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His disciples worship the divine ape, Hanuman[76] (conspicuous in both epics), as well as R[=a]ma. They are called the liberated,' Avadh[=u]tas, but whether because they are freed from caste-restrictions, [77] or from the strict rules of eating enjoined by R[=a]m[=a]nuja, is doubtful. R[=a]m[=a]nand himself had in turn twelve disciples. Of these the most famaous is Kab[=i)r, whose followers, the Kab[=ir Panth[=ijs (sect), are widely spread, and of whom no less a person than N[=a]nak, the Sikh, claimed to be a successor. But it will be more convenient to describe the Sikhs hereafter. Of R[ra]m[=a]nand's other disciples that founded sects may be mentioned Kil, whose sectaries, the Kh[=a]kis, of Oude, unite successfully R[=a]ma-worship, Hanumanworship, and Çivaite fashions (thus presenting a mixture like that of the southern M[=a]dhvas, who unite the images of Civa and Vishnu). The R[=a]s D[=a]sa sect, again, owes to its founder the black Ç[ra]lagr[ra]ma pebble, an object of reverent awe, which gives rise to a sort of sub-cult subsequently imitated by others.[78] Another widelyspread sect which claim R[=a]m[=a]nand as their founder's teacher is that of the D[=a]d[=u] Panth[=ids. This branch also of the Ramaites we shall more appropriately discuss under the head of deism (below). Finally, we have to mention, as an outcome of the R[=a]m[=a]nand faith, the modern R[=a]m[=a]yana, Ramcaritmanas, the new bible of the sect, composed in the sixteenth century by Tulas[=i]d[=a]sa ('slave of Vishnu'),the greatest of modern Hindu poets. What the Divine Song and the Bh[=a]gavata Pur[=a]na are to the Krishnaite, the older (epic) R[=a]m[=a]yana of V[=a]lm[=ijki and Tulas[=i]d[=a]sa's new poem (of the same name) are to the Ramaite.[79]
THE KRISHNAITES.
There are two great sects that worship Vishnu as especially manifested in the human form of Krishna. But, as distinguished from the philosophical Ramaite, the Krishnaite is not satisfied with a declaration of faith in the man-god, and in fact his chief cult is of the child-god Krishna, the B[=a]la Gop[=a]la or Infant Shepherd. This recalls the older Krishna (of the Harivança), whose sporting with the milk-maids is a favorite topic in later Krishnaite literature. As a formulated cult, consisting for the most part of observances based on the mystic side of affection for the personal saver of man (thebhakti principle
