India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s6.t2.15

c8.s6.t2.15

*PLATE-LEAVINGS*—Pāṇini refers to special terms applied to food-leavings when served in different kinds of utensils. (*Tatrodhṛitam amatrebhyaḥ*, IV.2.14). The domestic servants enjoy customary rights to receive particular leavings and hence the necessity of special words in the language. The *Kāśikā* records three such leavings of rice-food, viz. *śarāva*, *māllaka* and *kārpara*. The first referred to the leavings from the plates in which rice was actually served for eating, and this must have been the share of the scavenger, as it is up to this day. The second, viz. *māllaka*, was the leavings in the pot (*mallaka*) from which it was served, and this must have been the share of the family barber (*nāpita*). The third or *kārpara odana* was that which was left behind in the cooking pot and as such must have been the customary share of the cooks. The *Kāśikā* explains *uddhṛita* as *bhuktochchhishta*, and the *Nānārthārṇava Kosha* as *bhuktojjhita* (Vol. II, p. 42). The word *ujjhita* is the Prakrit form of Skt. *uddhṛita*.