________________
40
RELIGIOUS SECTS
The chief ceremony of initiation in all Hindu sects, is the communication by the teacher to the disciple of the Mantra, which generally consists of the name of some deity, or a short address to him; it is communicated in a whisper, and never lightly made known by the adept to profane ears. The Mantra of the RÁMÁNUJA Sect is said to be the six syllable Mantraor Om Rámáya namah; or Om, salutation to RÁMA'.
Another distinction amongst sects, but merely of a civil character, is the term or terms with which the religious members salute each other when they meet, or in which they are addressed by the lay members. This amongst the Rámánujas is the phrase, Dáso 'smi, or Dáso 'ham; I am your slave; accompanied with the Pranám, or slight inclination of the head, and the application of the joined hands to the forehead. To the Ácháryas, or supreme teachers of this sect, the rest perform the Ashtanga Dandawat or prostration of the body, with the application of eight parts-the forehead, breast, hands, knees, and insteps of the feet, to the ground.
one called Ávaraní, from Ávaraña, screening, or surrounding, and the other Anávaraní, from the members not observing such punctilious privacy.
me,
In giving the Mantras, as they have been communicated to it may be necessary to suggest a doubt of their accuracy; a Hindu evades what he dislikes to answer, and will not scruple a falsehood to stop enquiry; men above prejudice, in other respects, find it so difficult to get over that of communicating the Mantra, that when they profess to impart it, even their sincerity can scarcely be admitted without a doubt.
