230 ~ • SKETCH OF THE 



ritual, but it would be attended with too much peril to be practised, and, 

 consequently, it cannot be believed that this sect is in existence : the only 

 votaries, if any there be, consisting of the miscreants who, more for pay 

 than devotion, inflict upon themselves bodily tortures, and pierce their 

 flesh with hooks or spits, run sharp pointed instruments through their 

 tongues and cheeks, recline upon beds of spikes, or gash themselves with 

 knives, all which practices are occasionally met with throughout India, 

 and have become familiar to Europeans from the excess to which they are 

 carried in Bengal at the Charak Puja, a festival which, as a public reli- 

 gious observance, is unknown any where else, and which is not directed 

 nor countenanced by any of the authorities of the Hindus, not even by 

 the Tantras. 



MISCELLANEOUS SECTS. 



The sects that have been described are those of the regular system, 

 and particularly of what may be called Brahmanical Hinduism, emanat- 

 ing, more or less directly, from the doctrines of the original creed. Besides 

 these, there are a number which it is not so easy to class, although they 

 are mostly referable to a common source, and partake, in many respects, 

 of the same notions, especially of those of a Vaisltnava and Vedanta ten- 

 dency. They exist in various degrees of popularity, and date from various 

 periods, and in most instances, owe their institution to enthusiastic or 

 contemplative individuals, whose biography is yet preserved consistently 

 enough by tradition. 



This is not the case, however, with the first two on the list — the Sau- 

 rapdtas and Ganapatas : these are usually, indeed, ranked with the preced- 

 ing divisions, and make, with the Vaislinavas, Saivas, and Sdktas, the five 

 orthodox divisions of the Hindus : they are of limited extent and total 

 insignificance. 



