52 RELIGIOUS SECTS 



Raja returned, and reported the occurrence, when a fresh miracle took place 

 —the hands and feet of Jayadeva sprouted forth again. The Raja being 

 filled with astonishment, requested the saint to explain these events, which 

 he did by narrating what had befallen him. 



After remaining some time with the Raja where he restored to life his 

 own wife PadmXvati, who had voluntarily put an end to herself, he returned 

 to Kindimlwa. Here the Ganges, which was then eighteen cos distant, and 

 to which he went daily to bathe, requested him not to undergo so much 

 fatigue, as she would rather come to him. The proposal was accepted by the 

 saint, and according to our guide, the river now runs close to the village. 



The ascetic and mendicant followers of RXmXnand, known indiscrimi- 

 nately as Rdmdnandis ox Rdmdwats, are by far the most numerous class of sec- 

 taries in Gangetic India : in Bengal they are comparatively few : beyond this 

 province, as far as to Jllahabad,* although perhaps the most numerous, 

 they yield in influence and wealth to the Saiva branches, especially to the 

 Atils : hence, however, they predominate, and either by themselves, or their 

 kindred divisions, almost engross the whole of the country along the Ganges 

 and Jumna : in the district of Agra, they alone constitute seven-tenths of the 

 ascetic population. The Rdmdnandis have very numerous votaries, but they 

 are chiefly from the poorer and inferior classes, with the exception of the 

 Rcjaputs and military Brahmans, amongst whom the poetical works of Sur Das 

 andTuLAsi Das, maintain the pre-eminence of Rdtna and his Bhakts. 



* Some of the principal Mat'lis at Benares are the following : Ram jit, Blahant, a temple of Rama. 

 Maya Ram Mahanf, a temple of Rama. Ramanuja, K'hdM, Mahant, a temple of Sita Ram. Pu- 

 KUSHOTTAMA Das, KlidM, Mahant, a temple of Rama. Pitambara Das, Mahant, Sita Ram; this 

 is the Majidir of Tulasi Dds. Govind Das, Mahant, Rddhd Krishna. Ramacharan, ditto ditto. 



At a late meeting (1820) to elect a Mahant of one of the Vaishnava Maths, in the vicinity of 

 Benares, about 6000 Mendicants of the various branches of the sect attended ; of these at least 

 3000 were Edmdivats, the rest were Sri Vaishnavas, Kahir Pantlds, and others. 



