Note 24 — B

Bairâgi.—(Sans. Vairâgya, “freedom from passion.”)—A term applied to a sect of Hindu ascetics, which is often used in rather a vague sense. On this sect Mr. Maclagan writes24:—“The worship of Râma and Krishna is said to be of comparatively recent date; and Professor Wilson points out that in the Sankara Vijaya, published by a pupil of Sankara Achârya, the religious leader who is supposed to have lived in the ninth or tenth century, no mention whatever is made of Râma or Krishna, or Lakshmana or Hanumân. The popularity of this particular form of worship is supposed to date from the time of the spread of the Râjput power, which followed the overthrow of the Buddhist dynasties. The various orders who attach themselves to the worship of Râma and Krishna are generally known as Bairâgis. The appearance of these orders dates from the period at which the worship of Râma and Krishna appears to have been in the ascendant, and though primarily they have their origin in the Dakkhin, their strength is, and has been, mainly in the North-West Provinces, where the worship of Râma and Krishna has always been strongest.