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634
The Unknown Pilgrims
their sådi in such a way it envelopes them completely. They have only two sădis, the one they are wearing and another to change into. Every day, in the morning, before going to the temple and then to the āhāra, their sole meal, they must change garments on account of the extreme purity necessary for anything connected with food. Often a śrāvikā undertakes the washing of the spare sādi. The āryikās also may perform this task, but only with boiled water, no more than will fill their kamandalu and without the use of soap. They have neither shawl nor blanket. They always go barefoot, clasping the picchikā under their right arm and holding the kamandalu in their left hand.
ii) Picchika: The small broom made of peacock-feathers
This is the rajoharana of the āryikās, an inseparable companion. The picchikā is made of peacock feathers, which are gathered up each year during the month of kārttika, when the peacocks shed their feathers. The aryikās then fashion new picchikās and at the end of the cāturmāsya, the ācārya gives a new one to each. The picchika possesses some unique characteristics: dust does not adhere to it, but rather slips off it; it is affected neither by water nor humidity, it is so soft that even if it grazes the eyes, this touch produces no pain; it is beautiful, truly beautiful, with its colours and reflections and, finally, it is very lightweight and uncumbersome. The picchikā is the symbol of ahiṁsā; with so soft and so light an instrument it is impossible to hurt anything or anybody and its nature is such that it cannot harbour any insect. During the performance of the vandana and other vidhis, the āryikās hold the picchikå between the palms of their joined
hands. 10
8 Cf. Jñānamati, 1976, pp. 26-27.
9 Ibid., pp. 29-30
10 Ibid., pp. 53-54.
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