SS RELIGIOUS SECTS 



per, and never lightly made known by the adept to profane ears. The Man- 

 tra of the RXmanuja sect is said to be the six-syllable Mantra — or Om Rdmdya 

 namah ; or Om, salutation to Rama.* 



Another distinction amongst sects, but merely of a civil character, is the 

 term or terms with which the religious members salute each other when they 

 meet, or in which they are addressed by the lay members. This amongst 

 the RdmAnujas is the phrase, Ddsosmi, or Ddsokam ; I am your slave ; accom- 

 panied with the Prandm, or slight inclination of the head, and the application 

 of the joined hands to the forehead. To the Achdryas, or supreme teachers of 

 this sect, the rest perform i\\e Ashtanga Dandawat^ or prostration of the body, 

 with the application of eight parts — the forehead, breast, hands, knees, and 

 insteps of the feet, to the ground. 



The Hindu sects are usually discriminated by various fantastical streaks 

 on their faces, breasts, and arms : for this purpose, all the Vaishna'vas employ 

 especially, a white earth called Gopichandanay which, to be of the purest des- 

 cription, should be brought from Dwdrakd, being said to be the soil of a pool 

 at that place, in which the Gopis drowned themselves when they heard of 

 Krishnd^s death. The common Gopichajidana, however, is nothing but a 

 Magnesian or Calcareous Clay. 



The marks of the Rdmdnujas are two perpendicular white lines, 

 drawn from the root of the hair to the commencement of each eye-brow, 

 and a transverse streak connecting them across the root of the nose: in 



* In giving the Mantras, as they have been communicated to me, it may be necessary to 

 suggest a doubt of their accuracy ; a Hindu evades what he dislikes to answer, and will not scruple 

 a falsehood to stop enquiry ; men above prejudice, in other respects, find it so difficult to get over that 

 of communicating the Mantra, that when they profess to impart it, even their sincerity can scarcely 

 be admitted without a doubt. 



