.OP THE HINDUS. 85 



SENA PANt'HIS, ' 



Sena, the barber, was the third o? Rdmdnand's disciples, who established 

 a separate schism ; the name of which, and of its founder, are possibly all 

 that now remain of it. Sena and his descendants were, for sometime, how- 

 ever, the family GrwrMS of the Rajas of 5a?2c?Aoo-<?r/t, and thence enjoyed con- 

 siderable authority and reputation : the origin of this connexion is the sub- 

 ject of a ludicrous legend in the Bhakta Mala. 



Sena, the barber of the Raja of Bandhogerk, v/as a devout worshipper of 

 Vishnu, and a constant frequenter of the meetings of the pious : on one of 

 these occasions, he suffered the time to pass unheeded, when he ought to 

 have been officiating in his tonsosial capacity, and Vishnu, who noticed the 

 circumstance, and knew the cause, was alarmed for his votary's personal in- 

 tegrity. The god, therefore, charitably assumed the figure of Sena, and equip- 

 ping himself suitably, waited on the Raja, and performed the functions of the 

 barber, much to the Raja's satisfaction, and without detection, although, the 

 prince perceived an unusual fragrance about his barber's person, the am- 

 brosial odour that indicated present deity, which he supposed to im- 

 pregnate the oil used in lubricating his royal limbs. The pretended barber 

 had scarcely departed, when the real one appeared, and stammered out his 

 excuses: his astonishment and the Raja's were alike, but the discernment of 

 the latter was more acute, for he immediately comprehended the whole 

 business, fell at his barber's feet, and elected for his spiritual guide, an 

 individual so pre-eminently distinguished by the favour and protection of the 

 deity. 



RUDRA SAMPRADAYIS, OR 



VallabMchdris, 

 The sects of Vaishnavas we have hitherto noticed, are chiefly confined 

 to professed ascetics, and to a few families originally from the south and west 



