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by Professor Wilson to have been adopted about CHAP. the end of the fourteenth or beginning of the fifteenth century.

The Hindú orders do not present the same regular aspect as similar fraternities in Europe, and do not so easily furnish marked characteristics to distinguish them from the rest of mankind or from each other. There is not even a general name for the class, though that of Gosáyen (which, in strictness, should be confined to one subdivision) is usually applied to the whole. They can all be recognised by their dress, as all wear some part of their clothes (generally the turban and scarf) of a dirty orange colour, except a few, who go quite naked; all are bound by some vows; and all accept (though all do not solicit) charity.

These are, perhaps, the only particulars which can be asserted of them all; but by far the greater number have many other features in common. An order generally derives its character from a particular spiritual instructor, whose doctrines it maintains, and by whose rules of life the members are bound. Many of these founders of orders have been likewise founders of sects; for which reason, the tenets of Gosáyens are seldom purely orthodox. They vary greatly in numbers, some being confined to a small knot of votaries in one part of the country, and others spread in numbers over all India.

Most of them possess convents, to which, in some cases, landed property is attached. They

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derive an additional income from the contributions
of devout persons, from money collected by beg-
ging, and, in many cases, from trade, which is
often carried on openly, but more frequently in a
covert manner. These convents are all under a
mohant (or abbot) who is generally elected by
his own community or by the other mohants of
the order; but who is sometimes hereditary, and
often named by his predecessor. Admission into
an order is not given until after a probation of a
The novice is, in a manner, adopted
year or two.
by a particular instructor, or guru, who has often
several such disciples; all subject, as well as the
guru himself, to the head of the convent. One
order in Bengal admits of males and females living
in one convent, but under strict vows of chastity.

Many of the Gosáyens who belong to convents nevertheless spend much of their lives in wandering about, and subsist by begging. Other Gosáyens lead an entirely erratic life; in some cases still subordinate to mohants, and, in others, quite independent and free from all rules, except such as they impose on themselves. But among these last are to be found some of the most austere religionists; those, in particular, who retire to the heart of forests, and live entirely unconnected with mankind, exposed to the chance of famine, if no charitable person should think of them, and to still greater danger from the beasts of prey that alone inhabit those wild and solitary tracts.*

* Mr. Ward on the Hindoos, vol. iii. p. 342.; where he

Few of the orders are under very strict vows; and they have no attendance on chapels, general fasts, vigils, or other monkish observances. Most are bound to celibacy; but many allow their members to marry, and to reside with their families like laymen. One order, particularly devoted to Crishna in his infant form, hold it to be their duty to indulge in costly apparel and choice food, and to partake of every description of innocent enjoyment; and these tenets are so far from lowering their character that their influence with their followers is unbounded, and they are amply supplied with the means of living according to their liberal notions of religious duty.

Some orders, however, differ widely from these last: such are those of which individuals hold up one or both arms until they become fixed in that position, and until the nails grow through the hands; those who lie on beds of spikes, who vow perpetual silence, and who expose themselves to other voluntary mortifications.

Some few affect every sort of filth and pollution, and extort alms by the disgust which their presence creates, or by gashing their limbs with knives.

Others, as has been said, go naked, and many nearly so. Of this description are the Nágas, who serve as mercenary soldiers, often to the number of several thousands, under their own leaders.

states that he was informed, on a spot on Ságar island, that six of these hermits had been carried off by tigers in the preceding three months.

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These people do not profess to take arms for the advancement of their religion, but serve any chief for hire; and are, in general, men of violent and profligate habits, but with the reputation of desperate courage. Their naked limbs smeared with ashes, their shaggy beards, and their matted hair, artificially increased and twisted round the head, give a striking appearance to these martial deWhen not hired, they have been known to wander about the country, in large bands, plundering and levying contributions. In former days the British possessions were more than once threatened or invaded by such marauders.

votees.

But these armed monks sometimes assemble in great numbers, without being formed into bands or associated for military service; and the meeting of large bodies of opposite sects has often led to sanguinary conflicts. At the great fair at Hardwár, in 1760, an affray, or rather a battle, took place between the Nágas of Síva and those of Vishnu, in which it was stated, on the spot, that 18,000 persons were left dead on the field.* The amount must, doubtless, have been absurdly exaggerated, but it serves to give an idea of the numbers engaged.

One description of. Gosáyens, of the sect of Síva, are Yogis (see p. 224.); and attempt, by meditation, and by holding in the breath, and other mummeries, to procure a union with the Divinity. The lowest of this class pretend to work miracles; and some are even professed mountebanks, who go

* Captain Raper, Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. p. 455.

about the country with monkeys and musical instruments, and amuse the populace with juggling and other tricks of dexterity. Another sort is much more remarkable. These profess to be enthusiastic devotees, and practise their imposture, not for money, but to increase their reputation for sanctity. Among them are persons who manage, by some contrivance hitherto unexplained, to remain seated, for many minutes, in the air, at as great a distance from the ground as four feet, with no other apparent support but what they derive from slightly resting on a sort of crutch with the back of one hand, the fingers of which are all the time employed in counting their beads.*

Among the Gosáyens there are, or have been, some few learned men: many are decent and inoffensive religionists, and many respectable merchants; but many, also, are shameless and importunate beggars, and worthless vagabonds of all descriptions, attracted to the order by the idle and wandering life which it admits of. In general, the followers of Vishnu are the most respectable, and those of Síva the most infected by the offensive qualities of the class. It is to the credit of the good sense of the Hindús that these devotees fall off in public esteem exactly in proportion to the extravagance and eccentricity of their observances.

* The most authentic account of one of these is quoted by Professor Wilson, Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii. p. 186., from a statement by an eye-witness in the Asiatic Monthly Journal for March, 1829.

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