object which induced him to visit Mathurá; for we find him, in Samvat 1629 (A.D. 1573), eight years afterwards, again at Gokul. It was in consequence of his ultimate permanent residence in this sacred city that he acquired the name of Gokul Gusáinji, which is perpetuated in all his male descendants.

He appears to have written several works of repute, and especially commentaries upon older treaties. In one of these works, Vidvanmandan, he has severely criticised and abundantly abused the sect and works of Sankaráchárya.

At the ripe age of seventy years and twenty-nine days, in Samvat 1649 (A.D. 1583), Vithalnáthji quitted the earth on the sacred hill of Govardhan Parvata, where the image was set up by his father. He was twice married, the name of his first wife being Rukminí, and that of the second Padmávatí. By these wives he had seven sons and four daughters. The name of the first son, born in Samvat 1597, was Girdharji; that of the second, born in Samvat 1599, Govinda Ráy; the third was Bálkrishnaji, born in Samvat 1606; the fourth, Gokulnathji, born in Samvat 1608; the fifth, Ragunathji, born in Samvat 1611; the sixth, Jadunáthji, born in Samvat 1613; and the seventh, Ghanashyamji, born in Samvat 1618. His daughters' names were Sobhá, Jamuná, Kamalá, and

Devaká.

All these seven sons, upon the death of Vithalnáthji, established each his own gadi, or seat, assuming to be the incarnation of Krishna, and they dispersed throughout India to diffuse their doctrines and make proselytes.

It was the fourth son, Gokulnáthji, who became the most celebrated of all the descendants of Vithalnáthji. He is distinguished for having written a commentary on the Siddhanta Rahasya, and others. It is the vitality which he infused into the tenets of his particular community that has given it its persistency; for even to the present day the followers of his

descendants keep themselves separate from all the communities of his brothers, considering their own Gosáins as the only legitimate teachers of the faith. The followers of the other sons of Vithalnáthji have an equal degree of veneration for all the communities of the descendants of Vithalnáthji, whilst restricting their exclusive preference to their own particular division.

It was about the period of this dispersion of the sons of Vithalnáthji, that it is presumed they first acquired the title of Maháráj, which effectually conveys in its significance the full force of their wide sway and influence. They have many distinctive titles; they are called, for instance, Maháráj Gusáinji, Gusáinji Maháráj, Vallabha Kula, Agni Kula, Agni Svarupa, Achárya, Guru, Máh Prabhu, etc.; but the name for which they have the greatest respect appears to be that of Gausvámi, which signifies Lord of Cows, applicable also to Krishna.

The heads of this division of the sect are usually called Gokul Gosáins, or Gokulastha Gosáins. The worshippers of this sect are also widely diffused throughout Bombay, Cutch, Kattywár, and central India, and especially the province of Málwá. In all these places they are numerous and opulent, comprising the most wealthy merchants and bankers, and consisting chiefly of bháttiás, baniás, and lowanas. They have many establishments throughout India, especially at Mathurá and Brindavan, which latter place contains some hundreds, amongst whom are three persons of great opulence. In Benares the sect has two temples of great repute and wealth. The city of Jagannáth, in the east, as one of the great centres of Hindu worship, is particularly venerated by them; and the city of Dwárká, in the extreme west, at the extremity of the peninsula of Gujarát, which completes the zone of India, has equal respect paid to it.

There are at present about sixty or seventy Mahárájas

dispersed throughout India. In Bombay there are eight or ten, fifteen or sixteen at Gokul, and one or two at each of the following places, namely, Surat, Ahmedabad, Nagar, Cutch, Porabandar, Amreli, Jodapur, Bundi, Koti, etc. Of these sixty or seventy Mahárájas, there are only two or three who have any knowledge of Sanskrit: the rest are grossly ignorant and indulge merely in sensuality and luxury. They, however, fear no desertion, owing to the infatuation of their followers, and never take the trouble to preach, but give as an equivalent public exhibitions in their temples to divert attention. “Vallabháchárya taught that privation formed no part of sanctity, and that it was the duty of the teacher 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. . . . . In accordance with these precepts the gosáins, or teachers, are always clothed in the best raiment, and fed with the daintiest viands, by their followers, over whom they have unlimited influence. These gosáins are often largely engaged in maintaining connection amongst commercial establishments in remote parts of the country: they are constantly travelling over India under pretence of pilgrimage to the sacred shrines of the sect; and on these occasions they notoriously reconcile the profits of trade with the benefits of devotion. As religious travellers, however, this union of objects renders them more respectable than the vagrants of any other sect." Priestly craft is ever alert to obtain by fair means, or foul, the wealth needful to the sustentation of its power and self-indulgence. This is a vice not limited in its operations to India, or to the chiefs of the sects of the Hindu religion: it pervades all human society, with greater or lesser energy. The scheme is supported by very plausible and just reasoning, for it is but right that those whose function is exercised for the behoof of society at

large, and who are precluded from obtaining the means of livelihood from those sources common to the majority, should be supported by that majority for whom their labours are performed; and it is only when urged to excess, for culpable purposes, that this becomes reprehensible. The Mahárájas, consequently, as teachers of a doctrine and priests of a religion, when duly restricting themselves within their province, are thoroughly entitled to the means of living at the hands of those whom they teach. It is merely perversion and excess that can be complained of. The source of the permanent. revenue of these priests is a fixed lágá, or tax, upon every article of consumption which is sold. This tax, although but trifling in each individual case, amounts to a considerable sum upon the innumerable commercial transactions that take place, and is always multiplied in each case where articles pass from hand to hand for a consideration. There seems to exist an unlimited power on the part of the several Mahárájas to impose this tax and to add lagá upon lágá. When, therefore, we consider the swarming population, the great consumption and consequently the thriving business which is carried on, and the fact that the fixed revenue is often greatly augmented by the presents and votive offerings which are made by their followers from affection, or fear-the wealth, indolence, and luxury of the Mahárájas follow as a matter of course, and the corruption of society ensues as the result of their dissolute and effeminate teaching.

It is not necessary that we should further particularise the branches of the genealogical tree springing from the root of Vallabháchárya: it suffices that, like the deadly upas, they overshadow society with their malignant influences, in Western India especially; and it is with a view to counteract this blighting tendency that the present work has been undertaken, in the hope that the exposure of their acts and doctrines may

eventually bring their converts to reflect upon the depravity of their practices and the utter incompatibility of such vicious doings with a pure faith. The original teachers may have been well disposed men, but their descendants have widely diverged from their courses. The infatuation of the Vaish

navas is so great, that all the descendants of the Mahárájas are held from infancy in extreme veneration, and are nurtured in ignorance, indolence, and self-indulgence: they are empowered by their votaries to gratify through life every vicious propensity; and, when, exhausted by vice, they pass away in premature old age, they are held by their votaries to be translated to the regions of perfect and ecstatic bliss; for, as remarked by Mr. H. H. Wilson, it is a peculiarly remarkable feature in this sect that the veneration paid to their gosáins is paid solely to their descent, without any reference to their individual sanctity or learning: and, although totally destitute of every pretension to even personal respectability, they nevertheless enjoy the unlimited homage of their followers.