India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s6.16

c8.s6.16

(ii) *Mahāvrīhi* (VI.2.38). One of the best known varieties of rice mentioned by Charaka in his list of principal kinds of rice (*Charaka Saṁhitā*, Nidāna-sthāna, IV.6). Suśruta mentions *mahāśāli* (Sūtra-sthāna, 46.7), which was perhaps a kindred variety of *mahāvrīhi*. Patañjali praises the *śāli* rice grown in Magadha (I.19). This variety seems to have survived for more than a thousand years. According to Yuan Chwang: 'There is an unusual sort of rice grown here (Magadha), the grains of which are large and scented and of an exquisite taste. It is specially remarkable for its shining colour. It is commonly called "the rice for the use of the great."' (Beal, *Siyuki*, II.82). This appears to be the rice called *Mahāśali* and *Sugandhikā* (Julien). Hwui Li, the biographer of the Chinese pilgrim states that the *Mahāśāli* rice was grown only in Magadha and that Yuan Chwang, during his stay at Nālandā, was entertained with this special kind of rice (H. D. Sankalia, *Nalanda*, pp. 192-93). Pāṇini's acquaintance with the *mahāvrīhi* rice of Magadha must be due to his intimate knowledge of eastern India.