Daily Life (2): Dress and Ornaments

The people were aware of the necessity of clothing themselves in accordance with climatic conditions. The varieties of cloth-materials and dresses used by them are listed in Amarakośa as vālka–made of tree barks, phāla–cotton (which is a product of fruit), kauśeya–silk, rāṅkava–woolen (product of animal hair); anāhata–unbleached, udgamanīya–pair of bleached cloth, patrorṇa–bleached silk, kṣauma–woven silk, nivītam–veil (or) mantle, paṭaccaram–old cloth, naktam–tattered cloth, vastra–cloth, sucela–fine cloth, varāśiḥ–coarse cloth; nicola–cover, rallaka–blanket, vitāna–awning, pratisīra–curtain; antarīya–inner garment, prāvāra–upper garment, cola–bodice, nīśāra–warm cloak and āprapadīna–pants. All these explained by Kṣīrasvāmin with some interesting remarks are presented below:

(a) Nīśāra^[1] (II. 6. 118; p. 158)–

[A warm cloak:]

A warm cloak named nīśāra was used to protect from the freezing cold winds in the winter. Kṣīrasvāmin remarks that if a person does not use clothing he is emaciated in the biting chillness of winter like the animals–yallakṣyam -gaurivākṛtanīśāraḥ prāyeṇa śiśire kṛśaḥ |

(b) Udgamanīyam^[2] (II. 6. 112; p. 157)–

[A pair of washed clothes:]

According to Amarakośa, Udagamanīya is a pair of washed clothes.

But Kṣīrasvāmin dispenses with the idea of a pair (yugma) as immaterial and in support of his views cites from Kumarasambhava, VII. 11:

yugmavivakṣitam yallakṣyam-gṛhītapatyudgamanīyavastreti |

The context is–

sā maṅgalasnānaviśuddhagātri gṛhītapatyudgamaniyavastram |
nivṛttaparjanyajalābhiṣeko praphullakāśā vasudheva reje ||

Pārvati with her body cleansed by the festive bath and wearing the newly washed cloth, shone like the earth recently drenched in rains and sprouting forth Kūśa flowers.

It is to be remembered that in the context of commenting on the above mentioned verse Mallinātha also seems to accept the explanation of Kṣīrasvāmin and takes it for authority:

mallinātha ….patyurvarasyodgamanīyavastram dhautavastram | “dhautamudgamanīyam syāt iti halāyudhaḥ | tatsyā …. ityamaraḥ” yugagrahaṇam tu prāyikābhiprāyam | āta evātra kṣīrasvāmī ‘yugam prāyaśo yallakṣyam tadeva iti vyāravyāya gṛhītapatyudgamanīyavastrā’ ityetadevodāhṛtavān |

(c) Ākalpa (II. 6. 99; p. 155)–

[Dress or embellishment:]

Amarakośa gives veṣa, nepathya, pratikarma and prasādhanam as synonyms.

Kṣīrasvāmin explains veṣa as that which adores the body and also records that according to some it means ‘reaches the heart’ or ‘that which pleases or reaches the heart’ also reading the word as veśam^[3] with palatal ‘ś’–

veveṣṭyaṅgam veṣaḥ viśati cetasītyeke tālavyaṃ śamāhuḥ karmaveśādyat (Pā. 5. 1. 100) ityatra tathā vicārāt || veśa iti vā pāṭhaḥ |

Nepathya is explained by Kṣīrasvāmin as the attire, which pleases the eye–

netrayoḥ pathyaṃ vastrādiśobhā |

Pratikarma according to Kṣīrasvāmin is beautifying each limb–

pratyaṅgaṃ karma pratikarma |

Prasādhanam is explained as that which pleases the limbs–

prasādhyate'nenāṅgam prasādhanam |

Kṣīrasvāmin remarks that some take all the above five in the same sense and strongly denies it saying that veṣa is that which enhances the beauty of the body by attire and garlands while prasādhanam can be beauty toilettes like the tilaka, pattrabhaṅga and others^[4].

It is interesting to note that Vivṛti (Vol. I, p. 426) follows this bifurcation of Kṣīrasvāmin and takes the first three to denote the decking like attire and garland and the latter two to beautify the particular limb–

vistrālaṃkāramālyādikṛtaśobhyātiśayanāmāni | pratikarma prasādhana... | ete tilakapatraracanā-dernāmanī ||

Mallinātha (Vol. I, p. 426) gives all five as different adornments like ablution immersion, application of pastes, garlands, attire and ornaments–

ālaṃkaraṇanāmāni | majjanānulepanemālyavastrābharaṇaistat pañcavidham |

(d) Ornaments:

Amarakośa gives synonyms of various ornaments used to adorn the various parts of body from head to toe: alaṅkāra–ornament, mukuṭa–crown, cūḍāmaṇi–gem on the crest, tarala–pendant, vālapāśyā–trinket of the hair, patrapāśyā–trinket for the fore-head, karṇikā–ear ornament, kuṇḍala–ear-pendant, grāveyam–choker, lambanam–necklace, hāra–pearl necklace, āvāpaka–bracelet, keyūram–ornament of the arm, aṅgulīyakam–finger-ring, aṅgulimudrā–seal-ring, kaṅkaṇam–ornament of the wrist, mekhalā–girdle, śṛṅkhalam–belt of men, pādāṅgadam–ornament of the feet.

The special references and notes of Kṣīrasvāmin help in understanding specialities of the ornaments as follows–

Kirīṭam (II. 6. 102; p. 155)–

[Crown:]

Kṣīrasvāmin adds koṭīram to denote a diadem:

koṭīraṃ ca |

(e) Hair decoration (II. 6. 98;p. 154-5):

The hair was also ornamented and Amarakośa gives veṇī and praveṇī to denote unornamented hair. Clean and untangled hair are denoted by Śīrṣaṇya and Śirasya^[5]

Kṣīrasvāmin explains the term viśada as untangled or the washed and clean hair–

viśade'nyonyāsaṃpṛkte āvikṛte snānādinirmale vā śadla?[&] śātane |

Amarakośa defines that such ornamented hair are denoted by pāśa, pakṣa and hasta in compound with kacā.^[6]

Kṣīrasvāmin gives these words as keśapāśa, keśapakṣa and keśahasta:

kacādityarthenirdeśaḥ keśapāśaḥ keśapakṣaḥ keśahastaḥ praśaṃsāvacanaiśca iti samāsaḥ |

(f) Varieties of pearl Neckalaces (II. 6. 105-06; p. 156):

Amarakośa gives hāra and muktāvalī to denote a pearl necklace in general and also mentions varieties of pearl necklaces based on the number of strings of pearls composed as devacchanda–composed of hundred strings of pearls, guccha, ardhaguccha, gostana, ardhahāra and māṅavaka as other varieties. Kṣīrasvāmin quotes from unknown source where these varieties are explained based on the number of pearl strings.

To understand the explanation of the quotations Kṣīrasvāmin says that the words yaṣṭi, latā, sara and sari mean the same as string–

yaṣṭirlatā saraḥ sarirityekārthaḥ |
yadāhuḥ—catuḥ ṣaṣṭilato hāro'thāṣṭahīna yathottaram |
raśmiḥ kalāpo māṇavako'rdhahāro'rdhagucchakaḥ ||
kalāpacchando mandaraśca gucchaḥ saptatiyaṣṭikaḥ ||
ānye vyākhyan -catvāriṃśallato gostano lambamānāt gopuccho'pi ||
dvātriṃśallato guccho, guhyācchādanāt |
catvāriṃśallato gostano laṃbamānāt, gopuccho'pi |

According to some the guccha is 32 string pearls and called so as it is veiled or hidden gostana or gopuccha as it is hanging down with 40 strings; and ardhahāra as it has 54 strings apporximately half of the Devacchanda.

The table below gives the names of the pearl necklaces and the number of strings in them as presented by other commentators and Kṣīrasvāmin:

	No. of strings
Necklace Name	Liṅgayasūri	Bhānuji[7]	Mallinātha[8]	Bṛhatsaṃhitā[9]	Unknown Source	Kṣīrasvāmin
Devacchanda	Śatasarahāra 100	Śatalatihārasya 100		1008		100/108
Inducchanda			(Indracchanda) 1008
Gucchaḥ	Dvātriṃsatsarahāra 32	Dvātriṃsatlatikoguccha 32	32	32		32 or 70
Ardhagucchaḥ	Ṣoḍaśa saranāma 16	Caturviṃśatyaṣṭiko hāra 24	24	20	24	24
Ardhahāra	Devacchandasyārdhatvāt 50	Catuḥstriṃśallatohāra 34		64		32/54
Raśmikalpa				54		56
Māṇavaka	Viṃśatisarhāranāma 20	Viṃśatyaṣṭikohāra 20		16		40
Vijyaycchanda				504		504
Hāra				108		64
Mandāra				8		8
Hāraphalaka				5
Nakṣatramālā				27		27
Gostanaḥ	Catvariṃśatsarahāra 40	Catuḥsarit 4				Gopuccha 40
Ardhamāṇavaka				12
Kalāpacchanda						16
Kalāpa						48

(g) Garlands (II. 6. 135-37; p. 161):

Varieties of garlands used for both decoration and for fragrance are described by Amarakośa as follows: mālya–chaplet (garland worn on the head), garbhaka–one worn between the hair, prabhraṣṭakam–hanging over the plait, vaikakṣyam–work as a scarf, āpīḍa–tied on the crown. Some important explanations of Kṣīrasvāmin are as given below:

Mālya:

The wreath of flowers ornamented the head was known as mālya.

Kṣīrasvāmin adds lalāmaka and muṇḍamāla and uttamsa:

lalatyagre lalāmakaṃ muṇḍamālāravyam |

Prālambam^[10] :

Kṣīrasvāmin explains that the garland hanging down the neck up to the chest is prālambam:

kaṇṭhādvakṣasyavalambamānaṃ mālyaṃ prālambam |

Vaikakṣyam:

A garland worn across the chest is vaikakṣyam Kṣīrasvāmin says it to be similar to wearing the yajñopavīta:

vikakṣayāṃ bhavaṃ vaikakṣakaṃ yajñopavītanyāyena mālyam |

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

niśāraḥ syāt prāvareṇa himānila nivaraṇe |

[2]:

ānāhataṃ niṣpravāṇi tantrakaṃ ca navāmbare |
tatsyādudgamanīyaṃ yad dhautayorvastrayoryugam ||

[3]:

The Vivṛti com. records that variant reading as veśam. The Pārijāta com. quotes evidences from Kumāracarita and Rabhasakośa for both veṣam and veśa respectively, p. 426, ALRC.

[4]:

pañcaikartha ityeke taccāsat | veṣo hi vastrālaṃkāramālyaprasādhanairṅgaśobhāprasādhanam tu samālambhanaṃ tilakapatrabhaṅgādhinā ||

[5]:

śīrṣaṇya-śirasyau viśade kace |

[6]:

pāśaḥ pakṣāś ca hastaś ca kalāpārthāḥ kacāt pare |

[7]:

Vyakhyāsudha, p. 239

[8]:

Vyakhyāsudha, p. 239

[9]:

Bṛhatsaṃhitā (LXXXI. 31-36):
surabhūṣaṇaṃ latānāṃ sahasramaṣṭottaraṃ caturhastam |
inducchando nāmnā vijayacchandostadardhena ||
śatamaṣṭayutaṃ hāro devacchando hyaśītirekayutā |
āṣṭāṣṭako'rdhahāro raśmikalāpaśca navaṣaṭakaḥ ||
dvātriṃśatā tu guccho viṃśatya kīrtito'rdhagucchāravyaḥ |
ṣoḍaśabhirmāṇavako dvādaśabhiścārdhamāṇavakaḥ ||
mandārasajño'ṣṭābhiḥ pañcalatā hāraphalakamityuktam |
saptaviṃśatimuktā hasto nakṣatramāleti ||
āntaramaṇisamyuktā maṇisopānaṃ suvarṇagulikairvā |
taralamaṇimadhyaṃ tadvijñeyaṃ cāṭukāramiti ||
ekāvalī nāma yatheṣṭasaṃkhyā hastapramāṇā maṇiviprayuktakṣā |
saṃyojitā yā maṇinā tu madhye yaṣṭīti sā bhūṣaṇavidbhiruktā ||

[10]:

prālambamṛju—lambi syāt kaṇṭhāt |