Part 6 - Details of Salt and Spices in the Mahabharata

Salt, one of the most essential food items, was known as Ksara and Lavana (VII.168.15; XII.205.12). There were however, considerable taboos attached to its use, some on grounds of health (XIII.107.86), others religious, which extended chiefly to the debarring of salt from the Sraddha rites. The prohibition was particularly valid for krsna lavana or black salt and Bida, another black variety (XIII.91.13). Both were mineral salts, Bida prepared by fusing fossil salt with a small portion of Emblic Myro- -balan, the product being muriate of soda, with small quantities of muriate of lime, sulphur and oxide of iron. It is difficult to see any reason for this exclusion, but it may be due to salt being too commonplace, within the reach of all and sundry, a food of the very poor (V.34.47). But though common-place for ceremonial offerings, it was nevertheless the most essential ingredient of food and therefore, denying salt was considered meritorious and was recommended to a Brahmin sage (XIII.91.13). Other spices and codiments too, were added to food, for a richer and a varied taste. Of these (11) Hingulaka or assafoetida, and (111) Afail or cumins, were also dubbed as 'asraddheya' i.e. "unfit for sraddha

offerings". Again the reason is difficult to perceive (XIII.91.40), unless the taboo arose because these were imports unknown in the country. Hingu was the resinuous substance of the herb (Ferula Assafoetida) or (Ferula foetida) found in Eastern Persia and Southern Turkestan. The nearest source was probably Afghanistan for the herb occurs in Khorasan and the neighbouring parts of Herat (Watt 1890: III.334-335). In this context it is interesting to note, that in the ancient literature the Makran chain of hills was known as the home of a river named Hingula, and a godess named Hingulaja, who was believed to be vermillion in colour. The godess was also known as Dadhiparni, due to her association with the ancient Scythian tribes of Dahae and Pernicus (Agrawala 1963: 41). Thus, would could - 135 it be that assefoetida came into India through trade contacts with these foreign tribes, and was consequently a stranger to ceremonial cooking. The story of cumins too, is not much different. Though at present cultivated in most parts of India, it is originally a native of the Medditterean region, and probably Persia. For a long time, till about half-a-century ago, they were being imported either from the Red Sea ports or from Afghanistan, through the Bolan Pass (Watts 1889: II.642-643). Cumins is also refered to as Jiraka (Persian, 'Jhira'), the plant described as growing in the Himalayan Gandhamadana forest,

a mistaken and exotic geographical locale (III.155.40). Hingu, on the other hand, appears in two similes - the orange-tinged evening clouds and the tawny-complexioned Vanaras appear to the poet like ground Hingulaka (III.186.66-67; III.267.11). - 136 (iv) Haridra: (Curcuma longa), Turmeric, too, appears A yellowin only two similes, out of context with food. -skinned snake, and once again the orange-tinged evening clouds are likened to turmerio (III.175.13, 186.66-67). (v) Forests of Tvakpatra, in all probability (Cinnomomum Zylomicum), at present known as dalchini, existed side by side with those of Sandalwood and Black. Aloe (XII.164.18), and point towards the South, Mysore and Tamilnadu, although the exact geographical locale is not identifiable. (vi) A proper meal, rather on the lavish side, was always served with a variety of sauces and seasonings, called Vyanjana and Vesavara, as separate preparations or side- -dishes (III.93.19; XIII.53.16). The parallels in modern times are to the dry and wet 'chutneys' and sweet, sour, and hot pickles. Vesavara according to Susurta was a sort of seasoning made of ground coriander, mustard, pepper, and ginger, and some other spices (Monier Williams 1899 : 1019), clearly some kind of a 'chutney' in modern

- 137 terminology. The Mahabharata refers to many different types of Vesavaras, probably prepared from a variety of codiments. Salt and spices have become such an essential and intimate part of Indian food that it is difficult to even imagine that many of them were unknown to the early Indians. Salt is never mentioned in the Rgveda, only once in the Atharvaveda, and after that not till the latest portions of the Brahmanas, where it is regarded as extremely valuable. This long silence in earlier literature is somewhat puzzling, as pointed out by Macdo- -nell, since salt abounds in the Punjab and the Indus Valley, the home of the Vedic Aryans. He, however, explains it "as quite conceivable that a necessary commodity might happen to be passed over without literary mention in a region where it is very common, but to be refered to in a locality where it is not found, and consequently becomes highly prized" (Macdonell and Keith 1912 : 230). The locale in the Brahmanas and the Upanishads had shifted eastwards to the Saraswati and the Ganga, where salt had to be imported from outside. The Mahabharata reflects a mixed attitude. Salt, on one hand, is the food of the poor, (V.38.5) on the other, an essential commodity, not to be sold or stolen (XIII.112.95).

= 138 Haridra, turmeric too, appears in the Atharva- -veda Samhita (Om Prakash 1961 : 20). Hingulaka, assafoetida, on the other hand, was introduced in the Sutra Period (Gautama Dharma Sutra XVIII.32-33). Jira, cumins, occurs in the Jatakas (1.274), while cumins as ajaji is mentioned in the Arthasastra (II.15.21). It is thus likely, that these spicy items, were slowly and gradually introduced in the diet of the Vedic people as their local and trade contacts grew more intimate. Yet due to their novelty and unknown foreign sources, certain taboos were attached to them, which debarred them from important religious ceremonies, e.g. the sraddha offerings. Vyanjana is mentioned by Panini as some sort of a seasoning, whose use was obligatory in order to make the food tasty. The nature of a dish determined whether or not a particular article was an indespensable or an optional ingredient (Agrawala 1963: 104). Vesavara occurs in the medical works of the early Christian Era as a spicy stuffing. On the whole the Mahabharata data on the subject of spices and codiments is rarther meagre and inconclusive. The curious thing, however, about all these codiments is that they occur exclusively in Parvas III and XIII, so

- 139 that their restricted and meagre appearance suggests a later incorporation. Yet, at the same time, it is obvious that all the spices mentioned in the Epic were already known to literature by about the 3 rd 4 th centuries B.C.