1884.] R. Mitra— Psychological Te'nets of the Vaishnavas. 103 
stamped in metal is placed after being waslied in the five necta;i‘s as be¬ 
fore followed by the dedication, meditation, hymn of praise and invi¬ 
tation, &c. Then the anga-nydsa to Rudra is repeated six times, and the 
Budrddhydya, eleven times, &c., &c. Rext incense formed from the 
burnt horns of goats is offered to Rirriti and also wine, barley-cakes, 
flesh and the yellow pigment from the head of a cow {go-rochmid) ; flesh, 
fish, and wine, however, should not be used by Brahmans, who should 
substitute milk with salt for wine and curds with salt for flesh. Lamps 
are now waved to and fro before all the deities and a fire is lighted on 
the altar and a homa made. Rext the dghdra-homn, the Jcrisara-homa, 
the fifteen-verse homa. fuel, rice, &c., with the sri-suJcta mantra, the 
gjdyasa-hoina, imrnd-huti-homa and the agni-homa, are made, after which 
the fire on the altar is extinguished and Agni is dismissed. The vessel 
on the principal altar sacred to Rirriti is now filled with various mate¬ 
rials and whilst these are stirred round several mantras are recited. The 
parents of the child and the child then bathe outside in a place prepared 
for the purpose and ornamented with svastihas and all are sprinkled with 
holy-water. Some hundred verses are then repeated with the prayer that 
the evil influences due to birth in the Mula-nakshatra may be effectually 
prevented. A similar ceremony is performed on account of any person 
born in the Asleshd-naJcshatra. 
{To he contimied. ) 
On the Psychological Tenets of the Vaishnavas.—By Ra'jendeala'la 
Mitea, LL. D., 0. I. E. 
What was the ontological doctrine which Chaitanya inculcated ? is a 
question which was lately put to me by a distinguished European scholar. 
It is one which has not yet been discussed in any English paper that I 
am aware of. Ror is it well understood by the Pandits of Bengal. Even 
among the Vaishnavas of the higher orders there seems to be consider¬ 
able differences of opinion, and distinguished commentators on the Bha- 
gavata and other leading texts of the Vaishnavas have propounded such 
contradictory and at times diametrically opposite theories that several 
polenxical tracts had to be written on the subject. I have lately found 
one of these. It is entitled Sarva-sampraddyahheda-siddlumta. In it an 
attempt has been made to reconcile the theories of the different sects of 
the Vaishnavas and of Sankara Acharya. Its author’s name is unknown 
to me, blit the author was evidently a distinguished scholar, thoroughly con¬ 
versant with the leading topics of Indian Philosophy and the various 
arguments which Vaishnavas of different schools brought to bear upon 
