78 Some Account of the Rdmsanehis, a Sect of [Feb. 



pose on twelve pillars, and correspond exactly in their proportions : 

 three are built over the ashes of the Spiritual Fathers, who succeeded 

 the founder, and the others cover a similar number of venerated priests 

 of the community. The central or seventh dome has only five columns, 

 and is much smaller than the rest ; it marks the spot where the re- 

 mains of a female named Saru'p, a pious disciple of Ramcharan, were 

 burnt; and the domes, with those of the temple, are painted inside and 

 out in ornaments of vivid colours. The Ram-dwara was built at dif- 

 ferent periods, when funds were available, and is said to have cost 

 about eighty thousand rupees : it is kept remarkably clean, and pre- 

 sents a unique and handsome appearance, essentially differing in design 

 from ail Hindu edifices I have seen. On a level with the vault are 

 apartments for the priests and members of the sect, who resort to 

 Shahpura at the festival of Phul-dol, and here are also the stores of 

 linen and blankets belonging to the fraternity. 



Behind the Ram-dwara repose the ashes of the ancient Rajas of 

 Shahpura, each in a distinct shrine. Bhi'm Singh, grandsire of the 

 reigning chief, was the patron of Ramcharan, and was the first of his 

 family who embraced the new doctrines. The late Raja died at 

 Udypur in 1825, but his turban was transmitted to Shahpura, and with 

 it two of his wives performed Sati. 



* Selected Translations from the Religious Writings of the Rdmsanehis. 



1. — The name of Ra'ma is the real seed, in which all things are contained : 

 for he is the source of the three qualities (of goodness, passion, and darkness); of 

 the fourteen regions (of Hindu cosmogony) ; of the twenty-four (incarnations) ; 

 the three hundred and thirty millions (of Hindu deities) ; and the three (principal 

 Gods, viz. Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheswara), who should be adored, and 

 who not ? Ra'mcharan says, the whole universe sprung from that only seed, as 

 leaves shoot forth and fall off in abundance from the same tree. 



2. — The person who adores the all-pervading Ra'ma, and turns his back upon 

 the other gods ; who visits his guru with bare feet, and stretches forth his 

 liberal hand; who has renounced the world, neither uses harsh language nor 

 jokes, and seeks not any pleasure ; who giving up all considerations on profit and 

 loss, resigns himself to the will of HARif; who is not addicted to gaming, steal- 

 ing, avarice, lying, and hypocrisy ; who does not taste bhang}, tobacco, opium, 



* I have to acknowledge my obligations to Babu Ka'si Prasha'd Ghos 

 of Calcutta, for Lis courtesy in assisting me with a translation of these papers : he 

 purposely rendered it as literal as possible, and I am not sure if it would not 

 have been better had I left it in that form. 



f A name of Vishnu, but employed here and elsewhere along with Ra'ma, to ex- 

 press God in an abstracted sense ; the frequent mention of these two as objects of 

 worship, is owing to the doctrine of the Ramsanehis being mixed up with the tenets, 

 and these verses beiug selections from the books, of other Hindu sects. 



X An intoxicating potion, prepared from the hemp plant (Canabis Sativa). 



