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OF THE HINDUS.
149
that is unattainable'.-Those who have acquired the regard of VISHNU are thereby exempted from future birth, and enjoy felicity in Vaikuntha under four conditions, as Sárúpya, similarity of form, Sálokya, visible presence, Sannidhya, proximity, and Sárshthi, equal power".
Besides the writings of the founder, the following works are considered as forming the Sástra, or scriptural authority, of this sect. The four Vedas, the Mahábhárat, the Pancharátra, and the genuine or original Rámáyana.
It seems not improbable, that the founder of the Madhwa sect was originally a Saiva priest, and, although he became a convert to the Vaishnava faith, he encouraged an attempt to form a kind of compromise or alliance between the Saivas and Vaishnaivas. MADHWA was first iniated into the faith of SIVA at Ananteswar, the shrine of a Linga, and one of his names, ÁNANDA TIRTHA, indicates his belonging to the class of Dasnámi Gosains, who were instituted by SANKARÁCHÁRYA; one of his first acts was to establish a Sálagrám, a type of VISHNU, at the shrine of SUBRAHMANYA, the warrior son of ŚIVA, and, as observed above, the images of SIVA are allowed to par
1 "Emancipation is not obtained without the favour of VISHNU. His favour is obtained from knowledge of his excellence, and not from a knowledge of his identity."-Śruti: a faप्रसादान्तरेण न लभ्यते प्रसादश्च गुणोत्कर्षज्ञानादेव नाभेदज्ञानात् । [Sarvad. S. p. 68.]
* [See also Mahánáráyana Upan. 15. ap. Weber, Ind. Stud. II, 94.]
