4<. BELIGIQUS SECTS 



macy : in this conflict the worship of Brahma has disappeared,* as well as, in- 

 deed, that of the whole pantheon, except Vishnu, Siva and Sakti, or their 

 modifications ; with respect to the two former, in fact, the representatives 

 have borne away the palm from the prototypes, and Krishna, RAma, or the 

 im5'<2, are almost the only forms under which Vishnu and Siva are now 

 adored in most parts of ludia.t 



The varieties of opinion kept pace with those of practice, and six here- 

 tical schools of philosophy disputed the pre-eminence with their orthodox bre- 

 thren : we have little or no knowledge of these systems, and even their names 

 are not satisfactorily stated : they seem, however, to be the Saugata or 

 Baudd'ha, Arhata, or Jain, and Vdrhaspatya, or Atheistical, with their several 

 subdivisions.^ 



sinks a well in tlie bank of the Ganges — The principle goes still further, and those who are inimical 

 to the followers of a Deity, are stigmatised as his personal foes — thus in the Adi Purdna, Vishnu 

 says: 



ffHTTT '^'mx ^Tm ^m ^w "^^^^i 



He to whom my votary is a friend, is my friend — he who is opposed to him, is no friend of 

 jnine— be assured, Dhananjaya, of this : 



* Siva himself, in theformof KALABHAiRAVAjtoreofFBRAHMA's fifthhead,for presuming to say, 

 that he was Brahme, the eternal and omnipotent cause of the world, and even the creator of Siva, 

 notwithstanding the four Vedas and the personified Omkara, had all given evidence, that this great, 

 true and indescribable deity was Siva himself. The whole story occurs in the Kdsi Khand of the 

 SMnda Purdna, and its real signification is sufficiently obvious. 



f The great text-book of the Vaishnavas is the Bhdgavat, with which it may be supposed the 

 present worship, in a great measure, originated, although, the Mahabharat and other older works had 

 previously introduced this divinity. The worship of the Lingam is, no doubt, very ancient, although 

 it has received, within a few centuries, its present degree of popularity : the Kdsi KlmUd was evident- 

 ly written to enforce it, and at Benares, its worship entirely overshadows every other ritual. 



I In a work written by the celebrated Mddhava, describing the different sects as they existed 

 in his day, entitled the Sarva Darmna ; the Vdrhaspatyas, LoMyatas, and Chdrvdkas are identified, 



