कृषि-पाराशर (महर्षि पराशर - प्राचीन भारतीय कृषि, मृदा-परीक्षण, वर्षा-पूर्वानुमान व बीज-संस्कार)

KṚṢI-PARĀŚARA 81
177. One, being pure and with a concentrated mind, should
personally sow three handfuls of seeds moistened with cold water
after meditating upon Indra.
178-180. The cultivator, with a delighted heart, having observed
puṇyāha¹ for paddy, should face eastward, and holding a pitcher, read
this valuable incantation : —Obeisance be to thee, O auspicious Earth,
the divine queen and giver of many crops, let all crops sprout up, may
God pour forth seasonal rain; may farmers be healthy with riches,
paddy and opulence.
181. Farmers being treated to delicious dishes with ghee and
pāyasa² in the field after the sowing is done, agriculture becomes free
from impediments.
Now the application of the mayikā³
182. Having sown the seeds, cause the mayikā to be applied
there. In the absence of that, there is no even growth of the seeds.
Now the procedure of transplantation
183. Seeds are of two kinds, (for) sowing and (for) transplanta-
tion. (That for) sowing is free from disease, (that for) transplantation
is always attended with maladies.
184. Do not gather seedlings (for transplantation) from full
grown paddy plants. All seedlings, grown hard in fields, do not
yield fruit.
185. The transplantation (of seedlings of all crops) (should be)
one cubit apart (from one another) in Cancer (i.e. Śrāvaṇa), half a
cubit in Leo (i.e. Bhādra) and four fingers apart in Virgo (i.e. Āśvina).
1 Lit. auspicious day. It came to denote a festival, performed on an
auspicious day, for the success of an undertaking.
2 Also called paramānna, prepared by boiling together milk, rice and a
sweet substance like sugar, etc.
3 For meaning, see Glossary.