[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Foreign](https://indike.org/pramana/inf) › [Greek](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr) › [Hellenistic (323–31 BCE)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.hellenistic) › [Ἰνδικά](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.hellenistic.megasthenes) › 1.2-3 # Ἰνδικά 1.2-3 Ἰνδικά 1.2-3 - **Language:** Ancient Greek ### [1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.hellenistic.megasthenes.1.2) (4) Καὶ πλείστους δὲ καὶ μεγίστους ἐλέφαντας ἐκτρέφει, χορηγοῦσα τὰς τροφὰς ἀφθόνως, δι’ ἃς ταῖς ῥώμαις τὰ θηρία ταῦτα πολὺ προέχει τῶν κατὰ τὴν Λιβύην γεννωμένων· διὸ καὶ πολλῶν θηρευομένων ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰνδῶν καὶ πρὸς τοὺς πολεμικοὺς ἀγῶνας κατασκευαζομένων μεγάλας συμβαίνει γίνεσθαι ῥοπὰς πρὸς τὴν νίκην. XXXVI. 5. Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἡ πολυκαρπία τρέφουσα τοῖς τε ἀναστήμασι τῶν σωμάτων καὶ τοῖς ὄγκοις ὑπερφέροντας κατασκευάζει· εἶναι δὲ αὐτοὺς συμβαίνει καὶ πρὸς τὰς τέχνας ἐπιστήμονας, ὡς ἂν ἀέρα μὲν ἕλκοντας καθαρὸν, ὕδωρ δὲ λεπτομερέστατον πίνοντας. (6) Ἡ δὲ γῆ πάμφορος οὖσα τοῖς ἡμέροις καρποῖς ἔχει καὶ φλέβας καταγείους πολλῶν καὶ παντοδαπῶν μετάλλων· γίνεται γὰρ ἐν αὐτῇ πολὺς μὲν ἄργυρος καὶ χρυσὸς, οὐκ ὀλίγος δὲ χαλκὸς καὶ σίδηρος, ἔτι δὲ καττίτερος καὶ τἄλλα τὰ πρὸς κόσμον τε καὶ χρείαν καὶ πολεμικὴν παρασκευὴν ἀνήκοντα. (7) Χωρὶς δὲ τῶν δημητριακῶν καρπῶν φύεται κατὰ τὴν Ἰνδικὴν πολλὴ μὲν κέγχρος, ἀρδευομένη τῇ τῶν ποταμίων ναμάτων δαψιλείᾳ, πολὺ δὲ ὄσπριον καὶ διαφορον, ἔτι δὲ ὄρυζα καὶ τὸ προσαγορευόμενον βόσπορον, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτ’ ἄλλα πολλὰ τῶν πρὸς διατροφὴν χρησίμων· καὶ τούτων τὰ πολλὰ ὑπάρχει αὐτοφυῆ· οὐκ ὀλίγους δὲ καὶ ἄλλους ἐδωδίμους καρποὺς φέρει δυναμένους τρέφειν ζῷα, περὶ ὧν μακρὸν ἂν εἴη γράφειν. (8) Διὸ καί φασι μηδέποτε τὴν Ἰνδικὴν ἐπισχεῖν λιμὸν ἢ καθόλου σπάνιν τῶν πρὸς τροφὴν ἥμερον ἀνηκόντων. > India has many huge mountains which abound in fruit-trees of every kind, and many vast plains of great fertility — more or less beautiful, but all alike intersected by a multitude of rivers. The greater part of the soil, moreover, is under irrigation, and consequently bears two crops in the course of the year. It teems at the same time with animals of all sorts, — beasts of the field and fowls of the air, — of all different degrees of strength and size. It is prolific, besides, in elephants, which are of monstrous bulk, as its soil supplies food in unsparing profusion, making these animals far to exceed in strength those that are bred in Libya. It results also that, since they are caught in great numbers by the Indians and trained for war, they are of great moment in turning the scale of victory. (36.) The inhabitants, in like manner, having abundant means of subsistence, exceed in consequence the ordinary stature, and are distinguished by their proud bearing. They are also found to be well skilled in the arts, as might be expected of men who inhale a pure air and drink the very finest water. And while the soil bears on its surface all kinds of fruits which are known to cultivation, it has also underground numerous veins of all sorts of metals, for it contains much gold and silver, and copper and iron in no small quantity, and even tin and other metals, which are employed in making articles of use and ornament, as well as the implements and accoutrements of war. > — John Watson McCrindle 1877, Ancient India as Described by Megasthenês and Arrian > In addition to cereals, there grows throughout India much millet, which is kept well watered by the profusion of river-streams, and much pulse of different sorts, and rice also, and what is called bosporum, as well as many other plants useful for food, of which most grow spontaneously. The soil yields, moreover, not a few other edible products fit for the subsistence of animals, about which it would be tedious to write. It is accordingly affirmed that famine has never visited India, and that there has never been a general scarcity in the supply of nourishing food. For, since there is a double rainfall in the course of each year, — one in the winter season, when the sowing of wheat takes place as in other countries, and the second at the time of the summer solstice, which is the proper season for sowing rice and bosporum, as well as sesamum and millet — the inhabitants of India almost always gather in two harvests annually; and even should one of the sowings prove more or less abortive they are always sure of the other crop. The fruits, moreover, of spontaneous growth, and the esculent roots which grow in marshy places and are of varied sweetness, afford abundant sustenance for man. The fact is, almost all the plains in the country have a moisture which is alike genial, whether it is derived from the rivers, or from the rains of the summer season, which are wont to fall every year at a stated period with surprising regularity; while the great heat which prevails . > — John Watson McCrindle 1877, Ancient India as Described by Megasthenês and Arrian ### [1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.hellenistic.megasthenes.1.3) Διττῶν γὰρ ὄμβρων ἐν αὐτῇ γινομένων καθ’ ἕκαστον ἔτος, τοῦ μὲν χειμερινοῦ, καθὰ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁ σπορος τῶν πυρίνων γίνεται καρπῶν, τοῦ δ’ ἑτέρου κατὰ τὴν θερινὴν τροπὴν, καθ’ ἣν σπείρεσθαι συμβαίνει τὴν ὄρυζαν καὶ τὸ βόσπορον, ἔτι δὲ σήσαμον καὶ κέγχρον, κατὰ \[δὲ\] τὸ πλεῖστον ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς καρποῖς οἱ κατὰ τὴν Ἰνδικὴν ἐπιτυγχάνουσι· πάντων δὲ (μὴ) τελεσφορουμένων, θατέρου τῶν καρπῶν οὐκ ἀποτυγχάνουσιν. (9) Οἵ τε αὐτοματίζοντες καρποὶ καὶ αἱ κατὰ τοὺς ἑλώδεις τόπους φυόμεναι ῥίζαι διάφοροι ταῖς γλυκύτησιν οὖσαι πολλὴν παρέχονται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις δαψίλειαν· πάντα γὰρ σχεδὸν τὰ κατὰ τὴν χώραν πεδία γλυκεῖαν ἔχει τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ποταμῶν ἰκμάδα καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῷ θέρει \[γινομένων\] κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν κυκλικῇ τινι περιόδῳ παραδόξως εἰωθότων γίνεσθαι δαψίλειαν, χλιαρῶν πιπτόντων ὑδάτων ἐκ τοῦ περιέχοντος ἀέρος, καὶ τὰς ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσι ῥίζας ἕψοντος τοῦ καύματος, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν μεγάλων καλάμων. (10) Συμβάλλονται δὲ παρὰ τοῖς Ἰνδοῖς καὶ τὰ νόμιμα πρὸς τὸ μηδέποτε ἔνδειαν τροφῆς παρ’ αὐτοῖς εἶναι· παρὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις οἱ πολέμιοι καταφθείροντες τὴν χώραν ἀγεώργητον κατασκευάζουσι· παρὰ δὲ τούτοις τῶν γεωργῶν ἱερῶν καὶ ἀσύλων ἐωμένων, οἱ πλησίον τῶν παρατάξεων γεωργοῦντες ἀνεπαίσθητοι τῶν κινδύνων εἰσίν. Ἀμφότεροι γὰρ οἱ πολεμοῦντες ἀλλήλους μὲν ἀποκτείνουσιν ἐν ταῖς μάχαις, τοὺς δὲ περὶ τὴν γεωργίαν ὄντας ἐῶσιν ἀβλαβεῖς, ὡς κοινοὺς ὄντας ἁπάντων εὐεργέτας, τάς τε χώρας τῶν ἀντιπολεμούντων οὔτ’ ἐμπυρίζουσιν οὔτε δενδροτομοῦσιν. XXXVII. 11. > ripens the roots which grow in the marshes, and especially those of the tall reeds. But, farther, there are usages observed by the Indians which contribute to prevent the occurrence of famine among them; for whereas among other nations it is usual, in the contests of war, to ravage the soil, and thus to reduce it to an uncultivated waste, among the Indians, on the contrary, by whom husbandmen are regarded as a class that is sacred and inviolable, the tillers of the soil, even when battle is raging in their neighbourhood, are undisturbed by any sense of danger, for the combatants on either side in waging the conflict make carnage of each other, but allow those engaged in husbandry to remain quite unmolested. Besides, they neither ravage an enemy's land with fire, nor cut down its trees. > — John Watson McCrindle 1877, Ancient India as Described by Megasthenês and Arrian ## Translations (2) - [Ancient India as Described by Megasthenês and Arrian](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.hellenistic.megasthenes~en-mccrindle.1.p2) — John Watson McCrindle 1877, English - [Latin translation (Müller)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.hellenistic.megasthenes*fhg~la-muller.1.2) — Karl Müller, Latin --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.hellenistic.megasthenes.1.2-3](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.gr.hellenistic.megasthenes.1.2-3) · Pramāṇa