[Footnote 516:  They are called Dasanamis which merely means that each ascetic bears one or other of ten surnames (Sarswati, Bharati, Tirtha, etc.).  See for a further account of them Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects, pp. 374-379.

The order in all its branches seems to have strong pantheistic inclinations.  They mutter the formula Sivo’ham, I am Siva.]

[Footnote 517:  I have been told by south Indian Pandits that they think Sankara was bom in a Bhagavata family and that there is some evidence his kinsmen were trustees of a temple of Krishna.  The Saktas also claim him, but the tradition that he opposed the Saktas is strong and probable.  Many hymns addressed to Vishnu, Siva and various forms of Durga are attributed to him.  I have not been able to discover what is the external evidence for their authenticity but hymns must have been popular in south India before the time of Sankara and it is eminently probable that he did not neglect this important branch of composition.]

[Footnote 518:  See Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects, p. 16.]

[Footnote 519:  This math has an endowment of about L5000 a year, instituted by the kings of Vijayanagar.  The Guru is treated with great respect.  His palankin is carried crossways to prevent anyone from passing him and he wears a jewelled head-dress, not unlike a papal tiara, and wooden shoes covered with silver.  See an interesting account of Sringeri in J.  Mythic Society (Bangalore), vol.  VIII. pp. 18-33.

Schrader in his catalogue of the Sanskrit MSS. in the Adyar Library, 1908, notices an Upanishad called Mahamayopanishad, ascribed to Sankara himself, which deals with the special qualities of the four maths.  Each is described as possessing one Veda, one Mahavakyam, etc.  The second part deals with the three ideal maths, Sumeru, Paramatman and Sastrathajnana.]

[Footnote 520:  There is some reason to suppose that the Math of Sringeri was founded on the site of a Buddhist monastery.  See Journal of Mythic Society, Bangalore, 1916, p. 151.]

[Footnote 521:  Pracchanna-bauddha.  See for further details Book IV. chap.  XXI. ad fin.]

[Footnote 522:  The old folk-lore of Bengal gives a picture of Siva, the peasant’s god, which is neither Vedic nor Dravidian.  See Dinesh Chandra Sen, Bengali Lang. and Lit. pp. 68 ff. and 239 ff.]

[Footnote 523:  J.R.A.S. 1899, p. 242.]

[Footnote 524:  See some curious examples in Whitehead’s Village Gods of South India.]

[Footnote 525:  Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions, pp. 27 and 204.]

[Footnote 526:  The early Brahmi inscriptions of southern India are said to be written in a Dravidian language with an admixture not of Sanskrit but of Pali words.  See Arch.  Survey India, 1911-12, Part I. p. 23.]

[Footnote 527:  See Rice, Mysore and Coorg, pp. 3-5 and Fleet’s criticisms, I.A..  XXI. 1892, p. 287.]