Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 4.djvu/304

LINGAYAT shaken. Finally, round the forearm were tied pieces of bear-skin.] No account of the Lingāyat community as it exists at the present day would be complete without some reference to the grounds on which the modern representatives of Lingayatism claim for their religion an origin as ancient as that of Brāhministic Hinduism, and a social structure similar to that which is described in the Code of Manu. Mr. Karibasava Shāstri, Professor of Sanskrit and Canarese in the State College of Mysore, writes that the Shaiv sect of Hindus has always been divided into two groups, the one comprising the wearers of the linga, and the other those who do not wear it. The former he designates Vīrshaiv, and declares that the Vīrshaivs consist of Brāhman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Sūdra. Quoting from the 17th chapter of the Parameshvar Āgma, he declares that the Vīrshaiv Brahmans are also known as Shudha Vīrshaivs, Vīrshaiv Kings are Marga Vīrshaiv, Vīrshaiv Vaishya are Mishra Vīrshaiva, and the Sūdras of the community are Anter Vīrshaiv. In his opinion the duties and penances imposed on the first of these classes are —


 * (1) The ashtavarna.
 * (2) Penances and bodily emaciation.
 * (3) The worship of Siva without sacrifice.
 * (4) The recital of the Vēdas.

The Professor asserts that the Hindu ashrams of Brāhmacharya, Grahasta and Sanyāsi are binding on Vīrshaivs, and quotes from various Sanskrit works texts in support of this view. He also furnishes a mythical account of the origin of the Lingāyats at the time of the creation of the world.

A committee of gentlemen appointed in the Belgaum district to consider the question of the origin of