Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c43.s3.t1.8

v2.c43.s3.t1.8

Defective diamonds apart from having flaws such as crow’s foot (*kākapada*), spot (*vindu*), streak or line (*rekhā*), impurities (*samala*), etc. may also be geometrically defective (RYP, 25; AM, 27). Such defective samples may be barley-shaped (yavākāra), broken (sphuṭita) such that these have unequal solid angles (hinādhikakoṇam), sometimes only one solid angle (ekaśṛṅgam) or even roudness (vartulam). On this consideration, RRS (4.26-28) classified diamond gems into three genders or categories — masculine, feminine and neutral. The samples with well-defined facets, edges and angles are ‘masculine’. The feminine samples are concave, flat or cylindrical. The neutral (napuṃsaka) samples are spherical or blunt at the tips and slightly heavy.