"Good. In four Danḍa's time[1] you must level the ground perfectly on all sides."
"The rice was planted in several places on the ridges between the furrows, and Çiva, kneeling, applied himself to work with a weeding hook.
"The grasses called Dala-durbā and Çyāma,[2] Triçirā[3] and Kesur[4] were weeded out with care, and the straw in the field was quickly cleared. The old fellow[5] would not leave the field for one moment, but kept watch over it like a tiger."
Altogether it is a long description, giving every detail of the field-work of the Bengali peasantry from which we have taken only the above short extract. Means are suggested for the destruction of the mosquitoes and leeches with which the marshy fields of Lower Bengal, are infested, and other precautions are given by which the peasant may secure a good harvest. From the language in which these episodes are couched, I an inclined to believe, that they formed part of some old song of Çiva which Rāmeçwar was incorporating in his
- ↑ A Danda is 24 minutes. 712 Dandas make a Prahara and 4 Praharas make a day (12 hours). Time is reckoned in Bengal-villages by this standard even now.
- ↑ Species of Cyperus.
- ↑ Grass with three blades.
- ↑ Scirpus kyseer.
- ↑ Çiva is here meant.
গড় খড় নানা খড় উপারে প্রচুর।
বাদ নাহি বাঘ যেন বসি থাকে বুড়া॥
Çivāyana by Rameçwar.
