1835.] Hindu Schismatics in Western India. 67 



rather a finer texture than theirs : their diet is the same, and consists 

 of dry cakes of coarse wheat flour without any kind of seasoning. 

 The superior resides at Shahpura, the chief place of their religion, but 

 occasionally leaves it for a period of one or two months, wandering 

 over the country to mortify his body and accustom it to endure fa- 

 tigue. 



Religion. 



The Ramsanehis believe in the unity and omnipotent of God, whom 

 they regard as the Author of creation, preservation, and destruction ; 

 nor so far as I could learn, do they hold his nature and attributes to 

 differ materially from the doctrine professed by ourselves. They call 

 the Supreme Being, Ram ; he is the source of all good, and the avert- 

 er of evil, and as none can fathom his decrees, resignation to them is 

 implicitly enjoined. Man is pronounced incapable of any exertion of 

 himself: whatever comes to pass is accomplished through the Divine 

 Agency ; and as God alone is the bestower of rewards and punish- 

 ments, the Ramsanehis are instructed to be constant in his worship, in 

 the morning, at noon and night, and always to ask his blessing before 

 going to meals. The soul is believed to be an emanation from the 

 Divine spirit, which takes flight to heaven on the dissolution of the 

 human frame ; and they inculcate, if a person commit sin, who has en- 

 joyed the advantages of education and is versed in the scriptures, no 

 future act however exemplary can procure his remission from punish- 

 ment, but in the case of an illiterate man, that he may by study, devo- 

 tion and repentance obtain absolution of his crimes. 



The formation and worship of idols is expressly prohibited. The 

 Ramsanehis pass the Hindu gods unnoticed, and no sort of images 

 or symbols of idolatry are admitted into their temples. When I 

 pointedly asked Narayan Das his opinion of idol-worship, he replied in 

 verse : — ' As to lave the body in the ocean is equivalent to bathing in all 

 the rivers of earth, since they flow into the great deep ; and to irrigate 

 the roots of a tree is sufficient without further waste to nourish and 

 bring forth its leaves, its flowers, and its fruits ; so to worship the 

 omnipotent God, does away the necessity of addressing all inferior 

 deities.' 



The Mahant said it was a mistake to suppose the doctrine of the 

 sect was new — it had in fact existed in the world from a very remote 

 period, though shorn of its purity by admixture with debasing super- 

 stitions and false tenets, engrafted upon it from time to time by the 

 ignorant and designing. Men were born in every age who held 

 sound principles of belief, but persecution compelled them to recant 

 their opinions, or to take refuge in the wilds. It was reserved for 

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