Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus c5.32

c5.32

The Saiva sects are the Saivas, Raudras, Ugras, Bháktas, Jangamas, and Pásupatas. Their tenets are so blended in the discussion, that it is not possible to separate them, beyond the conjectural discrimination which may be derived from their appellations: the text specifies merely their characteristic marks: thus the Saivas wore the impression of the Linga on both arms; the Raudras had a Trisula, or trident, stamped on the forehead; the Ugras had the Damaru, or drum of Siva on their arms, and the Bháktas an impression of the Linga on the forehead—the Jangamas carried a figure of the Linga on the head, and the Pásupatas imprinted the same object on the forehead, breast, navel, and arms. Of these sects, the Saivas are not now any one particular class—nor are the Raudras, Ugras, or Bháktas, any longer distinct societies: the Jangamas remain, but they are chiefly confined to the south of India, and although a Pásupata, or worshipper of SIVA as PASUPATI, may be occasionally encountered, yet this has merged into other sects, and particularly into that of the Kanp'hata Jogis: the authorities cited by these sects, according to ANANDA GIRI, were the Siva Gítá, Siva Sanhitá, Siva Rahasya, and Rudra Yámala Tantra: the various classes of Jogis are never alluded to and the work asserts, what is generally admitted as a fact, that the Dandis, and Dasnámi Gosains originated with SANKARA ACHA'RYA.