teaching from the Vedas, the Darsanas, the Puranas, and the Tantras. But beyond this we find quite a lot of teachers: Ramananda, Kabira, Dadu, Nanaka, Chaitanya, Sahajananda, and many others holding influence over small tracts over all India. None of these have a claim to the title of Acharya or the founders of a now school of thought, for all that these noble souls did was to explain one or another of the Sampradayas in the current vernacular of the people. The teachings of these men are called Panthas—more ways to religion as opposed to the traditional teachings of the Sampradayas.
The bearing of these Sampradayas and Panthas, the fifth edition as it were of the ancient faith, on Hinduism in general is not worthy of note except in the particular that thenceforth every Hindu must belong to one of the Sampradayas or Panthas.
VI. This brings us face to face with the India of to-day and Hinduism as it stands at present. It is necessary at the outset to understand the principal forces at work in bringing about the change we are going to describe. In.the ordinary course of events one would naturally expect to stop at the religion of the Sampradayas and Panthas. The advent of the English followed by the educational policy they have maintained for half a century has, however, worked several important changes in the midst of the people, not the least important of which are those which effect religion. Before the establishment of British rule and the peace and security that followed in its train, people had forgotten the ancient religion and Hinduism had dwindled down into a mass of irrational superstition reared on ill-understood Pauranika myths. The spread of education set people to thinking and a spirit of "reformation" swayed the minds of all active-minded men. The chance work was, however, no reformation at all. Under the auspices of materialistic science, and education guided by materialistic principles, the mass of superstition then known as Hinduism was scattered to the winds and atheism and skepticism ruled supreme. But this state of things was not destined to endure in religious India. The revival of Sanskrit learning brought to light the immortal treasures of thought buried in the Vedas, Upanishads, Sutras, Darsanas and Puranas, and the true work of reformation commenced with the revival of Sanskirt. Several pledged their allegiance to their time-honored philosophy.
But there remained many bright intellects given over to materialistic thought and civilization. These could not help thinking that the religion of those whose civilization they admired must be the only true religion. Thus they began to read their own notions in texts of the Upanishads and the Vedas. They set up an extra-cosmic yet all-pervading and formless creature whose grace every soul desirous of liberation must attract by complete devotion. This sounds like the teaching of the Visishthadvaita Sampradaya, but it may safely be said that the idea of an extra-cosmic personal creation without form is an un-Hindu idea. And so also is the belief of these innovators in regard to their negation of the principle of reincarnation. The body of this teaching goes by the name of the Brahmo
