Sambodhi 2018 Vol 41

Author(s): J B Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 59

Dhananjay Vasudeo Dwivedi
SAMBODHI
Leftover food, a woman having menstruation, a barren woman, or a new mother should not be allowed to come in contact with the seeds
नोच्छिष्टं स्पर्शयेद्वीजं न च नारी रजस्वलाम् ।
न वन्ध्या गर्भिणी चैव न च सद्यप्रसूतिका ॥1 ___A farmer should not even by mistake place ghee, oil, buttermilk, lamp, or salt on the seeds
घृतं तैलं च तक्रं च प्रदीपं लवणं तथा ।
बीजोपरि भ्रमेणापि कृषको नैव कारयेत् ॥2 Seeds which have come in contact with lamp, fire, or smoke and which are exposed to rain or stored in a pit should always be discarded
दीपाग्निधूमसंस्पृष्टं वृष्टया चोपहतं च यत् ।
वर्जनीयं सदा बीजं यद्गर्तेषु निधापितम् ॥3 Seeds which are pressed or are mixed with other inferior matter should never, even by mistake, be sown. Seeds blended with inferior matter or with leftover food grains do not sprout even if sown
प्रोथितं मिश्रितं बीजं भ्रान्त्या न निर्वपेत् वचित् ।
विधान्यं गुडकोन्मिश्रं तद्वीजं वन्ध्यतां व्रजेत् ॥4 Treatment of Seeds -
To increase the fertility of the seeds they were treated before sowing. According to the Arthaśāstra, seeds are to be soaked in dew and dried in the heat for seven days; those of pulses for three days and nights or five; stalks that serve as seeds are to smeared at the cut with honey, ghee and pig's fat mixed with cow-dung; bulbous roots to be smeared with honey and ghee; and stone like seeds to be smeared with cow-dung.
The Vrksāyurveda of Surāpala deals with the treatment of seeds in some details. According to it, seed is extracted from dried fruits which become ripe in the natural course and season. It is then sprinkled with milk and dried for five days. It is then smoked with mustard seed mixed with Vidanga
यथर्त्तपत्रात् फलतोविशोषिताद्विकृष्यबीजं पयसा निषिच्या ।
विशोषितं पञ्चदिनानि सप्पिषां विडङ्गमिश्रेण च धूपयेत्ततः । Seeds sprinkled with milk, smeared with mustard and ash of Tila and Brhatī, rubbed with cow dung, and smoked with marrow sprout in no time