' 120 IIEI.IGIOUS SECTS 



remote date, and that it originates chiefly with the Sri Bh^gavat: it is also- 

 falling into some disrepute, and as we shall presently see, a whole division of 

 even Chaitanya's followers have discarded this part of the system. 



Liberation from future terrestrial existence is the object of every form of 

 Hindu worship. The prevailing notion of the means of such emancipation is 

 the re-union of the spiritual man, with that primitive spirit, which communi- 

 cates its individual portions to all nature, and which receives them, when 

 duly purified, again into its essence. On this head, however, the followers of 

 Chaitanya, in common with most of the Vaishiava sects, do not seem to have 

 adopted the Veddnta notions ; and, although some admit the Siyujya^ or 

 identification with the deity, as one division of Mukti, others are disposed to 

 exclude it, and none acknowledge its pre-eminence : their Moksha is of two 

 kinds 5 one, perpetual residence in Swerga, or Paradise, with possession 

 of the divine attributes of supreme power, &c. and the other, elevation to Vat- 

 kwifha — the heaven of Vishnu, which is free from the influence o? Maya, and 

 above the regions of the Avatars, and where they enjoy one or all of the 

 relations to Krishna, which have been enumerated when speaking of the fol- 

 lowers of Ramanuja and MadhwXcharya. 



The doctrines of the followers of Chaitanya are conveyed in a great 

 number of works, both in Sanscrit and Bengali. The sage himself, and the two 

 other MahdprahhuSy Nityanand and Adwaita, do not appear to have left 

 any written compositions, but the deficiency was amply compensated by E,u- 

 PA and Sanatan, both of whom were voluminous and able writers. To RtJPA 

 are ascribed the following works; the Vidagdha Mddhava, a drama; the 

 Lalitd Mddkava, Ujjala Nilamani, Dana Keli Kaumudi, poems in celebration 

 of Krishna and Radha ; Bahustavdvali, hymns ; Ashtddasa Lild Khand ; Pad- 

 mdvalif Govinda Viruddvali, and its Lakshana, or exposition ; Mathura Mdhdt- 

 mya, panegyrical account of Mathura^ Ndtaka LaksJiana^ Laghu BMgavat^ an 



