812 



[No. 3, 



Sri Swdmi Sari Das of Brindaban. — By F. S. Gkowse M. A. B. C 8 



Among the more conspicuous modern temples at Brindaban is one 

 dedicated to Krishna under his title of Bihari Ji, or in more popular 

 phrase Banke Bihari. The Gosains, who with their wives and children 

 now number some 500 persons, form a distinct subdivision of the reformed 

 Vaishnavas, and are all the collateral descendants of the founder of the 

 sect, Swami Hari Das. The temple is not only their head- quarters, but 

 appears to be the only one in all India of which they have exclusive 

 possession. It has lately been rebuilt at a cost of Bs. 70,000 ; a sum 

 which has been raised in the course of 13 years by the contributions of 

 their clients from far and near. It is a large square red sand-stone block 

 of plain but exceedingly substantial character, with a very effective central 

 gateway of white stone. This has yet to be completed by the addition of 

 an upper storey ; but even as it stands, the delicacy of its surface carving, 

 and the extremely bold projection of its eaves render it a pleasing specimen 

 of the style of architecture now in vogue at Brindaban — one of the few 

 places in the civilized world where architecture is not a laboriously studied 

 reproduction of a dead past, but a still living art, which is constantly 

 developing by a process of spontaneous growth. The estate is divided into 

 two shares or bats, according to the descent of the Gosains. Their founder 

 was himself a celibate ; but his brother Jagannath had three sons, Megh 

 Syam, Murari Das, and Gopinath Das, of whom the third died childless, 

 the other two being the ancestors of the present generation. As is usual 

 in such cases, the two families are at war with one another, and have more 

 than once been obliged to invoke the assistance of the law to prevent a 

 serious breach of the peace. Beyond the saintliness of their ancestor, but 

 few of them have any claim to respect, either on account of their learning— 

 lor the majority of them cannot even read — or for the correctness of their 

 morals. There are however two exceptions to the general rule — one for 

 each bat — in the person of the Gosains Jagadis and Kishor Chand ; both of 

 whom are fairly well read, within the narrow limits of their own sectarian 

 literature, beyond which they have never dreamed of venturing. 



Like all other Vaishnavas, they profess to regard the Bhagavad Gita 

 as the authoritative exposition of their distinctive creed j but in practice 

 their studies — if they study at all — are directed exclusively to much more 

 modern compositions couched in their own vernacular, the Braj Bhasha. 

 Of these the work held in highest repute by all the Brindaban sects is the 

 Bhakt-Mala, or Legends of the Saints, written by Nabha Ji in the reign of 



■HMHMH 



