०३

THREE Examination of the Insignia 1. Now we will examine the insignia, which are of two types: the external and the bodily. The bodily insignia consist of the sacrificial string and having the head completely shaved or wearing just a topknot, while the external insignia are the staff, the water pot, and other such items. With reference to external insignia we employ the term “article.“1 Bodily Insignia 2. I will first describe the bodily insignia. Vasistha states: and: Wearing a sacrificial string and carrying a water pot in his hand. . . . [VaDh 10,31] Let him be shaven-headed, free from pride and anger, and without possessions. [VaDh 10.6] 3. Yama: He should always sleep on the bare ground and never stay long in the same place. His head shaven and always living in the wilderness, let him turn his mind incessantly to knowledge.

  1. Paithīnasi: A sage is homeless and shaven-headed, unselfish and without possessions.

  2. The Sanskrit word “matra” is used in ascetic literature as a technical term referring to the external articles, such as garment, staff, and begging bowl, that a renouncer is required to carry. Here the author defines that term as referring only to those articles that constitute the external insignia and not to those, such as the sacrificial string, that are viewed as constituting his bodily insignia. According to this view, the sacrificial string, which is an external article, is viewed as almost a bodily mark like the shaven head.

49 ‘50 5. Bodhāyana: Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism Going to the wildemess, he should either wear a topknot or have his head completely shaved. (BDh 2.11.17-18].

  1. Kratu: After chanting the three hymns-Mind,2 Visnu, and Purusa3-in praise of the Highest Spirit, let him depart from home robed in ocher, carrying a bowl and a staff, and with his head completely shaved or wearing just a topknot.

  2. Sumantu A sage is shaven-headed and without possessions.

  3. Gautama: He should have his head completely shaved or wear just a topknot.

[GDh 3.21} 9. Consequently, one may choose either to shave the head completely or to wear just a topknot.4 All ascetics without exception, however, are required to wear a sacrificial string. 10. Accordingly, with specific reference to itinerant asceticism, Atri declares: Those Brahmins who, subsisting by sophistry, foolishly discard the sacrificial string sacred to the triple divinity-Brahma, Visṇu, and Śivawill undoubtedly fall both from the path to heaven and from the path to liberation.

  1. Uśanas: By discarding his sacrificial string, a Vedic student, a householder, a forest hermit, and even a wandering ascetic will fall. Let no one, therefore, abandon it.

  2. The Mind-hymn is probably the same as the Sivasamkalpa (VS 34.1-6; see Ch. 6.64, n. 32), which contains the words tan me manaḥ sivasamkalpam astu. The commentator Mahidhara calls these verses manodevataḥ.

  3. The meaning of the expression “vaiṣṇavapaurusa” is unclear. I have taken it to mean hymns connected with Visnu and Puruṣa, the two often being identified in Vaiṣṇava literature. The identity of the three hymns is also unclear. They certainly include the famous Puruṣa hymn (RV 10.90), and perhaps the so-called Viṣṇusukta, which according to Pandit Daulatarama (Nirnayasindhu, Varansi: Thakurprasad & Sons, 1975, p. 1324) consists of the four verses viṣnor nu kam (RV 1.154.1-4), the two verses viṣnoḥ karmani (RV 1.22.19-20), and the two verses trini pada (RV 1.22.18-19; the latter is thus listed twice). A somewhat different version is given in the Suklayajurvediyamādhyandinavajasaneyinām Nityanaimittikakarmasamuccayah (Bombay: Nirnayasagara Press, 1952), p. 411.

  4. The reason for the choice is the diversity of opinions given in the authoritative texts cited. See Ch. 2.25 n. 9.

  5. Examination of the Insignia External Insignia 12. I will now describe the external insignia. Dakṣa states: A Vedic student is recognized by the girdle, antelope skin, staff, and the like; a householder by the staff, sacrificial broom, and the like; a forest hermit by long nails and hair; and an ascetic by the triple staff. These are their respective marks.

  6. Bṛhaspati: After he has thus performed the rite of renunciation, let him take a triple staff tied with a water strainer and reaching up to his hair, as well as a bowl and a water pot.

  7. Śankha and Likhita: Abandoning all undertakings,” he relies on the use of a triple staff, a water pot, fine thread, and a water strainer, shaves his head, wears ocher clothes, and subsists on begging.

15–16. Angiras: I shall declare the insignia by which an ascetic is recognized: a sacrificial string, a triple staff, a cloth to strain insects, a sling, a begging bowl, a stool, a loincloth, and a waistband. Only a man who possesses these insignia is a true ascetic, and no one else.

  1. “Stool” means the “tortoise seat.“6 Devala says: The articles consist of an ocher garment, a shaven head, a triple staff, a water pot, a bowl, a water strainer, a pair of sandals, a seat, and a ragged shawl.

  2. Gālava: Now, a wandering ascetic bears the insignia; is shaven-headed or wears a topknot, always wears a sacrificial string, and dons a ragged ocher garment. Let him use a cloth to cover his nakedness but not wear an upper garment. He carries a triple staff, a water strainer, a water pot, a bowl, and a ragged shawl.

  3. Likhita: Let him wear a ragged shawl and an ocher garb of cotton, bark, antelope skin, Kuśa grass, or hemp.

51 5. The term “undertakings” (ārambha) refers in a special way to ritual activities. The GDh (3.25), for example, calls a renouncer an anarambhin, “one who does not undertake ritual activities.” 6. This is a low stool carried by ascetics and used both as an ordinary seat and to sit down while performing ritual purifications. See Ch. 3.79.

  1. For the technical meaning of the term “article” (mātrā), see Ch. 3.1 n.1. In spite of that definition of this term, the shaven head is here listed as an article.

152 Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism 20-21. A sling and a bowl with a lid hung from a tripod,8 a triple staff tied with a water strainer, a round stool, a topknot, a sacrificial string, and also a water pot for use in purifications: whether he is walking or is seated, a pure man should always carry these.

  1. Yama: Needle and thread, a tripod, a pair of sandals, a pot, a sling made of string, a begging bowl, a stool, a ragged shawl, a tattered garment, and a staff: this is the short list of articles he should possess.

  2. Uśanas: A bowl and its lid, a sling, a triple staff tied with a water strainer, a stool, a waistband, a loincloth, a sacrificial string, and a ragged shawl: let him take these and abandon everything else.

24-25. Kratu: He may carry twenty or ten articles, but he should always carry at least five. The following are the twenty items called articles laid down by the scriptures: ragged shawl, needle, antelope skin, umbrella, water strainer, water pot, stool, bowl, sling, rosary, sacrificial string, spade, a pair of sandals, loincloth, tripod, a pair of shoes, staff, fine thread, yoga band,9 and outer garment.

  1. Of these twenty articles, five are obligatory. They are the sacrificial string, triple staff, water strainer, bowl, loincloth, and waistband. 10 27. Visnu, likewise, states: Sacrificial string, triple staff, bowl, water strainer, loincloth, and waistband-one should not abandon these as long as one lives.

  2. The sling, which resembles present-day macramé pot-hangers, is tied to the top of the tripod. The bowl is suspended in the sling. When the tripod is set up, the bowl in the sling hangs from its center. The tripod, like a present-day camera tripod, is collapsible. When folded up, it can be held by the bottom, with the top resting on the shoulder and the sling with the bowl hanging behind the shoulder. It appears that in the early period the tripod was used to carry a water pot rather than a begging bowl. For an extended discussion about the triple staff and the tripod, see Olivelle 1986, 42-52, and von Hinūber 1992, 51-67.

  3. This is a strip of cloth stitched to form a loop. Iconographic representations. of ascetics show them wearing it around their thighs and the back, thus supporting the legs as they sit on their haunches. Later texts give great prominence to the investiture of an ascetic with the yoga band, presenting it as a type of higher ordination. After this ceremony an ascetic is permitted to teach and to initiate others into the ascetic order. For a description of this rite, see Ypra 66.

  4. If the loincloth and waistband are counted as separate items, the list contains six rather than five articles. This anomaly may be why the bowl is omitted in several manuscripts. In all likelihood, however, the loincloth and waistband are counted as a single item, just as the needle and thread are (see Ch. 3.28). That the bowl was originally part of this list is confirmed by the statements that follow (Ch. 3.27-28), 3. Examination of the Insignia 53 53 28. The fact that one takes a bowl necessarily implies that one has to take also its accessories: a sling, a cover, and a tripod. The ten articles are those listed in the scriptural passage beginning “Needle and thread…” [see Ch. 3.22], where we count ten articles by taking the needle and thread as a single item.

  5. Now, there are two types of wandering ascetics. The one is devoted to training himself in knowledge and seeks to become proficient in yoga, whereas the other, who has already mastered yoga and knows the truth, lives without visible insignia, keeps his conduct concealed, and although sane, behaves like a madman.11 30. Kratu, likewise, points out the two types: A yogin should go around in the forenoon, while a person who possesses the true knowledge should go around in the afternoon.12 31. Kratu himself makes the following comments with reference to the ascetic who possesses the true knowledge: Virtue, good conduct, learning, knowledge, detachment–that is the definition of the Law. What is the use of articles for a man who has gained complete control of himself?13 32. Meditation, purification, austerity, worship, control of breath, silent prayer, divine praise, twilight worship, begging food, and divine service: he should perform these until death.

  6. Even those who possess the true knowledge are without exception required to carry the five articles [see Ch. 3.26], because of the injunction “… should always carry at least five” [see Ch. 3.24] and because of the rule requiring them to beg their food.14 11. This is the stock description of a renouncer at an advanced state of holiness. See VaDh 10.18-19; JU 69.5–6.

  7. The reason for the “going around” is to beg (see Ch. 6.98). This is an interesting observation regarding ascetic practice. Brahmanical ascetics are expected to beg late in the afternoon, after the people have finished their meal (see Ch. 6.97-100). Neither Kratu nor Yadava (see Ch. 6.98) reveals the identity of the “yogin.” Buddhist monks, however, are not allowed to eat in the afternoon and beg their food in the morning. Kratu’s statement may thus be an implicit relegation of Buddhist monks to a lower level of asceticism. It is, however, the only such distinction in the time of begging that I have encountered.

  8. The reference is probably to yogic powers, such as the knowledge of previous births and others’ thoughts, listed in the Yogasutra (3.16-55).

  9. The reasoning here is that the ritual of begging requires the mendicant to be equipped with a begging bowl, a triple staff, and the like. See Ch. 6.151-71.

54 Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism Description of the External Insignia 34. In what follows I will describe the specifications of a sacrificial string and the other items on the list of articles.

Sacrificial String I take up first the specifications of a sacrificial string. 35. With special reference to itinerant asceticism, Dattatreya and Atri state: The cotton string should be made by twisting three pieces of thread upward and three pieces downward, with an outer one twisted the same way 15 36. The sacred string of Brahmins, according to scripture, is made of nine pieces of cotton thread divided into three groups of three, with three pieces twisted downward and three twisted upward.

  1. Wearing this ninefold string is the means of liberation for twice-born people; without it one is forthwith excluded from all aspects of sacred law.

Staff 38. I will now describe the specifications of a staff. Kapila states: Let him carry one or several bamboo staffs 16 three-fourths of an inch thick, straight, and reaching up to his nose or as tall as himself. 39. Now, they also cite these verses: In this text we define a joint as the spot where one sees fine sprouts with emergent leaves and the middle as what is in-between.

  1. They say that an ascetic’s staff should be one that does not contain three, five, seven, nine, or eleven joints.17 Below its bottommost joint, moreover, and above its uppermost it should extend one and a half inches.

  2. This outer string is also made by twisting three pieces of thread. On the way sacrificial strings are manufactured, see Kane, II, 287f.

  3. The plural here probably refers to the triple staff made by tying three bamboos together (see Ch. 3.44-47). The triple staff is preferred by the Vaisnava ascetics. On the controversy regarding the staff, see Olivelle 1986, 56-54.

  4. It appears that ascetics avoided staffs with an odd number of joints. Another work recommends staffs with six, eight, ten, twelve, and fourteen joints and gives such staffs respectively the following names: Sudarsana, Nārāyaṇa, Gopala, Vasudeva, and Ananta; see Samnyasāśramapaddhati (Prajña Pathaśālā Library, ms serial no. 4992), folio 33b (see Olivelle 1986, 155 n. 56). It is unclear how universal this attitude was, because a half-verse cited in the PaM (1.2, 157-59) recommends staffs with eleven, nine, seven, four, three, and two joints, and that half-verse is given here in the variant reading of several manuscripts.

  5. Examination of the Insignia 55 41. This provision holds good also for householders. Dattatreya states: He should carry three bamboo staffs, each three-quarters of an inch thick, reaching up to top of his head, with their bark intact, unblemished, pleasant, without holes or cracks, and containing six, eight, or ten evenly spaced and unprotruding joints.

  6. Dakṣa: An ascetic should carry three bamboo staffs with evenly spaced joints and reaching up to his hair.

  7. Dakṣa the Elder: Let a wise man carry a triple staff with a water strainer tied to its top. 44. Hārīta: He should mark off five equal sections on his triple staff and bind it above the third section with a string of black cow’s hair to a width of three inches.

  8. Containing a series of three knots and with a water strainer tied to its top, he should take it in his right hand while reciting the appropriate mantra when his teacher hands it to him.’ 18 46-47. Dakṣa the Elder: He should tie the triple staff with a string at the top and the bottom between the joints. 19 Below the second section from the top20 also he should tie a cow’s hair string to a width of three inches. Or else he may mark off five equal sections and tie it five times with a string. 48-49. In the Pancarātra text Tattvasāgarasam hitā it is stated:21 Let an ascetic think of the top section of the triple staff as Parameṣṭhin, the second section as Puruṣātman, the mid-section as Viśvātman, the fourth 18. For the mantra that is recited when a new ascetic formally takes up his staff, see Ch. 4.19, 38. The knots that tie the three bamboos are called mudrā (the term usually used for hand gestures with mystic significance) and given different symbolic values. Often, five such knots or mudras along the staff are mentioned (see Ch. 3.46- 47), relating to serpent, cow, ax, conch, and Brahma. For an account of these mudras, see Ypra 35.7-29.

  9. I have translated madhye as “between the joints” in the light of the statement made above at Ch. 3.39. If it means simply “in the middle,” the translation would be “at the top, the bottom, and the middle.” My interpretation is more likely, since the middle binding is referred to in the next half-verse.

  10. As stated at Ch. 3.44, one marks off five equal sections. The middle binding is done just below the second from the top, i.c., at the beginning of the third section.

  11. Contrary to his opening remark that he limits himself to Dharmasastric texts (Ch. 1.10), Yadava here cites from a Pañcaratra text. Smith does not list the Tattvasagarasam hita among the extant texts, although it is found in a couple of ancient lists of Pancaratra texts; see Smith 1975, 243, 262.

56 Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism section as Nivrttipuruṣa, and the fifth section as Sarvātman.22 Let him envisage the triple staff in its entirety as an image of Visṇu.

  1. Hārīta: An ascetic should carry at all times the image of Visnu that is called the triple staff.

  2. Śaunaka: The short is the staff of knowledge, the medium is the staff of the self, and the long is the staff of Visnu-let an ascetic carry the triple staff.23 52. Pracetas: An ascetic should carry the sacred string and the triple staff by himself, just as he does the topknot. If he gets someone else to carry them, he should undergo the following penance.

  3. After sprinkling the triple staff with water as he recites the Purusa hymn and the seven verses to Visnu,24 he should control his breath one hundred times.

  4. Let him place his staff near by25 when he bathes, when he answers the calls of nature, when he eats, when he engages in silent prayer and private vedic recitation, and when he sleeps.

  5. An ascetic should always take with him a triple staff, as well as a single bamboo staff to carry articles such as the loincloth and the waistband.

  6. If an ascetic voids urine or excrement while holding the triple staff, to restore purity he should perform the rite of sipping water with the staff in his hand.26 57. Jābāli the Elder: 22. In Vaiṣṇava theology, these are names given to different aspects of the supreme god Visnu.

  7. It is unclear whether the author is referring to triple staffs themselves or to the three bamboos that constitute a triple staff (the variant tridandan, “three staffs,” in ms A4 appears to support the latter). If it is the latter, then one of the three must have been long, one of medium length, and one short. I have not encountered any other reference to such a distinction in lengths either of the bamboos or of staffs themselves, although sources specify various lengths, such as reaching the nose or hair or being as tall as one’s body.

  8. The Puruṣa hymn is RV 10.90. The seven verses to Visṇu may be the same as the hymn to Visṇu: see Ch. 3.6 n. 3.

  9. I am not quite sure of the exact meaning of the expression “upa dandena bandhayer,” which I assume to mean that he should place the triple staff near him when he engages in these activities, as indicated in Ch. 8.23.

  10. The wording makes it unclear whether the purification is intended for the staff, for the ascetic, or for both.

  11. Examination of the Insignia 57 After filling his cupped hands with water and pouring it down, and taking one or [three] staffs….2 58. Bodhāyana: 27 And thereafter he should not wear a white garment. He may carry a single or a triple staff. [BDh 2.17.44-18.1] 59. Yajnavalkya: Or he may carry a single such staff, in which case it should not be tied with a cow’s hair string.

  12. One has a choice, therefore, with regard to the type of staff one carries. Yet, both because it entails a greater effort and because it is mentioned in a larger number of texts, carrying a triple staff is more praiseworthy than carrying a single staff. 61. This position is supported by the Blessed Vyasa: Carrying a triple staff is commended, and likewise living in solitude, eating little, and living without worries. For ascetics these are the means to liberation.

  13. This difference in the type of staff does not entail corresponding differences with regard to either the other articles or duties such as twilight worship. Some texts, on the other hand, prescribe a single staff when the triple staff is damaged.28 63. Atri and Jābāla state: When the water strainer or the triple staff is inadvertently damaged, he should take a single bamboo staff or, as an inferior alternative, a Palāśa staff.

  14. When even these are not available, let him go around carrying a Palāśa leaf or a tuft of Kusa grass until he obtains a better staff.29 65. Hārīta: When the water strainer or the triple staff is inadvertently damaged, he should take a single bamboo staff or, as an inferior alternative, a Palāśa staff and proceed until he obtains a triple staff.

  15. Only the first words of this citation are given. I have been unable to trace the rest of the passage. See Ch. 2.37 n. 16.

  16. The Sanskrit term “nasta” has several shades of meaning, including damaged, lost, spoiled, and corrupted. All these may be intended here. A renouncer is expected to throw into water a staff that is broken or damaged, as well as one that has come into contact with impurities, such as liquor, urine, excrement, and blood. A staff is likewise to be abandoned when the water strainer normally tied to its top is similarly damaged. See Ch. 8.24-31; Ypra 68.78-80.

  17. Palāśa is the tree Butea frondosa, and Kusa is a type of grass (Poa cynosuroides) used for ritual purposes.

58 Rules and Regulations of Brahmanical Asceticism 66. Ever vigilant and composed, he should vigorously search for a triple staff, and when he finds one, he should take it, after tying a water strainer to its top.

  1. Medhātithi: As long as he does not have three staffs, he may go around with one. Even then he should tie a water strainer to its top for use in purifying water. 68. Jamadagni: Pot Let him never tie a loincloth or a waistband to the triple staff. By foolishly tying them to it, one shows disrespect to the triple staff.

  2. If a mendicant carelessly lets his triple staff come into contact with the other staff,30 he should wash the triple staff with earth and water and control his breath three times.

  3. In the age of Kali one should not carry a pot. Accordingly, Devala states: In the Dvapara and similar ages an ascetic may eat from a begging bowl. In the Kali age, however, he should never eat directly from his begging bowl, nor should he carry a pot.31 Water Strainer 71-72. Medhātithi gives the specifications of a water strainer: One should understand that a water strainer should be smooth, 32 white, and untouched; that it should be nine inches long on both sides, or two or three times that long, or six inches long on all sides, or a full span; that it should be without holes, soft, and made of cotton; and that it should not be made by an outcaste or a similar person.

  4. The other staff refers to the pole used to carry an ascetic’s personal belongings (see Ch. 3.20-21 n. 8 and 3.55). Coming into contact with the loincloth and other impure articles renders it impure. The purity of the triple staff is indicated by its contact with the water strainer.

  5. As we shall see in Ch. 6.206, a renouncer begs food in a begging bowl but transfers it into a different dish, often a leaf, when he eats. The meaning of “pot” (kundika) and the significance of its prohibition are unclear. It must be something different from the water pot (kamandalu) that ascetics are required to carry. At Ch. 3.22, however, the kundika is listed among the ten articles an ascetic should carry, and this term has given the Kundika Upaniṣad its title. For further details, see Sprockhoff 1976, 44-46, and von Hinūber 1992, 51-67..

  6. The meaning of the term “vikesa” in this context is unclear. I have taken it to mean a piece of cloth that is not shaggy. It may also mean “without hair,” that is, without hair sticking to it, but since the term is listed under specifications, this meaning seems less likely.3. Examination of the Insignia The term “untouched” means not previously used. 73. Angiras states: There are only three white things that ascetics always have: sacrificial string, teeth, and a cloth to strain insects.

Begging Bowl 74. Atri describes the bowls: A bowl may be made of clay, wood, bottle-gourd, bamboo, thread, stone, grass, or linen, or it may be a funnel fashioned out of a leaf.

  1. He should take one of these according to his ability. If he thereafter takes a different bowl out of greed, he should control his breath ten times. 76. Kratu: One should take a bowl made of bamboo, wood, stone, bottle-gourd, grass, leaves, clay, or linen, according to one’s ability.

  2. Manu: Manu, the son of Svayambhu, has declared that bowls made of bottlegourd, wood, clay, and bamboo are suitable for ascetics. [MDh 6.54] Sling 78. Hārīta gives the specifications of a sling: These are the specifications of a sling. It is made by knotting linen strips, Kuśa fibers, or cotton strings and is shaped like a lotus, with five or six sections.33 Seat 79. The same author gives the specifications of a seat: It is laid down that the seat of an ascetic should be round and equipped with a handle and that it should be made of wood. Sages in ancient times created it both for purification and for sitting down.

Spade 80. Kapila gives the specifications of a spade: There is no fault in having a three-inch spade for digging the earth.

  1. That ends the third chapter, entitled “Examination of the Insignia,” of the Collection of Ascetic Laws.

59 33. The term “muṣti” (lit., “clenched fist”) here probably refers to the sections of a sling; see Ch. 3.20-21 n. 8 and Ypra 8.9-11.