THE JAINS. £99 



tomed to call GymnosophistSy mentions two orders of 

 them ; ' one, the Brachmanes ; the other, the Sama- 

 ncEans: the Brachmanes receive religious knowledge, 

 like the priestliood, in right of hirth ; but the Sama- 

 ficeans are select, and consist of persons choosing to 

 prosecute divine studies.' He adds, on the authority 

 of Bardesanes, that * all the Brachmanes are of one 

 race ; for they are all descended from one father and 

 one mother. But the Samanceam are not of their 

 race ; being selected from the whole nation of In- 

 dians, as before mentioned. The Brachman is sub- 

 ject to no domination; and contributes nothing to 

 others *.' 



In this passage, the Brachman, as an hereditary 

 order of priesthood, is contrasted with another reli- 

 gious order; to which persons of various tribes were 

 admissible ; and the Samanceans, who are obviously 

 the same with the Ger manes of St r a bo, were doubt- 

 less Sannyasis ; but may have belonged to any of the 

 sects of Hindus. The name seems to bear some affi- 

 nity to the ^Sraman'aSf or ascetics of the Jainas and 

 Bauddlias. 



Clemens Alexandrinus does indeed hint, that 

 all the Brachmanes revered their wise men as deities f; 

 and in another place, he describes them as worship- 

 ping Hercules and Pan J But the following pas- 

 sage from Clemens is most in point. Having said, 

 that philosophy flourished anciently among the bar- 

 barians, and afterwards was introduced among the 

 Greeks; he instances the prophets of the Egyptians, 

 the Chaldces of the Assyrians ; the Druids of the 

 Gauls (Galatae); the Samanceans of the Bactrians ; 



* Porph, de Abstinentia, lib. 4. 



^ Kai /!Ao» ^oy.acriv, &c. Strom, lib. If 



I Strom, lib. 3, &c. 



