SECTS OF HINDOOS. 



godhead, and the identity of Vifhnu, Siva, the Sun, &c. 

 Their theologifts have entered into vain difputes on the quef- 

 tion of which, among the attributes of God, (hall be deemed 

 charartenllicand pre-eminent ? 



Sankaracharya (fee the article under his name) the 

 celebrated commentator on the Veda, contended for the at- 

 tributes of Siva, and founded or confirmed the feft of Saiva, 

 who worfliip Siva as' the fupreme being, and deny the co- 

 equal or independent exiftence of Vifliiiu and other deities. 

 Madhava and Vallabha, both alfo furnamed Achnrya, de- 

 noting literary dignity, have in like manner eltabliihed by 

 their comments the feet of Vaifhnava, who adore Vilhnu as 

 God. 



Under the article Saraswati we have noticed, that 

 there is now no feft, who exclufively or principally worfiiip 

 Brahma : no one hath hitherto been dilcovercd named after 

 him, denoting the creative power to be the objeft of ex- 

 clufive adoration. Still by fome legends he is defcribed as 

 the Almighty ; leading us to infer, that he was once fec- 

 tarially addrefled as the other two members of the triad 

 now are. His fakti, Saraf'.vati, is defcribed in fome paf- 

 fages as all-produftive, all-powerful, and all-wife. It may 

 be reafonably inferred, that there are many more fefts 

 among the Hindoos than have hitherto been aicertained. 

 Moll of the feCts, however, approach or melt into each 

 other on dole infpeclion ; as may in all fiich cales be fup- 

 pofed, when they muft all have originated in one common 

 fource. This reunion is with the Hindoos marked with 

 their ufual extravagant lexual mythology. Siva and Par- 

 vati, they fay, had a contell on the quelUon of the com- 

 parative potency or eminence of their feveral worfhip : in 

 other words, the worfhippers of their fymbols, the Linga 

 and Yoni, contefted the point. To appeale this phyfio- 

 logical difference between the god and his coiifort, Vilhnu 

 interpofed, and his navel, or rather os tinazi came at length 

 to be confidered as the fame with the Yoni ; confounding 

 the Vailhnavas with the Yonijas : but we muft refer to our 

 article Yoni, and the other articles and the works therein 

 mentioned, for farther particulars on this point. 



In the early part of this article, we have adverted to 

 the numerous fchifmatics, under the generic term of 

 Baudhas, followers of the doftrines of Budha or Boodh. 

 (SeeBooDH.) Thefe, under various delignations, v.e are 

 diipofed to clafs as heretical Vaiihnavas, worfhipping Vifhnu 

 under one of his avataras or incarnations, that of Budha ; 

 as the Gokalafthas and Ramanujas do under others ; thofe 

 of Gokal, or Krifhna and Rama. " In refpecl to the num- 

 bers of followers," the author of the Hindoo Pantheon 

 obferves, " and the extent over which they have fprcad, 

 the doftrines of Budha have probably obtained greater do- 

 minion than thofe of any otlier religious perfuafion. Al- 

 though now comparatively triflmg on the continent of 

 Hither India, his doctrines and followers are Hill found, dif- 

 fering in externals, and divided into feels, throughout China 

 and its tributary nations ; in the great empires and ftates 

 of Cochinchina, Cambodia, Siam, Pegu, Ava, Afam, 

 Tibet, Budtan or Bootan, (fee thofe feveral articles,) many 

 of the Tartar tribes, and generally all parts eall of the 

 Ganges ; including thofe vail and numerous iflands in the 

 feas eallward and I'outhward of the farther [ndian promon- 

 tory, whofe inhabitants have not been converted to Iflamifm. 

 In thefe great and dillant parts of the globe the tenets of 

 Budha, diflinguifhed by various appellations, may be re- 

 cognized as forming the religion of the people ; an extent 

 exceeding that either of the Mahomedan or Brahmanical 

 fuperttition, and outnumbering, perhaps, the followers of 

 the religion of Jefus Chrift." P. 240. 



Budhifm, like other diflinftions of faith among Hindoos, 

 is divided into fetts. If it be leckoned the grand generic 

 fchifm, we may deem the fefts of Jaina and Mahiman 

 fpecific varieties ; and there appears no good reafon why 

 they (hould not all be clafled with the other fcfts, who 

 adore exclufively one of the avataras or incarnations of 

 Vifhnu, under the comprehenfive denomination of Vaifh- 

 navas. Of thefe avataras fee under the article Vishnu ; 

 and for fome account of the herefy of Budha and its fub- 

 divifions, fee Boodh, Jaina, Sakya, and the other articles 

 thence referred to. 



Moll oriental people feem to have prided themfclves on 

 diftinguifhing their deities by a great many names. Thefe 

 names are, however, moltly, perhaps all, fignificant and 

 characleriflic ; of which early enquirers were of courfe 

 ignorant. The prevalence of this pride will be fecn in our 

 articles Parvati, Siva, and other?. In the inllance of 

 Budha, another proof might be exhibited of the fame feeling. 

 He is dillingulfhed by different nanies in the fame and in dif- 

 tant parts. Boodh, Budha, Butta, and others of nearly 

 fimilar found, are mere varieties, in different parts of India, 

 in orthography and pronunciation ; and fo perhaps is the 

 Bud, or Wud, of the ancient Pagan Arabs. Pout in Siam ; 

 Pott, or Poti, in Tibet ; and But in Cochinchina, are the 

 fame ; the Chinefe having, it is faid, no B or D in their 

 alphabet, and their language being mpnofyllabic, foftened 

 his name into Fo, or Fo-e. (See Fo.) Tliey call him alfo 

 Xa-ka ; a variation, perhaps, of the Sanfcrit Sakya. (See 

 Sakya.) That the Toth of the Egyptians, and the 

 Woden of the Scandinavians, and other northern nations, 

 is the fame name and deity, is upheld by fome ; but the 

 fuppofition is derided by others : fome, indeed, will not re- 

 cognize him in the Fo of China. A Buddha, whether the 

 ninth incarnation of Vifhnu or not may be difputed, has 

 been deemed to anfwer in charadler with Mercury ; fo has 

 the Gothic Woden. Each refpectively gives his name to 

 the fame planet, and to the fame day of the week. Budh- 

 v?.r is, very extenilvely in India, whether among Baudhas, 

 Saivas, Vaifhnavas, or Mahomedans, the fame with Dies 

 Mercurii, or Woden's day ; whence fome have derived our 

 Wednefday. 



The common reproach of the Brahmans is that the 

 Baudhas uphold the dangerous dogma of the eternity ot 

 mafter and the perifhability of the foul. But we ought 

 to receive accounts of the tenets of a hoftile feft with cau- 

 tion ; and of the Baudhas and Jainas we have yet but little 

 elfe. Like the Jainas, their worfhip is confined to deified 

 faints ; and the name for the chief of them is, as ftated in 

 another place, derived from the Sanfcrit word budb, to 

 tiioiu ; hence Budha is philofophy : and hence has been 

 derived the Saxon and Englifh verbs bodian, to bode, fore- 

 bode, &c. 



The Jaina, or votaries of Jaina, are probably the mofl 

 ancient of Hindoo feftaries. They rejeft, like the Baudhas 

 in general, the authority of the Vedas ; and are the mofl 

 fcrupulous of any feft in their cautions againlt the even 

 accidental extinftiun of animal life. (See of this under 

 our article Jaina.) In the Vedas the flaughter of animals 

 is not only allowed, but on fome occafions enjoined. (See 

 Veda.) The adoration of the Jainas is exclufively offered 

 to deified mortals, or rather, as they afTirm, through them 

 to the deity : and in the clafs of deified mortals may be in- 

 cluded many of the gods of the Hindoos, although they 

 profefs to reje£l the polytheifm and incarnations of the 

 latter. The dodlrine of tranfmigration is found among the 

 .lainas ; how extenfively is not afcertained : the belief of a 

 future ftate of rewards and punifhment, and an extenfive 

 9 portion 



