Personal grooming 3: The instrument

One of the most important tools in a napita's kit is the nail-parer – a sharp-edged instrument for trimming, filing, and cleaning fingernails and toenails. Shaped like a thin chisel, it is called narun (নরুন) in Bengali and naharni (नहरनी) in Hindi, the Sanskrit origin of both words being nakhaharani (नखहरणी), "nail-remover"; it also has a slew of other Sanskrit names including nakhashastra (नखशस्त्र), nakhadaarana (नखदारण), nakhakartani (नखकर्तनी), and, last but not least, the somewhat poetic nakharanjani (नखरञ्जनी) / nakharanjini  (नखरञ्जिनी), "nail-delighter"! Below is a delightful little snippet where the pun-loving author elevates this rather humble object to sublime heights – all tongue-in-cheek, of course.

Devanagari script:

अनन्तचरणोपान्तचारिणी मलहारिणी|
पुनर्भवच्छेदकरी गङ्गेव नखरञ्जनी||

– वाणेश्वरविद्यालङ्कार​

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

 anantacaraNopAntacAriNI malahAriNI| 

punarbhavacchedakarI gaGgeva nakharaJjanI||

– Baneswar Vidyalankar

Interpretation: The nail-parer is just like the (holy river) Ganges because the following Sanskrit adjectives apply to either of them:

• anantacaraNopAntacAriNI (अनन्तचरणोपान्तचारिणी): Ananta (अनन्त) literally means "endless", and is an appellation of Vishnu, especially in his capacity as the regent of the nadir. Hence, as a descriptor of the Ganges, anantacaraNopAntacAriNI should be translated as "she who wanders near the feet of Vishnu" – an allusion to one of the several myths that associate this sacred river with the feet of Vishnu or one of his incarnations; when it qualifies the nakharanjani, the same word should be interpreted as "she who attends to countless feet".
• malahAriNI (मलहारिणी): It means "filth-remover"; the river-goddess is said to purge all bathers / worshipers of their spiritual impurity by her grace, whereas the nakharanjani is used to clean out more mundane dirt from under human nails.
• punarbhavacchedakarI (पुनर्भवच्छेदकरी): punarbhava (पुनर्भव) is "regeneration" or "that which is regenerated", and is hence a fancy word for fingernail / toenail; chedakarI (छेदकरी) is literally "cutter" and figuratively "destroyer" / "terminator" / "interruptor". A ritual dip in the Ganges is believed to grant moksha (मोक्ष) or liberation from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. 

Source: This epigram is found in several works produced in Bengal in the late 19th / early 20th century. The Bengali-language encyclopedia Bishwakosh (विश्वकोष; বিশ্বকোষ) and the Sanskrit-Sanskrit dictionaries Vacaspatya and Shabda-Kalpadruma quote it in their respective entries for the word नखरञ्जनी. It also occurs as Verse 240 of Udbhata Sagara Part II (which is the only source where I found the attribution to the renowned 18th century Bengali Scholar Baneswar Vidyalankar), and Verse 82 of Udbhata Chandrika Volume I.

Notes: To the best of my knowledge, the traditional Indian nail-parer nakharanjani is different from the razor called kSura (क्षुर) or khura (खुर) used by barbers to shave the scalp and facial hair. I am also not sure if the word nakharanjani in this sense occurs in older Sanskrit literature (or in Sanskrit literature produced outside the Bengal region for that matter); I do know that it is found in the compositions of eminent medieval Bengali Vaishnava poets Chandidasa (चण्डीदास; চণ্ডীদাস) and Govindadasa (गोविन्ददास; গোবিন্দদাস).

Personal grooming 2: The man for the job

Today's nugget of humor (sanguine humor, more precisely) comes from the relatively recent farce Hasyarnava (हास्यार्णव), "the ocean of laughter / comedy", penned by Jagadishwara Bhattacharya, which I quoted once in this post. The character from this play that I want you to meet now is Raktakallola (रक्तकल्लोल), "a wave of blood", a member of the napita (नापित) caste; napita is usually translated as "barber" but you should read the previous post for a more detailed account of the professional duties of this caste. As he enters the stage, Raktakallola introduces himself with the bravado of a war hero in the following pair of couplets.

Devanagari script:

मयि क्षुरं गृह्णति मानुषाणां भवेक्षणाशा तनुतामुपैति|
स्ववृत्तिनिर्वाहपरे च रक्तचयोर्मिमालाकुलिता तनुः स्यात्||

आर्तनादमधिकं प्रकुर्वतां हस्तपादगलबन्धपीडनात्|
यं छिनद्मि नखरं नृणामहं स प्ररोहति पुनर्न जन्मना||

– जगदीश्वरभट्टाचार्य

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

 mayi kSuraM gRhNati mAnuSANAM bhavekSaNAzA tanutAmupaiti| 

svavRttinirvAhapare ca raktacayormimAlAkulitA tanuH syAt||

ArtanAdamadhikaM prakurvatAM hastapAdagalabandhapIDanAt|
yaM chinadmi nakharaM nRNAmahaM sa prarohati punarna janmanA||

– Jagadishwara Bhattacharya

Loose translation: When I grab my razor, the hope of seeing the world (ever again) fades away from (the minds of) human beings (i.e. my customers); and, as I engage in my trade, their bodies are all aquiver with rippling streams of blood.

After I am done "paring" the nails of men, screaming intensely from the pain in their tied hands, feet, and neck, it usually turns out that those nails never grow back in their lifetime.

Source: Verses 38 and 39 of Hasyarnava, which, like most other Sanskrit plays, is partly in prose and partly in verse.

Notes: The playwright describes Raktakallola's entry as follows: 

ततः प्रविशति रक्तलिप्ताङ्गेन पौरजनेन अञ्चलगृहीतो रक्तकल्लोलः 

(Enter Raktakallola with a blood-smeared city-dweller clutching on to the loose end of the former's upper garment.)

It is as if he is carrying hard evidence of the lofty claims about his "skills" he intends to make. It is also interesting that Jagadishwara makes the barber deliver the above lines (and these lines only) in Sanskrit rather than in a Prakrit tongue that would be more appropriate given his social standing (according to the rules of Indic dramaturgy), as if to mimic the pompous self-promoting speech of a Kshatriya warrior.

The first couplet might be a reference to the known practice, prevalent particularly in Bengal, of hiring a napita to make a ritual cut in the body of a high-caste man for a sacrifice of blood (raktabali (रक्तबलि)) to the Mother Goddess and / or her attendant spirits. 

I think the second verse is much funnier than the first: Not only does this barber hold very unconventional views on how to control nail growth but he also has so much confidence in the effect he is going to have on his customers that he makes sure to tie them up well before rendering his services :)

Personal grooming 1: The pain of separation

Who knew that one could squeeze such a huge amount of romance, heartache, and social commentary into a short description of a hair-cut?!

Devanagari script:

एते कूर्चकचाः सकङ्कणरणत्कर्णाटसीमन्तिनी-
-हस्ताकर्षणलालिताः प्रतिदिनं प्राप्ताः परामुन्नतिम्|
तेऽमी सम्प्रति पापिनापितकरभ्राम्यत्क्षुरप्रानन-
-क्षुण्णाः क्षोणितले पतन्ति परितः कॢप्तापराधा इव||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

ete kUrcakacAH sakaGkaNaraNatkarNATasImantinI-
-hastAkarSaNalAlitAH pratidinaM prAptAH parAmunnatim| 

te(a)mI samprati pApinApitakarabhrAmyatkSuraprAnana-
-kSuNNAH kSoNitale patanti paritaH klRptAparAdhA iva||

– Anonymous

Loose translation: These bunches of hair, that used to be caressed every day with (mild) tugs by the hands, adorned with clanking bangles, of (my) Kannada wife and had grown to a great height, are now falling upon the ground all around me after being struck by the razor brandished by (this) sinful barber as if they were guilty of a crime.

Source: 17th century Anyokti Muktaavali Section (परिच्छेद) 8 Verse 29.

Notes: The poet seems to be comparing the act of trimming one's hair to the unjust treatment of exalted souls (प्राप्ताः परामुन्नतिम्) at the hands of the wicked (पापि-) – the kind of treatment that should rightfully be meted out only to criminals (कॢप्तापराधा).

A few comments on my choice of words are in order. 

• kUrca (कूर्च) can refer to a beard in particular or a bunch in general; I have interpreted कूर्चकचाः as the karmadharaya (कर्मधारय) compound "hair-in-bunches" since the poet uses प्राप्ताः पराम् उन्नतिम् to qualify this word, and unnati (उन्नति) literally means "height / elevation"; however, unnati can also denote increase or growth in general (for instance, it is used to describe the development of female breasts), so कूर्चकचाः in this context could also be read as a dvandva (द्वन्द्व) compound meaning "beard and hair of the head".
• Napita (नापित) is the name given to a caste of traditional personal groomers in many parts of South Asia, and is usually translated as "barber". But the professional skills  of these people have included not just shaving and hairdressing but also paring nails, cleaning ears, and perhaps, in earlier times, bloodletting as well. Members of this caste have historically been looked down upon by many, and have often been lampooned by Sanskrit authors for various reasons. You might want to check this out.
• -करभ्राम्यत्क्षुरप्राननक्षुण्णाः is an interesting word choice. करभ्राम्यत् obviously describes the swift movements of the razor-wielding barber's deft hand all around the customer-poet's head. आनन is face or mouth (/ snout / muzzle / beak), and its synonym मुख is also used to denote a tip or even an edge. However, the correct word for razor is क्षुर although our author seems to have used क्षुरप्र which, more appropriately, denotes a razor-sharp weapon (e.g. an arrow-head) or agricultural implement (e.g. a spade). This is perhaps hyperbole or just an instance of using a little poetic license to fit the metrical scheme. Or perhaps, the compound should be split as क्षुर+प्रानन, the latter being a word coined by the poet to denote the front part of an object, inspired by words like प्रमुख and प्रपद.
• Finally, we come to कॢप्तापराधा. The printed version I found has कृप्तापराधा which, I believe, is a scribal or printing error. कृतापराधा would be appropriate and natural except that it would not fit the meter shardulavikridita (शार्दूलविक्रीडित).