ofMewar. 



The Rana of Mewar, as the dewan or vicegerent of Siva, when he goes 

 to the temple supersedes the high priest in his duties, and performs the cere- 

 monies with peculiar correctness and grace.* 



The shrine of Eklinga is endowed with twenty-four large villages from 

 the lihaUsa or fisc, besides parcels of land from the chieftains ; but the privi- 

 leges of the tutelary divinity have been waning since Kaniya fixed his resi- 

 dence amongst them : and as the priests of Apollo complained that the 

 god was driven from the sacred mount Girdhana, in Vrij, by the influence 

 of those of Jupitert with Shah Jeliau, the latter may now lament that the 

 day of retribution has arrived, when propitiation to the Preserver and 

 Mediator is deemed more important than to the Creator or Destroyer. This 

 may arise from the personal character of the high priests, who, as from their 

 vicinity to the court they can scarcely avoid mingling in its intrigues, so 

 they cannot fail to lose in character botli there and witli the inferior classes : 

 even the Ranis do not hesitate to take mortgages on the estates of B'hola 



NAT'H.t 



We shall not further enlarge on the immunities to Eklinga, or the 

 forms in which they are conveyed, as these will be fully discussed in the 

 account of tlie shrine of Cuishna ; but proceed to notice the privileges of 

 the heterodox Jains — the Vcdiavdn% or Magi of Rajast'han. 



The numbers and power of these sectarians are little known to Europeans, 

 who take it for granted that they are few and dispersed. To prove the 

 extent of their religious and political power, it will suffice to remark, that 

 the pontiff of the Kharlra-gatclia,\\ one of the many branches of this fliith, 



» The copy of the Siva Parana which I had the honour to present to the Royal Asiatic 

 Hociety was obtained for me by the Rana from the temple of Eklinga. 



f JivA-PiTRi, the 'father of life,' would be a very proper epithet for Maiiadeva, the 

 ' creative power,' whose Olympus is Kailas. 



• J B'hola Nat'h, or the ' Simple God,' is one of the epithets of Siva, whose want of reflec- 

 tion is so great, that he would give away his own divinity if asked. 



j Vediavan, the ' Man of Secrets or Knowledge,' is the term used by way of reproach to 

 the Jains, having the import of magician. Their opponents believe them to be possessed of 

 supernatural skill ; and it is recorded of the celebrated UiMARA, author of the Cos'a or dictionary 

 called after him, that he miraculously " m«(/e the full moon ajypear on Amavus" — the ides of 

 the month, when the planet is invisible. 



II Khartra signifies ' true,' an epithet of distinction which was bestowed by that great sup- 

 porter of the Buddhists or Jains, Sidraj, king of Anhulwarra Putun, on one of the branches 

 (natcha) in a grand religious disputation (badha) at that capital in the eleventh century. The 



