Garudapurana 1.70

Śrī Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa, Chapter 70 / Sūta said: / Taking the blood—the seed of the excellent gems of that great asura of great majesty— / the Sun set out to traverse through the sky, which was blue as a sword.

By the conqueror of the gods in battles continuously, his mind haughty with pride in his valour, / by the lord of Laṅkā, meeting him halfway, he was forcibly checked as if by Rāhu.

In that excellent river whose deep, great pools were agitated by the shapely hips of Siṃhala maidens, / and whose two banks were lined with areca-nut trees, the Sun released it.

From that time forward, yielding the fruit of religious merit equal to the Gaṅgā, / that river attained renown by the name of Rāvaṇagaṅgā.

And from that time forward, during the nights, her banks, piled with gems, / shine, sharpened within and burning without, as if by hundreds of golden arrows.

On its banks and in its waters are rubies of bright and charming hues— / those arising from saugandhika, those born of kuruvinda, and those of great qualities produced from crystal.

Some possess the colour and beauty of bandhūka flowers, guñjā seeds, whole indragopa insects, javā flowers, and fresh blood; / others are brilliant with the colour of pomegranate seeds, and others have the lustre of kiṃśuka blossoms.

Having the colour of vermilion, red lotuses, blue lotuses, saffron, or lac-dye, / even in deep redness they shine by their own brilliance, their inner beauty clearly discernible.

Attaining connection with the sun's rays and piercing far with an abundance of rays, / those produced from crystal, endowed with good qualities, illuminate all sides with red.

Some have a brilliance like very fierce red lotuses blended with the colours of safflower and blue; / likewise, others have the lustre of the flowers of aruṣkara or kaṇṭakāri, while others have the lustre of cinnabar.

And some possess the glow of the eyes of cakora birds, male cuckoos, or sārasa cranes; / while yet others have a lustre equal to blossoming, excellent red lotuses.

In power, hardness, and heaviness, they are generally equal to those born of crystal; / gems arising from saugandhika possess the charming lustre of slightly bluish-red lotuses.

Granted, the redness in those born of kuruvinda is not at all like that in those born of crystal; / they are inner-dense, devoid of rays, yet powerful though lacking all [such features].

Those kuruvinda gems, however, which are born in the Rāvaṇagaṅgā, / possess the dense redness of rubies and the rays of crystals.

Those that follow their color in the Andhra country and others / do not arise such that they obtain even a fraction of the value.

Likewise, in the region named Tumburu, stones of similar qualities to those born of crystal are produced; / they are indeed regarded as having little value.

Richness of color, heaviness, smoothness, symmetry, clarity, / brilliance, and largeness constitute the sum of virtues of gems.

Gems that are filled with gravel, fissures, and impurities, devoid of luster, harsh, and discolored, / are not praised, even if equal in all qualities of their class.

Whosoever, out of ignorance, wears a gem that is afflicted with defects, / him a multitude of misfortunes pursues, such as grief, anxiety, sickness, death, and loss of wealth.

Granted, the counterfeits of the genuine classes are exceedingly attractive; / a wise man should carefully discern these false varieties.

Those born in Kalaśapura, Siṃhala, and the Tumburu region, as well as Muktapānīya / and Śrīpūrṇaka, are similar false varieties of rubies.

The Kalaśa stone [is known] by the flaw of husk-like specks; that from Tumburu by its coppery hue; / that born in the Siṃhala country by its blackness; the Muktā stone by the appearance of the sky;

and the Śrīpūrṇaka by its absence of brilliance: the distinction relies purely on the marks of false varieties. / The ruby that develops a coppery tint, whose interior is filled as if with husks,

and which appears smeared with grease, or which loses brilliance when rubbed, / and which, when its top is pressed by two fingers, displays a black tint on the sides;

and that which, having been taken and weighed according to custom, exceedingly possesses all virtues, / or which is equal in heaviness to one of equal size and equal class— / even when found in the ocean, a wise man should identify its true class by weight and quality.

If doubt does not vanish, one should test it on the whetstone / or by scratching them mutually with a stone of their own kind.

Leaving aside diamond or corundum, it is impossible / for anyone to make a scratch upon a ruby or a sapphire.

Never are all false varieties identical in color to a genuine gem; / nevertheless, the supreme method of distinction is set forth purely for the purpose of differentiation.

A gem defective in its kind should not be worn set together with one endowed with virtues; / a wise man should never wear a false variety set even with the Kaustubha.

Just as a single caṇḍāla, approaching twice-born men, effortlessly ruins even many of them, / so also can a false variety spoil gems endowed with many virtues.

Even dwelling among enemies, even acting with negligence, / no misfortune touches in this world the possessor of a ruby of great qualities.

Whatever calamities arise from sins and afflictions do not assail him / who attentively wears a ruby whose lovely red is heightened by its qualities.

The value that is declared for a diamond according to grain count of proven weight, / that is the value for a ruby of high quality measured by the unit of a māṣa.

A precious gem is indeed praised when endowed with color and luster; / fallen even slightly from both of these, it loses a gem's value.

Thus ends the seventieth chapter, named 'The Examination of Rubies,' in the Ācārakāṇḍa of the first section called Pūrvakhaṇḍa in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.