INDIAN SHIPPING
The ancient shipbuilders had a good knowledge of the materials as well as the varieties and properties of wood which went to the making of ships. According to the Vṛiksha-Āyurveda, or the Science of Plant Life (Botany), four different kinds of wood[1] are to be distinguished: the first or the Brahman class comprises wood that is light and soft and can be easily joined to any other kind of wood; the second or the Kshatriya class of wood is light and hard but cannot be joined on to other classes; the wood that is soft and heavy belongs to the third or Vaisya class; while the fourth or the Sudra class of wood is characterized by both hardness and heaviness. There may also be distinguished wood of the mixed (Dvijāti) class, in which are blended properties of two separate classes.
According to Bhoja, an earlier authority on shipbuilding, a ship built of the Kshatriya class of wood brings wealth and happiness.[2] It is these ships that are to be used as means of communication where the communication is difficult owing to vast water.[3]
- ↑ लघु यत् कोमलं काष्ठं सुघटं ब्रह्मजाति तत्।
दृढ़ाङ्गं लघु यत् काष्ठमघटं क्षत्रजाति तत्॥
कोमलं गुरु यत् काष्ठं वैश्यजाति तदुच्यते।
दृढ़ाङ्गं गुरु यत् काष्ठं शूद्रजाति तदुच्यते॥
लक्षणद्वय योगेन द्विजातिः काष्ठ संग्रहः॥ - ↑ क्षत्रियकाष्ठैर्घटिता भोजमते सुखसम्पदं नौका।
- ↑ अन्ये लघुभिः सुदृढ़ैर्विदधति जलदुष्पदे नौकाम्।
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