5.1. Food and Drinks

The writer describes briefly about the food and drinks at his times. When the army-expedition of Harṣa started, the porters^[1] were engaged by the king and they carried the kitchen utensils, collected^[2] the young rabbits, vegetables (śāka), leaves and shoots of bamboo etc., which were prime requirements for cooking at that time. It implies that there were veg. and non-veg. people in the king’s army-camp. Some ways of preparing foods are also mentioned in the Harṣacarita.

It is described in the brāhmaṇa’s house, to worship the gods, there were prepared the oblation consisting of sweet meat known as the following—

Purodāśa: It was a sacrificial oblation^[3] made of rice and offered in vessels.

It mentioned by M. R. Kāle that—

“A habitual agnihotrī always offered oblations to the sacred fire.”^[4]

Āmikṣā: It was a mixture of curds and boiled milk, offered in the vaiśvadeva oblation. The milk^[5] was very essential for preparing this oblation.

Caru: It^[6] was an oblation of rice.

Soma: The writer Bāṇa^[7] himself mentions that his family was engaged in the performance of soma sacrifices and they also drank it.

Gorasa: The milk was known as gorasa^[8] and various products were made from milk at that time. According to P. V. Kane-“gorasa may be cow’s milk or butter milk.”^[9]

Dadhi: Dadhi was a curd. It was prepared from the milk. It founds in the Harṣacarita that it was presented^[10] to the king Harṣavardhana by the villagers. Milk, butter, ghee were supplied by the vatsapālaka^[11] (cowherds), mahāghoṣa^[12] etc.

Among the sweets, description is found in the Harṣacarita about molasses (i.e.,guḍa,p.113) and sugar (i.e., śarkarā,p.77) used. Sometimes molasses is mentioned with different names, such as—

Phāṇita: It^[13] was a raw-sugar and a special kind of pungent drink. According to the Amarakoṣa^[14] -matsyaṇḍī phāṇitaṃ khaṇḍavikāre śarkarā sitā (i.e., an unrefined sugar). Again, the word khaṇḍa^[15] used to imply candied-sugar.

Madhu: The Harṣacarita describes that it^[16] was collected from the forests and sold in the villages. Use of wine is mentioned in the time of the writer, which was also known as madhu.^[17] It is described that in the marriage of princess Rājyaśrī, the wine i.e., śālājira^[18] had been preserved in a group of raw clayware. At that time, wine was known as soma (p.36), madirā (p.44,72), madhu (p.106), śālājira (p.69) etc. It was taken as amṛta.^[19] It is noted in the Harṣacarita that the word caṣakamadhuni^[20] to implied the wine glasses. According to Amarakoṣa,^[21] the word caṣaka implies the glass of wine. Sometimes the caṣaka^[22] was made with the pearl or stone etc. The people, generally, were not accustomed to drinking wine. Only on some occasions did it was used. Description of over drunken person’s unsteady condition is found in the princess Rājyaśrī’s marriage time (e.g., due to their intoxication),^[23] the leather workers struck the drums very loudly. It is mentioned that the women’s^[24] face were fragrant like wine. The author Bāṇabhaṭṭa^[25] mentions that he was the member of great vātsāyana family and, although they were brāhmaṇa, they drank wine (soma). It shows that at that time the wine was not prohibited for brāhmaṇas. The author used the word pānabhūmi^[26] and āpānamaṇḍapa^[27] to indicate the liquor shop. Amarakoṣa^[28] also supports it.

Saktu: It^[29] is a barley meal prepared from barley flour with the accurate mixing of water.

Jala (Water): Jala was regarded as the life and nectar of all people. The author mentions how the people felt thirsty in the hot summer and wished to drink water.^[30]

Bāṇa has mentioned that fruits also constituted an important item of food and the fruits were mainly taken from foresters.^[31] The people also have drunken different fruits-juices^[32] such as of coconut^[33] etc. The Harṣacarita mentions other types of fruits like ikṣu (sugar-cane,p.42), pīlu (p.127), trapuṣa (cucumber,p.123), lakuca (a bread fruit,p.128), nārikela (p.126), sahakāraphala (mango,p.123), kadalī (banana,p.29) etc.

Again, different kinds of corns are mentioned which were the prime foods in Bāṇa’s time. These were-nīvāra (a wild rice growing without cultivation,p.21.128), śāli (p.42), ṣaṣṭḥika (a kind of rice,p.123), vanyadhānya (wild corn,p.123), rājamāṣa (a kind of bean,p.123), khaṇḍa (candied sugar,p.113), śyāmāka (a king of grain,p.21) etc. It implies that rice was also the food in the 7^th century A.D.

Tāmbūla (Betel-nut): It is mentioned in the Harṣacarita many times. In Indian tradition people take betel-nut in various occasions and as a habitual act. The employees, who were engaged to distribute the tāmbūla in the royal palace was known as tāmbūlakarṅkavāhinī^[34] at that time. The word karaṅka^[35] used to imply the betel-box. The writer mentions that king Dadhīca^[36] chewed different types of things such as—sahakāra, karpūra, kakkola, lavaṅga etc. for being of scent-mouthed. After taking foods, the people chew betel nut and betel leaves. The writer mentions at that time peoples lips looked^[37] red as a result of taking tāmbūla and betel leaves. He also mentions^[38] some of the betel nuts were green and some red. Now a day’s also habits of chewing tāmbūla is very common.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

…..bhūpatibhṛtakabhārikairmahānasopakaraṇa…, Ibid.,VII.p.113

[2]:

… śiśuśaśakaśākapatravetrāgrasaṃgrahasaṃgrāhibhiḥ…, Ibid.

[3]:

Ibid.,II.p.21

[4]:

Kādambarī,p.8

[5]:

āmikṣīyakṣīrakṣāriṇīnāmagnihotradhenunā, Harṣacarita,II.p.21

[6]:

Ibid.,II.p.23

[7]:

…brāhmano’smi jātaḥ somapāyināṃ vaṃśe…, Ibid.,II.p.36

[8]:

Ibid., p.114

[9]:

Ibid.,p.555

[10]:

..kumbhairupāyanīyakṛtadadhi……, Ibid.,VII.p.113

[11]:

[a] Ibid.,p.21 [b] …gopālapālitai……kṣīrodamiva kṣīraṃ …..godhanai…, Ibid.,p.42

[12]:

Ibid.,p.43

[13]:

Ibid.,VII,p.112

[14]:

Amarakoṣa,II.9.43

[15]:

Harṣacarita,VII.p.113

[16]:

bhārāṃśca madhuno mākṣikasya…..lokenādāya vrajatā….vikrayacintāvyagragrāmeyikābhi…, Harṣacarita,VII.p.124

[17]:

.. madhumadirāpānagoṣṭhayaḥ, Ibid.,VI.p.106

[18]:

…dhavalitaṃśītalaśālājiraśreṇīśca.., Ibid., IV.p.69

[19]:

madirāmṛta…, Ibid.,II.p.34

[20]:

Ibid.,VI.p.107

[21]:

Amarakoṣa,II.10.43

[22]:

….pānatṛṣitāya muktāśailaśilācaṣaka.., Harṣacarita,VIII.p.141

[23]:

madhumadapracaṇḍacarmakāra…..ranaṇmaṅgalapaṭaham.., Ibid.,IV.p.68

[24]:

…dhavaladvijaśucivadanā madirāmoditaśvasanāśca…….pramadāḥ, Ibid.,III.p.44

[25]:

brāhmano’smi jātaḥ somapāyināṃ vaṃśe vātsāyanānām, Ibid.,II.p.36

[26]:

pānabhūmiriva prakaṭitamadhukośakaśatā…, Kādambarī,p.39

[27]:

Harṣacarita,II.p.31

[28]:

āpānaṃ pānagoṣṭhikā, Amarakoṣa,II.10.43

[29]:

Harṣacarita,VII.p.123

[30]:

…….kevalaṃ jalam, janasya……. pātumabhūdabhilaṣo divasakarasantāpat, Ibid.,II.p.22

[31]:

[a] mūlaphalābhyavahārasambhavamudvamanniva ca parimalasubhagaṃ vikasakusumapaṭalapāṇḍuraṃ latāvanam, Ibid.,VIII.p.129
[b] sakalavanasarasārthasādhāraṇasya kandamūlaphalasya girisariṭambhaso va ke vayam, Ibid.,VIII.p.130

[32]:

….pratyagraphalarasapānasukhasuptapathikaiḥ……, Ibid., III.p.42

[33]:

vanapālapīyamānanārikelarasa…, Ibid.

[34]:

Ibid.,I.p.15

[35]:

Ibid.

[36]:

atisurabhi sahakārakarpūrakakkolalavaṅgapārijātakaparimalamucā… mukhena, Ibid.,I.p.9

[37]:

[a] sakṛdupayuktatāmbūlavimalādharakāntiḥ, Ibid.,III.p.39 [b] …tāmbūladhūsaradharavārayoṣiti, Ibid.,V.p.77

[38]:

parinatapāṭalapatolatviṃṣi ….kṣīrakṣārīṇi ca pugānāṃ…, Ibid.,VII.p.116