166 On the Creed^ Customs and Literature of the Jangams. [Jan. 



Vira Saivas. They are Jainas or else ignorant followers of the bramini- 

 cal follies : but that by the force of (bhacti) fdith and charity they 

 ultimately were " admitted into heaven" (literally, borne to Cailasa) 

 which, as they assert denotes admission to the true creed. 



In many of the legends we may trace a similarity between the 

 character of Basava and that of Mohammed as described in the various 

 legends current among Musulmans : shewing much simplicity on the 

 part of Basava the master, and a voracious credulity on the part of 

 the disciples. Those Mahomedan stories however, contain many inci- 

 dents of the most disgusting kind : from which the Jangam books are 

 entirely free. 



There is so remarkable an analogy between the Pythagorean Monad 

 and the deity of the Jangams that I cannot well avoid adducing the 

 following brief deduction from the philosopher's statements, as repre- 

 sented in Cudworth's Intellectual System, 2d edn. 4to. chap. iv. p. 370, 

 376. 



Pythagoras calls the four principles by numerical names ; theMonad^ 

 Duad, Triad and Tetrad. The Vira Saiva calls them by specific names : 

 viz. The Lingam, Bhacta, Guru, and Sivam, i. e. the deity, the dis- 

 ciple, the teacher, and supreme spirit : which pervades and unites all 

 three. 



The subordinate beings (gods, heroes and demons) of Pythagoras an- 

 swer to the Vira Saiva saints : all of whom are supposed to be embo- 

 died forms of the prime existence or Lingam ; which answers to the 

 Monad : who is also Zeus. The Duad is the passive principle j or dis- 

 ciple; he whose mind is the field for impressions. The link between 

 these two is the third principle ; the Guru or teacher. In his creative 

 office the deity is mingled with nature by Pythagoras and IS all nature 

 in the creed of the Vira Saiva. 



Love was the first Orphic principle, and so it is throughout the Vira 

 Saiva creed. Yet it is a created being; for it is a form or appearance of 

 the deity. Thus the Lingam and the Sivam, being the first and fourth 

 principles are one and the same. The Monas and the Tetractys are 

 one. 



Again— .The Satwa guna being the characteristic of God; the Tamo 

 gunara is that of man; and the Rajo gunam being the connecting link— 

 the supreme state is Nlrgun'a, or indescribable: which is the fourth 

 or superior deity designated as the incomprehensible and ineffable 

 Tetractys. 



Then Monad signifies the prime or independent Lingam, and in its 

 applied form it is element. Accordingly Tejo Lingam is fire, ab-LiU' 



