Angavijja

Author(s): Punyavijay, Dalsukh Malvania, H C Bhayani
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

Page 56

INTRODUCTION
The author then subdivides the Chapters into Sections. In the second section the various postures in sitting, laughing, sleeping, etc. are described (9-10). In third section a list of qualifications of a disciple are enumerated. The place of past, present and future in prognostication by āmāsa, time, perfume, beauty and voice are given. While questioning the present, the manner of question asked and its purpose, the congregation and the appearance of the questions are taken into consideration. In the six categories mentioned above presentation is the cause, one who presents the symbol. The manifestations are external and internal. The subvarieties of the twenty-three items recounted above (p. 9) are then enumerated. (10-11).
In the fourth section the purposes and moods of prognostication are recounted. The list contains moods and state of health, anger, happiness, suppliancy, health, sickness, emaciation, fatness, steadiness and unsteadiness. It is enjoined that one should not foretell about separation, loss of fortune, insult, quarrel, warfare etc. He should only foretell about impending happiness, good fortune, festivities, honour etc. As a matter of fact the writer prescribes what should be foretold and what should be withheld under the heading enumerated above.
Section fifth describes in detail the virtues of a prognosticator. He controlled his senses, prognosticated only at the right moment, did not believe in adventurous life, did not hustle matters, was bereft of jeolousy and greed, was an expert analyst, fully understood time, spoke little, was steady, polite etc. (13).
Section sixth recounts thirty-two kinds of the manners of sitting which also include seat made of wood, straw, cowdung, panels etc. Then follows a tedious list of good and bad results prognosticated from the different ways of sitting, their directions, and the seats used. The following interesting list of seats is given : (1) pallanka (cot), phalaka (bench), kattha (a piece of wood), pidhikā (wooden panel), asandaka (chair), phalaki (a small wooden seat), bhisi (a cushioned seat), chimphalaka (?), mancha (tered benches, dias), masuraka (round cushion), bhaddäsana (an elaborate type of seat), pichaga (wooden panel, modern pidha), katthakhoda (wooden pegs), nahatthikā. They were made of stone, metals, yarn, bone, earth, grass, cowdung, flowers, seeds, branches of trees, etc. (p. 45). Good or bad results from their use were prognosticated considering their state of preservation and the direction in which they were placed. (13-18).
Twenty-two varieties of squatting are recounted. The help of arms, belts made of cloth, yarn, rope, leather and string was taken while squatting. We are informed that belts were made of cotton, wool and bark, their quality depending on their strength. For yarn-belt woolen and cotton yarn, cotton pieces (chelika), fibre, etc. were used. Leather belts were obtained from the skin of cattle and reptiles. The bark belts were made from the fibres of roots and barks. In the end squatting in different positions and directions and the prognostications made from them are recounted at great length. (18-21).
Then the positions of a belly (āmāsa) are fixed as eight-ummatha, vimatha, nimmattha, appamajjita, sammajjita, thitāmāsa, āmattha and atimajjita. These positions are further subdivided into one hundred and eight classes and prognostications accruing from them are recounted. (21-26).
In the ninth section seventeen kinds of rests are mentioned. They are seats, beds (sejjā), conveyance (jāņa), crutch (apassata), box (pidāya), door pins (dārappidhana), wall (kudda, column (khambha), tree, chaitya, grass, utensils, rests (avatthambha) made of earth or metals, dry rests, bone rests.
Under the asana class nine types of seats mentioned on page p. 15 are recounted with the addition of certain new terms such as dimphara, māsāla (thickly padded), manchikä (small modhā or machia) and khatta (cot). 26.
Among the conveyances are mentioned siyā (litter), asandana (sedan chair), jänaka (car), horsepalanquin (gholi), elephant litter (gallikā), Sagada (bullock cart), Sagadi (small bullock cart), open car (yāna), elephants, horses, bullocks and camels. (26.)
Under the heading apassaya are mentioned various members of the household architecture such as small door (kidikā), wooden door (därukavāda), small covering (harssavarana). The walls are said to be whitewashed or plain (litto alitto vā), curtained (chelima), made of wooden planks (phalakamaya) or trelissed (phalaka-pasiya). The varieties of columns, poles and beams are central columns (gihadharana), beams (dhāriņi), masts (nāvākhambha), capitals columns of pipal, column sheltered from sunshine (chhāyā khambha), pillars for chandeliers (diva-rukkha-khambha) and water poles (dagalaţthi). The columns and poles were made of stone, metal, bone etc. (27).