143 
MYSORE, CANARA, AND MALABAR. 
to the books esteemed sacred by the Brahmans. The most re- CHAPTER 
markable of these sects were the Buddhists , the Jainas, and. the 
Sarmkas . June 8. 
About this time arose a celebrated doctor of the Brahmans , 
named Sankara Acharya , who belonged to the sect of Ska. The 
eighteen Puranas are divided into three distinct doctrines, called 
Satwika, Rdjasa, and Tdmasa ; the principles of which, from their 
tendency, are compared to God, to a king, and to the devil ; the 
first and last resembling God and the Evil Spirit, while the Rdjasa 
is of a princely nature, partly good and partly bad. Sankara 
Acharya, as a Smartal, acknowledged the two first parts to be the 
proper guide for the conduct of Brahmans; and wrote a Bhasha , 
or commentary, called after his own name ; in which he explained 
the doctrine of the first twelve of the eighteen Puranas, so as to 
reconcile it with the tenets of six of the prevailing sects, of whom 
the most remarkable were the Savaram, Ganapatyam, Sakam, and 
Vaishnamm. By this method he gained a strong party ; and having, 
among others, brought over the prince of Sringa-giri, where he 
lived, he commenced a violent persecution against the heretical 
doctrines. 
In the year of Sdlkdhana 932 (A. D. 1009), at Sri Permaturu, or 
Srkaram P’huthur, near Madras, was born Rama Anuja Acharya of 
the Sri Vaishnamm sect of Brahmans, and who, of course, followed 
the authority of the first six only of the eighteen Puranas. These 
six are called Vaishnamm, Ndradyam, Bdgawatam, Garudam , Pacl- 
mam, and Vardham. The second division of the eighteen Puranas 
is read by this sect of Brahmans, although they do not found on it 
any of their doctrines. They look with horror on the third division. 
On arriving at the age of discretion, Rama Anuja became a Sannydsi, 
and wrote a commentary, in which he confuted the works of 
Sankara Acharya , and demonstrated, that of the twenty-one sects, 
the only one that ought to be tolerated was that called Vaishnamm. 
The commentary of Rama Anuja is now the chief guide of the Sri 
