MARKS OF THE BRAHMINS 109
Brahmin repeating those of his own particular Veda, which accounts for the slight differences. Under ordinary circumstances the Brahmins do not appear to be very strict about these minor distinctions, or to prefer one
Veda to another. Nor is this altogether surprising, considering that the author of the famous Indian poem Bhagavata declares that originally the four Vedas were one and the same. According to him it was the Penitent Vyasa who divided them into four books, and at the same time added introductions and commentaries to render them more intelligible. Indeed, owing to inherent faults, or to the mistakes made by ignorant and inattentive copyists, the Vedas are so obscure that even men of learning find it hard to fathom them. I shall have more to say about the
Vedas presently. To Vyasa is also attributed the authorship of the eighteen Puranas 1. These are eighteen poems, all equally futile, containing most minute accounts of
Hindu mythology with its gods and heroes. The fables
contained in them are responsible for the gross forms of idolatry practised by the Hindus.
Brahmins are also distinguishable by their sect, by their names, by the marks which they trace on their foreheads and other parts of the body, and also by the high priest to whose jurisdiction they are subject. The four principal
sects of Brahmins south of the Kistna are: the Vishnavites,
the Smarthas, the Tatuvadis, and the Utrassas. The distinctive mark of the Vishnavite Brahmins is the namam 2.
Their simhasana, that is, the place where their high priest resides and their chief school, is at Hobbala in the Northern
Carnatic. The Smartha Brahmins trace three horizontal lines on the forehead with sandalwood paste. Their simhasana is at Singeri in North-west Mysore. Besides these
horizontal lines on the brow, the Tatuvadi Brahmins have ineffaceable marks branded on certain parts of their bodies with a red-hot iron. Their simhasana is at Sravenur.
1
The names are Brahma-purana, Padma purana, Vishnu-purana, Siva-purana, Bhagavata, Bavirhotara-purana, Naraddia, Markandeyapurana, Brahniakeyvreta- purana, Linga- purana, Yaraha- purana, Skandapurana, Vamana-purana, Vayu-purana, Kurma-purana, Matsia-purana, Garuda-purana, Brahmanda-purana. Dubois.
- See following chapter.