History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.145
History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v2.c34.145
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The Āp. Dh. S. (II. 2. 4. 22-23) requires that a householder should always wear an upper garment (besides the lower one) but allows him to have only the sacred thread instead (if he be poor &c.). Vas. Dh. S. XII. 14 says that *snātakas* (those who have returned from the stage of student-hood) should always wear a lower garment and an upper one, two yajñopavītas &c. The Baud. Dh. S. I. 3. 2. says the same and adds that a snātaka should wear a turban, a deer-skin as upper garment, shoes and have an umbrella. Aparārka (pp 133-134) quotes verses from Vyāghra and Yogayājñavalkya to the same effect, the latter remarking that if one cannot procure a second washed garment one may wear a blanket of wool, or hempen or linen cloth. Baud. Dh. S. (I. 6. 5-6, 10-11) says 'among garments¹⁵⁹⁵ the one that has not been worn is pure and therefore everything connected with sacrifice and worship should be done with fresh (or unblemished) clothes. The sacrificer, his wife and the priests should wear garments that have been washed, dried in the wind and are not worn out by use; but in sacrifices performed for *abhicāra* (harm to one's enemies) the priests should wear clothes and turbans dyed red. In consecrating the Vedic fires one should wear clothes made of flax or if they are not available cotton or woollen ones. Śabara on Jaimini X. 4.
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13 quotes *śruti* passages to the effect that the sacrificer and his wife wear fresh unused clothes in the model sacrifice and in the Mahāvrata the sacrificer wears in addition a *tārpya* (silk garment) and his wife wears one made of *kuśa* grass.¹⁵⁹⁶ Baud. Dh. S. II. 3. 66 requires that one must wear an upper garment in five acts viz. study of the Veda, dedication of a well or a tank &c. to the public, making gifts, taking one's meal or ācamana. Similarly the Viṣṇupurāṇa (III. 12. 20) requires that a man must not, with only one garment on, begin homa, the worship of gods and similar rites, study of the Veda, *ācamana* and *japa*.¹⁵⁹⁷ Gaut. 9. 4-5, Āp. Dh. S. I. 11. 30. 10-13, Manu IV. 34-35, Yāj. I. 131 and others enjoin that a *snātaka* and a householder should wear white garments and they must not be worn out or dirty if he has enough (means) and should not wear dyed garments or garments of high price (or gaudy ones) or those worn by another.¹⁵⁹⁸ Baud. Dh. S. II. 8. 24 remarks 'what a man, while wearing reddish garments, does such as japa, homa, receiving gifts, offerings made to gods and Manes, does not reach the gods.'¹⁵⁹⁹ Cloth dyed in indigo is also forbidden and a male has to undergo a fast and take *pañcagavya* for wearing such cloth. The Āpastamba smṛti (in verse) chap. VI has several verses on cloth dyed in indigo. The Mit. on Yāj. III. 292 quotes verses 1-5 of Āpastamba. *Vide* Aparārka p.
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1186 for quotation of the same verses and also of Aṅgiras, verses 32-39 (which are almost the same as Āpastamba's). Gaut. 9. 5-7, Manu IV. 66, Viṣṇu Dh. S. 71. 47, Mārk. purāṇa¹⁶⁰⁰ 34. 42-43 prescribe that one should not wear the shoes, garments yajñopavīta, ornament, garland, or water-jar used by another but if a man is unable to secure one for himself, he may wear another's garment or shoes or garland after cleansing it. According to Garga quoted in the Sm. C. (I. p. 113) a brāhmaṇa should wear white garments, a kṣatriya red and brilliant ones, a vaiśya yellow ones, a śūdra should wear a dark one that is dirty. The Mahābhārata says that one has to wear garments at the time of worshipping gods that are different from those that one wears while walking on a road or when one is in bed ¹⁶⁰¹. Prajāpati quoted by Par. M. states that in tarpaṇa one should wear silk cloth having a hem or one that is orange-coloured, but never one that is gaudy. Probably it is requirements like these that led to the practice of wearing silken garments at the time of meals and worship, which practice is observed even now in many parts of India. Manu IV. 18 and Viṣṇu Dh. S. 71. 5-6 prescribe that one must dress, speak and entertain thoughts that would be in keeping with one's age, occupation, monetary affairs, learning, family and country. The garments to be worn by the vānaprastha and saṁnyāsin will be discussed below. The smṛtis contain rules about tucking up the lower garment.
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A garment should be tucked in three places i. e. when it is tucked near the navel, on the left side and behind on the back. A brāhmaṇa is said to be a śūdra as long as he has not tucked his garment behind or allows one corner of it to hang down from behind like a tail, or has tucked it in the wrong way or side, or has wound part of it round his waist or has covered the upper part of the body with a portion of the lower garment. Vide Sm. M. (āhnika pp. 351-353) and Sm. C. I. pp. 113-114 for these and other rules about wearing garments.