History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s5.15

v1.c24.s5.15

The text recommends flowering plants to be sprinkled with the decoction of rose-apple, Pallavaka (=Aśoka), Uṣīra (the fragrant root of a plant) and Musta (grass) mixed with wine (verse 145); and Ketakī to be sprinkled with the infusion of aromatic substances like cardamom and nourished with the broth of flesh (verse 146). It goes on to recommend measures based on superstitious tradition. Ketakī is to be fed with water (from the mouth of a woman) only once (verse 147); Bakula to be sprinkled with wine from the mouth of a young woman: mango tree (Makanda) to be scratched with the top of Kuvāra as with the tip of a finger nail of a woman (verse 148); Aśoka to be kicked amorously by a young woman (verse 149); Kurabaka (a species of Amaranth) to be clasped in a sportive embrace of a coquette within her lovely creeper-like arms; and Tilaka to be merely glanced by her (verse 150).