________________
268
Lord Mahavira and His Times
to foot had its appropriate ornaments made of gold, silver, pearls, gems and precious stones. We know from the Vinaya Texts, that at first even monks used to wear ear-rings, eardrops, strings of beads for the neck, girdles of beads; bangles, necklaces, bracelets and rings. The only ornaments referred to as worn by women alone were waist-bands and anklets. The Jātakasa also mention earrings, frontlet pieces and torques round the neck. Among ornaments, Pāṇini refers to anguliya (finger-rings)3 Karnika (ear-rings), 4 lalātika (ornaments of the forehead),5 and graiveyaka (torques or necklaces). Some luxurious ornaments of this time like ear-lobes, torques of different shapes, necklaces, bangles, pendants, and rings made of different materials such as terracotta, precious stones, glass, ivory, bone and copper, have been discovered from North Indian sites.
There are elaborate references to toilet articles in the Vinaya Text. Hair was besmeared with pomade or hair-oil of bees-wax, and them smoothed with a comb. Scents, perfumes, garlands, and unguents were used, and faces were rubbed with ointment and painted. The body was also painted, and feet were rubbed with sandstone, gravel, and seafoam. To keep long hair seems to have been the fashion. Beards were also dyed blue, red, purple or green according to individual taste. Nails were polished or cut with nail-cutters, and toothsticks were used for cleaning the teeth. Some of the objects of toiletry discovered in the excavations included antimony rods of copper, hair-pins of bone, combs of ivory, terracotta flesh rubber, and nail parer.
When bathing, people used to rub their bodies-thighs, arms, breast and back-against wooden pillars or walls. Chunam (lime) was also rubbed over the body by means of a wooden instrument in the shape of a hand or a string of beads. Special bathing pools or tanks are also referred to.
1. Chv, V. 2. 1. 2. Ja, VI. 590. 3. Pā, IV. 2. 96. 4. Ibid, IV. 3. 65. 5. Ibid. 6 Ibid. IV.2 96.
