INDIAN SHIPPING
which refers to ships as the means of crossing the illimitable expanse of water, even as lamps destroy darkness. The Rāja-Taraṅginī[1] contains a passage describing the misfortunes of a royal messenger on the sea.
Lastly, we may notice in this connection the frequent mention in ancient Sanskrit literature of pearls and references to pearl fishery as one of the important national industries of India, and especially in the land of the Tamils towards the south. It is hardly necessary to point out that pearls could not have been procured without the aid of adventurous mariners and boats that could breast the ocean wave and brave the perils of the deep. According to Varāhamihira, Garuḍa Purāṇa, and Bhoja, pearl-fishing was carried on in the whole of the Indian Ocean as far as the Persian Gulf, and its chief centres were off the coasts of Ceylon, Pāralaukika, Saurāshṭra, Tāmraparṇī, Pārasava, Kauvera, Pāndyavāṭaka, and Haimadesha. According to Agastya, the chief centres of Indian pearl-fishing were in the neighbourhood of Ceylon, Arabia, and Persia. Pearls were also artificially manufactured by Ceylonese craftsmen, but the Tamils were through-
- ↑
सान्धिविग्रहिकः सोऽथ गच्छन् पोतच्युतोऽम्बुधौ।
प्राप पारं तिमिग्रासात्तिमिमुत्पाव्य निर्गतः॥[The royal messenger fell into the sea while proceeding on a vessel, and a whale devoured him; but ripping open its belly, he came out and crossed the sea.]
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