Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s7.1470

v2.c4.s7.1470

Vrīhi, ‘rice,’ is never mentioned in the Rigveda,¹ but is frequently alluded to in the Atharvaveda² and later.³ Rice seems to be indigenous in the south-east of India:⁴ this fact accounts well for the absence of any mention of it in the Rigveda. Black and white rice is contrasted in the Taittirīya Saṃhitā,⁵ where also⁶ the distinctions of dark, swift-growing (āśu), and large rice (mahā-vrīhi) are found. Probably the swift-growing variety is that later known as ṣaṣṭika, ‘ripening in sixty days.’ Vrīhi and Yava, ‘barley,’ are normally conjoined in the texts.⁷ Cf. Plāśuka.