मल्लपुराण (ज्येष्ठिमल्ल - प्राचीन भारतीय मल्लविद्या, अखाड़ा व्यायाम व कुश्ती महाग्रन्थ)

29
work is detrimental to muscular power. They start by warming exercises and
then take to more strenous forms of physical activity. This is the procedure
of modern athletes who spend good time for warming up before taking to heavy
athletic activity.
The principles of stretching and contracting muscles and rotating joints,
turning and twisting of the body that are found to be useful by modern
standards are followed by these wrestlers, so that the exercises that were
developed by them are suitable even to-day.
The free-hand exercises developed by them are quite effective to build up
good muscle power and maintaining muscle tone.
Proper emphasis to massage and rest as well as nourishing diet is given so
that high standards of physical activity were achieved by them. They maintain-
ed good health and many of them had long life.
Vajramuṣṭi or Muṣṭi
To enhance the power of the blow that is delivered by bare hand or
clenched fist blunt stones or sticks, sharpened stones and a variety of daggers
are developed. In the blunt or sharpened category a tool grasped by clenched
first is named as Muṣṭi, and the handle of any instrument is also called Mutha
i.e. Muṣṭi.
These instruments held in fist for beating are known as Mauṣṭikam,
Muṣṭim, Mauṭṭhiya in ancient literature. The Nītiprakāśikā, a work of un-
known date, describes Mauṣṭikam,¹ and the movements associated with its use,
whereas in Viṣṇudharmottara,² a work ascribed to about 7th century A.D.,
Muṣṭi is noted alongwith other weapons of Viṣṇu and Praśnavyākaraṇa³ a still
earlier work assigned to about 3-4th century A.D. the word Mauthiya is used in
the sense of a weapon.
These references clearly indicate that Muṣṭi was a weapon but its nature
is not clear from the commentaries on it. Oppert had translated the world as
fist word, but the meaning of it is vague as a sword cannot be so short.
Whether he meant by the term a small dagger or such instrument cannot be
ascertained. He has been followed by V. R. R. Dikshitar, J. C. Jain and other
scholars. This explanation does not clarify the word; hence a study of boxing
and allied wrestling system of India requires careful investigation, for proper
understanding of the instruments as boxing is known as Muṣṭi Yuddha i.e.
either fight with fist or fight with the Muṣṭi-weapon.
¹ Nītiprakāśikā, Adhyaya V, 40-44.
² Viṣṇudharmottaram, III Khaṇḍa, 87.27.
³ Praśnavyākaraṇa Sūtra 4, Edited by Pandit Mafatlal Zaverchand,
Ahmedabad, V. S. 1993, p. 18.