themselves in the most perfect manner of their prescribed duties, and strenuously avoiding what ought not to be done, they attain the state of health, the most elevated degree of which is liberation from this degraded body, and union with the ambrosial sweets of paradise; which state is called _Mukti_ by this sect; and the mode of attaining the highest degree of Mukti is not being immersed in the pleasures of this world, plucking away the heart from the gratifications of sense, being content with mere necessaries, abstaining from food, breaking the fast with viands not relished by the vile appetite, and such like: just as in sickness, for the sake of dissolving the morbid matter, it becomes necessary to fast one day, and to swallow bitter draughts. Such is the substance of the tenets professed by the sect entitled Budah-Mimansá, which coincide exactly with those of the Yezdáníáns, except that the latter admit the being of the self-existent God, the sole and true object of adoration; regarding the acts and deeds performed in this world as the means of elevation and degradation in the next; holding the angelic dignities to be imperishable; and esteeming human perfection to consist in attaining to the society and service of the sublime assembly in the court of heaven; whilst the followers of the Budah Mimansa do not admit the existence of the eternal and infinite Lord; but according to them, the term “Almighty” signifies the human soul, acts, and deeds. They also assert, that the blessings of paradise are transitory, and that the angelic dignities are liable to perish. However, the orthodox opinion, which is most prevalent at this time, is this: they admit the being of the truly-existing God, by whom the world subsists; but account his holy essence altogether exalted, and exempt from whatever effects created beings. They also believe that human beings are confined by the yokes of their own works, and enchained by their deeds, in the manner before stated. [1] The name of a country: this name is applied in the Puranas to several places, but it usually signifies a district on the Coromandel coast, extending from below Cuttack to the vicinity of Madras.――D. S.