RELIGIOUS SECTS OF THE HINDUS. 171 



Hindus in any accessible shape. The Saivas have no works in any of the 

 common dialects, like the Rdmayana, the Sdrttd, or the Bliaktamdla. 

 Indeed, as far as any enquiry has yet been instituted, no work whatever 

 exists, in any vernacular dialect, in which the actions of Siva, in any of his 

 forms, are celebrated. It must be kept in mind, however, that these 

 observations are intended to apply only to Gangetic Hindustan, for in 

 the South of India, as we shall hereafter see, popular legends relating to 

 local manifestations of Siva, are not uncommon. 



Corresponding to the absence of multiplied forms of this divinity, as 

 objects of worship, and to the want of those works which attach impor- 

 tance to particular manifestations of the favourite god, the people can 

 scarcelv be said to be divided into different sects, any farther than as 



«/ ' is 



they may have certain religious mendicants for their spiritual guides. 

 Actual divisions of the worshippers of Siva are almost restricted to 

 these religious personages, collected sometimes, in opulent and nu- 

 merous associations : but for the greater part detached, few, and in- 

 digent. There are no establishments amongst the Saivas of Hin- 

 dustan, like those of Srinith or Pv.ri: no individuals as wealthy as 

 the Gokulastha Gosains, nor even as influential as the descendants of 

 Adwaita and Xityanand. There are no teachers of ancient repute except 

 Sankara Acharya. and his doctrines are too philosophical and specu- 

 lative to have made him popular. 



The worship of Siva continues, in fact, to be what it appears to have 

 been from a remote period, the religion of the BrahmanasJ* Sambhc 

 is declared, by Menu, to be the presiding deity of the Brahmanical order, 

 and the greater number of them, particularly those who practice the rites 

 of the VedaSj or who profess the study of the Sdstras, receive Siva as 



* See a preceding Note — A. R. vol. XVI. page 2. 



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