India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s11.6

c8.s11.6

*CONTAINERS*—Pāṇini refers to leathern containers of big and small sizes called *kutū* and *kutu-pa* respectively (V.3.89), used for storing oil and ghee (*charmamayam sneha-bhājanam*, *Kāśikā*); to *udaṅka*, oil-flasks (III.3.123), the opposite of which was *udañchana*, a big leathern bucket for lifting well-water; and to *dṛiti* (IV.3.56) and *bhastrā*, (IV.4.16). *Dṛiti*, a leather bag for holding fluids is frequently mentioned in the Vedic literature. Pāṇini derives *dārteya* to denote that which was filled in a leather bag (*tatra bhavaḥ*, IV.3.53). We learn from the *Panchaviṁśa Brāhmaṇa* that milk (*kshīra*) and liquor (*surā*) were kept in *dṛitis*.² At present it is generally used to hold water. In Pāṇini's time *dṛitis*, leather bags, were transported on the back of animals which were therefore marked out as *dṛitihari* (III.2.25). This device of transporting liquids was preferred in mountainous regions where wheeled traffic was difficult.