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SOCIAL LIFE
or feet.1
The Lakṣaṇas were the signs or auspicious marks with which a child was invested at the time of his birth, while the Vyañjana type of marks, i. e. the warts, moles or black spots etc., could appear later in life.2 Such marks were supposed to be 32 in number in case of ordinary human beings, while its number was 300 in case of Baladevas and Vasudevas, and 8000 in case of Cakravartins and Tirthankaras.3 The science of detecting the auspicious marks was well developed and one versed in it could predict the future of a person.
4
Disposal of Dead and Funeral Obsequies-Like matrimony and the occasion of birth, death was also accompanied with proper religious rites and ceremonies. Cremation was the usual practice to dispose off the dead bodies. Among the non-Aryans 'burial' seems to have been in vogue. The non-Aryans did not burn their corpses and the place of depositing the corpse was known as maḍagagiha (mṛtaka-gṛha). According to the usual practice of cremation, the corpse was taken to the cremation ground (susana-susāṇakuḍi) and was properly cremated." On the death of Prabhākaravardhana, Bāņa informs us that “a pyre befitting the emperor solemnly consumed all but his glory in the flame"." Yuan Chwang also refers to three customs of funeral'--(i) cremation, (ii) water burial and (iii) interment in the wilds. Of these, cremation was the most popular one.
1. NC. 3, p. 383.
2. NC. 3, p. 384.
3. NC. 3, p. 383.
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The rites of collecting the charred bones (asthisañcayana )* was also observed and the ashes of the charred bones were called chara.o Proper rules of cleanliness were to be observed after the funeral. After seeing or touching the corpse, a person
4. मडगहिं णाम मेच्छाणं घरब्भतरे मतयं छोढु ं णिज्जति, न डज्झति — NC. 2, p. 255. 5. मतो दिट्ठो भणति - ' किं मज्झ घरं सुसाणकुडी, जेण मतं आणेह'-NC. 3, p. 99.
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6. Harsacarita, p. 158.
7. Watters, op. cit., 1, p. 174; Beal, op. cit., 1, p. 86.
8. For the rite of asthisancayana see-Kane, op. cit., Vol. IV, pp. 240-42. 9. अभिनव दड्ढं अपु जकयं छारो भण्णति --NC. 2, p. 22.
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