________________
186
RELIGIOUS SECTS
racter of these Vairugís, as, although united generally by the watch - word of Vishnu, or his incarnations, there are endless varieties both of doctrine and practice amongst them: those who are collected in Maths are of more fixed principles than their vagrant brethren, amongst whom individuals are constantly appearing in some new form with regard to the deity tliey worship, or the practices they follow!.
Such are the Sitá Pádris, Ramati Róms, and others; also the new and scarcely yet known sects Gulál Dásis, and Daryo Dúsis: mention is also made in the Dabistán, of a number of Hindu mendicants, who are no longer numerous, if ever to be encountered. It is not possible in general, however, to discriminate the casses to which they belong. as in the descriptions given by the writer, he usually confines himself to a few peculiarities of practice that afford po guide to the principles of the sect, and as in the case of the Dherls, he confounds the distinctiou of caste, or occupation with that of religions belief. Many of the vagrant ascetics whom he notices belong also rather to the Mohammedan, than the Ilindu religion. as in the followers of SHEIKH Bebis. AD Din Medár (Dabist. II, 223 ff. G. de Tassy, la relig. musulmane dans l'Inde. Paris, 1831, p. 54-62.] -- who, although they credit the divine mission of Mohammed, disregard the established forms of the Musalman faith, chew Bhang, and go naked, smearing their bodies with Vibhuti, or the ashes of burnt cowdung, and twisting their hair into the Jata, or braid worn by Hindu asceties-except as professed worshippers of Niranjan, or the indescribable deity, and a belief in magic, these mendicauts have little in common with the Hindu religion, or perhaps with any, although, with a facility of which innumerable instances occur in Hindustan, they bave adopted many of the Hindu practices. The tomb of Sheikh Medár is still to be seen at Makhanpur, near Firozubád, in the Doab, where, at the time of the Dabistán, an annual meeting of his disciples was held. The tomb is an
