to God. He exhorted his followers to put aside ceremonies and outward symbols, and to follow Vishnu in heart. A prominent feature in his teaching was his denial of the efficacy of caste. He taught that, as all men could worship God alike, they were all from a religious point of view equal. Krishna, and, in a less degree, Jagannáth and other incarnations of Vishnu, were chosen as the objects of devotion, and with the multitude they soon supplanted the more abstract conception of Vishnu. Celibacy was enjoined. Apparently the religion of Chaitanya was entirely of a passive kind. It may be fairly admitted that in its opposition to caste and formal observances it was a movement in advance, but in its advocacy of abstract meditation and asceticism it was reactionary.
‘In the present day the Vaishnavs are different in many respects from other Hindus. They are regarded, and have come to regard themselves, as a caste; but they have not the most notable mark of caste, namely exclusiveness, and therefore it may still be said with truth that they do not hold by caste. Any Hindu can join the Vaishnavs,—from the lowest Chandál to the highest Bráhman. In many cases they would actually gain in caste position by doing so. A Vaishnav is regarded as superior in caste to a Bágdí, a Chandál, a Hárí, and others. Whatever may have been the case originally, a Bráhman or Káyasth, or other person of the higher castes, seldom if ever becomes a Vaishnav, unless when he has become an outcast among those of his own caste for some action regarded by them as dishonourable. A Bráhman enamoured of a Bágdiní, which would be a good reason for his fellow-Bráhmans to make him an outcast, would become a Vaishnav. A Vaishnav does not use animal food or strong drinks, and, unlike other Hindus, he buries his dead. He does not recognise any ceremonial or outward sign of mourning for the loss of his friends. He allows the marriage of widows, independently of their age or worldly position. He does not affect to respect Bráhmans more than other men, but it is to be observed that his Gosáins or spiritual teachers are Bráhmans. He wears the mark tilaka on his nose in white and not in red paint, and he daubs his body with a description of white clay called gopi chandan. A great proportion of the Vaishnavs are mendicants, and a considerable number of them are strolling musicians. These musicians and mendicants, both men and women, shave their heads, leaving only a small lock of hair on the back of the skull. Admission to the sect is easily managed. The person desiring to be admitted makes
