Amarakoshodghatana of Kshirasvamin (study)
by A. Yamuna Devi | 2012 | 77,297 words | ISBN-13: 9788193658048
This page relates ‘Daily Life (2): Dress and Ornaments� of the study on the Amarakoshodghatana of Kshirasvamin (in English) which represents a commentary on the Amarakosha of Amarasimha. These ancient texts belong the Kosha or “lexicography� category of Sanskrit literature which deals with the analysis and meaning of technical words from a variety of subjects, such as cosmology, anatomy, medicine, hygiene. The Amarakosa itself is one of the earliest of such text, dating from the 6th century A.D., while the Amarakoshodghatana is the earliest known commentary on that work.
Go directly to: Footnotes.
Daily Life (2): Dress and Ornaments
The people were aware of the necessity of clothing themselves in accordance with climatic conditions. The varieties of cloth-materials and dresses used by them are listed in ś as 첹–made of tree barks, �cotton (which is a product of fruit), 첹śⲹ�silk, ṅk–woolen (product of animal hair); ٲҡԲ, ܻ岵īⲹ–pair of bleached cloth, 貹ٰǰṇa–bleached silk, ṣaܳ–woven silk, Ծīٲ–veil (or) mantle, 貹ṭa–old cloth, naktam�tattered cloth, vastra–cdzٳ, sucela–fine cloth, ś�–coarse cloth; nicola–cDZ, rallaka–b, Բ–aɲԾԲ, پī–cܰٲ; Գٲīⲹ–inner garment, 屹–upper garment, cola–bǻ徱, īś–warm cloak and 貹īԲ–pants. All these explained by ṣīr峾 with some interesting remarks are presented below:
(a) īś[1] (II. 6. 118; p. 158)�
[A warm cloak:]
A warm cloak named īś was used to protect from the freezing cold winds in the winter. ṣīr峾 remarks that if a person does not use clothing he is emaciated in the biting chillness of winter like the animals�yallakṣyam -gaurivākṛtaīś� prāyeṇa śś ṛśa� |
(b) 岵īⲹ[2] (II. 6. 112; p. 157)�
[A pair of washed clothes:]
According to ś, 岹īⲹ is a pair of washed clothes.
But ṣīr峾 dispenses with the idea of a pair (yugma) as immaterial and in support of his views cites from Kumarasambhava, VII. 11:
ܲṣiٲ yallakṣyam-gṛhītapatyܻ岵īⲹvastreti |
The context is�
maṅgalasnānaviśuddhagri gṛhītapatyudgamaniyavastram |
nivṛttaparjanyajalābhiṣeko praphullakāśā vasudheva reje ||
پ with her body cleansed by the festive bath and wearing the newly washed cloth, shone like the earth recently drenched in rains and sprouting forth Kūśa flowers.
It is to be remembered that in the context of commenting on the above mentioned verse Ѳٳ also seems to accept the explanation of ṣīr峾 and takes it for authority:
ٳ �.貹ٲܰǻ岵īⲹٰ dhautavastram | �dhautamܻ岵īⲹm sy iti ܻ� | tatsyā �. ٲⲹ�� yugagrahaṇam tu prāyikābhiprāyam | a evra kṣīrasvāmī �yugam prāyaśo yallakṣyam tadeva iti vyāravyāya gṛhītapatyܻ岵īⲹvastrā� ityetadevodāhṛtavān |
(c) Ā첹貹 (II. 6. 99; p. 155)�
[Dress or embellishment:]
ś gives ṣa, nepathya, pratikarma and pradhanam as synonyms.
ṣīr峾 explains ṣa as that which adores the body and also records that according to some it means ‘reaches the heart� or ‘that which pleases or reaches the heart� also reading the word as ś[3] with palatal ‘ś’�
𱹱ṣṭⲹṅg ṣa� śپ ٲīٲ ⲹ� śamāhu� karmaveśādyat (Pā. 5. 1. 100) ityatra tathā vicār || ś iti vā ṻ� |
Nepathya is explained by ṣīr峾 as the attire, which pleases the eye�
Աٰ� 貹ٳⲹ� vastrādiśobhā |
Pratikarma according to ṣīr峾 is beautifying each limb�
Pradhanam is explained as that which pleases the limbs�
pradhyate'nenāṅgam pradhanam |
ṣīr峾 remarks that some take all the above five in the same sense and strongly denies it saying that ṣa is that which enhances the beauty of the body by attire and garlands while pradhanam can be beauty toilettes like the tilaka, pattrabhaṅga and others[4].
It is interesting to note that վṛt (Vol. I, p. 426) follows this bifurcation of ṣīr峾 and takes the first three to denote the decking like attire and garland and the latter two to beautify the particular limb�
vistrālaṃkāramālyādikṛtaśobhyiśayanāmāni | pratikarma pradhana... | ete tilakapatraracanā-der峾nī ||
Ѳٳ (Vol. I, p. 426) gives all five as different adornments like ablution immersion, application of pastes, garlands, attire and ornaments�
ālaṃkaraṇanāmāni | majjanānulepaneⲹvastrābharaṇaistat pañcavidham |
(d) Ornaments:
ś gives synonyms of various ornaments used to adorn the various parts of body from head to toe: ṅk–oԲԳ, ܰṭa–cǷɲ, ūḍāmṇi–gem on the crest, taralaԻ岹Գ, ś–trinket of the hair, 貹ٰś–trinket for the fore-head, 첹ṇi–ear ornament, ṇḍ–e-Ի岹Գ, 屹ⲹ–cǰ, lambanam�necklace, �pearl necklace, 屹貹첹–b, ū–ornament of the arm, ṅgܱīⲹ첹–fԲ-ring, ṅgܱܻ–s-Բ, 첹ṅkṇa–ornament of the wrist, –g, śṛṅ–belt of men, ṅg岹–ornament of the feet.
The special references and notes of ṣīr峾 help in understanding specialities of the ornaments as follows�
īṭa (II. 6. 102; p. 155)�
[Crown:]
ṣīr峾 adds ṭīr to denote a diadem:
ṭīr� ca |
(e) Hair decoration (II. 6. 98;p. 154-5):
The hair was also ornamented and ś gives ṇ� and praṇ� to denote unornamented hair. Clean and untangled hair are denoted by Śīṣaṇy and Śⲹ[5]
ṣīr峾 explains the term ś岹 as untangled or the washed and clean hair�
viśade'nyonyāsaṃpṛkte āvikṛte snānādinirmale vā śadla?[&] śane |
ś defines that such ornamented hair are denoted by ś, 貹ṣa and hasta in compound with 첹.[6]
ṣīr峾 gives these words as keśaś, keśa貹ṣa and śٲ:
첹dityarthenirdeśa� keśaś� keśa貹ṣa� śٲ� praśaṃvacanaiśca iti � |
(f) Varieties of pearl Neckalaces (II. 6. 105-06; p. 156):
ś gives and ܰ屹ī to denote a pearl necklace in general and also mentions varieties of pearl necklaces based on the number of strings of pearls composed as devacchanda–composed of hundred strings of pearls, guccha, ardhaguccha, gostana, ardha and ṅa첹 as other varieties. ṣīr峾 quotes from unknown source where these varieties are explained based on the number of pearl strings.
To understand the explanation of the quotations ṣīr峾 says that the words ⲹṣṭ, , sara and sari mean the same as string�
ⲹṣṭr � sarirityekārtha� |
ⲹḥ�ٳ� ṣaṣṭilato hāro'thāṣṭahīna yathottaram |
ś� kalāpo māṇavako'rdhahāro'rdhagucchaka� ||
첹貹Ի Ի岹ś ܳ� saptatiⲹṣṭka� ||
ānye vyākhyan -catvāriṃśallato gostano lambamān gopuccho'pi ||
dvriṃśallato guccho, guhyācchādan |
catvāriṃśallato gostano laṃbamān, gopuccho'pi |
According to some the guccha is 32 string pearls and called so as it is veiled or hidden gostana or gopuccha as it is hanging down with 40 strings; and ardha as it has 54 strings apporximately half of the Devacchanda.
The table below gives the names of the pearl necklaces and the number of strings in them as presented by other commentators and ṣīr峾:
No. of strings | ||||||
Necklace Name | ṅgⲹū | Գᾱ[7] | Ѳٳ[8] | ṛhٲṃh[9] | Unknown Source | ṣīr峾 |
Devacchanda | Śatasara 100 | Śatalatisya 100 | 1008 | 100/108 | ||
Inducchanda | (Indracchanda) 1008 | |||||
ҳܳ� | Dvriṃsatsara 32 | ٱٰṃsٱپDzܳ 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 or 70 | |
Ardhaܳ� | Ṣoḍaś sara峾 16 | Caturviṃśatⲹṣṭko 24 | 24 | 20 | 24 | 24 |
Ardha | ٱ𱹲Ի岹ٱ 50 | 䲹ٳḥsٰṃśaٴdzra 34 | 64 | 32/54 | ||
鲹ś첹貹 | 54 | 56 | ||||
ṇa첹 | Viṃśatisar峾 20 | Viṃśatⲹṣṭko 20 | 16 | 40 | ||
Vijyaycchanda | 504 | 504 | ||||
108 | 64 | |||||
ѲԻ | 8 | 8 | ||||
phalaka | 5 | |||||
ṣaٰ | 27 | 27 | ||||
ҴDzٲԲ� | Catvariṃśatsara 40 | 䲹ٳḥs 4 | Gopuccha 40 | |||
ṇa첹 | 12 | |||||
貹Ի岹 | 16 | |||||
貹 | 48 |
(g) Garlands (II. 6. 135-37; p. 161):
Varieties of garlands used for both decoration and for fragrance are described by ś as follows: ⲹ–chaplet (garland worn on the head), garbhaka–one worn between the hair, ṣṭ첹–hanging over the plait, 첹ṣy–work as a scarf, īḍa–tied on the crown. Some important explanations of ṣīr峾 are as given below:
ⲹ:
The wreath of flowers ornamented the head was known as ⲹ.
ṣīr峾 adds 峾첹 and ṇḍ and uttamsa:
lalatyagre 峾첹� muṇḍamālāravyam |
ʰ[10] :
ṣīr峾 explains that the garland hanging down the neck up to the chest is :
첹ṇṭ屹ṣaⲹԲ� ⲹ� |
ղ첹ṣy:
A garland worn across the chest is 첹ṣy ṣīr峾 says it to be similar to wearing the ⲹñDZ貹īٲ:
첹ṣa� � 첹ṣa첹� ⲹñDZ貹īٲnyāyena ⲹm |
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
niśāra� sy prāvareṇa himānila nivaraṇe |
[2]:
ānāhata� niṣpravāṇi tantraka� ca navāmbare |
tatsyādܻ岵īⲹ� yad dhautayorvastrayoryugam ||
[3]:
The վṛt com. records that variant reading as ś. The Pārija com. quotes evidences from ܳٲ and 鲹ś for both ṣam and ś respectively, p. 426, ALRC.
[4]:
pañcaikartha ityeke taccāsat | veṣo hi vastrālaṃkāraⲹpradhanairṅgaśobhāpradhanam tu samālambhana� tilakapatrabhaṅgādhinā ||
[5]:
śīrṣaṇya-śirasyau viśade kace |
[7]:
ղⲹܻ, p. 239
[8]:
ղⲹܻ, p. 239
[9]:
ṛhٲṃh (LXXXI. 31-36):
surabhūṣaṇa� nā� sahasramaṣṭottara� caturhastam |
inducchando nāmnā vijayacchandostadardhena ||
śatamaṣṭayuta� hāro devacchando hyaśītirekayutā |
āṣṭāṣṭako'rdhahāro raśmikalāpaśca navaṣaṭaka� ||
dvriṃśatā tu guccho viṃśatya kīrtito'rdhaguccvya� |
ṣoḍaśṇa dvādaśabhiścārdhamāṇavaka� ||
mandārasajño'ṣṭābhi� pañca phalakamityuktam |
saptaviṃśatimuktā hasto nakṣatramāleti ||
āntaramaṇisamyuktā maṇisopāna� suvarṇagulikairvā |
taralamaṇimadhya� tadvijñeya� cāṭukāramiti ||
屹ī 峾 yatheṣṭasaṃkhyā hastapramāṇ� maṇiviprayuktakṣ� |
saṃyojitā yā maṇinā tu madhye yaṣṭīti bhūṣaṇavidbhiruktā ||