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386
S. B. DEO prived them of their life.85 When their clothes and other requisites were taken away, the monks used rags thrown up on a dungheap (ucchūdha vippaïņņa), took up grass or fire to save themselves from cold, used pingoes instead of the 'pātrakabandha', put on barks instead of garment, used the 'pehuna' or the peacock-feather broom, covered themselves with skins (camma), and ate food either on the leaves of the palāśa (palāsapatra) or in the hollow of the hand (pāņi).86 In such a state, they travelled only at night and hid themselves either in a dense forest or in lotus ponds.87
Thus the monks had to face hard and easy days, and they had to adjust their practices to the environment. The Church also became liberal enough to allow its followers the necessary concessions under critical conditions.
TOURING:
The purpose of touring, according to the Brhatkalpabhāsya,88 is fivefold. It is essential for reasons of purity of the faith, the equanimity of the mind, acquiring mastery overy different languages, knowing different regions and of seeing the holy places. It may be remarked, therefore, that some of these reasons betray a wideness of outlook and the need to come in contact with new regions so essential for the spread of one's faith.
The Time for the Start:
Therefore, the monks were asked to look to the proper time for starting on their missionary tours. A number of good and bad omens were to be taken into consideration. The bad omens consisted of the sight of:
(1) one wearing dirty clothes or having a filthy body, (2) one who put on tattered clothes, (3) one whose body was besmeared with oil, (4) one of a curved body, (5) a dwarf, (6) one wearing red clothes, (7) the Caraka, (9) diseased person, (10) one devoid of limbs,
85. 86. 87. 88.
Ibid. 3121. Ibid. 3132-33. Ibid. 3136. Ibid. Vol. II, 1226-27.
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