XXIX. On the Srawacs or Jains

Extract

In the districts of Bihár and Patna the Jains are called Sráwacs. The number of this sect settled there is not great, amounting only to three hundred and fifty families; but they possess considerable wealth, having all engaged in trade, and many of them with success. They have, therefore, seventeen priests (yatís); fifteen of whom constantly reside at Patna, and two at Bihár. With the two latter I had several interviews, and they were abundantly communicative, the chief of them being a man of considerable learning. At Patna they declined all intercourse with me; which, I am told, proceeded from their being very shallow, and afraid of exposing their ignorance. A Saryuriya-Bráhman, of the sect of Vishnu, named Góvinda, was brought to me at Patna, as the only person there able and willing to give me information relative to the Sráwacs. He said that he had been employed to instruct some of the Yatis in the Sanscrit language, which gave him an opportunity of reading their books and knowing their customs. Finding the employment profitable, he was, I believe, a principal means of keeping the Yatis at a distance from me: he was, however, abundantly diligent in procuring information. In travelling through the district I had also an opportunity of conversing with a great many pilgrims, who had come from Bundelkhund, and were visiting the holy places at Gaya, &c. From these sources I collected some information respecting this sect, which I now offer, in addition to that which I have given in my account of Mysore.