RELIGIOUS SECTS OF THE HINDUS. 183 



marry, but in that case they are distinguished by the term Samyogl, from 

 the other Atits. 



The chief practices and designations of the Dandis, as generally charac- 

 teristic of them, have been already adverted to, but a great variety prevails 

 in the details.* Their philosophical tenets in the main, are those of the 

 Veddnta system, as taught by Sankara and his disciples ; but they gene- 

 rally superadd the practice of the Yoga, as taught by the followers of 

 Patanjali, and many of them have latterly adopted the doctrines of the 

 Tantras. Besides Sankara, the different orders of Dandis hold in high 

 veneration the Muni Dattatreya, the son of Atri, and AnasuyA. By vir- 

 tue of a boon bestowed upon Atri, or according to one legend, on his wife, 

 by the three deities BrahmA, Vishnu, and Siva, that sage had three sons, 

 Soma, Datta, and Durvasas, who were severally portions of the deities 

 themselves. | Datta, or Dattatreya, was eminent for his practice of the 

 Yoga, and hence is held in high estimation by the Jogis, of whom we are 

 next to speak, whilst, as an incarnation of a portion of Vishnu, he is 

 likewise venerated by the Vaishnavas. 



YOGIS or JOGIS. 



The Dandis are to the Saiva sects, what the followers of RamAnuja 

 are to those of the Vaishnava faith, and a like parallel may be drawn be- 

 tween the disciples of RamAnand and those of Gorakhnath, or the 

 Kanphata Jogis, the first pair being properly restricted to the Brahmanical 



* A specimen of the independent but scarcely orthodox DanHi, is presented in the well 

 known personage Puran Gir, of whom Mr. Duncan published an account in the 5th volume of 

 the Asiatic Researches. 



f BMgavat, Book IV, and Mdrkandeija Purdna, Chapter XVI. 



