Garudapurana 1.69

Sūta said: / Originating from elephant kings, clouds, boars, conches, fish, serpents, and oysters, and born from bamboo: / such are the pearls renowned in the world, and among them, those born from oysters are indeed abundant.

And there alone does the basic qualification for the term ‘gem’ sometimes apply to a single [type]; / moreover, only those born from oysters can be perforated among them; the rest cannot be perforated, so declare those who know them.

Those produced from bamboo, serpent kings, and whales, that which is born from conches, and that which is born from boars: / generally they are devoid of radiance, yet they are commended because of their auspiciousness.

Of the eight origins of pearls that are proclaimed here by knowers of gem-evaluation, / that which is born from a conch, and that which arises from the frontal globe of a lord of elephants, is declared the lowest among them.

A conch-pearl is equal in colour to the hue of the curd in its womb, large, and the size of an āmalaka fruit; / that produced from the midst of an elephant’s frontal globe is yellowish in colour, devoid of luster.

Conches which are in the lineage of the supreme conch drunk by contact with the mouth of Śārṅgin, / and elephants of pure pedigree: these are declared the origins of pearls.

Among them arises a pearl that is round, yellowish in colour, devoid of luster. / From a fish, one arises equal in colour to the back of a pāṭhīna fish, perfectly round, light, and very small.

They are produced in the mouths of aquatic creatures, and those fish are dwellers in the middle of the ocean. / That which arises from the tusk of a boar is declared to have a colour equal to the shoot of his very tusk.

In some places, somehow, such an exceptional lord of boars is born on earth. / That which originates from the joints of bamboo is declared to have the splendour equal in colour to hailstones.

Those bamboos shoot forth in places fit for the enjoyment of celestial beings, not in ordinary places. / That born from serpents is round like that of a fish, extremely bright in colour and splendour by its form,

possessing a colour and luster equal to the edge of an exceedingly polished sword. / Having obtained these great-splendoured supreme gems, or a kingdom, or great prosperity hard to attain,

those who perform meritorious deeds become endowed with power by the pearl born from a serpent’s head. / Out of desire to ascertain [its worth], when that jewel-treasure is placed by knowers of rituals atop a mansion with great care, during an auspicious hour,

having performed an extensive rite of protection, / then with the deep rumblings of great drums, with the space between them flashing with streaks of lightning,

the sky is covered by fresh clouds hanging down, heavy with rain. / Neither serpents nor yātudhānas, nor diseases, nor the evils of misfortunes,

harm him in whose treasury the pearl arisen from a serpent’s head abides. / That which arises from clouds does not come to the earth; the gods take it away before it reaches the ground.

With its beam of light, its disk, perceivable in the sky like the sun, leaves no quarter of the sky uncovered, / eclipsing the entire brilliance arising from fire, moon, constellations, and stars;

just as it causes illumination by day, so also in nights immersed in deep darkness. / Endowed with waters lovely with the gleam of diverse gems, furnished with the four oceans as her ornaments,

the entire earth filled with gold would not be its equal value, such is my conviction. / Even a lowly man who obtains it at some time through the ripening of great merit,

enjoys the whole earth without a rival as long as it remains. / Not only does it bring good fortune to the king; its birth also occurs through the good fortune of the subjects.

Within a thousand yojanas around, it averts all adversities. / Like a garland of stars fallen from the sky, the row of teeth of that great demon,

pure in colour, fell into the waters of the lord of waters amidst variegated colours. / That seed of the eminent gem, possessing great virtues, having the luster of the beams of the full moon,

found its place in oyster-shells, which were originally of other origins. / In whatever region of the ocean that seed of the very lovely pearl-gem fell, / in that place, the water shed by rainclouds and residing in the oyster-shell attained the state of pearls.

The mines are eight: Siṃhala, Paraloka, Saurāṣṭra, Tāmraparṇī, Pāraśava, / Kauvera, Pāṇḍya, and Hāṭaka-Hemaka.

Born from pearl oysters, not exceedingly inferior in colour, [pearls] are produced / with [various] sizes, shapes, qualities, and lustres in Vardhana, Persia, Pātāla, other worlds, and Siṃhala.

The wise man should not consider particularities arising from their mines, but should examine their form and size; / nor is there any fixed rule regarding qualities and defects: all shapes occur everywhere.

For this pearl that has the lustre of an oyster-shell and is measured against another, / the price is five thousand rūpakas increased by three hundred [5,300].

One that is less than that by half a māṣaka has its price reduced by two-fifths; / for one that weighs three māṣakas, two thousand is stated to be the maximum price.

The price of one weighing two [māṣakas] and a half is one thousand increased by three hundred [1,300]; / and eight hundred is said to be the price of one whose measured weight is two māṣakas.

For one measured at a māṣaka and a half, [the price] is equal to thrice twenty hundreds [3,000 / 320? / 60]; / experts say two hundred is the highest price for one carrying six guñjās; / for one measured at one and a half [guñjās / māṣas], the price endowed with its qualities would be one hundred.

If a dharaṇa is not less than sixteen [pearls], they call that 'dārvikā'; / even from the hand of a fool, it obtains a price of a hundred increased by ten [110].

If a dharaṇa is not less than twice ten [twenty pearls], experts call that 'bhavaka'; / it would obtain seventy-nine as its price, provided it is not devoid of rich qualities.

When a dharaṇa is completed by thirty, it is celebrated as a 'śikya'; / its highest price would definitely be forty.

If it is forty, it would obtain a price of thirty; / but if it is fifty, it is a 'soma', and its price is twenty.

Sixty would be a 'nikaraśīrṣa', and its price is fourteen; / eighty and ninety are celebrated as 'kūpī'; / their prices are eleven and nine respectively.

Then, taking that entire pot of food, thoroughly cooked with an addition of lime juice, / and rubbed with soft, thinned cakes of roots, one should quickly drill the pearl as desired.

Having placed [the pearl] inside a clay-smeared fish cavity, one should then cook it gently, and next in a cat's cavity; / then one should cook it in milk, [then] in nectar, and after cooking, with pure, glossy milk.

Then purified by rubbing with a spotless cloth, the pearl will possess vast excellent qualities and lustre. / Indeed, the compassionate Siddha Vyāḍi, of great power over worlds, declared this out of dedication to the welfare of the wise.

Silver resembling white glass, joined with a hundredth part of gold, / held within mercury—[such is an artificial] pearl, an ornament for the body.

Skilled people make them thus in the Siṃhala country, / whenever there is suspicion of an artificial pearl somewhere.

One should steep it for a night in warm, salted, oily water, / or rub it with unhusked rice while wrapped in a dry cloth.

That which does not become discoloured is to be known as genuine. / White, of proper size, smooth, heavy, clear, very pure,

radiant, and well-rounded—such a pearl is considered endowed with good qualities.

Of proper size, endowed with weight and lustre, white, well-rounded, with an even and fine perforation, / bringing delight even to a non-buyer—that pearl is declared to be endowed with good qualities.

When a pearl is thus endowed with all advantages of quality, / not a single defect or mass of misfortunes comes upon its possessor.

Thus ends the sixty-ninth chapter, entitled 'Examination of Pearls: Description of the Size and Other Features of Pearls', in the Section on Conduct, called the first part of the first section in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.