- 15
reminds one of Sri Valmiki's remark :—
- कुर्वन्ति कुसुमापीडाः शिरस्तु सुरभीनमी ।
- मेघप्रकाशैः फलकैर्दाक्षिणात्या नरा यथा ॥ रामायण २-९३-१३
while describing the Chitrakuta mountain. To have a tuft of hair of a considerable size on the crown of the head is a southern custom even now and in the Madras Presidency one comes across men also with garlands put on the Sikha. It may be remarked here that the author does not refer to the Pūjā of the Istadevata which is usually done after Snāna.
After Malyopabhoga comes the Bhusopabhoga (enjoyment of ornaments). In the beginning of the chapter the author deals with various kinds of pearls and precious stones, more or less on the same line as in the second विंशति. While talking of diamonds he uses the line वैराकरमवं वज्रं विप्रजातीयमुत्तमम् । which means that the diamond produced in the mine is of the highest (ब्राह्मण) quality. Then he describes the ornaments with pearls and precious stones and deals with separate ornaments for men and women. Some of the ornaments described in the Mānasollāsa may be said to be current in modern times e. g. the ornament called Särika, for instance, is current now and it is called Sari in Marathi. Though fashions in ornaments are always in a flux, we can nevertheless find them used even in modern days. Ornaments like Keyūra etc. are also found in both Northern and Southern India bearing either the same or an entirely different name. It is, however, noteworthy that there is no mention of any ornament for the nose which very probably was introduced after the advent of the Muhammedans. Then comes the Asanopabhoga (enjoyment of seats). In this section, various kinds of royal seats are described; the Mangalasana seems
1. In Marathi वैरागर means the mine of diamonds (see Molesworth's dictionary). But no Marathi dictionary gives the etymology of the word. वैर (Tamil) = a diamond and आकर = a mine. Thus वैराकर or वैरागर (cf. वैरागरे च सोपारे कलौ बज्रसुमुद्भवः । मानसोल्लास Pt. Iie diamonds are produced in वैरागर and सोपारा (i. e. शूर्पारक the modern near Bombay on the B. B. & C. I. Ry.) means a mine of diamonds. The place near the diamond mines (r) became known as ; even now it is known as in their district of the ar division in the Central Provinces. There were diamond-mines near this place ca the river Satin. Thus it seems that the influence of the Tamil language was felt as far as C. P. owing perhaps to its influence on Canarese.
2. चंद्र, सूर्य, मूद, राखडी, केतकी, केवडा, कमरपट्टा, विंरोद्या, जोडवीं, पिंपळपान, बुगड्या, वेढें were being used a few years back. All these are mentioned in मानसोल्लास with slightly different names.