Part 2 - Details of Pulses in the Mahabharata

Six different pulses have been mentioned in the Mahabharata 1) Masa : (Phaseolus mungo), Udida, (XIII.112.62). 11) Balamaga : (Delichos Cationa), (XIII.63.31). 111) Kalaya : (Pisum arvense), green Pea, iv) Cane v) Kulattha (XIII.112.62). : (Cicer arientunum), the Common gram, (XIII.112.62). (Delichos Biflorus), the Horse Gram, (XIII.112.62). vi) Mudgo (Phaseolus aureus), Muga, (XIII.112.62). of these masa alone occurs more than once, as an important sraddha offering (XIII.88.3-4). There are

two other references to masa, both figurative. In one, black Vanara hordes are compared to black masa grains (III.268.34), and in the other, twany red horses to red masa flowers (VII.22.23). 118 None of the pulses occur in the Rgveda. Their first appearance is in the later Samhitas, Brahmanas and Upanisads, though not always under the same designation. Mage and mud ga were important pulses in the Yajurveda; whereas kalaya occurs as satina, and kulattha as garmuta or khalakula (Om Prakash 1961 : 264). It is only in the Sutra texts and in the aphorisms of Panini that most of these pulses like masa, mudga, kulattha, and canaka, appear with the very same designations as in the Mahabharata (Agrawala 1963: 263). In fact the earliest reference to Canaka is in the Baudhayana Grhya Sutra (Om Prakash 1961: 263). It was also during the Sutra period that masa acquired a prominent place, along with barley, rice and sesamum, in many a ritual, particularly the sraddha rites. The same is true of masa in the Mahabharata This is in striking contrast to the early Vedic Period, when for some reason or other, the use of masa was indicted for sacrificial purposes, describing it as "ayajniya" and "amedhya" (Om Prakash 1961 : 264).

119 The entire range of Mahabharata pulses, complete with kalaya occurs in the Pali canon. By the time of Patanjali, Rajamasa too, had been included in the diet (Om Prakash 1961 : 88). Meagre though this data is, it points to close parallels between the Mahabharata and the Sutra literature, including Panini (about 800-400 B.C.) on one hand, and the Buddhist Pali texts (about 500-200 B.C.), on the other. Many of the pulses mentioned above have an ancient archeobotanical record. a Masa (Phaseolus mungo), has been reported from Chalcholithic Navadatoli (1500-100 B.C.) and then after a lapse of 8 centuries from Bhokardan (200 B.C. - 200 A.D.) (Kajale 1974: 67). The Indian sub-continent, but excluding the North-west and Punjab, is believed to be the land of its origin. This probably explains its absence in the Rgveda. Mudga (Phaseolus aureus), of Green Gram, has been reported from :Neolithic Chirand (1800-1300 B.C.), Cheleolithic Navdatoli (1500-100 B.C.), and Early Historic Nevasa (Indo-Roman, 50 B.C.-200 A.D.) (Kajale 1974 : 67)

- 120 Mudga and masa, known from the days of the Yajurveda, must have been acquired by the Aryans from the local population, as they slowly pushed towards the interiors, and hence, they do not occur in the Rgveda. The taboo against masa during religious rites in the Vedic Period could also have been due to the seme reason, its associa- -tion with the local people. But already its food value was recognized in the Yajurveda, which recommends it for consumption in winter (Om Prakash 1961: 12). Slowly, with the passage of time, it acquired a very prominent role in diet as well as in ritual. Kulattha, (Delichos biflorus), Horse Gram, comes from:Neolithic Tekkalakota (1800-1000 B.C.) and Piyampally (1400 B.C.), as well as from Chalcolithic Navdatoli (1500-1000 B.C.) and Inamgaon (1600-700 B.C.) (Kajale 1974 : 66). This typically Indian crop very often growing wild in parts of the country, is believed to be anterior to the Aryan invasion. This in fact, must be true of almost

all pulses, for none appear in the Rgveda, the earliest literary record of the invading Aryans. Canaka, (Cicer arientunum), is recorded only from Maharashtra and that too, only in the Early Historical levels (Kajale 1974: 67), but as noted earlier it dates back to the Baudhayana Grhya Sutra (600-400 B.C.). Kalaya, (Pisum arvense), comes from some very early sites like : Neolithic Chirand (2000-1300 B.C.), Chalcolithic Navdatoli (1500-1000 B.C.), and Chalcolithic Inamgaon (1600-700 B.C.) (Kajale 1974 : 65). In literary history too, some kind of green pea, satina, goes back to the Samhitas of the Yajurveda. - 121