Ancient Indian Texts on Agriculture (Set of 6 Books)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Ancient Indian Texts on Agriculture (Set of 6 Books)
Lokopakara	Mriga. Pakshi. Shastra	Krishi Gita

Vishvavallabha	Kashyapiyakrishisukti	Nuskha Dar Fanni-Falahat

Foreword

The Asian Agri-History Foundation (AAHF), a non-profit trust, was established and registered in 1994 in Secunderabad, India to facilitate dissemination of information on agricultural heritage in order to promote research on sustainable agriculture in South and Southeast Asian regions. These regions provided food security to its population for several millennia, with occasional famines that too in limited pockets, primarily due to drought. Farmers here had evolved some of the most sustainable agricultural management techniques suitable for different agroecoregions. There is a great deal to be learned from the traditional wisdom and the indigenous, time-tested technologies that sustained the farmers of South and Southeast Asia in the past. One of the major objectives of AAHF is to disseminate information on ancient and medieval agriculture by translating old texts/manuscripts into English and publish these translations with commentaries on the scientific content of the texts. The aim of these commentaries of the experts in to stimulate research to validate old practices.

The Asian Agri-History Foundation has so far published five bulletins: Vrikshayurveda (The Science of Plant Life) by Surapala (c. 1000 AD), Krishi-Parashara (c. 400 BC), Nushka Dar Fanni-Falahat (The Art of Agriculture), a Persian manuscript by Dara Shikoh (c,. 1650 AD), Kashyapiyakrishisukti (A Treatise on Agriculture) by Kashyapa (c. 800 AD), and Vishvavallabha (Dear to the World: The Science of Plant Life). This bulletin has the translation of a Halagannada (old Kannada) manuscript compiled by the poet Chavundaraya in 1025 AD.

The Western Chalukya Kings, with their capital at Kalyani (near Bidar, Karnataka, India) had a tradition of supporting scholarship and Chavundaraya was one such poet-scholar in the court of Jaisimha II (1015-1042 AD).

The Lokopakara, which meant “for the benefit of common people”, is a vade mecum of everyday life for commoners and describes topics such as astrology, portents, vastu (architecture), water-divining, vrikshayurveda (the science of plant life), perfumery, cookery, veterinary medicine, etc. in the bulletin, we have selected those topics that are of interest to farmers residing in rural areas.

The author of Lokopakara is also known as Chavundaraya II. This is because another Chavundaraya, referred as Chavundaraya I, preceded him by several decades and was a great minister, Commander-in-Chief, as well as a litterateur in the court of the Ganga rulers of southern Karnataka. Chavundaraya I set up the world famous Gommateshwara statue at Shravanbelagola in Karnataka around 980 AD.

This bulletin is based on a printed Halagannada manuscript edited in 1950 by H Sesha Iyengar, a copy of which was obtained from the Madras Government Oriental Manuscripts Library (Adyar Library), Chennai. Since very few people today understand Halagannada, we requested C K Kumudini, Department of Kannada Studies, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore to translate the manuscript into Hosagannada (modern Kannada), The Hosagannada manuscript was then translated into English by Sri Valmiki Sreenivasa Ayangarya. We are most grateful to Kumudini and and Valmikiji for all the hard work.

Three commentaries have been written; one by Y L Nene, another by Nalini Sadhale and Shakuntala Dave, and yet another by Umashashi Bhalerao. These commentaries hopefully would stimulate scholars and researchers to provide notes on the scientific value of Lokopakara. I continue to believe there is an unprecedented opportunity for Indian agricultural scientists today to relate heritage to the present-day agriculture.

Since most people cannot read Halagannada text, we have reproduced only one page of the printed manuscript (Appendix) to give a “flavor” to the bulletin. Two indices of plant names included in this publication were prepared by Y L Nene.

We hope this publication, like the other publications of AAHF, will prove useful to all those interested in agriculture, not only in India but elsewhere in the world.

Introduction

The present English translation of ‘Lokopakara’ is an abridged version of the original text published in twelve chapters by the Madras Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras (Adyar Library, Chennai) in 1950. The original text is at present not available either in the current Kannada language (Hosagannada) or in English. Even a reprint of the 1950 edition in Hosagannada is not available at present, in spite of the Kannada literature having grown by leaps and bounds. In this translation, all chapters, except nos. I, II, III, and XII, have been included. Chapter IX is abridged only to 58 verses from the original 246 verses. Chapter X is abridged only to 23 verses from the original 53 and Chapter XI is abridged to only 41 verses from the original 113 verses.

The original text contains the following chapters:

Chapter I - Astrological aspects
Chapter II - Auspicious and inauspicious time (muhurtas) for various mundane and religious affairs.
Chapter III – Vastu (Architecture)
Chapter V – Water divining
Chapter VI – Vrikshayurveda (Ayurveda for polants including trees)
Chapter VII – Perfumes
Chapter VIII – Recipes
Chapter IX – Medicine for humans and animals
Chapter X – Treatment for snakebite, etc.
Chapter XI – Characteristics of animals
Chapter XII – Omens

The then famous poet named Chavundaraya in 1025 wrote the original text, Lokopakara. The text was written as poetry in the old Kannada language (Halagannada). Though the contents of Lokopakara seem to be very practical and of mundane utility to the common man and the rulers alike, this work cannot be considered the original work of the poet. At best, it can be called a compendium of various “sciences” of the time in a concise form. All the subjects dealt in this book were already available in many ancient Sanskrit works such as Brhat Samhita of Varahamihira, Brhat Jataka, Charaka Samhita, Maya Matam, etc. Varahamihira’s date is determined as 505 AD, i.e., about 520 years prior to that of Chavundaraya. Even the poet himself admits that this information has been culled from Varaha Samhita, Ma Ridacharya Matha, etc. (Chapter IV, verse 36 is excluded from this publication). Though the contents were not all new, the presentation in the old Kannada language current during his lifetime was certainly useful. This presentation must have helped the common man at the time, who did not know Sanskrit. It was named as Lokopakara (for) the benefit of people), an apt title. Though many other ancient Sanskrit works have already dealt the same subjects earlier, it appears that the objective of the poet Chavundaraya, i.e., social benevolence, was missing in them. It is this objective of social benevolence which might have popularized this work amongst the common people and the pundits. Perhaps because its readership was restricted to people not knowing Sanskrit, this work might have appeared as new and original work.

Because of the educational system introduced by Macaulay (1800-1859) in India, during the British rule, and continued even today, many of our practical and mundane ancient works such as ’Lokopakara’ has been ignored. The subjects dealt in this book can be found highly practical in common man’s daily life even today and perhaps in centuries to come. The simple presentation in Halagannada, the ancient Kannada language, has to be understood properly. Perhaps, it needs to be translated to the Hosagannada, the present-day Kannada prose for use of the common man today.

In the only printed version of this work available now, the verses are written in Halagannada poetry format with a commentary in Halagannada prose-cum-poetry form. This commentary is given for every individual verse and at certain places it is incomplete. There are many deletions or additions. At certain places, the commentary does not agree with the original verse. At some places, even the original verses are missing. These lapses might have existed in the four manuscripts themselves, from which this present printed version is prepared. Where there are deletions of some phrases or words in the original verse or the commentary, I have gone through the original Halagannada verses as well as the cross reference available from the ancient Sanskrit works on similar subjects. I have introduced some verse, phrases, or sentences, whenever I found them missing. This is done with the sole intention of doing justice to the laudable work of Chavundaraya as well as to provide a readable English translation.

While writing this English translation, I came across some instances of portentous phenomena reported to me through the newspapers and radio, as also with my own personal observations. I would like to mention them here for the benefit of the readers:

The formation of a ‘halo’ around the sun at noon on 5 September 2002 at Bangalore was reported with a photograph in the English daily, Deccan Herald, 6 September 2002, published from Bangalore, Karnataka.

I heard the news, through All India Radio that water in a big tank in a village in West Bengal became pink on 3 October 2002. The villagers reported the intrusion of an airplane that dropped something into the tank. The Indian Air Force had categorically denied any intrusion in the Indian air space of the said locality on that day.

While walking in the premises of Keshavapuri, Maharashtra around 1800 hrs on 13 October 2002, I saw the formation of a halo around the moon. Though I could not ascertain the exact time, there were three or four small clouds covering the moon and a halo visible around the moon. After the disappearance of the clouds, the halo also disappeared.

Also, I observed formation of a halo around the moon in the evening of 22 October 2002 around 1940 hrs at Keshavapuri.

I have given these instances only to illustrate that the subjects dealt in this book are still found practical and very much mundane, though some of the modern, scientifically tempered people may dismiss these contents as obscure or absurd. There is no doubt that our ancient works in various Indian languages are very practical.

I have not come across any intellectual debate or discussion on the subjects dealt in Lokopakara at least in the Kannada literary field. I have yet to come across any other debate or scholarly opinion on the various mundane cultural habits, remedial measures, and technology explained in the text. Perhaps, the absence of a Hosagannada prose text, the absence of recent reprints, and the ancientness of the topics dealt in this book might be the reasons for the absence of an intellectual debate. I had come across a small portion of Lokopakara published in the Hosagannada prose from in 1996, which had a third reprint in April 1997, and which deals only with the sixth chapter of ‘Vrikshyurveda’. The editorial of this booklet states that the officials of the forest department of the Government of Karnataka had successfully conducted experiments on recommendations made in the verses of ‘Vrikshyurveda’, the sixth chapter of ‘Lokopakara’. An experiment conducted at a medicinal plant garden maintained by the forest department on the emblic myrobalan plant in 1992 was also mentioned on the back cover of this booklet to impress upon the readers on the present-day utility of the verses of ‘Vrikshayurveda’. Except for this small booklet and a limited debate in a restricted circle of organic farmers of the old Mysore area, Lokopakara has not attracted attention since 1950. It is necessary that the present generation should be exposed to this unique, practical and very much mundane text.

There has been also a limited discussion on the practical utility of Indian astrology having been recognized by the Western scientists in the 20th century’ this is available in the introduction to Brhat Samhita, translated by M R Brhat. I have yet to find a detailed recorded debate on the contents of Brhat Samhita and their present-day practical utility.

A small discussion on the subject of ‘ambugareyuvudu’ is given on page ix of the Introduction written by the editor H Sesha Iyengar, in the only printed version. Sesha Iyengar has expressed the view that the remedial measure of ‘ambugareyuvude’ is not clearly mentioned in the text or in the commentary. He has espoused an unwanted averment on a Jain tradition of ‘gomukhivrata’ and has attempted to direct the subject to Jain tradition. This is clearly wrong. Perhaps he might have thought that this Lokopakara and all its chapters are original and independent works of the poet Chavundaraya, which is incorrect. Perhaps due to lack of appreciation that Lokopakara is a compendium of various subjects already dealt in ancient Sanskrit works like Brhat Samhita and others. Sesha Iyengar has taken recourse to a Jain ritual of ‘gomukhivrata’ unnecessarily. Verse 4 of Chapter VI of Lokopakara is just the Halagannada version of the sixth sutra of the forty-sixth chapter of Brhat Samhita.

While comparing these verses, the expiation called ‘ambugareyuvudu’ is the ‘rudrayathane bhumau godohath’, which means ‘milking of cows on the grounds of a Rudra temple’, which was an existing practice even before Varahamihira and his Brhat Samhita. Even Varahamihira mentions the works of his several predecessors in Brhat Samhita. So the opinion of Sesha Iyengar that ‘milking of cows on the grounds of a Rudra temple’ called ‘ambugareyuvudu’ by Chavundarya is not a Vedic tradition is clearly incorrect. In order to corroborate his misleading allusion to a Jain tradition, Sesha Iyengar has mentioned the practice of maintenance of the idols of Yaksha and Yakshi, without the knowledge of the same existing in the Vedic tradition earlier. The subject of the idols of Yaksha, etc. and the unnatural behavior of these idols is clearly mentioned in verses 13 and 14 of the forty-sixth chapter of Brhat Samhita. So the relation to any Jain tradition is not justified.

In the current Vedic practices known to me, especially those followed in the rural parts of India, this ‘ambugareyuvudu’ may also be interpreted a little differently. Such a practice of milking of cows is seen in some Indian epics like ‘Sri Venkatesvara Mahatme’, etc. one of the Vedic practices, a remedial measure that is practiced even today, is the ‘Kshirabhiseka’, This Kshirabhiseka is an Indian tradition wherein a ritualistic bath to the idol of the deity is offered. The belief is that with this ritualistic bath the deity’s idol gets purified from all the ills caused by the potential phenomena. “Ainbu” in Kannada means “milk”, “gareyuvudu” means milking, pouring, etc.; so the term “ambugareyuvudu” can also be understood as a ritual wherein the fresh milk is used to sanctify the idol through the purificatory milk bath. Presently, this Kshirabhiseka is a regular practice in many of the temples especially the Rudra temples and Vedic homas. After the Kshirabhiseka, the ritualistic milk is shared amongst the people who have participated in the remedial measure. In rural India, sharing of milk is believed to be a token of prosperity, wealth, and health even today. I have personally performed such remedial measures in many places and also have participated in such festivities. The prosperity is also identified by the wealth of the cattle and the quantum of milk in any house. There is a popular saying of halina hole for the richness and prosperity of any house or village or state. Halina hole in Kannada means “abundance of milk”.

About the practical adoptability of the contents of the text ‘Lokopakara’, I have applied these in my daily life at many a time even without reading it. My forefathers used to prepare various perfumes, especially ‘sadu’, prepare various recipes and dishes mentioned in ‘supa shastram’ (the science of cooking), check marriage compatibilities, prepare various medicinal preparations, etc. during my boyhood, I myself had prepared many such recipes without any knowledge of Lokopakara or Brhat Samhita. This is the impact of these ancient texts in the daily chores of our life. Even today, my mother in her late sixties personally makes such preparations mentioned in Lokopakara. She is not a graduate according to the Macaulay’s system of education, but a “doctorate degree holder” and a “research guide” in the traditional Indian school of education. I have learned a lot of such preparations from her and other relatives. I can still prepare them. This is mentioned her to make the reader understand the blend of ancient theory and practice in the daily life even today.

In our village, where our community people live together, most of the recipes are prepared by the individuals as a routine, both in individual houses and the community locations like temples, etc. the younger generations are trained in this practical school of tradition. No doubt, the influence of globalization is taking a “heavy toll” of the traditions here as elsewhere.

As a practitioner of tribal medicine, I have found this book useful in preparing various medicinal preparations. Some of the medicinal preparations and the preparations of ‘supa shastram’ here in this work have been so much a part of our daily life or the religious way of life, that we find it strange that the knowledge received through our parents, families, and society, existed in literature of yesteryears.

I have prepared many plant medicines out of experience and the knowledge of ‘Vrikshayurveda’ from this text. I came to know of Surapala’s Vrikshatyurveda only in 2001 and the ‘Vrikshayurveda’ of Lokopakara in 1996. I have successfully used the theory of ‘Vrikshayurvedam’ for preparing various herbal pesticides and growth promoters. I have been applying many such techniques of Lokopakara in my day-to-day life and find these more effective in use than those mentioned in many other ancient Sanskrit works, though I am familiar with them as well.

Chapter XI of Lokopakara deals with the characteristics of elephants, horses, cows, goats, dogs, and poultry, though one may dismiss that these are not of much use today, as these animals are no more reared by the common people or the rulers. But it will be wrong to conclude so. Even today, elephant rearing and trading is a rural practice in India, especially in Kerala state. A recent instance is the donation of an elephant to the Lord Krishna temple at Guruvayur, Kerala in 2001 by the Chief Minister of the State of Tamil Nadu Ms J Jayalalitha. This temple maintains more than fifty elephants today Elephants are used for local transport of timber and other heavy articles even today in many rural parts. In Kerala, elephant breeding and trading is a continuing practice. The traders look for all the characteristics mentioned in this book to finalize their purchase. Similarly, in some interior parts of Tamil Nadu, I still find the breeding and trading of horses, especially the native varieties. The common tribal people in these areas learn horse riding as a part of their life. Horse is used for movement of goods and people in these areas. Being a hilling terrain and a remote place, Sirumalai does not have any modern transport facility even though it is just 30 km distance from Digigul, a Tuluk (subdistrict) headquarters in Tamil Nadu. To decide their purchase, people trading in horses look for the characteristics mentioned in this compendium. Cattle trading is still very common today in both rural and semi-urban parts of India. The traders-cum-experts consider the characteristics of teeth, eyes, ears, horns, hairy circles, back, neck, hoofs, tongue, ankle joints, hump, strength, udder, testicles, color, etc. before deciding the purchase of cows, bulls, and calves. The first thing any expert checks is the number of teeth of any cattle, by inserting his hand into the mouth of the cattle, before deciding its purchase. Similarly, the rural people look for the characteristics of goats, dogs, and poultry also before deciding their purchase. The contents of this book can thus also be called “An encyclopedia of the tribal knowledge and practices of rural Karnataka” as this book is written in Mannada language. Due to my proximity to our traditional ancient life system and its practices, I readily accepted to translate this abridged version of ‘Lokopakara’ into English, when Dr Y L Nene, the Chairman of Asian Agri-History Foundation requested in August 2002. I thank him for having provided me with an opportunity to do this service to the world, which will certainly benefit the people at large. Surely this was the intent of the poet Chavundaraya when he compiled ‘Lokopakara’ about ten centuries ago in Halagannada language.

I am even today finding the currency of all the incidents of subjects mentioned in Lokopakara as well as in Brhat Samhita. All these subjects are practical mostly in the Indian agricultural environment. Especially in the remote areas. Anyone who does not have a practical experience and knowledge of Indian rural agricultural traditional environment may not find this book useful this book may not be of any practical utility to the metropolitan, urban, non-agriculturalist multi-story dwellers, though they are not excluded from the subjects dealt herein. I have strived hard to provide correct or closer meanings of some of the Halagannada/Sanskrit words. Which have no similar meaning in English literature. I have attempted to provide a more exhaustive explanation of certain technical words on the translation to enable the reader to understand it well. Wherever I have found dissimilarities in the text and the commentary provided in the printed edition, I have considered the text only.

I would be grateful to receive any queries and views on the subjects dealt herein, which will provide a much deeper intellectual insight to one and all.

The Asian Agri-History Foundation (AAHF), a non-profit trust, was established and registered in 1994 in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India to facilitate dissemination of information on agricultural heritage in order to promote research on sustainable agriculture in South and Southeast Asia region. For several millennia, this region provided food security to its population with only occasional famines in limited pockets due to drought. Farmers here had evolved some of the most sustainable agricultural management techniques suitable for different agroecoregions. There is a great deal to be learned from the traditional wisdom and the indigenous, time-tested technologies that sustained the farmers of South and Southeast Asia in the past. One of the major objectives of AAHF is to disseminate information on ancient and medieval agriculture by translating old texts/manuscripts into English and publish these translations with commentaries on the scientific content of the texts. The aim of these commentaries of the experts is to stimulate research to validate old practices.

The Asian Agri-History Foundation has so far published seven bulletins: Vrikshayurveda (The Science of Plant Life) by Surapala (C. 1000 AD), Krishi-Parashara (Agriculture by Parashara) (C. 400 BC), Nuskha Dar Fanni-Falahat (The Art of Agriculture), a Persian manuscript by Dara Shikoh (C. 1650 AD), Kashyapiyakrishisukti (A Treatise on Agriculture) by Kashyapa (c. 800 AD), Vishvavallabha (Dear to the World: The Science of Plant Life) by Chakrapani Mishra (c. 1577 AD), Lokopakara (For the Benefit of People) by Chavundaraya (1025 AD), and Krishi Gita (Agricultural Verses) (c. 1500 AD) edited by Vidwan C Govinda Wariar.

Unlike the previous publications of AAHF, which had their texts located first in a manuscript form, the text of Mriga.pakshi.shastra first came to our notice in the form of a printed book by Chitampalli and Bhatkhande (1993). This book contained the text along with translation by the learned scholars in Marathi. As the book did not give any clue to the original source of the text and considering the importance of the subject that deserved a wider dissemination, AAHF commenced a search for the original source. This ended successfully with the procurement of a transcript (Accession No. 13516) by Nalini Sadhale from the Oriental Institute, (the famous temple town in Andhra), V Vijayaraghavacharya by name from the original. The transcript mentions 4th July 1930 as the date and Tirupati as the place of its completion.

Prior to locating the manuscript in Vadodara, we had sought permission to work on an English translation of the Sanskrit text from the book by Chitampalli and Bhatkhande. We were given permission, through the intervention by KB Srinivasan (IAS-retired), by the Secretary, Maharashtra State Board for Literature & Culture, Mumbai. However, with the procurement of the Sanskrit text from Vadodara, we did not use the Sanskrit text from the book of Chitampalli and Bhatkhande.

After the translation from Sanskrit to English had been completed, we came to know about a book on Mriga. Pakshi.sastra, which contained only English translation and which was published by V Krishnaswamy and printed in 1927 at the PN Press, Klahasti, Andhra Pradesh. We located the complete book on internet through the Digital Library, Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore. How the original text of Mriga.pakshi.shastra was saved for posterity is described in the foreword (note) written by T Srinivasaraghavacharlu, a litterateur from Bezwada (Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh). It is stated, “In the 13th century AD, Zoology or the Science of animals and birds was first composed, so extensively, in India by the famous Jain poet, Hamsadeva in Sanskrit language comprising nearly 1700 Slokas in Anushtup metre. Before this, this kind of work could never be found in India as far as I have seen, save “Varahamihira” in which such description given is not so extensively as this, but very briefly in respect of all animate objects, as well as, a few of the inanimate objects – mountains and the like. I think it is not out of place and exaggeration if I am permitted to say that a few authors of the Western countries, Messrs A.D. Imms, M.A., D.Sc., and Alexander Macalister, M.D., and others, have fully described the natural qualities etc., of lions and a few other animals, but none of them have given age limit of animals and birds. It is, therefore, very gratifying to say that Hamsadeva has given age limit to all animals and birds even to hen and other smaller birds. It is also complimentary to note with unbounded joy that this Zoology is an asset to India – in which country this work and myself are born – nay, it is a gem to be adorned by the other parts of the world. The opportunity given to the said Jain poet for writing this Science is very well described in pages 1 and 2 of this work.

“The original work was about to disappear from this world; when Pandit Sreeman Vijayaraghavachariar (Epigraphist), who has the broad mindedness to see its translation and original text published and broad-cast in India and other parts of the world, saved it from its death and supplied copies of the original text (in manuscript) to His Highness The Maharaja of Travancore for the use of the State Museum and to Dr. Caseywood of McGill University of Montreal city (in N America). The said Panditjee has also taken much pains for imbibing the spirit or essence of the original work into the mind of its translator who has to the best of his ability, followed the original work to produce this. My thanks are chiefly due to the said Panditjee and also to the translator Mr. M. Surdarachariar and the publisher Mr. V. Krishnaswamy.”

As stated before, it is the Sanskrit manuscript (Accession No. 13516) procured from the Oriental Institute, Baroda (Vadodara), which Nalini Sadhale used for translation. Sadhale and Nene wrote two separate commentaries. We consulted extensively the book by Chitampalli and Bhatkhande for Latin names of the animals and birds. We downloaded photographs mostly from Yahoo.com and The Google.

Sundaracharya (1927) in his book (Mriga.pakshi.sastra) mentions that Hamsadeva wrote the text in the 13th century. Hamsadeva mentions Raju Shaudadeva of Jinanagari, obviously a Jain Raja, encouraged him to write the text. Hamsadeva was a resident of village Mandaka. A river named Saraswati (II-295, 296) is mentioned in the text. From these clues, we have not been able to confirm period of Hamsadeva as the 13th century, nor could we draw conclusions about the region of India in which Shaudadeva and Hamsadeva lived. The river, one of which is Saraswati. It is a seasonal river today but could have been a perennial one a few centuries ago. Through internet, we could trace a village called Mandaka in Shimoga district of Karnataka. However, no historical information on this village is available.

Because Hamsadeva has given considerable details on lions, which were probably never seen in South India, he could have studied their biology in Girnar area where the river Saraswati exists. Though the period mentioned for Hamsadeva’s work is claimed to be 13th century AD, we would not rule out the work to be more ancient.

The original Sanskrit text procured from Vadodara does not have verse numbers. For the sake of convenience, we have numbered all the verses and ensured that corresponding numbers appear in the English translation.

We would like to acknowledge (i) Maharashtra State Board for Literature & Culture, Mumbai for permitting us to consult the book by Chitampalli and Bhatkhande and (ii) The Oriental Institute, Vadodara (Gujarat) for making a photocopy of Mriga.pakshi.shastra in Sanskrit. We are grateful to these institutions.

We hope the book will be of great interest to zoologists, nature scientists, ornithologists, environmentalists, and farm scientists.

Foreword

The Asian Agri-History Foundation (AAHF), a non-profit trust, was established and registered in 1994 in Secunderabad, India to facilitate dissemination of information on agricultural heritage in order to promote research on sustainable agriculture in South and Southeast Asian regions. These regions provided food security to its population for several millennia with occasional famines in limited pockets due to drought. Farmers here had evolved some of the most sustainable agricultural management techniques suitable for different agroecoregions. There is a great deal to be learned from the traditional wisdom and the indigenous, time-tested technologies that sustained the farmers of South and Southeast Asia in the past. One of the major objectives of ASHF is to disseminate information on ancient and medieval agriculture by translating old texts/manuscripts into English and published these translations with commentaries on the scientific content of the texts. The aim of these commentaries of the experts is to stimulate research to validate old practices.

The Asian Agri-History Foundation has so far published six bulletins: Vrikshayurveda (The Science of Plant Life) by Surapala (c. 1000 AD), Kishi-Parashara (Agriculture by Parashara) (c. 400 BC), Nuskha Dar Fanni-Falahat (The Art of Agriculture), a Persian manuscript by Dara Shikoh (c. 1650 AD), Kashyapiyakrishisukti (A Treatise on Agriculture) by Kashyapa (c. 800 AD), Vishvavallabha (Dear to the World: The Science of Plant Life) by Chakrapani Mishra (c. 1577 AD), and Lokopakara (For the Benefit of People) by Chavundaraya (1025 AD). This present bulletin has the translation of a Malayalam manuscript edited by Vidwan C Govinda Wariar. This edited manuscript was obtained from Adyar Library, Chennai, India through the assistance from Mr. S Parthasarathy, IAS (Retd.), Hon. Member, International Advisory Board of AAHF.

It seems several versions of “Krishi Gita” are available. The one we have translated is classified as D. No. 298 by Adyar Library, Chennai. The original author Krishi Gita is not known and there is no date indicated on the manuscript. Because the crops described in the text are the indigenous ones, and not those introduced by Europeans (Portuguese), we believe the date be c. 15th century.

An interesting fact about this text is that the advisor on agriculture is Parasurama (Axe-wielding Rama) the sixth incarnation of Vishnu. Parashu means axe, hence his name literally means Rama-with-the-axe. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Lord Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of warfare and other skills. He is a Chiranjeevin (long-living), who fought the advancing ocean back thus saving the lands of Konkan and Malabar (Maharashtra-Karnataka-Kerala coastline). The coastal area of Kerala state along with the Konkan region, i.e., coastal Maharashtra and Karnataka, is known as Parasurama Kshetra (Parasurama’s area). Parasurama is said to be a “Brahma-Kshatriya” (of the duty between a Brahman and a Kshatriya), the first warrior saint. While advice given by sages such as Parashara and Kashyapa are well-known, association of Parasurama with agriculture is not so well-known outside the India west coast.

Through the courtesy of Dr. MR Rao, Hon. Editor to AAHF, we requested Dr B Mohan Kumar to translate the text from Malayalam into English. Dr. Kumar has done a fine job of translation. Two excellent commentaries, one by Dr. Kumar himself and the other by Dr PK Ramachandran Nair, have highlighted the salient features of the text, and have indicated practices that need to be validated. The AAHF is highly grateful to Drs Rao, Kumar, and Nair.

We have reproduced the text edited by Vidwan C Govinda Wariar. Unfortunately the photocopied text that we had received needed considerable cleaning. In the process, bottom lines on very few pages were erased. We apologize for this inadequacy.

We hope this publication, like the other publications of AAHF, will prove useful to all those interested in agriculture not only in India but elsewhere in the world.

Preface

The book of verse titled Krishi Gita, written in four parts by an anonymous author(s) in ‘old’ Malayalam language, contains a wealth of information about the agricultural practices of Malayalam desam (contemporary Kerala) and the nearby regions (parts of present-day Tamil Nadu and Krnataka) of India. Compiled at an unspecified time in history, Krishi Gita epitomized the equivalent of the present-day recommended ‘package of practices’ for crop production. It covers a wide spectrum of crops including cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits, and nuts, grown in Kerala since time immemorial, and many aspects of crop production such as varieties, cultural practices, and pest incidence in a lucid style. Also included are aspects relating to agricultural water management, tillage operations (including the implements used), and animal husbandry (e.g., how to select a bullock pair for draught purposes, and where in the farm to construct a cattle shed).

Apparently many versions of Krishi Gita are available (see Menon, 1912; Gangadharan, 2004). The version of Krishi Gita edited by Vidwan C Govinda Wariar and published in the Bulletin of the Government Oriental Manuscript Library, Madras (1950), largely based on the version described as D. No. 298, was used for this translation. I believe that the English translation of the antique manuscript, with annotations and commentaries, may be useful especially from the point of view of making available traditional agricultural knowledge to a larger audience and extrapolating the information to the present times.

While translating the work, I have provided the words that in my thinking are most appropriate to convey the contextual meanings of the Malayalam/Sanskrit words and expressions in the original works for which exactly corresponding English words are not available. Plain transliteration has been used for varietal and other common names. I has also attempted to include some descriptive notes, wherever deemed appropriate.

The script is mostly written in an imperative mode of writing (‘do’s and don’ts’), which is unavoidable in a piece that supposedly translates the discourse between a great sage and his disciples in a bygone era.

On a final note, I express my sincere gratitude to the Asian Agri-History Foundation (AAHF), particularly its Chairman, Dr. YL Nene, and the founding member, Dr MR Rao, for asking me to undertake the translation of this remarkable piece, and making available a copy of the Government Oriental Manuscript Library Bulletin containing the vernacular text of Krishi Gita. Dr PK Ramachandran Nair, Distinguished Professor, University of Florida, USA made several constructive suggestions on a previous version of the script, besides writing a commentary on it. I also wish to place on record the help of Dr Jayasree Krishnankutty and Mr Shaju K Francis of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Kerala Agricultural University, Mr Katangot Prabhakaran, a language expert previously with the Kerala Sahitya Academy, Thrissur, and Mrs Sheenu S Nair, my wife, in the translation process; however, whatever blemishes are remaining these are entirely mine.

Dr Nalini Sadhale obtained MA in Sanskrit with distinction from the University of Poona, Pune, India and PhD in Sanskrit from Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. She has had a distinguished professional career and she retired in 12994 as Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskirt, Osmania University, Hyderabad. She distinguished herself by serving on several prestigious organizations, committees, and boards. She worked which include Katha in Sanskrit Poetics, Sanskrit Verse Translation of Hindi Tulasiramayana, and Translations of Urvashi and Vasantsena from Sanskrit to Marathi, Sitajosyam, from Telugu to Marathi and Surapala’s Vrikshayurveda and Krishi-Parashara from Sanskrit to English. She was recently honored by the Asian Agri-History Foundation with the AAHF Gold Medal- 2002 for her significant contributions to the Indian agricultural heritage.

The Asian Agri-History Foundation (AAHF), a nonprofit trust, was established and registered in 1994 in Secunderabad, India, to facilitate dissemination of information on agricultural heritage to promote research on sustainable agriculture in South and Southeast Asian regions. These regions provided food security to its population for several millennia, with occasional famines that too in limited pockets, primarily due to drought. Farmers here had evolved some of the most sustainable agricultural management techniques suitable for different agroecoregions. There is a great deal to be learned from the traditional wisdom and the indigenous, time-tested technologies that sustained the farmers of South and Southeast Asia in the past. One of the major objectives of AAI-TF is to disseminate information on ancient and medieval agriculture by translating old texts/manuscripts its into English and publish these translations with commentaries on the scientific content of the texts. The aim of these commentaries of the experts is to stimulate research to verify old practices.

The AAHF has so far published four bulletins:
Vrikshayurveda (The Science of Plant Life) by Surapala (c. 1000 AD), Krishi-Parashara (Agriculture by Parashara) (c. 1 century AD), Nushka Dar Fanni-Falahat (The Ant of Agriculture) (a Persian manuscript) by Dara Shikoh (c. 1650 AD), and Kashyapiyakrishisukti (A Treatise on Agriculture) by Kashyapa (c. 800 AD). This bulletin has the translation of a Sanskrit manuscript written by a scholar, Chakrapani Mishra, around 1577 AD. He worked under the patronage of Maharana Pratap, the great ruler of the Mewar region of Rajasthan in Western India, who refused to surrender or be a vassal of the Mughal ruler Akbar, despite having lost substantial territory of Mewar. Even when his kingdom remained a small territory in the Aravalli mountain ranges, Maharana Pratap offered his patronage to scholars such as Chakrapani Mishra.

Who was Maharana Pratap? According to Devilal Paliwal I Maharana Pratap—Mahan (in Hindi) published by Rajasthani Granthagar, Jodhpur, Rajasthan], Maharana Pratap was born on 9 May 1540 as the eldest son of Maharana Udai Singh (1538—1572), who was the ruler of Mewar in Rajasthan. Maharana Pratap succeeded his father and ascended the throne of Mewar on 28 February I 572. A substantial territory of Mewar had already been conquered by Akbar in 1568, and constant pressure on him to surrender continued. Through the rest of his life, Maharana Pratap successfully protected his territory against repeated invasions by Akbar’s armies. Finally in I 586 Akbar decided to leave Maharana Pratap alone. During his reign, Maharana Pratap developed Chavand as his capital and his kingdom flourished from 1586 until his death (i9th January 1597). Maharana Pratap protected his own honor as well as that of his people all through his life.

And who was Chakrapani Mishra? As pointed out earlier, Chakrapani worked under the patronage of Maharana Pratap. He wrote three treatises: They are, Rajyabhishek Paddhati, dealing with administration, Muhurtarmala covering astronomy, portents, etc., and Vishvavallabha describing the art of agriculture in arid, semi-arid, and hilly regions. According to Mr B M Jawalia (Maharana Pratap and his Times, published by Maharana Pratap Smarak Samiti, Motimagri, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India), Chakrapani was a Brahmin of the Mathur subcaste and belonged to Nasavare Chobe family, enjoying the ancestral title of ‘Mishra’. Chakrapani was well versed in the Vedas, the 6 systems of philosophy, and also other religious treatises and several branches of science.

Recently (in 2003) a scholarly book containing Hindi translation of Chakrapani Mishra’s three texts mentioned above has been authored by Dr. Shri Krishan “Jugnu” (published by Maharana Pratap Smarak Samiti, Udaipur, Rajasthan). The book indeed is a fine contribution to Sanskrit literature. However, its utility to agricultural scientists seems to be limited.

In this bulletin the manuscript (5861-22) reproduced and used was procured from the Rajasthan Prachya Vidya Pratishthan, Jodhpur, Rajasthan through the tenacious efforts of Dr S L Choudhary, Advisor to AAHF and Founder Secretary of The Rajasthan Chapter of AAHF.

The text has been translated and commented upon by Professor (Dr) Nalini Sadhale, Hyderabad, once again without charging any fee. The AAHF is highly grateful to both Dr Choudhary and Professor Sadhale.

Two commentaries have been written; one by Professor Sadhale and the other by Dr Y L Nene. Both the commentaries hopefully would stimulate scholar’s arid researchers to provide additional notes on the literary and scientific value of Vishvavallabha. I believe there is a great opportunity for Indian agricultural scientists to relate heritage to the present-day agriculture.

The handwritten text obtained from Jodhpur as well as a typed version of the same have been printed for ease of reading. An index of plant names has been prepared by Dr Y L Nene.

We hope this publication will prove useful to all those interested in agriculture, not only in India but elsewhere in the world.

Dr Sadashiv Moreshwar Ayachit was born in 1929. He obtained MA in Sanskrit/Pali in 1953 and PhD in Sanskrit/ Linguistics in 1959 from the University of Poona, Pune. India. He has had a distinguished professional career and he retired in 1987, after working for 23 years, as the Manuscripts Officer, Nagpur University, Nagpur, India. He distinguished himself by serving on several prestigious organizations, committees, and boards. He has several publications which include translation of Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh’s thesis into Marathi, titled Vaidik Sahityat Dharmacha Ugam ani Vikas”. He is presently working as Founder/Co-Director of itihas/Sanskrit Sanshodhan Kendra. Nagpur. Dr Ayachit was honored by the Maharashtra Government in 1997 and was specially felicitated by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 1999.

The Asian Agri-History Foundation (AAHF), a non-profit Trust, was established and registered in 1994 to facilitate dissemination of information on agricultural history to promote research on sustainable agriculture in South and Southeast Asia region. This region had generally provided food security to its population for several millennia, with only occasional famines in a few limited pockets due primarily to drought. Farmers in the region had evolved some of the most sustainable agriculture management technologies suitable for different agroecoregions. There is a great deal to be learned from the traditional wisdom and the indigenous, lime-tested technologies that have sustained the farmers of South and Southeast Asia in the past. The historical perspective of gradual development of traditional technologies will provide clues for (i) understanding how farmers adjusted to changing environment in the past; and (ii) developing appropriate technologies leading to prosperous, sustainable agriculture. One of the major objectives of AAHF is to disseminate information on agriculture of the past by translations, with commentaries on the scientific content of texts. The aim of such commentaries by experts is to stimulate research to confirm, or otherwise, many old practices.

AAHF has so far published three bulletins: Vrikshayurveda (The Science of Plant Life) by a physician Surapala (c. 1000 AD), Krishi-Parashara (Agriculture by the sage Parashara) (e. V century AD), and Nuskha Dar Fanni-Falahat (The Art of Agriculture) (a manuscript written in Persian in c. 1650 AD) by Dara Shikoh, a Mughal prince.

The translation of the Sanskrit text, Kashyapiyakrishisukti, was completed with dedicated efforts by Dr S M Ayachit, despite health problems. Dr Ayachit retired from Nagpur University, Nagpur, India and has been associated with the ltihas/Sanskrit Sanshodhan Kendra at Nagpur. He currently lives in Pune, India. Though Dr Ayachit wanted the use of International Phonetic Alphabet in English translation, we have not done it for various reasons.

A copy of the manuscript (No. 38J8) in Devanagari script was obtained from the Adyar Library, Chennai, India. The copy was made by hand by Pandit V N Sastri and was checked together by Sri N P. Bhat and Pandit Sastri himself. A photocopy of the above was made available to the AAHF by Sri S K Chitale, who had obtained it from Sri R M Pujari. We are most grateful to all the above for their kind assistance. Dr Ayachit got another copy of this manuscript which was also used for this work (manuscript no. xxxviii-i-8; TR 871, 1930 AD).

Kashyapiyakrishisukti was translated in English in 1985 by G Wojtilla and was published in Hungary. Thus the text by Kashyapa is not being translated for the first time. The AAHP undertook the present assignment because (i) Wojtilla’s translation is not easily available; and (ii) the translation was apparently not reviewed by an agricultural scientist Special gratitude is due to Dr (Ms) Nalini Sadhale, Professor of Sanskrit (retired) Hyderabad, India who reviewed the translation and wrote it in the present format. The Sanskrit text was rewritten by hand by Mr Prabhakar R Jogdand and commentaries have been written by Dr Sadhale and Dr Y L Nene. At the end of each verse in the Sanskrit text, the verse number has been indicated in Devanagari; however, to assist readers corresponding Arabic numerals have been given at every tenth verse throughout the text. Each verse has two lines considered as ‘a’ and ‘b and indicated so in the translation. For example, 10a is the first line of verse 10 and 10b is the second line. All the names of plant species appearing in the text have been listed in Appendix 1 prepared by Y L Nene.

The AAHF acknowledges the contributions made by S M Sinha, Sheila Vijayakumar, S Lalitha Annapurna, K Anna Puma Devi, Sridhar Rao C. and P Nageswara Rao. in art work, designing, editing, typing, and formatting the bulletin.

I had already intended to translate the text here being presented three decades ago when one of my friends had suggested procuring the manuscript for him to work upon. I was then in charge of the Manuscripts Department of Nagpur University, Nagpur, India and was in contact with concerned scholars. However the project was then somehow deferred. Therefore, when my young friend (now propagating research in Vidarbha’s history) Si-is K Chitale introduced me to the Asian Agri-History Foundation (AAHF) and opened up the project again, I gladly accepted it. He was responsible to request Dr Y L Nene, Chairman, AAHF to again take up the topic which was sidetracked. I have no adequate expression to thank these two scholars for the loving care with which they have treated me all along. I was then attending the Indian History Congress session at Chennai, India, which enabled me to personally contact the Adyar Library in Chennai.

I got a photocopy of a transcription from an original Tamil manuscript (TR-87 1-6341 9-XXXVIII-i-8). This consists of 113 folios of the text and 19 folios giving a fuller description of the contents, presumably prepared by the transcribers/copyist, who records at the end “Iti Shilashasanaparishodhakena panditen Vijayaraghavacharyen likhitam”. The copyist informs us that he was working as an epigraphist to the government, and that he completed the work at Tirupati on 19 December 1930. The title of the work is given as Kashyapamunikathita Kashyapiyakrishisukti”. The copy incorporates the base text. Verse numbers are not given. The copyist has done his job ably, neatly, and responsibly. He deserves credit for making this rare text available to us eliminating the textual difficulties as far as possible. In spite of a few vagaries of a southerner, his writing seems sufficiently reliable. No other copy of this work is known to rue. The fact of its publication/translation by a foreigner was made known to me only recently.

Sri Chitale had handed over another transcribed copy of this work to Dr Nene, who got the text rewritten for printing it in this volume. This copy belongs to Sri G G Joshi Pratisthan of Nagpur. It bears the transcript No. 3818. It was prepared by Pandit V N Sastri, who compared it with the original with the assistance of Sri N R Bhat. This copy contains verse numbers, which are followed in this volume (after few corrections). The numbering obviously seems to be the copyist’s work. This copy is much inferior in comparison with that described above. In a few places, the copyist could not correctly read the original words; he therefore wrote them wrongly, and also left lacunae (which now could easily be filled up).

I had completed the translation in Nagpur and finally submitted it to Dr Nene on 7 June 1999. Our correspondence started in December 1996. For a number of reasons, the translation work lingered on, for which I am wholly responsible, in order to overcome some sentential difficulties, I had planned to group the matter under sub-headings, because the text did not lend itself to the desired succinctness. I also followed the International Phonetic Script, which has come to stay in research publications. However, I could not find time to recast my analytical rendering. I am extremely glad to find the translation now in a different format, ably done by Dr Nalini Sadhale, though of course my agreement to this presentation is not complete. I am heartily grateful to her for sincere and scholarly work, as also to Dr Nene for his constant supervision over the whole project. Since I was not involved in this later technical procedure, carried out far away from my place, I could only correct and improve the final proofs, which were otherwise perfect. I have tried not to disturb the final presentation copy. The text also in its rewritten form had to be kept untouched.

The date of the author is as usual a vexed problem without any clue to its chronological position. The title suggests, however, that the author belonged to the school of Kashyapa (a hoary antiquity), and reminds Manu’s disciple Bhrgu, who wrote the famous Smriti in his name and on his behalf. The simplicity of the author’s style is as deceptive as Valmiki’s Ramayana. References to a few writers on cookery are hardly helpful to us in our present knowledge of the ancient works. I therefore refrain from any remarks. The question can best be left to personal conjecture. Though this question seems beyond settlement, the text is undoubtedly interesting for its bold views on a number of topics, and for its informative data. Apart from regular agricultural subjects, the author touches town planning, state responsibilities, marketing business, cooking, diet and nutrition, social thinking, and hints for legislation. Even communistic trends are no bar to this writer.

There is ample scope for further research in this field. The varieties of crops vis-à-vis extensive synonymy are a problem. If every single term is presumed to he non- convertible, it can he ventured that all the names express, or at least represent, so many varieties. Questions arising from this assumption are many, and the solutions disputable. To take just one haphazard instance of common occurrence, rasala stands not only for mango, but also signifies olibanum (Boswellia spp.), breadfruit, wheat, and sugarcane in different periods of history, which we are unable to specify, or at least infer, for want of means to ascertain. Problems of textual, critical, and linguistic nature form an independent subject for investigation. Though attempts have been made in this direction, the vast material available in Sanskrit is yet to he primarily sorted out for examination. Unless the researcher has a good knowledge of the structure of the Sanskrit language and learning, such scientific projects of serious contention are hard to get through. Team work is necessary.

So far as this text is concerned, I hope the translated text in English is more than tentative. Despite a few difficulties in getting at the purport, I take it that the text as we have it is mostly free from doubts. Sanskritists are invited to come forward for collaboration in further studies. Finally, I again offer my profuse thanks to all those who have actively participated in this venture, and to AAHF authorities for undertaking such useful work of academic nature with so much vigor and tenacity.