Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c77.68

v2.c77.68

According to the S. S. the clay for the purpose of ointment and plaster should be procured from the auspicious places like vāpī, kūpa, tadāga, lotus beds, dīrghikās, the roots of the trees, the banks of the rivers, thickets, etc. These are the sources from which this clay ought to be procured. These various clays are of different colours and are declared auspicious for the respective castes. This clay should be free from gravels and then the liquids obtained from the trees like Śālmalī, Māśa, Kakubha, Madhūka, Triphalā, etc. and they should then be mixed with the clay along with also a good quantity of sand too in it. Then afterwards, the hair of the horses or the hair of the bullocks and also the skin of the coconut, i.e. fibres, also husks of the grain, form a constituent of the compound. The quantity of the sand and the clay should be in equal measure. All these compounded into a levigated powder (Kalka) should be distilled into some suitable cloth (i.e. what we call kapaḍachāna). Other details are difficult to be obtained as the text (9 to 11 vs.) are corrupt. My surmise, however, is that this compound is directed to be boiled in order to make it a fast ointment.