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Chapter 1.
The anagāris: The home-less ones
Who are they, these perpetual pilgrims?
Whence do they come? Where do they lodge during their halts?
Having left the family roof, the renouncing muni must recognise those bonds that hold men in thrall.!
A - They are recognised by these two signs:
the svetavastra: a white clothing the rajoharana: a small broom made of white wool.
Who are they?
Among the ascetics that cross one's path, in the villages or in the towns, one notices sometimes women clothed in white, their heads and shoulders swathed in a light veil, while under the left arm they clasp a small broom made of white wool. There are several other signs also by which sādhvis are distinguished, but they differ according to the various communities, while the clothing is common to them all; as for the rajoharana, it is an unfailing sign: they are never to be found without it.
1 gihavāsaṁ pariccajja pavvajjāmásio muņi
ime saṁge viyānejjā jehiṁ sajjarti māņavā. US XXXV, 2; bonds; sangas, family bonds, links with society, all that which enchains.
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