disciples from the Hindus among whom they lived. Hence Guru Govind prescribed that every Sikh should bear the five marks, known as the five ka--the hair uncut (kes), the short drawers (kachh), the kara, or iron bangle, the khanda, or steel knife, the kangha, or comb; that he should abstain from tobacco, and eat no meat save that of animals decapitated by a single blow at the back of the neck. In later times a tendency to assimilate themselves more and more to Hindus began to prevail, and many Sikhs accepted the ministrations of Brahmans, and made pilgrimages, especially to Hardwar, where the Ganges leaves the lower hills. This tendency is now being opposed by the orthodox teachers, who have their head-quarters at Amritsar, and the principles of the Granth, or Sikh Bible, are more stringently enforced. The teaching of the Gurus in matters of faith was little more than an exposition of the principles of Kabir. The formula of Nānak was the Unity of God and the Brotherhood of Man. The strength of Sikhism lay not in the novelty of its message, but in the social observances, which were designed to stimulate the local patriotism of its members and to make the followers of the Guru a peculiar people.

Sāktas.

The third great sect which shares with Saivas and Vaishnavas The the allegiance of Hindus is that of the Sāktas. It is based on the worship of the active female principle (prākriti), as manifested in one or other of the forms of the consort of Siva

Durgā, Kālī, or Pārvatī. The forces of Nature are here deified under separate personalities, known as Divine Mothers, an old idea, now revived with fresh and more impure associations. The ritual of the sect, which prescribes blood-offerings and other abominable libidinous rites, is found in the Tantras, embodying cruder forms of belief, which are as old as the Atharva-veda, but have been farther developed subsequently. The cultus seems to have arisen in Eastern Bengal or Assam about the fifth century A.D., and was opposed by the Vaishnava reformers. It has left its mark in the later Buddhism, and unhappily seems to be spreading in Upper India under the encouragement of Bengali clerks.

sects: the

The most interesting phase of the reformed Vaishnava Modern Vaishnava movement appears in the modern sects, which owe their inspiration to Kabir. Thus, in the United Provinces the RadhaRādhāswāmis, founded by Shiu Dayal Singh, a Khattri of swāmis. Agra (1818-78 A.D.), recognize the separate existence of God, the soul, and matter. According to them the universe is divided into three spheres--the first, the abode of the

Sects

social re

volt.

Supreme Being, about whom nothing can be predicated; the second, presided over by a Spirit, who is curiously described as 'the Lord God of the Bible, the Sat of the Vedantists, and the Lahaul of the Muhammadan Saints.' The ruler of the third sphere, in which matter predominates over Spirit, is compared to the 'Brahm, or Paramātma, or God of most religions in the world.' By resignation to the will of the Supreme transmigration is avoided, and the end of the series of re-births comes when the purified souls, after passing from plants through the lower created forms to man, reach the presence of the Supreme Being, and remain there, but without losing individuality. The sect has no temples and no priests, but the spiritual head of the community is highly revered. Contemplation of his image is held to be the contemplation of the Supreme Being, and is one of the chief ordinances of the faith.

In many cases these dissenting sects have taken the form founded on of social rather than religious revolts. They were efforts on the part of the lower castes to free themselves from the tyranny of the caste system and the Brahmans who stood at its head. It is significant that many of the reformers sprang from the lower ranks. Rāmānand, himself a Brāhman, had among his disciples who founded separate schools Namdeo the cotton-printer, Sena the barber, Kabir the weaver, Nābhaji the Dom.

The Satnāmis.

One of the most important of these movements was that of the Satnamis, founded in the beginning of the seventeenth century by an Oudh Rājput, Jagjīvandās, and extended among his own caste by the Chamar Ghāsidās, between 1820 and 1830 A. D. The seven principles prescribed by Ghasidas included abstinence from spirituous liquor and certain vegetables, like lentils and tomatoes, whose juice resembles blood; the abolition of idol worship; the prohibition of the use of cows for ploughing (an old Gond custom, now tabooed as a sop to the Brahmans), or of working oxen after midday, a rule designed for the prevention of cruelty to animals. 'This creed,' writes Mr. Russell, 'was marked by a creditable simplicity and purity of too elevated a nature for the Gonds of Chhattisgarh. The crude myths which are now associated with the story of Ghasidas, and the obscenity which distinguishes the ritual of the sect, furnish a good instance of the way in which a religion, originally of a high order of morality, will be rapidly debased to their own level when adopted by people who are incapable of living up to it.'

Theistic

. The latest stage of these efforts to reform Hinduism is found Modern in the modern Theistic sects, which had their origin in Bengal. sects: the Brahmoism,' writes Sir A. Lyall', 'as propagated by its latest Brahmo expounders, seems to be Unitarianism of a European type, Samāj. and as far as one can understand its argument, appears to have no logical stability or locus standi between revelation and pure rationalism; it propounds either too much or too little to its hearers.' Its founder was the celebrated Ram Mohan Roy (1774-1833), and his successors, Debendranath Tagore, Keshub Chunder Sen, and Pratap Chunder Mozūmdār. As at present constituted, the Brahmo Church is divided into three sections, all alike believing in the unity of the Godhead, the brotherhood of man, and direct communion with God in spirit, without the intervention of any mediator. The differences which exist are ritualistic and social, rather than religious. The Adi Samāj, or oldest section, is also the most conservative. While discarding all idolatrous forms, it follows as closely as possible the rites of Hinduism, and draws its inspiration solely from the religious books of the Hindus, especially the Upanishads, and not from the Bible or Koran. It has only once allowed a non-Brahman to officiate as its minister. Inter-caste marriages are not allowed, and a considerable agitation was raised when one of its Brahman members recently married the daughter of the Mahārāja of Cooch Behar. The Nabibidhan Samāj, or Church of the New Dispensation, was founded by Keshub Chunder Sen. It is more eclectic, and has assimilated what it considers true, not only from the holy books of Hinduism, but also from the teaching of Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. The Sadharan Brahmo Samāj is the most advanced of these Churches. It rejects caste and seclusion of women, freely permits inter-caste marriage, and is uncompromising in its rejection of what is commonly called Hinduism. Though as yet a small body, it attracts Hindus who have received their education in England, as they are thus absolved from the trammels of caste, and spared the necessity of undergoing any rite of purification on their return to India.

Another of these societies, the Arya Samaj, has gained con- The Arya siderable influence in North-western India. Founded by Samāj. Dayanand Saraswati (1827-53), it regards the Vedas as the only Scripture, professes a pure monotheism, repudiates idol worship, and largely devotes itself to the social amelioration of the race. One of the publications of the founder had some

1 i. 153.

Sectarianism in modern

The

effect in promoting the agitation against cattle-slaughter, which
led in recent years to serious popular disturbances.
Samaj has suffered from internal dissensions, and is at present
divided on the question of the lawfulness of animal food.

In considering the practical effect of sectarianism on modern Hinduism, it may be said that, while the lines of cleavage Hinduism. between the manifold sects are clearly marked, it would be an error to suppose that Hinduism is divided into so many watertight compartments, between which no communion is possible. Such a result would be quite alien to the eclectic spirit of the system. There may be a certain amount of hostility felt by the leaders and inner circle of believers against the adherents of a rival sect; but beyond these lies the great mass of the people, who are, as a rule, ignorant to which sect they belong. The majority of high-caste Hindus in North India worship all the gods of the Hindu pantheon, each man, according to his fancy, paying special respect to Siva, or to one of his consorts, or to Vishnu in one or other of his many incarnations. The Brahman will keep in his private chapel the Sālagrāma, or ammonite representing Vishnu, as well as the phallic emblem of Siva. At the great places of pilgrimage he will worship the sectarian gods as he meets their images in his tour round the holy site; he will attend the popular celebrations in honour of either god, such as the Durga-pūjā or the miracle play of Rama. The continuity of religious life is seen in its sacred places. Their sanctity has come down from a time probably antecedent to the rise of the historical religions, and each creed in succession has consecrated some holy site to the needs of its culture. Thus, Benares and Muttra were centres respectively of Buddhism and Jainism. The cult of Siva has accepted the one and that of Krishna the other, the new faith often erecting its temple on the very spot consecrated to that which preceded it. Even the more modern religions have adopted the old sacred places. For example, at Sakhi Sarwar, at the foot of the Sulaiman range, Hindus perform their rites of prayer and ablution, Sikhs venerate a shrine of Nānak, and Musalmāns the tomb of a Muhammadan saint.

Animism.

Up to this point we have dealt with the historical, literary, and what may be termed the official, development of Hinduism. But below the upper crust of observances which Brahmanism and Buddhism enforce, there is a mass of more primitive beliefs, which form the real faith of the majority of the people. This jungle of diverse beliefs and cults has been classed under the unsatisfactory title of Animism, by which is meant the

belief which explains to primitive man the constant movements and changes in the world of things by the theory that every object which has activity enough to affect him in any way is animated by a life and will like his own. The leading features of Animism, as summarized by Mr. Risley, are: 'It conceives of man as passing through life surrounded by a ghostly company of powers, elements, tendencies, mostly impersonal in their character, shapeless phantasms of which no image can be made and no definite idea can be formed. Some of these have departments or spheres of influence of their own : one presides over cholera, another over small-pox, another over - cattle disease; some dwell in rocks, others haunt trees, others, again, are associated with rivers, whirlpools, waterfalls, or strange pools hidden in the depths of the hills. All of them require to be diligently propitiated by reason of the ills which proceed from them, and usually the land of the village provides the means for their propitiation.' Some rude stones piled under a sacred tree, a mud platform where a tiger has killed a man, a curiously shaped rock which is supposed to have assumed its present shape from some supernatural agency, are the shrines of the Animist. His priest is not drawn from the Brahman order, and the office is often not hereditary.

in its

purest

Animism in its purest form shows itself among the forest Animism races in the centre and south of the Peninsula, and on the lower slopes of the Himalayas. Some of these founded king- form. doms of their own, like the Gond princes of Garhā Mandlā, Deogarh, and Chanda in the Central Provinces, the Koch of North-east Bengal and Assam, the main line of whose dynasty is now represented by the Mahārāja of Cooch Behar. The tribes whose beliefs are Animism of this kind are in many cases falling rapidly under Hindu influence. Such is the case with the Santāls, Gonds, and Bhils, who occupy the hills south of the Gangetic valley. Over such people the yoke of the Brahman missionary is easy. He enforces no hard moral code ; he asks but that the convert should employ a faithful priest, and conform to the ordinances of a more respectable religion than that which he believes in common with the semi-savages around him. The tribes occupying the southern hill country, like the Badagas, Irulas, and Kurumbas, and the fierce races, like the Nāgās, who inhabit the lower ranges on the Assam frontier, have remained comparatively free from Brahman influence. The missionary influence likely to affect the races of the Madras hill country will probably be Christian rather than Hindu.