Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c4.80

c4.80

There were regulations for the clothing of those who had become students.² The girdle or sacred cord worn after initiation varied in material according to the caste. For the Brāhman it was to be of munja grass; for the Kshatriya, a bowstring; and for the Vaiśya, a woollen or hempen thread. The upper garments were to be skins of animals, again varying according to caste, and respectively, the skin of a black buck, a spotted deer, or a he-goat. For lower garments hemp, flax, or wool, or the inner bark of a certain tree were prescribed. Gautama says that these under-garments might also be of undyed cotton cloth, but if dyed the garment of a Brāhman should be dyed with red dye from a tree, and those of the other two castes with madder and turmeric respectively. The staves carried also varied according to caste, reaching, in the case of the Brāhman, to the crown of the head; in the case of the Kshatriya, to the forehead; and in the case of the Vaiśya, to the tip of the nose. The hair might be shaved or worn braided on the top, or there might be merely one lock left on the crown. The arrangement of hair was probably regulated by the custom of the family, school, or country.