bvchanan’s journey through

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origin of their order, or the means by which it came to prevail over others; for, ofthe fedaries which differ from themfelves, fuch as thofe of Budha, Jaina , or Siva,they profefs an almoft total ignorance, and fovereign contempt.

This man allows, that in the exifting Vedas no mention is made of any divifionof the Brahmans into fecfs; but he contends, that from the very beginning of theuniverfe all the three feds of Smartal, Ayngar, and Madual, exifled; and he fays,that they are mentioned in the eighteen Puranas, which, next to the Vedas, are bythe Brahmans efteemed as moll holy. Although the Brahmans have exifted fromthe beginning of time, yet in the ninth century of the era of Salivahana, or tenthcentury of Chriftianity, twenty-one heretical feds had arifen in Bharata-khanda, andhad turned from the true worfnip almoft the whole of its inhabitants. Each of thefefeds had a bhafha, or book explaining their dodrine, founded partly on dogmasderived from the Vedas, and explained in the laft fix of the eighteen Puranas, andpartly on tenets contrary to the books efteemed facred by the Brahmans. The moftremarkable of thefe feds were the Buddhifts, the Jainas, and the Sarvakas.

About this time arofe a celebrated dodor of the Brahmans, named SankaraAcharya, who belonged to the fed of Siva. The eighteen Puranas are divided intothree diftind doctrines, called Satwika, Rajafa, and Tamafa; the principles of which,from their tendency, are compared to God , to a King, and to the devil; the firftand laft refembling God and the evil fpirit, while the Rajafa is of a princely nature,partly good and partly bad. Sankara Acharya, as a Smartal, acknowledged thetwo firft parts to be the proper guide for the conduct of Brahmans; and wrote abhafha, or commentary, called after his own name ; in which he explained thedodrine of the firft twelve of the eighteen Puranas, fo as to reconcile it with thetenets of fix of the prevailing feds, of whom the moft remarkable were the Savaram,Ganapatyam, Saivam and Vaifhnavum. By this method he gained a ftrong party ;and having, among others, brought over the Prince of Sringa-giri, where he lived,he commenced a violent perfecution againft the heretical doctrines.

In the year of Salivahana 932 (A. D. 1009), at Sri Permaturu, or SrivaramP’huthur, near Madras, was born Rama Anuja Acharya of the Sri Vaifhnavam fedof Brahmans, and who, of courfe, followed the authority of the firft fix only of theeighteen Puranas. Thefe fix are called Vaifhnavam, Naradyam, Bagawatam, Garu-dam, Padmam, and Varaham . The fecond divifion of the eighteen Puranas is readby this fed of Brahmans, although they do not found on it any of their dodrines.They -look with horror on the third divifion. On arriving at the age of diferetion,Rama Anuja became a Sannyafi, and wrote a commentary, in which he confuted theworks of Sankara Acharya, and demonftrated, that of the twenty-one feds, the onlyone that ought to be tolerated was that called Vaifhnavam. The commentary ofRama Anuja is now the chief guide of the Sri Vaifhnavam Brahmans. They worfhipVifhnu, and the gods of his family only, and all over the Decan are almoft ex-clufively the officiating priefts in the temples of thefe deities. They allege Brahmato be a fon of Vifhnu, and Siva the fon of Brahma, and confider them as the creativeand deftrudive powers in the univerfe; but they abhor the worfhip of thefe gods.Vifhnu they confider as the fame with Para Brahma, or the fupreme being : yet theyworfhip him in nine only of his ten incarnations. Budha, although the tenth incarna-tion of Vifhnu, is never worfhipped by them, nor, I believe, by any Brahman. Thereafon affigned for this is as follows : one of the Afuras, or demons, named Tripura ,pofTeffed a city, the inhabitants of which were very troublefome to the inhabitants■of Brahma Loka, heaven of Brahma, who attempted in vain to take the place.; it