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________________ 50 RELIGIOUS SECTS extent, according to the property of which the proprietors are possessed; but they generally comprehend a set of huts or chambers for the Mahant', or Superior, and his permanent pupils; a temple, sacred to the deity whom they worship, or the Samadhi, or shrine of the founder of the sect, or some eminent teacher; and a Dharma Sálá, one or more sheds, or buildings for the accommodation of the mendicants or travellers, who are constantly visiting the Math: ingress and egress is free to all; and, indeed, a restraint upon personal liberty seems never to have entered into the conception of any of the religious legislators of the Hindus. 1 The following description of the residence of MANDANA Miśra, from the Sankara Vijaya of ANANDA Giri, is very applicable to a modern Math. “At the distance of four Yojanas, west from Hastinapur, was a square plot of ground, extending a cos on each side; in the centre of it stood a large mansion, constructed of the timber of the Tal, and exactly facing it another a hundred cubits in length; upon the top of this last were many cages full of parrots, and within it resided five hundred pupils, occupied in the study of various Sástras: the first was the dwelling of the Teacher, like Brahmá with four heads, like the Serpent King, with a thousand faces, and Rudra, with a five-fold head, amongst his disciples like the waves of the ocean, and enabling them to overcome the universe in unparalleled profundity and extent of knowledge: lie was attended by numerous slaves of both sexes: attached to his dwelling were wells and reservoirs, and gardens and orchards, and his person was pampered with the choicest viands procured daily by his disciples. In his court-yard were two Temples, on a circular mound, for the worship of the l'išvadevas and the Sálagrám, in the form of Lakshmi Náráyana.”
SR No.007688
Book TitleEssays Lectures on Religion of Hindu Vol 01
Original Sutra AuthorN/A
AuthorH H Wilson
PublisherTrubner and Company London
Publication Year1861
Total Pages480
LanguageEnglish
ClassificationInterfaith & Hinduism
File Size28 MB
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