Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c14.t3.5

c14.t3.5

The hermits lived in the forest⁷⁵ where they occupied themselves either in meditation or in sacrificial rites, or in practice of self-torture or studying the *Suttas* containing the texts of their school. Much of their time was spent in gathering fruits and roots for their sustenance, or in going into villages for alms. The *Vyavahāra Bhāṣya* tells us that the *Tāvasas* picked up rice-grains scattered around the mortar (*udukkhala*), or the threshing floor (*khalaya*) and ate them after cooking. Sometimes they collected as little quantity of grains as could be held in a spoon (*darvī*) or stick (*daṇḍa*) or between the thumb and the forefinger (*sandāsaya*) or as much as adhered to a piece of cloth (*pottiya*).⁷⁶