128 ■, ' ' . MELIGIOUS SECTS 



witli tliousands of his kindred. He who having properly worshipped his Guru with clothes, 

 ornaments, and sandal, and assumed thy Kavacha, (a charm or prayer, carried about the 

 person in a sraall gold or silver casket,) is equal to Vishnu himseliV* 



In what respect the Mddhd Vallahhis differ from those followers of the 

 , Bengali Gosains, who teach the worship of this goddess in conjunction with 

 Krishna, does not appear, and perhaps there is little other difference than that 

 of their acknowledging separate teachers. Instead of adhering to any of the 

 hereditary Gosains, the members of this sect consider a teacher named Hari 

 Vans, as their founder. This person settled at Vrindaaoan, and established a 

 Math tliere, which in 1822 comprised between 40 and 50 resident ascetics. 

 He also erected a temple there that still exists, and indicates, by an inscription 

 over the door, that it was dedicated to Sri Rddhd Vallabha by Hari, Vans, in 

 Samvat 1641, or A. D. 1585. A manual, entitled Jtddhd Sudha Nidhi, which 

 is merely a series of Sanscrit verses in praise of Radha, is also ascribed to the 

 same individual. A more ample exposition of the notions of the sect, and of 

 their traditions and observances, as well as a collection of their songs or hymns, 

 is the Setia Sakhi Vdni, a work in Blldkha, in upwards of forty sections. There 

 are other works in the vernacidar dialects, and especially in that of BruJ, or 

 the country shout Mathiira and Vrindivan, which regulate or inspire the devo- 

 tion of the worshippers of Rddhd Vallabha. 



SAKHI BHAVAS. 



(: This sect is another ramification of those which adopt Krishna and 

 RIdha for the objects of their worship, and may be regarded as more parti- 

 cularly springing from the last named stock, the Rddhd Vallabhis. As Rad'ha 

 is their preferential and exclusive divinity, their devotion to this personifica- 

 tion of i\iQ SaJcti of Krishna is ridiculously and disgustingly expressed. In 



