DDK HistoryF.p65 - CSIR

5.3] CATTLE, CROPS, TRADE 121
be an Aryan ritual at all; the water-pot gained brahmin sanctity only
at a late stage. TS. 3.2.6 tells us: “ If a black bird touch the speckled
butter (at the sacrifice) his slaves would be likely to die; if a dog
touch it, his four-footed cattle would be likely to die; if it were” to be
split, the sacrificer would be likely to die “. Thus the existence of human
cattle may be inferred as a minor detail. What kind of bondage existed
here is not said though the equipment, helotage, can otherwise be shown.
More important is the list of crops : rice, barley, beans, sesame, kidney
beans, vetches, wheat, lentils, millet, Panicum miliaceum, Panicum
pimen-taceum, and wild rice (TS. 4.7A), for whose abundance the
sacrificer also prays. The metals follow immediately (TS. 4.7. 5) ; gold,
bronze, lead, tin, iron, copper ; most of these must have been obtained
by trade from a distance ; neither the Indus valley nor that of the
Ganges produce any. “ What grows on ploughed land, what grows
on unploughed land” are both of importance. We are well into the period
of settlements, though not yet of cities. The new-moon and full-moon
sacrifices as well as the list of 27 naksatra constellations shows us that the
Indian calendar with lunar months had already been established ;
whether solar adjustments were made is not clear, but they could not long
have been delayed, as the crops depend upon such adjustment being
made in time to plough in advance of the seasonal rains.
The existence of regular trade is indirectly vouched for by the
treatment of gold. We read,again and again that “gold is immortality”
(TS. 5.2.7 &c.) which has ritual psychologic explanations. The gold,
however, was doled out to the priest according to TS. 2.3.2 in units of
four krsnalas each from a piece of 100 krsnalas weight. The krsnala or
gunja is a seed of the Abrus precatorius, red with black spot, still used
by Indian goldsmiths to make up small weights. The significart feature of
this is that the earliest silver coins known in India are of the 32krsnala
standard, amounting to almost exactly 54 grains; moreover,
this standard goes back to weights of class ‘ D’ found at Mohenjodaro
and Harappa. So, the TS does gives us some real information in
spite of its preoccupation with the sacrifice. The main sacrifice is that
of the horse, which was seen developing in RV. 1.162 ; but the beast