Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c9.s20.11

c9.s20.11

Then the shoes of different shapes formed important articles of costume. The *Brhatkalpa Bhāsya* prescribes the use of shoes for the Jain monks, specially when they were on tours, in case of illness, whose feet were tender by nature, in fear of wild animals, those suffering from leprosy, piles or who were short sighted.¹¹⁸ *Taliya* shoes were fastened to the feet in order to protect one’s feet from thorns while travelling in night; with this kind of shoe a monk could travel fast. Usually the monks were allowed to wear single-soled (*egapuda*) shoes, but they could also use four-soled ones. The *puḍaga* or *khallaka*¹¹⁹ shoes were used in winter to cover the foot-sore (*vivacci*). They were of two kinds: *addhakhalla* and *khalla*. The former covered half the feet, while the latter covered the whole. The *vāgurā* covered the toes and also the feet. The *kosa*gas covered the toes to save the nails against stone, etc. *Khapusā*¹²⁰ covered the ankles and was used as a precaution against cold, snake, snow and thorns. There are mentioned the *ardhajaṅghikā* and *jaṅghikā* shoes which covered half and full thighs respectively.¹²¹