________________
OF THE HINDUS.
125
philosophical writings of the chief teachers of this system have been met with.
Amongst other articles of the new creed, VALLABHA introduced one, which is rather singular for a Hindu religious innovator or reformer: he taught that privation formed no part of sanctity, and that it was the duty of the teachers and his disciples to worship their deity, not in nudity and hunger, but in costly apparel and choice food, not in solitude and mortification, but in the pleasures of society, and the enjoyment of the world. The Gosáins, or teachers, are almost always family men, as was the founder VALLABIA; for after he had shaken off the restrictions of the monastic order to which he originally belonged, he married, by the particular order, it is said, of his new god. The Gosúins are always clothed with the best raiment, and fed with the daintiest viands by their followers, over whom they have unlimited influence: part of the comexion between the Guru and teacher being the three-fold Samarpan, or consignment of Tan, Man, and Dhan, body, mind, and wealth, to the spiritual guide. The followers of the order are especially numerous amongst the mercantile community, and the Gosáins themselves are often largely engaged, also, in maintaining a connexion amongst the commercial establishments of remote parts of the country, as they are constantly travelling over India, under pretence
what way you will, I shall concur, and thence all its defects will be removed."
