History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c37.100

v3.c37.100

One may also partake of the naivedya offered by oneself and the Smṛtimuktāphala (āhnika, p. 390) quotes Ṛg. I. 154. 5 in support. After naivedya, *tāmbūla* is to be offered to the God worshipped. In the ancient gṛhya and dharma sūtras no mention is made of tāmbūla or mukhavāsa (materials that will render the breath fragrant). Tāmbūla was probably introduced some time before or about the beginning of the Christian era in South India and then spread northwards. Among the smṛtis, Saṁvarta 55 quoted in the Kṛtyaratnākara p. 560, Laghu-Hārīta (Ānand. 39), Laghu-Āśvalāyana (Ānand.) 1. 160-61 and 23. 105, Auśanasa (Jīvānanda, part I. p. 509) refer to the chewing of tāmbūla after dinner. In the Raghuvaṁśa VI. 64 Kālidāsa describes betelnut plants surrounded by betel creepers. The Kāmasūtra I. 4. 16¹⁷⁴⁹ states that a person after performing the brushing of the teeth, consulting a looking glass and partaking of tāmbūla for rendering his breath fragrant should set about his daily business. *Vide* also Kāmasūtra III. 4. 40, IV. 1. 36, V. 2. 21 and 24, VI. 1. 29, VI. 2. 8 for other references. In the Bṛhat-saṁhitā of Varāhamihira (77. 35-37) the virtues of tāmbūla and its ingredients are described. In the Kādambarī (para 85) the royal palace is compared to the house of a dealer in betel leaves (tāmbūlika) in which lavalī, cloves, cardamom, kaṅkola are stored. The Par. M. I. part 1. p. 434 quotes four verses from Vasiṣṭha (not found in the printed Dharmasūtra) about the cutting off of the two ends of tāmbūla leaves before eating them. In the Vratakhaṇḍa (of Caturvargacintāmaṇi, vol. II. part I, p. 242) Hemādri quotes Ratnakośa to the effect that tāmbūla means betel leaves, betel nut and *chūnam*; while 'mukhavāsa' means these together with cardamom, camphor, kakkola berries, pieces of copra and *mātuluṅga*. The Nityācārapaddhati¹⁷⁵⁰ (p. 549) quotes verses showing that tāmbūla comprised nine ingredients viz. betel nut, betel leaves, chūnam, camphor, cardamom, clove, kaṅkola, copra, the mātuluṅga fruit. In modern times pieces of almond, nutmeg fruit and bark thereof, saffron, catechu are taken and mātuluṅga is omitted. Thus the thirteen ingredients of tāmbūla are made up. The Aṣṭāṅgasaṁgraha¹⁷⁵¹ of Vāgbhaṭa also mentions the several ingredients of tāmbūla including the essence of the bark of the Khadira tree (catechu). In modern times tāmbūla is said to be of 13 *guṇas*, either because it contains thirteen ingredients or because it effects thirteen good results, the last of which are set out in a subhāṣita quoted below.