2^6 ACCOUNT Ol- THF: JAINS. 



have not become Sannyasis ; but all the images of 

 these supposed beings, that are to be found in the 

 Bastis, or Bettus, are represented in a posture of ado- 

 ration, worshipping the .S/V/^/7z« to whom the temple 

 is dedicated. These images, however, of the T)hcatas^ 

 are not objects of worship, but merely ornamental ; 

 and the deity has not been induced to reside in the 

 stone by the powerful invocations of a Brahmen. 

 When' a Jain wishes to adore one of these inferior 

 spirits, he goes to the temple dedicated to its peculiar 

 worship. Ra'ma is never represented by an idol in a 

 Basti, althouo^h he is acknowledo-ed to be a Siddlia : 

 and, although Gan'esa and Hanuma'n are acknow- 

 ledged to be Devatas, these favourites of the followers 

 of the Vedas have no images in the temples of the 

 A'rhatas. 



The JaiJis have no tradition of a great deluge, that 

 destroyed a large proportion of the inhabitants of the 

 earth ; but they believe, that occasionally most of 

 the people of A'rya are destroyed by a shower of fire. 

 Some have always escaped to the other Candas, and 

 have returned to re-people their native country, after 

 it has been renovated by showers of butter, milk, 

 and the juice of the sugar-cane. The accounts of 

 the world, and the various changes, -which the Jains 

 suppose it to have undergone, are contained in a book 

 called Loca Sxvarupa. An account of Gomata-Ra'ya 

 is given in a book called Gomata Raya Cheritra. 

 The Camunda Rciya Purana contains a liistory of 

 the twenty-four Siddlias worshipped in the Bastis. 



