India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c8.s6.t2.32

c8.s6.t2.32

The answer to this is in the affirmative. In the chapter relating to the duties of the Superintendent of the Royal Storehouse, Kauṭilya gives directions for the storage of liquids tasting astringent: 'Mixture made by combining any one of the substances, such as the juice of sugar-cane, jaggery, honey, raw granulated sugar, the essence of the fruits of *jambū* and jack tree,—with the decoction of *meshaśṛiṅgī* (a kind of plant) and of long pepper should be stocked. To this the addition of the following is optional, *viz.* *chirbhiṭa*, cucumber, sugar-cane, mango fruit and the fruit of myrobalan. This mixture should be either one month or six months, or a year old. This constitutes the *śukta-varga*.'¹