Page:A Comprehensive History of India Vol 2.djvu/110

74 IIISTOEY OF INDIA.

[Book IV.

The sects of •Saiviis.

A.D. — other intercourse than that which arises from community of belief and interest, and the joint celebration of Krishna and Chitanya, with song and dance. The sisters act as the spiritual instructors of the females of respectable families, to which they have unrestricted access. The effect of this influence is mani- fested in " the growing diffusion of the doctrines of this sect in Calcutta, where it is specially establislied."

The Saivas being far less numerous than the Vaishnavas, will not require to occupy so much space as has been given to their rivals. To judge by the number of shrines dedicated to the Linga, the only form under which Siva is worshipped, it might seem to be the most prevalent of all modes of adora- tion ; but these shrines have comparatively few votaries, and are not regarded with much veneration. The temple of VLsweswara at Benares is indeed thronged "vvith a never-ceasing crowd of worshippers ; but even here, though the most celebrated resort of Siva's votaries, no enthusiasm is displayed, and the votive offerings of flowers or fruit are thrown before the image with no appear- ance of solemnity and veneration. Among the Brahmins, indeed, and the orthodox generally, Siva is a favourite divinity, and the Linga receives their adoration in temples, private houses, and by the banks of streams ; but in Upper India he has never been a popular deity. His emblem, little understood or regarded by the uninitiated, neither interests the feelings nor excites the imagi- nation, and none of the legends recorded of him are of a pleasing and poetical character. The number of the Saiva sects in Professor Wilson's list amounts to nine, but only a few of these are so important or independent as to require

separate notice.

The Dandi,s, distin- guished by carrying a small dand or wand, with several processes or projections, and attached to the wand a piece of cord dyed with red ochre, in which the sacrificial cord is supposed to be enshrined, are legitimate representa- tives of the last stage of Brahminical life. According to rule, they should live. The DandiB. not in but Only near towns, as solitaries ; but generally disregarding the rule, they live like other mendicants collected in math.s. The worship of Siva as Bhairava is their prevailing form ; and their common ceremony of initiation consists in inflicting a small incision on the inner part of the knee, and pre- senting the blood which flows as an acceptable offering. The use of fire being absolutely prohibited to them, they dispose of their dead by putting them into

''M%A ^- .,

Dandi. — From Solvyn, Les Hindous.