﻿OF THE HINDUS, &C. 23 1 



Among the Rdmanuj, some \TOisbip Ra'ma only; 

 others Si'ta; and others both Ra'ma and Si'ta'. 

 None of them practise any indecent mode of wor- 

 ship ; and they all, hkp the Gdculnsfhas, as well as 

 the followers of the Bhagavata, delineate on their 

 foreheads, a double upright line with chalk, or with 

 sandal wood, and a red circlet with red sanders, or 

 with tunnerick and lime ; but the Ramunuj add an 

 upright red line in the middle of the double white 

 one. 



The Saivas are all worshippers of S'iva and Bha- 

 wa'ni conjointly; and they adore the linga or com- 

 pound type of this God and Goddess ; as the Vaish- 

 n'avas do the image of Lacshmi-na'ra'yan'a. 

 There are no exclusive worshippers of S'iva besides 

 the sect of naked gymnosophists called Lingis; and 

 the exclusive adorers of the Goddess are theSdctas. Iii 

 this last mentioned sect, as in most others, there is a 

 right-lianded and decent path, and a left-handed and 

 indecent mode of worship : but the indecent wor- 

 ship of this sect is most grossly so, and consists of 

 unbridled debauchery with wine and women. This 

 profligate sect is supposed to be numerous though 

 ILinavowed. In most parts of India, if not in all, they 

 are held in deserved detestation ; and even the de- 

 cent Sdctas do not make public profession of their 

 tenets, nor wear on their foreheads the mark of the 

 sect, lest they should be suspected of belonging to 

 the other branch of it. 



The S'aivassind Sdctas ddineaite on their foreheads 

 three horizontal lines with ashes obtained, if possible, 

 from the hearth on which a consecrated fire is per- 

 petually maintained ; they add a red circlet, which 

 the Saivas make with red sanders, and M'hich the 

 Sdctas, when they avow themselves, mark either 

 with saffron or with turmeric and borax. 



The Sauras are true worshippers of the sun ; and 

 some of them, it seems, adore the dormant and ac- 

 tive energies of the planet conjointly. This sect, 



which 



