Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s11.753

v1.c3.s11.753

Kṛṣi, ‘ploughing.’ The cultivation of the soil was no doubt known to the Indians before they separated from the Iranians, as is indicated by the identity of the expressions yavam kṛṣ and sasya in the Rigveda with yao karesh and hahya in the Avesta, referring to the ploughing in of the seed and to the grain which resulted.¹ But it is not without significance that the expressions for ploughing occur mainly in the first² and tenth³ books of the Rigveda, and only rarely in the so-called ‘family’ books (ii.-vii.).⁴ In the Atharvaveda Pṛthī Vainya is credited with the origination of ploughing,⁵ and even in the Rigveda the Aśvins are spoken of as concerned with the sowing of grain by means of the plough.⁶ In the later Saṃhitās and the Brāhmaṇas ploughing is repeatedly referred to.⁷