History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s3.t2.6

v1.c24.s3.t2.6

The *Kṛṣi-Parāśara* (verses 157-67) is more detailed and specific. It requires seeds to be collected either in Māgha or Phālguna. They are to be dried up thoroughly in the Sun. The chaff is to be removed. The seeds which are uniform to be collected. They are to be kept in a very tight packet and the grass that has come out is to be cut. The advice about the preservation of the seeds is mixed up with traditional notions about sacramental purity. Seeds are not to be kept on an ant-hill, in the cowshed, the place where a woman has delivered a child, or a house having barren women. They are not to come in contact with remnant food, a woman in menses, a barren woman, a pregnant woman, or a woman who has just delivered. Ghee, oil, butter-milk, lamp and salt are not to be kept on seeds. Seeds, kept in contact with a lamp, fire or smoke, or damaged by rain, or kept in pits or underground, are not to be used. Likewise, seeds, which are mixed up or are chaff or mixed with particles, become barren.