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History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s4: Pesticide

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s4

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Pesticide

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In reference to plants, Pest signifies any insect, fungus, etc. which destroys plants. Pesticide means pest-killer.

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The major calamities, termed as *iti*, were traditonally enumerated as being six: excessive rain, drought, locusts, rats, parrots and foreign invasions²⁰. All these have a reference to agriculture. The term *iti* signifies an infectious disease also, but we do not find any reference to its application for the diseases of the plants.

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In the Vedic literature we find prayers to Indra and Rudra for protecting crops from drought and lightning (*RV*. VI. 50.1-3; VI.142.1). For warding off harmful insects several spells and rites are prescribed. The *Atharvaveda* voices the anger against insects harming the field: "O Aśvins, slay the *tarda* (borer), the *samanka* (hook) and the mole, cut off their heads and crush their ribs, shut their mouths, that they shall not eat the barley, free the grain from danger. Ho *tarda*, locust, gabhya (snapper), *upakvasa* do get out, not eating this barley, without working injury. O husband of the *tarda* (female), husband of the *bhaga* (female), of the sharp teeth, listen to me. The *vyadvaras* (rodents) of the forest, and whatever other *vyadvara* there are, all these we do crush".

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The *Agnipurāṇa* (282, verses 10-13) prescribes a few treatment to promote the growth of flowers and fruits and overcome infertility. After plastering the plants with mixture of Viḍaṅga and ghee, they are to be sprinkled with cold water mixed with Kulattha, Māṣa, Mudga, barley and sesamum. It recommends sprinkling with ghee and cold water as a general remedy. The powder of the offal matter of sheep and goats, barley powder, sesamum, beef, and water are to be kept burried for seven days and then are to be sprinkled on plants. The plants are to be irrigated with the washings of fish.

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The *Agnipurāṇa* (282, verses 13-14) mentions fish and meat mixed with pulverised Viḍaṅga as a pregnancy craving of the trees and a general cure for all their diseases.

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For the protection of crops from diseases and pests people resorted to measures which were a strange amalgam of superstitious rites and practical application. The subject was covered by the science of *vṛkṣāyurveda* or medicinal science for plants. The use of the term *āyurveda* led to the application of certain principles characteristic of the science of *āyurveda* to that of *vṛkṣāyurveda*. One such principle is that of *tridoṣa*, the three humours, whose disorder leads to various ailments. In the case of plants also the disorders of wind (*vāta*), bile (*pitta*) and phlegm (*kapha*) are taken to result in various defects of plants.

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The *Vṛkṣāyurveda* of Surapāla²¹ has two sections, one the knowledge of the diseases of trees (*rogajñāna*) (verses 165-183) and the other on the treatment (*cikitsā*) of the diseases of plants (verses 184-222). Surapala introduces an element of systematic classification in its account of the diseases of the trees. He says that the diseases of all species of trees may briefly be classified in two groups, the internal or those arising from the body, and the extraneous or those attacking from outside (verse 165). The bodily or internal diseases arise from the disorders of wind (*vāta*), phlegm (*pitta*) and bile (*kapha*), and the extraneous diseases and ailments are caused by vermin (*kīṭa*), frost (*śīta*) etc. (verse 166).

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The text gives characteristic features of trees suffering from these diseases (verses 167-172). It describes the trees as afflicted with excessive heat (*caṇḍatāpa*), hit by the velocity of a gale (*pavanodvega*), drying of their parts (*aṅgapariśoṣaṇa*) and injury (*vraṇa*) (verses 173-76). It lists some of the important causes for the decline of trees (verses 177-80, 182). It says that putrid smell, absence of smell, and shrivelling of leaves and sprouts are caused by the affliction of ants (*pipīlikā*) and indigestion caused by excessive watering (verse 181).

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The text prescribes cures for trees suffering from the disorders of wind, phlegm and bile (verses 184-92). It gives detailed advice about the treatment of trees infested with insects (verse 193-98). Kāṇḍāraka and other insects (*kṛmi*) are to be taken out from the roots of the tree which is then to be sprinkled with cold water for seven days. For destroying insects the text recommends administering of water containing milk, carcass water (*kuṇapa*), Bhillota, Vacā and cowdung, plastering of Siddhārtha, Abda, Vacā, Kuṣṭha and Ativiṣa, and fumigation with the fumes of Siddhartha, Ramaṭha, Vidanga and Uṣaṇa and of washings of beef, horn of buffaloes and flesh of a pigeon, along with the powder of Bhillata. Another recommendation is to plaster with Viḍaṅga mixed with ghee, irrigate with alkaline water (*kṣārāmbu*)²² for seven days and poultice of beef, Siddhārtha and sesamum. A worm-eaten plant is to be irrigated with a solution of oil-cake in water. Insects on leaves are destroyed by dusting them with ashes and brick-dust. Injury caused by insects is healed by a plastering of Jantughna, sesamum, cow’s urine, ghee and Siddhārtha and by watering with milk.

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The text recommends treatment for trees damaged by frost and scorching heat (*hīnacaṇḍatāpa*) (verse 199), broken trees (verses 200-201), trees with branches fallen off (verse 203), trees burnt with fire (verses 204-205), trees struck with lightning (verse 206), trees shrivelled with fire (verse 207) or by sterile soil (verse 208) or want of water (verse 209). It further prescribes treatment for wounds (*vraṇa*) of trees (verse 210), defluxion (*parisrāva*) (verse 211), diseases caused by wrong nursing (*mithyopacāra*) (verse 212), jaundice (*pāṇḍuroga*) (verse 213), barrenness (*vandhyā*) (verses 214-18) and indigestion caused by water-logging (*ajīrṇāmbu*) (verse 219).

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Vegetables (*śākajāti*) like cucumbers are to be treated by fumigating them with the bones of cow and dog and the ordure of a cat (verse 220). Saplings are not to be administered pungent susbtances nor are they to be fumigated (verse 221). If the treatments do not respond, the trees are to be transplanted in a soil of better quality (verse 222).

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Varāhamihira (*Bṛhatsaṃhitā* 54. 14-15) deals with the question of the diseases (*roga*) of trees in a matter-of-fact manner, without importing any of the notions associated with the science of ayurveda. He lists four such diseases : searing of leaves (*pāṇḍu patratā*), arrest of the growth of leaves (*avṛddhi*), drying of the branches (*śakhāsoṣa*) and excessive exudation of the sap (*rasaśruti*) and attributes them to cold, wind and sun (sitavatatapa). The remedy recommended is to clear the afflicted part first with the help of a weapon23 and then to plaster them with Vidanga and ghee and sprinkle them with water mixed with milk.

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There was a widespread practice of using magical spells (mantras) to ward off diseases, insects, birds and beasts destroying the crops. In the Kṛṣi-Parāśara it is termed as the pest-killing spell (vyādhikhaṇḍanamantra). The mantra was written on a leaf and then placed in the field. The practice is evidenced by the Kṛṣi-Parāśara, Vṛkṣāyurveda of Surpāla, Upavanavinoda and the Jyotiṣtattva of Raghunandana24. There are slight variations in the details of the mantra. In the Kṛṣi-Parāśara it is in the form of an imperial order by Rāmacandra to Hanuman to ask the pests to leave the field of a certain person; they are to be beaten by Hanumān witht his tail, if they do not comply. One manuscript of the Kṛṣi-Parāśara adds a second mantra in which Hanumān orders the pests to destroy themselves. The pest averting incantation in another school25 presents the command of Rāmacandra in a changed form. Here the pests are said to be the demoness Triputi and her seven sons in disguise. Hanumān is to strike them with his tail, and tearing them with his nails, throw them in the southern sea. If he tarries even for a moment, he is to be cursed by his father Keśarin and mother Anjanā, and will be disowned by Rāma as his servant.

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In the Vṛkṣāyurveda of Surapāla (passages 161-63) the mantra and its use are provided in a different manner. The mantra says that Hanumān orders and destroys the rats, birds, ants, etc. From Kiṣkindhā Lord Hanumān orders mice, bugs (gandhikā), locusts (śalabha) etc. in a field that, on seeing this royal order, they are to leave the field and go elsewhere, otherwise they will be beaten and destroyed by his tail. This spell is to be written on a leaf, to be recited, and then buried under the earth. This will destroy the sparrows (keca=keñca), worms (kita), flying insects (pataṅga), mice (ākhu), ants (pipīli) etc.

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The spell was incorporated with some changes and elaborations in a few other texts and anonymous manuscripts. In the Upavanavinoda (VII.2) the incantation is recommended to be used when there is an apprehension of danger from locusts, rats, birds and ants. It is to be muttered one hundred and eight times before being written on a leaf. In it Hanumān commands the vermins, rats, birds, ants, locusts, young elephants, cranes, insects, gandhikā, bimbī etc. In the mantra occurring in one manuscript of the Vṛkṣāyurveda of Surapāla26 those who are happy at the feet of Śrī Rāmcandra command Hanumān to destroy the pests, the harvest-destroying brood of demon Taraka, not dispersing from the field.

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The element of popular superstition is clearly discernible in regard to the pests listed in the mantra. In one source27 the incantation mentions the demoness Triputi and her seven sons as being in the guise of pests like bhombha, bhombhī, pāṇḍaramukhī, gāndhī, dhūliśṛṅgī, etc. In one manuscript of the Vṛkṣāyurveda simasira, ratri, hira(?),paṇḍara, bhūdika (?), lapoka(?), dhuli, simhi, gabhandaka etc. and subhranaka (?), cakata (?), kata (?), hogs, deer, buffaloes, etc.are the harvest-destroying brood of the demon Taraka.

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Besides the names mentioned above, the mantra in the Kṛṣi- Parasara lists vata, bhāmbhā, bhāntī...( ?), śāṅkhī, gāndhī, paṇḍramuṇḍi, dhuliśṛṅgārī, and kumarimaḍaka as well as ajā, ghataka, śuka (parrot), śūkara (pig), mṛga (deer), mahiṣa (buffalo), varāha (boar), pataṅga (locust) etc. The additional mantra occuring in one manuscript of the Kṛṣi-Parāśara mentions kṛmi (worm), kīṭa (insect), patanga (flying insect), mūṣika, vātā, bhāmbhā, bhāmbhī, pāṇḍuramuṇḍi, dadhitanka, etc. In all these lists one can easily distinguish the names of insects, birds, ants, locusts and rats from other names. These names cannot be explained with the help of lexicons28. They are imaginary and refer to evil spirits. But the possibility cannot be ruled out that they were used for diverse types of insects and worms, of not much consequence otherwise, which were harmful to crops. It would appear that no effective pesticide was developed for checking their harmful effects.

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In the Śārṅgadharapaddhati (verses 3017-18) it is said that if sand in a pot empowered with mantras is thrown in the field, insects, cranes, parrots, boars, deer, rats and hares keep away.

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The Kṛṣi-Parāśara advises the performance of the rite of planting a reed (nalaropaṇa) in a paddy field (verses 198-205). It was performed so that all the paddy plants, tender, young and old, the largest and the smallest, the diseased and the healthy, be of uniform growth and yield abundant produces. Thus, the rite was intended to remove the diseases of the plants, including the pests that afflicted them. On the Kārttika-Saṅkrānti day a nala, along with leaves, was planted on the north-east corner of the field with a prescribed incantation, and the nala and the paddy plants were to be worshipped with suitable offerings. The rite is taken to be similar to the practice, prevalent in Bengal, of fixing poles of various designs, in order to scare away mischievous birds and beasts (Majumdar and Banerji, Introd.p.XVI). This shows that, in place of pesticides, the cultivators resorted to magico-religious rites.

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The extent to which pesticides were used to protect crops is only to be speculated. We do have evidence for measures to protect crops from wild animals and birds, but we do not have any specific reference to the use of pesticides. It is significant that the Kṛṣi-Parāśara, which relates to agricultural practice, does not refer to pesticides. For warding off the menance of diseases, insects and malicious animals (vyādhīkiṭahiṃsra) it refers to the magico-religious rite of tying in the midst of the crops a leaf with a mantra written on it (verse 195). It is only in reference to trees and plants that the protective measures and pesticides are detailed in the ancient texts. It will remain debatable if the ordinary cultivator could afford the costly recipes meant for the well-to-do owners of gardens and orchards.

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The only reference to the use of pesticides in Sanskrit literature, which we have been able to trace, occurs in the Kāśyapīya-Kṛṣisūkti29. Here also, it is to be noted, there is no advice to the application of the pesticide to rice, pulses, grains, and other crops. It is in connection with the cultivation of vegetables that the pesticide is recommended. The text says that if vermins etc. are eating the leaves of the vegetables etc. or egg plant (vārtāka), small cucumber (paṭolikā), vallī, śavaka, pumpkin gourd (kūṣmaṇḍa), kalata (?), surana, śākuta (?), turmeric (haridrā) and ginger (ārdraka), the bla tes are to be systematically sprinkled with ash-dust and lime-water to remove the damage caused by vermins. It can be surmised that the cultivator used these pesticides in the case of grains and other crops as well. Though the text seems to be a medieval work, we may not be wrong in suggesting that this traditional knowledge of rudimentary pesticides went back to ancient times.

Linked texts (8)