(2) Adhyas.--They form eight families, called Ashtadhyas, and are said by tradition to be descended from the eight sons of a great Brahman sage, who lived on the banks of the river Krishna. The fund of accumulated spirituality inherited from remote ancestors is considered to be so large that sacrifices (yagas), as well as vanaprastha and sanyasa (the two last stages of the Brahman's life), are reckoned as being supererogatory for even the last in descent. They are, however, very strict in the observance of religious ordinances, and constantly engage themselves in the reverent study of Hindu scriptures. The Tantris are Adhyas with temple administration as their specialised function. They are the constituted gurus of the temple priests, and are the final authorities in all matters of temple ritual. (3) Visishta.--These are of two classes, Agnihotris and Bhattatiris. The former are the ritualists, and are of three kinds:--(1) Akkittiris, who have performed the agnichayanayaga, (2) Adittiris, who have done the ceremony of agniadhana, (3) Chomatiris, who have performed the soma sacrifice. The Bhattatiris are the philosophers, and are, in a spirit of judicious economy, which is the characteristic feature of all early caste proscriptions, actually prohibited from trenching on the province of the Agnihotris. They study tarkka (logic), vedanta (religious philosophy or theology), vyakarana (grammar), mimamsa (ritualism), bhatta, from which they receive their name, and prabhakara, which are the six sciences of the early Nambutiris. They were the great religious teachers of Malabar, and always had a large number of disciples about them. Under this head come the Vadyars or heads of Vedic schools, of which there are two, one at Trichur in Cochin, and the other at Tirunavai in British Malabar; the six Vaidikas or expounders of the caste canons, and the Smartas, who preside at the smartavicharams or socio-moral tribunals of Brahmanical Malabar. (4) Samanyas.--They form the Nambutiri proletariat, from whom the study of the Vedas is all that is expected. They take up the study of mantravada (mystic enchantment), puja (temple ritual), and reciting the sacred accounts of the Avatara and astrology.