Shashtika, Ṣaṣṭika: 17 definitions
Introduction:
Shashtika means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit, biology. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
The Sanskrit term Ṣaṣṭika can be transliterated into English as Sastika or Shashtika, using the IAST transliteration scheme (?).
In Hinduism
Ayurveda (science of life)
Rasashastra (Alchemy and Herbo-Mineral preparations)
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक).—a kind of rice which grows and is harvested in course of sixty days. (see Bhudeb Mookerji and his Rasajalanidhi)
Dietetics and Culinary Art (such as household cooking)
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक) refers to a variety of rice according to the Aṣṭādhyāy I.5.1.90, and is commonly found in literature dealing with the topics of dietetics and culinary art, also known as Pākaśāstra or Pākakalā.—The discussions on rice can be seen only in post-Ṛgvedic literature. [...] Pāṇini mentions ṣaṣṭika, a variety of rice so called because it takes sixty days to ripen. [...] According to Suśruta, among the vrīhi rice the black variety, which is called kṛṣṇavrīhi, was popular. Ṣaṣṭika rice was considered very nourishing and its daily use is also recommended in the text (Suśrutasaṃhitā Sūtrasthāna 46.10).
Ṣaṣṭikā or Ṣaṣṭikāśāli refers to a variety of rice and is mentioned as being beneficial (hita) to the body according to the 17th century Bhojanakutūhala in the dravyaguṇāguṇa-kathana, which contains the discussions on different food articles and their dietetic effects according to the prominent Ayurvedic treatises. Here In the śāli (rice varieties) group Ṣaṣṭikā-śāli is mentioned as beneficial to the body (hita).
Unclassified Ayurveda definitions
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक) is a Sanskrit word translating to “rice”, according to Caraka in his Carakasaṃhitā sūtrasthāna (chapter 27), a classical Ayurvedic work. The literal translation of the word ṣaṣṭika is “sixty”, referring to the 60 days the rice needs to ripen.
Ṣaṣṭika is said to have to following varieties of rice being superior in quality. These varieties are said to be cold, unctuous, non-heavy, promoting the stability of and alleviates the three doṣas:
- Gaura (white),
- Kṛṣṇagaura (blackish-white),
- Varaka,
- Uddālaka,
- Cīna,
- Śārada,
- Ujjvala,
- Dardura,
- Gāndhāra,
- Kuruvidna.
And the following species of rice are to be inferior in quality:
- Vrīhi,
- Pāṭala.
The plant Ṣaṣṭika is part of the Śūkadhānyavarga group of medicinal plants, referring to the “group of awned grains”. Caraka defined such groups (vargas) based on the dietic value of the plant.
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक) refers to “sixty-day-old rice”, as mentioned in verse 4.29-31 of the Aṣṭāṅgahṛdayasaṃhitā (Sūtrasthāna) by Vāgbhaṭa.—Accordingly, “[...] If (a patient) has been debilitated by medicine, strengthening (him) gradually by food such as rice, sixty-day-old rice [viz., ṣaṣṭika], wheat, mung-beans, meat, and ghee—(which), in combination with cardiac and stomachic remedies, (is) promotive of appetite and digestion—as well as by inunctions, massages, baths, and purgative and lubricant enemas (is) wholesome. Thus he recovers comfort, intensity of all the fires, faultlessness of intellect, colour, and senses, potency, (and) longness of life”.
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक) refers to a variety of paddy (Oriza sativa Linn.), and is the name of a medicinal plant mentioned in the 7th-century Nirantarapadavyākhyā by Jejjaṭa (or Jajjaṭa): one of the earliest extant and, therefore, one of the most important commentaries on the Carakasaṃhitā.—Note: “The ṣaṣṭika variety of paddy (Oriza sativa Linn.) is supposed to grow and be harvested during summer or rainy seasons and usually take about sixty days…”.—(Cf. Glossary of Vegetable Drugs in Bṛhattrayī 418-419, Singh and Chunekar, 1999)
Āyurveda (आयुर्वेद, ayurveda) is a branch of Indian science dealing with medicine, herbalism, taxology, anatomy, surgery, alchemy and related topics. Traditional practice of Āyurveda in ancient India dates back to at least the first millenium BC. Literature is commonly written in Sanskrit using various poetic metres.
Jyotisha (astronomy and astrology)
Ṣāṣṭika (षाष्टिक) refers to “rice obtained from paddy which becomes ripened into a crop within sixty days” and represents one of the items offered to the nine planets (navagraha), according to the grahaśānti (cf. grahayajña) section of the Yājñavalkyasmṛti (1.295-309), preceded by the section called vināyakakalpa (1.271-294), prescribing a rite to be offered to Vināyaka.—[verse 302-303: Faggots to be burned]—These two verses prescribe different faggots [i.e., kṣīra-ṣāṣṭika] to be burned for grahas with offerings of honey, ghee, dadhi, and milk. It is interesting to note that some of the faggots (i.e. parāśa, khadira, pippala, and śamī) mentioned here are also used in the Suśrutasaṃhitā in the context (Uttaratantra chapters 27-37) of curing the diseases caused by grahas, which, in this case, are not planetary. [verse 304-305: Cooked rice (odana) to be offered to grahas]
Jyotisha (ज्योतिष, jyotiṣa or jyotish) refers to ‘astronomy’ or “Vedic astrology” and represents the fifth of the six Vedangas (additional sciences to be studied along with the Vedas). Jyotisha concerns itself with the study and prediction of the movements of celestial bodies, in order to calculate the auspicious time for rituals and ceremonies.
In Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक) refers to “nonglutinous rice that ripens in sixty days”, as mentioned in Chapter 12 (“offering food”) of the Susiddhikara-sūtra. Accordingly, “Dishes of [ordinary] nonglutinous rice (śāli), dishes of nonglutinous rice that ripens in sixty days (ṣaṣṭika), dishes of barley cooked with milk, dishes of self-sown nonglutinous rice, and dishes of Indian corn: offer as prescribed that which should be offered”.
When you wish to offer food [viz., ṣaṣṭika], first cleanse the ground, sprinkle scented water all around, spread out on the ground leaves that have been washed clean, such as lotus leaves, palāśa (dhak) leaves, and leaves from lactescent trees, or new cotton cloth, and then set down the oblatory dishes. [...] First smear and sprinkle the ground and then spread the leaves; wash your hands clean, rinse out your mouth several times, swallow some water, and then you should set down the food [viz., ṣaṣṭika]. [...]
Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.
Biology (plants and animals)
Sastika in India is the name of a plant defined with Oryza sativa in various botanical sources. This page contains potential references in Ayurveda, modern medicine, and other folk traditions or local practices It has the synonym Oryza sativa var. rubribarbis Desv. (among others).
Example references for further research on medicinal uses or toxicity (see latin names for full list):
· Handbuch des Getreidebaus (1885)
· Plant Systematics and Evolution (1993)
· Physis. Revista de la Sociedad Argentina de Ciencias Naturales (1933)
· Landwirthschaftliche Flora (1866)
· Nomenclator Botanicus (1821)
· Kulturpflanze (1981)
If you are looking for specific details regarding Sastika, for example chemical composition, side effects, health benefits, extract dosage, diet and recipes, pregnancy safety, have a look at these references.
This sections includes definitions from the five kingdoms of living things: Animals, Plants, Fungi, Protists and Monera. It will include both the official binomial nomenclature (scientific names usually in Latin) as well as regional spellings and variants.
Languages of India and abroad
Sanskrit dictionary
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक).—a. Bought with sixty.
-kaḥ, -kā A kind of rice of quick growth; घृतक्षीरसमायुक्तं विधिवत् षष्टिकौदनम् (ghṛtakṣīrasamāyuktaṃ vidhivat ṣaṣṭikaudanam) Mahābhārata (Bombay) 13.64.14.
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक).—mfn.
(-kaḥ-kā-kaṃ) Bought with sixty. mf.
(-kaḥ-kā) A kind of rice of quick growth. E. ṣaṣ six, (days,) ṭhan aff.; or ṣaṣṭi sixty, and kan added.
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक).—[ṣaṣṭi + ka], I. adj. Bought with sixty. Ii. m., and f. kā, A kind of rice of quick growth.
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक).—[neuter] the number sixty, sixty.
1) Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक):—[from ṣaṣ] mfn. bought with sixty, [Horace H. Wilson]
2) [v.s. ...] m. or f(ā). a kind of rice of quick growth (ripening in about 60 days), [Mahābhārata; Suśruta; Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā] etc.
3) [v.s. ...] n. the number 60 [Varāha-mihira’s Bṛhat-saṃhitā]
4) Ṣāṣṭika (षाष्टिक):—mfn. ([from] ṣaṣṭi) sixty years old, [Pāṇini 5-1, 58], [vArttika] 3, [Patañjali]
5) ([from] ṣaṣṭika) See kṣīra-ṣāṣṭika.
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक):—[(kaḥ-kā)] 1. m. 3. f. A kind of rice of quick growth. a. Bought with sixty.
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक):—m. n. gaṇa ardharcādi zu [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 2, 4, 31.]
1) m. in sechzig Tagen reifender Reis (vulgo sāṭhī) [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 5, 1, 90.] [Amarakoṣa 2, 9, 24.] [Hemacandra’s Abhidhānacintāmaṇi 1168.] [Mahābhārata 13, 5971.] [Suśruta 1, 73, 4. 156, 20. 195, 15. 19. 2, 41, 1.] ṣaṣṭiko vrīhiṣu śreṣṭhaḥ [VĀGBH. 1, 6, 7.] [Algebra 316.] [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 29, 3.] piṣṭayoga [76, 9.] ṣaṣṭikānna [51, 30.] ṣaṣṭikaudana [76, 8.] [Mahābhārata 13, 3265.] [Suśruta 1, 357, 8.] gaura und kṛṣṇagaura [CARAKA 1, 27.] Vgl. kṣīra . —
2) f. ā dass. [Tithyāditattva] und [VĀCASPATIMIŚRA im Śabdakalpadruma] [Suśruta 1, 228, 10.] —
3) n. Sechzigzahl, sechzig [Varāhamihira’s Bṛhajjātaka S. 32, 31.]
--- OR ---
Ṣāṣṭika (षाष्टिक):—adj. von ṣaṣṭi gaṇa niṣkādi zu [Pāṇini’s acht Bücher 5, 1, 20.] sechzigjährig [58, Vārttika von Kātyāyana. 3, Scholiast] — Vgl. dvi .
Ṣaṣṭika (षष्टिक) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit words: Saṭṭhika, Saṭhṭhiya, Saṭṭhīa.
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
Kannada-English dictionary
Ṣaṣṭika (ಷಷ್ಟಿಕ):—[noun] a species of rice that takes sixty days to be harvested, from the date of being sown.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Starts with (+0): Shashtikara, Shashtikashali, Shashtikavrihi.
Full-text (+32): Adhikashashtika, Kshirashashtika, Dvishashtika, Krishnashashtika, Shashtikya, Shashtija, Tanonu, Shashtivasaraja, Shashtishali, Shashtikashali, Haimana, Shashtikavrihi, Shashtike, Vrihi, Kedaraka, Sarvasamgata, Shashtikodana, Varaka, Kshirayashtika, Satthika.
Relevant text
Search found 41 books and stories containing Shashtika, Ṣaṣṭika, Sastika, Ṣāṣṭika; (plurals include: Shashtikas, Ṣaṣṭikas, Sastikas, Ṣāṣṭikas). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Agriculture and Animal husbandry in the Puranas (by Purboshri Borpuzari)
Part 27 - Agricultural Products Used as Medicines < [Chapter 2 - Agriculture and its importance]
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Charaka Samhita (English translation) (by Shree Gulabkunverba Ayurvedic Society)
Chapter 27a - The group of awned cereals (Shukadhanya—monocotyledons) < [Sutrasthana (Sutra Sthana) — General Principles]
Chapter 2b - Milk-saturated rice and other preparations (asikta-ksirika) < [Cikitsasthana (Cikitsa Sthana) — Section on Therapeutics]
Chapter 2c - Bred on the leaves of the blackgram etc. (masha-parna-bhrita) < [Cikitsasthana (Cikitsa Sthana) — Section on Therapeutics]
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