Note 312 — Chapter II · (continued 3)

This is not quite exact: for the author has not yet mentioned the Ramanujas, nor the Nîmanujas, of whom he says nothing hereafter.

Rámánuja Acharya was born at Perumbar, in the south of India, about the end of the 11th century; his fame as a teacher was established about the first half of the 12th century; he was a great supporter and propagator, nay, the chief author, of the later Váishnava faith; he founded 700 maths, or “convents,” of which four only remain; but other establishments of this sect are still numerous in the Dekhan.

The worship of the followers of Rámánuja is addressed to Vichnu and to Lakchmî, his wife, and to their respective incarnations, either singly or conjointly; wherefore they are also named Srí Váichnavas, consisting of several subdivisions. The chief religious tenet of the Rámánujas is the assertion that Vichnu is Brahma; that he was before all worlds, and was the cause and the creator of all. They maintain three predicates of the universe comprehending the deity: it consists of chit, “spirit;” achit, “matter;” and Iśwára, “God.”

These sectaries are not allowed to eat in cotton garments, but, having bathed, must put on woollen or silk, and their meal, whilst they are eating, must not attract the eyes of a stranger, or it becomes instantly spoiled, and should be buried in the ground. The marks of the Rámánujas are the same as those of the Rámánandis, before described (see note, p. 181), excepting that the central perpendicular streak on the forehead is red, made with red sanders or roli, a preparation of turmeric and lime. Besides other marks on their bodies, not enumerated here, they wear a necklace of the wood of tulasi, and carry a rosary of the seeds of the same plant, or of the lotus—(See, for a further account of this sect, the work quoted, pp. 27-36).