History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c24.s6.69

v1.c24.s6.69

Irrigation of fields through channels carrying water is evidenced by the Vedic literature. Khanitrima (vide Macdonell and Keith) in it refers to a water channel for irrigation. There are references to channels for irrigating fields (RV. X. 19.4), to the digging of channels for a forward course (ibid, X. 75), and to hymns sung when cutting a channel (AV. III. 13)59. Kulyā is the term for a channel for irrigation (Amara, I.10.34). The term occurs in the Vedic literature. Following Sāyaṇa modern scholars have taken it to refer to an artificial stream or water-course falling into a reservoir (vide Macdonell and Keith, I, p. 214). A stock example in Vedānta (Vedāntaparibhāṣā, p.23) speaks of the water of a reservoir issuing from sluices and entering the fields flowing through a kulyā. A passage in the Mahāvagga (VIII.12.1-2), as explained by Buddhaghoṣa, refers to fields in Magadha being irrigated by rectangular and curvilinear channels and ridges. The legend of Āruni, the pupil of Dhaumya, lying down to stop a breach in the water-course of a certain field (Mbh.I.³) indicates the nature of the irrigation channels.