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Garudapurana 1.68

English (machine translation) 1.68

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1.68.1

Śrī Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa — [Chapter] 68
Sūta said:
I shall explain the testing of gems. There was once an asura named Bala;
Indra and the other gods were vanquished by him, and they were unable to defeat him.

1.68.2

Under the guise of a boon, he was begged by the gods in a sacrifice to become their sacrificial animal;
Bala, of immense noble strength, offered his own beast-hood and was slain by the gods.

1.68.3

Bound by the thunderbolt of his own word, he was slaughtered by them like a sacrificial beast;
Bala did so for the welfare of the world, out of a desire for the gods' good.

1.68.4

Of him whose noble nature was pure, and because of his pure deed,
all the limbs of his body turned into the seeds of gems.

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Then, among the gods, the yakṣas, the siddhas, and the serpent-eaters,
there arose a great struggle to seize the gem-seeds.

1.68.6

As they flew swiftly through the sky in celestial chariots,
whatever gem-seed fell anywhere,

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whether into the great ocean, a river, a mountain, or a forest,
that place became a mine [for that gem], through the majesty of what had been deposited there.

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In those places gems manifest—those that destroy rākṣasas, poisons, wild serpents, and diseases, and remove sins,
as well as those that are defective.

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Diamond, pearls, rubies, and emeralds are mentioned,
as well as sapphires, superior cat's-eyes, and topazes,

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chrysoberyl, garnet, the stone called carnelian, and likewise quartz crystal,
and coral—these have been carefully listed by experts in their compendia.

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First the shape and colour, then virtues and flaws, their effects, examination,
and value must be known by those skilled in gems according to all the treatises.

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Gems that are mined at inauspicious times and on ill-fated days
become afflicted with defects and lose their wealth of virtues.

1.68.13

A king who desires prosperity should wear or collect
gems that have been thoroughly verified through testing.

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Gem testers who know the treatises, are skilled,
and possess gems are celebrated as the only ones who know their true value.

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Because diamond is proclaimed by the wise to possess great power,
this examination begins with diamond as expounded by us.

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Wherever particles of the bone of that [asura], who desired to conquer the wielder of the thunderbolt, happened to fall upon the regions of the earth,
diamonds of diverse forms came to be in those places.

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The Himālayas, Mātaṅga, Saurāṣṭra, Pauṇḍra, Kaliṅga, Kosala,
the banks of the Veṇvā, and Sauvīra: these are the eight birthplaces of diamond.

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Those originating in the snowy mountains are reddish; those from the banks of the Veṇvā are moon-bright;
those in Sauvīra are like a dark lotus or a cloud; those born in Saurāṣṭra are coppery;
those from Kaliṅga are lustrous and pure like gold; those in Kosala shine yellow;
those born in Puṇḍra are dark; and those in the realm of Mataṅga are not intensely yellow.

1.68.19

If a diamond seen anywhere in this world, even if only the size of an atom,
is exceedingly light, endowed with qualities in colour, perfectly symmetrical on its facets,
free from lines, spots, blemishes, crow's-feet, flaws, and the like,
and has sharp edges and corners, it is truly an abode of the gods.

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The forms of the deities are also stated in diamonds according to their colour;
and the classification [of diamonds] into castes should be made on the basis of their colour.

1.68.21

Green, white, yellow, reddish-brown, dark, and copper-coloured by nature are lustrous;
they are the respective colours of Hari, Varuṇa, Indra, Agni, Yama, and the Maruts.

1.68.22

The brāhmaṇa's [diamond] should be white like a conch, a white water-lily, or rock crystal; the kṣatriya's should shine like the eyes of a hare or a mongoose;
the vaiśya's resembles a lovely plantain leaf; the śūdra's has the lustre of a polished sword.

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Two colours of diamond are prescribed by the virtuous for rulers of the earth and not for the common people:
that which is red like a broken China rose or coral, and that which resembles turmeric juice.

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Because he is sovereign over all castes, a king may at will wear
a quality diamond suited to any caste; but another person must never wear that of another caste.

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Just as confusion of castes arises from inverted courses of conduct,
a confusion of diamond colours is considered even more grievous than that.

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A wise man should not acquire a diamond merely by the classification of its type;
a virtuous one brings abundance of blessings, but an adverse one is the cause of the rise of misfortune.

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If even a single point of a diamond is seen to be split or chipped,
even if it has [other] good qualities, it must not be kept in the house by those seeking well-being.

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A diamond whose points are cracked or broken, or whose centre is filled with dirty-coloured specks,
would quickly deprive even the wielder of the thunderbolt of his fortune, despite his longing to retain it.

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A diamond of which one part resembles blood, or which is variegated with red,
would not fail, when worn, quickly to put an end to the life even of one who dies only at his own will.

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Six corners, eight facets, and twelve edges,
prominent, symmetrical, and sharp-pointed, are the native virtues of a diamond.

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Endowed with six points, pure, spotless, with clear, sharp edges, rich in colour, light, with good facets, and free from defects,
such a diamond, streaking the sky with rainbow rays, is not easily obtained on earth.

1.68.32

Whoever, with a restrained body, constantly wears a diamond that is sharp-pointed, spotless, and free from all defects,
experiences daily increase in women, prosperity, sons, wealth, grain, cattle, and horses as long as he lives.

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Fears of serpents, fire, poison, tigers, thieves, and water,
as well as hostile spells from the Atharvaveda, turn away from him from afar.

1.68.34

If a diamond free from all flaws should weigh twenty rice-grains,
experts in gemology state its highest price to be two hundred thousand coins.

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Less by a third, half, the remainder of half, a thirteenth, a thirtieth, then half-shares;
an eightieth share, then a hundredth share, a thousandth share—such is the proportion for smaller [diamonds].

1.68.36

The value which was initially stated for a diamond weighing twelve rice-grains
is reduced successively by twos, or determined for a reduction by one.

1.68.37

Moreover, the system of weighing diamonds is not based solely on grains of rice:
one should reckon one rice-grain as eight white mustard seeds.

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A diamond that is endowed with all virtues and floats on water
is desired for wearing above all classes of gems.

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Even by a slight flaw, whether visible or invisible, if it is impaired, / a man receives a tenth part of its proper price for a diamond.

1.68.40

For one that has many obvious flaws, whether it is small or large, / not even a hundredth part of its proper price is ordained for the diamond.

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Even if a diamond seen in an ornament has an evident flaw, / its price becomes small, serving only to frame other gems.

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And that which, originally endowed with an abundance of virtues, acquires a flaw when set, / away with such an ornament for the king! Even a gem devoid of virtues does not serve as an ornament.

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A diamond should not be worn by a woman wishing to give birth to a son, even if virtuous, / except one devoid of the defects of being elongated, flattened, triangular, and the like.

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With iron, with topaz, and also with hessonite, / with cat's-eye and rock crystal, and also with various kinds of glass,

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skilful persons make imitations of diamond. / An examination of them should be performed by the wise who are proficient testers.

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An examination of them must be carried out by means of alkali, scratching, and touchstone. / Whatever gems are upon the earth, and whatever other metallic elements,

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the diamond scratches them all, but it is not scratched by them. / Heaviness is the ground for respect in the case of all [other] gems;

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in the diamond, the wise declare it to be the contrary. / A genuine gem scratches a non-genuine one; diamond and corundum scratch genuine ones.

1.68.49

Diamonds scratch diamond; a diamond is not scratched by anything else. / In diamonds, pearls, and whichever are genuine stones,

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their brilliance does not ascend upward when they are mounted. / If somehow it arises because of some transverse cut, / when they are scratched transversely, it is destroyed on the sides.

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Even if it has a broken point, or is accompanied by spots and lines, or is discoloured, / a diamond that possesses the rainbow nevertheless brings wealth, grain, and sons.

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A king wearing such a diamond as described, lovely with the flashes of lightning, / having overcome the valour of enemies by his prowess, enjoys the territory of all feudatories.

1.68.52.p1

Thus ends the sixty-eighth chapter, named ‘Description of the Examination of Gems, Their Specifics, and Diamonds,’ in the Ācārakāṇḍa, designated as the first section of the Pūrvakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.

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