SECTION THE EIGHTH: OF THE VICHNUIAN (VA ISHNAVAS) WORSHIPPERS OF VICHNU.――Vichnu, who, according to the belief of the followers of the Smriti, is a subordinate divinity, is held by the Vichnuian to be the preserver of all things. The Vedantían maintain him to possess the qualities of virtue and of order, and to be the lord of the five senses; not subject however to the said senses, nor to their influence in any way. According to the Vichnuían, he is the first cause and author of the universe; they believe him endowed with a body, like mankind; he has a wife. Brahma, a deity, is the creator of things; and Mahádéo, another divinity, the annihilator of beings; both are creators of Vichnu, and distinct from his holy being, because the path of union is closed between the creature and the creator; they say, that every body has a soul, but that the soul is not distinct from, but a part of, the body; the body has two forms, the male and female, and the creator and author of their being is the holy nature of Vichnu; the body is composed of five elements; men, conformably with their actions and works, are invested either with animal or human forms; the soul is always confined in the gaol of ignorance and in the fetters of avidity. Further, the spirits are divided according to three qualities, which are: 1. _sattvam_; 2. _rájas_; and 3. _tamas_: the explanation of these three qualities has been before given. The _Satya_ (virtuous) tends towards _mukt_, that is, “emancipation;” for by the power of this laudable quality, he makes the _bakhti_, that is, “the worship of Vichnu,” his pursuit; and this _bakhti_ raises him to the highest state, that is, to that of “emancipation;” according to the interpretation of this sect, _mukt_ consists in this: that, after having left the _sthúla sarira_,[298] or “elementary body,” and the _linga sarira_,[299] that is, “the visional body,” which has fallen into a vision of appearances, and after having been transformed into the primitive shape, which is either male or female, one enters the _Váikunt_,[300] that is, “the heaven of beatitude of the Gods,” and the mansion of real life. _Rájas_, that is, the possessor of this quality, is liable to recompense or punishment; to the consequence of virtue or crime, according to an impartial appreciation of both. Now he holds the price of virtue, another time that of crime; and conformably to his merits or demerits, he migrates invested with a body, and for reward is associated with the blessed, or for punishment suffers witth the damned. Whoever does not, from the circle of the world, reach the shore of those who are united with salvation, he shall certainly never attain to the state of the desired emancipation. _Tamas_, that is, the possessor of this quality, is an adversary to _mukt_, and an enemy to liberation; his present and future condition is this: that, having left the _sthúla saríra_, that is, “his elemental body,” and the _linga purusha_,[301] or “his visional body,”