124. RELIGIOUS SECTS 



divinity of the Gmnti at least as being the present Krishna^ or deity incarnate, 

 and whom they therefore, relinquishing every other form of worship, vene- 

 rate as their Ishta Devata, or elected god : this exclusive veneration is, how- 

 ever, comprehended within wide limits : we have seen that it prevails amongst 

 the followers oi Chaitanya generally, and it need scarcely have been adopted 

 as a schismatical distinction : the real difference, however, is the person, not 

 the character of the Guru^ and the innovation is nothing, in fact, but an art- 

 ful encroachment upon the authority of the old hereditary teachers or 

 GosainSf and an attempt to invest a new family with spiritual power : the 

 attempt has been so far successful, that it gave affluence and celebrity to the 

 founder, to which, as well as his father's sanctity, the son, Ramdulal Pal has 

 succeeded. It is said to have numerous disciples, the greater proportion of 

 "whom are women. The distinctions of caste are not acknowledged amongst 

 the followers of this sect, at least when engaged in any of their religious cele- 

 brations, and they eat together in private, once or twice a year : the initiat- 

 ing Mantra is supposed to be highly efficacious in removing disease and bar- 

 renness, and hence many infirm persons and childless women are induced to 

 join the sect. 



The remaining division of the Bengal VaisJmavas allow nothing of them- 

 selves to be known : their professions and practices are kept secret, but it is 

 believed that they follow the worship of Sakti, or the female energy, agreea- 

 bly to the left handed ritual, the nature of which we shall hereafter have 

 occasion to describe. 



The chief temples of the Bengal ValshnavaSy besides those which at Dwd- 

 rahd and Vrinddvan, and particularly at Jaganndth, are objects of universal 



paying that sum, or sixteen annas for it : it is, perhaps, one singularity in the sect, that this Mantra 

 is in Bengali, a common spoken language— in all other cases it is couched in Sanscrit, the lan- 

 guage of the gods. 



