M • ' ' RELIGIOUS SECTS 



of most of them sally forth daily, to collect alms from the vicinity, the aggre- 

 gate of which, generally in the shape of rice or other grains, furnishes forth 

 the common table : it only remains to observe, that the tenants of these Mat'hs, 

 particularly the Vaishnavas, are most commonly of a quiet inoffensive charac- 

 ter, and the Mahants esipeciaWy are men of talents and respectability, although 

 they possess, occasionally, a little of that self-importance, which the conceit of 

 superior sanctity is apt to inspire : there are, it is true, exceptions to this inno- 

 cuous character, and robberies, and murders, have been traced to these reli- 

 gious establishments. 



The especial object of the worship of Ramananda's followers is Vishi^u, as 

 Ramachandra : they, of course, reverence all the other incarnations of VisHfJu, 

 but they maintain the superiority of Rama, in the present or Kali Yiig ; hence 

 they are known collectively as Rdmdwats, although the same variety prevails 

 amongst them, as amongst the Rdmdmijas, as to the exclusive or collective 

 worship of the male and female members of this incarnation, or of Rdma and 

 Sitd^ singly, or jointly, or S'Ud Rama :* individuals of them also pay par- 

 ticular veneration to some of the other forms of VishiJu, and they hold in like 

 estimation, as the Rdmdnujas^ and every Vaishnava sect, the Sdlagrdm stone 

 and Tulasi plant : their forms of worship correspond with those of the Hindus 

 generally, but some of the mendicant members of the sect, who are very nu- 

 merous, and are usually known as VairdgiSy ov Virakias, consider all form of 

 adoration superfluous, beyond the incessant invocation of the name of Krish- 

 ifA and Rama. 



The practices of this sect are of a less precise nature than those of the 

 RamXnujas, it being the avowed object of the founder to release his disciples 



* Amongst the temples of this sect at Benares, are two dedicated to Rddhd Krishiia, 

 although attached to Ma£hs belonging to the Rdmdvat order, and not at all connected with the 

 followers of VALLABHAi, or of Chaitanya and Nityanand. 



