26. Knowledge of signs on the body (Lakkhana-Pathaga)

Superstitions : A large mass of beliefs about auspicious and inauspicious bodily forms, orientations of limbs, complexion etc., auspicious and inauspicious natural phenomena like sounds of birds and dreams, were current in the society. As explained earlier, Jaina philosophy advocated a sort of cycle of karman and its effects. The marks on the body of a person which were the result of the karman in previous birth were supposed to provide a clue to probe into future incidents also. So also were the nature without and the psychological phenomena within, supposed to help in giving a sort of intimation about the future incidents. How such beliefs got currency is altogether a different field of study ; but we might describe it as an attempt of man to interpret the nature in relation to human life. 1. Vesiyapuvvacara followed by Vasudeva; Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa, 1.32. The enactment of the seven attacks (vega) resulting due to snake bite by an actor and Vasudeva's knowledge ( Vasudevahindi(H), 205a) of these very well compares with a section from Bharta's Natyasastra (XXV, 102-110).

254 Persons specializing in the traditional knowledge of these branches of learning were called Lakkhanapathagas and Nemitts or Joisa Vijaparagas. The Lakkhanapathagas : i The Lakkhanapathagas on the basis of their knowledge of auspicious and inauspicious signs on the body could foretell in the case of unmarried girls as to they who their husbands would be and how he should be identified¹. Many of the wives of Vasudeva were told before hand that they would be the wives of the father of the Baladeva and Vasudeva² (addhabharahahiva-piubhajja). Basis of Interpretation : The auspicious and inauspicious signs on the body as also the beauty and deformity were supposed to be an outcome of good and bad karman³. Because of inauspicious karman Amjanasena, a Brahmin maiden, was born ugly. She is described to have brown and rough hair, brown eyes, uneven teeth and dule complexion. Namdisena, a Brahmin, because of his bad looks, was supposed to be 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 18-19. 2. Ibid., 99. puhavipaibh-riya, ibid, 197. 3. Ibid.; ibid.; 233. 4. Ibid.;

255 inauspicious and also responsible for the death of his parents shortly after his birth. He was later on rejected as a bridegroom in his youth. Disgusted, he renounced the world, acquired merit, and was born as a beautiful person in his next birth 1. A rudimentary idea about the auspicious male form can be had from the varicus descriptions of Vasudeva², Vairajamgha³, Tivitthu and Acala 4, Rama and Kesava 5, and 6 Pajjunna, in the Vasudevahindi(F). Similarly, the concept of an ideal female form is revealed in the descriptions of Vegavati Bamdhumati³, samali, sama and Vijaya Sama -10 > 12 11 and Paumavati. Ideals of male beauty were Devakumara or Vidyadhara-kumara or a Gamdhavva 13. The uttamapurisa lakkhana was another term expressive of auspicious bodily form. Such a person, i.e. 1. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 14-15, 118-19. 3. Ibid.; 176. 5. Ibid.; 77. 7. Ibid.; 221. 9. Ibid.; 123. 11.fbid. 78. 13.Ibid.; 359. 2. Ibid.; 204, 280, 353. 4. Ibid., 276. 6. Ibid.; 91-92. 8. Ibid.; 280. 10. Ibid., 121. 12. Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 66,281,356,363.

256 an uttamapurisa, has been described as follows: with the head round like a parasol, face like the moon, lotus-like eyes, arms like the body of a serpent, chest wide like the gate of a city, waist like the middle portion of a thunderbolt, navel like the pericarp of a lotus (kamalakosa), thighs like the trunk of an elephant, shanks like kuruvimda flower and feet having likeness with the golden tortoise and bearing auspicious mans.1. The Ideal Female Form : 2 The female form had its ideal in the goddesses Siri² and Sarassati? From her appearance, Vasudeva could mak- out that Vegavati was a woman of character and not a want on one 4. She is described as follows: Her pleasing face was like a lotus; her hair curly; forehead, proportionate, i.e. one third of the face; her eye brows were thick, long and curved like a bow%; nose not too prominent or low; eyelids dark and thick; cheeks circular and prominent; ears fleshy and having a small cavity; and lips red like the Bimba fruit 5. 1. Ibid.; 204, 353. 2. Ibid.; 280. 3. Ibid.; 133, 204. 4. Vasudevahindi(F), 226. 5. Ibid.;

257 The lakkhanapathagas while judging the auspicious form of a woman, mainly took into consideration the following parts of the body: the face, eyes, nose, lips, breasts, arms, the waist, the buttocks, thighs, shanks and feet 1. In the Vasudevahindi by Dharmadasa more details about lakkhanas of men and women are told. The context in which these exhaustive details appear is like this. Vasudeva was secretly living in the palace princess Rayanapadi of ren Banaras with the help of her doorkeeper by name Piyadatta. He, with the help of his knowledge of palmistry (samudda) and the auspicious and inauspicious bodily forms (lakkhana), tells the princess that she and Vasudeva would be separated for some time. some/time. On this, Vasudeva and others ask Piyadatta to tell them something about these two branches of learning. The treatment of the information as given in the The information pertaining to text is very unsystematic. both men and women appears mixed up in between in the course of the information about the auspicious and inauspicious 1. Ibid., 204.

258 bodily forms of the women, and in the repetition of the bodily form of the mother of a sovereign (cakkavattijanani) and thus stands testimony to the above remark. follows: d The information which Piyattatta gives is as The persons proficient in the art of prognostication examine mainly the hands, legs, head and other limbs, after making a preliminary examination of the complexion, character (satta) and the age of the person concerned. In the examination of the hands, signs on the palm are given an important place. Palms : A person, whether male or female, who has three lines on his wrist never faces distress. On the palm there are mainly three lines which tell the lineage (kulaleha), the wealth to one's share (dhanaleha) and the span of life (auleha). All the three lines, when not intercepted and sufficiently long, suggest a good lineage, a good amount of property, including that from the ancestors, and a long span of life; otherwise,

259 however, they indicate birth in a low family, poverty and premature death. Lines on the PalmWard The line which starts from the wrist and goes up is indicative of prosperity, wealth and recognition in public life. If it reaches the thumb or the index finger (padesini) it is a sign of kingship. If the person does not become a king then he at least becomes a general or a royal priest enjoying the same prosperity. Number of Lines : The number of lines on the middle of the front portion of the thumb (amgutthodare) coincides with the number of one's germane brothers and sisters, that on the back (patthi) of the thumb, with that of the number of one's issues. 1. Samali, a Vidyadhara princess and wife of Vasudeva, has been described in the Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa as having very clear lines on her palm, and having marks of camaras, fish and the parasol on the palm; Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa, 123.

Circles on the Palm: 260 The circles formed on the palm of the root of fingers, when clockwise and anticlockwise give respectively a clue to the male and female issues of a person. The mumber of circles moving to the right (padahinavatta coincides with the number of male issues, and the number of circles moving to the left with the number of female issues. The Nails : The colour of nails indicates the financial position of a person. Nails, red like a lotus, are said to be most auspicious, and bring wealth. Gap in Fingers : th The absence of any gap in the straightened fingers of the open palm are suggestive of happiness during the three stages of life. Noncavity between the idex and middle fingers shows easy-going life during childhood and young age (padhamavaya) and the non-cavity between the rest is indicative of happy life in the middle and the old age. The Fingers : If the little finger has an ugly nail then one can foretell the death of the father and if such a finger

touches obliquely the finger nearby then it is indicative of the death of the mother (jananighata) in the childhood. 261 Marks on the Palm : A person on whose palm there are marks of the shape of sutthiya (suktika) can be judged to be happy, healthy and religions-minded. Whenever macchas on the palm have their mouth outward one can foretell that the person is going to be happy in the later part of his life¹. The Marks on the Fingers : If there is a gap (bhaga) in between the index finger and the thumb, it indicates prosperity in the case of males, and devotion towards the husband in the case of females. On The person on whose fingers and toes, marks similar to fish or tortoise are seen prospers in (business connected with) water and on has to reside water (salila vatthi) suhida ya). Marks of the shape of a churning rod (mamthani), a jar (kalasa) or a rope (dama) are suggestive of prosperity in kine (godhana). Marks similar to a crow, jackal, bear, tiger, dog and other in auspicious 1. Cf.Vasudevahindi by Sanghadasa 123, Where Vidyadhara princess Samali is said to have marks of camaras, fish and the parasol on her palm.

262 Marks of animals show low profession (kuvuttiya). Elephant, fish, n conch, sword and tortoise marks make a person a king. The auspicious and inauspicious marks pertaining to the palm are efficacious only if they are on the right hand in the case of males, and on the left in the case of females. Other parts of the Body : After this Piyadatta enumerates auspicious and inauspicious orientation of the various parts of the body. The Head: The head of the shape of a parasol (chattakara) and hair turning in a curl to the right (padahinavatta) is auspicious in the case of males%3B while a kuda (a kind of a vessel)-shaped head and hair curling to the left are auspicious in the case of women. The Forehead : Forehead similar to the moon on the eighth night (attamicamda) and having no wrinkles (arebham) is auspicious both for the male and the females. The wrinkles on the forehead suggest rebirth for as many pallopamas as the number of the wrinkles.

263 Gait : A person whose gait is similar to that of either an elephant, a bull, a lion or a goose goes on the feet of others, (te avassa parapadehim bimbhavana gacchamti) i.e. moves in vehicles. Such a person is always prosperious and happy. The Waist : Waist similar to that of a lion is suggestive of continued happiness. Auspiciousness of the above parts of the body is efficacious in bringing good results only when it is supported by good character or resolution (satta). The face : The similarity in face with animals was believed to associate certain qualities in the person. A mangoose-like face indicated bravery, hare-like, short life; monkey-like, wickedness%;B vulture-like d 1 (vaddhavayana, gadhavayona), taste for meat; buffalo-like, bad character; donkey-like, difficulty in livelihood; tiger-like, face, hunger%3B cow-like face, livelihood on cattle; while a face like the moon indicated kingship.

264 Eyes: Big, watery and thoughtful (gambhira) eyes were supposed to attract the attention of the ladies. Eyes similar to those of a peacock are said to be beautiful. It was believed that speckled eyes indicated adultery. Eyes similar to those of a crow showed bad character; like those of a donkey showed short life; and like those of a cat, liking for theft. Vile persons were supposed to have squint eyes. The Feet : Jackal-like and crow-like feet showed that a Own person would not live for a long time in his onw house. Feet, broad in shape, were supposed to be inauspicious in the case of both men and women. " The Nose : A person who has a nose similar to the flower of sesamum plant (tilapuppha) becomes wealthy while a person who has a crooked nose can be taken to be a vile one. Shanks : A person whose shanks are very prominent (pimdiyau) roams about from place to place.

265 Other Attributes : Complexion like the colour of a rose-apple (jambuphala), or like gold, or like that of a goose, or like a crystal or ruby (paumaraga) or iron, all of them are auspicious as they give persons strength and other good qualities. Lustre in various parts of the body is also indicative of certain good results. Lustrous nails indicate good seraches (vana) in amorous play; lustrous eyes show beauty; lustrous teeth are conducive in giving good food to a person; while similar hair go to make available for him cosmetics (gamdhamattanulevana). Conducive to Voices similar to the sounds created by the bull, sarasa bird and a goose, and sounds of clouds, a pitcher (gagara), rattling of wheels, stormy sea, dram and surattara kova (?) were supposed to be auspicious On the other hand voices which are similar to the sounds created by owls, worms, or crows as also rough, harsh, full of stammering and fierce voices are inauspicious. It is said that a person should have a deep navel, deep lines on the palm and a deep voice; for an order from a person who has deep voice is never questioned. It is always complied with by others (apadihada).

266 A person who has very good nails, and whose tongue, pallet, lower lip, eyes, teeth, hands and feet are red, becomes equal to Dhanapadi i.e. kubera. A person who has hispalms red like fire is never forsaken by the godness of wealth. A person who is bulky with flesh is always prone to luxury.