Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c14.t4.1

c14.t4.1

The *Parivrājakas* or the wanderers were great teachers of the Brāhmanic lore and were greatly respected throughout the country. It is stated in the *Vasistha Dharmaśūtra* that a *Parivrājaka* should shave his head, clothe himself with one piece of cloth or skin or cover his body with grass pulled off by cows or he should sleep on bare ground.⁸⁸ They maintained their regular monasteries (*avasaha*) and they wandered about in a body with the object of engaging themselves in conversational discussions on matters of ethics, philosophy and various other topics of public interest. They allowed even women to enter their order. The *Oṭṭāya*⁸⁹ gives the following description of the wandering mendicants.