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

INTRODUCTION vii
the Kṛṣi-parāśara appears to be scrupulously silent on this point. Had
the author of the latter been also the composer of the Smṛti
work, he could have hardly resisted the temptation of putting in a word
or two on the caste-duties on which Manu and other authoritative
Smṛti works have given their definite opinion, and of which he him-
self has spoken a good deal in his own work. An evidence against
the alleged identity of the two works is to be found in the difference
between the rules, provided by the two, about the particular kinds of
bulls to be rejected for the purpose of cultivation. According to the
Smṛti, the bulls of the following descriptions are to be avoided.⁴
(1) hīnāṅga (deformed)
(2) vyādhita (diseased)
(3) klīva (impotent)
(4) kṣudhita (hungry)
(5) tṛṣita (thirsty)
(6) śrānta (fatigued)
But, as shown below, the Kṛṣi-parāśara does not mention many
of these kinds while adding many new descriptions. The Kṛṣi-parāśara
lays particular stress on the colour of the animals, while the other
work is silent on this point. Had the works been of the same author,
we could not have expected such a difference of views.
One point is, however, significant. Though, in the Smṛti,
Parāśara, in accordance with traditional ideas, has prescribed agricul-
ture for non-Brāhmaṇas, yet he does not seem to be very keen about
making the rule rigid in consideration of the importance of agricul-
ture in daily life. As a matter of fact, Parāśara allows agriculture
to Brāhmaṇas only under certain restrictions about the number of
bulls to be employed by them ; and certain atonements are to be
undergone by them to wash off the sin of ploughing. This attitude
of the author, which is not one of condemnation, may be supposed,
though on very shaky grounds, to explain the complete absence of
any reference to castes in the Kṛṣi-parāśara. It may as well be that
the purely secular nature of the work on agriculture did not afford
4 Page 89 of the Parāśara-smṛti, Fasc. I, Ed. Dharmādhikārī, Benares.