Buddhist Monastic Code II A bhikkhu should be clean, neat, and
unostentatious in his appearance, as a reflection of the
qualities he is trying to develop in his mind.Bathing. Although
Pc 57 forbids a bhikkhu from bathing at intervals of less than
half a month, we noted in the discussion of that rule that it
was apparently intended as a temporary disciplinary measure for
bhikkhus who had inconvenienced King Bimbisāra when he wanted to
bathe in the hot spring near Rājagaha. When the Buddha later
added exemptions to the rule, he so relaxed it that he virtually
rescinded it. In addition, Mv.V.13 explicitly rescinds the rule
in all parts of the world outside of the central Ganges Valley.
In the time of the Buddha, bathing was done in a river, a
bathing tank, a sauna, or a showering place. Instead of soap,
people used an unscented powder called chunam, which was kneaded
with water into a dough-like paste. Bhikkhus are explicitly
allowed to use powdered dung, clay, or dye-dregs; according to
the Commentary, ordinary