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The rosary pea

Source: here.

Many seeds greatly fascinated me when I was young (actually they continue to do so) . One of these was the rosary pea (Abrus precatorius). The other was the castor seed. When we had beheld the all-bewitching Kappa Hayastanika, like most other mortals, we had uttered the words:

“aho rUpaM aho dhAma aho asyA navaM vayaH / ka~Nja-palAshAkShi vAmoru mathnatIva manAMsi naH /tvaM asi sharIriNAM sarvendriya-manaH-prItiM // “

Kappa told me in reply that the rosary pea is a very instructive lesson in life. “With the masura seeds we might survive, though the mAshA would be a better alternative for life…”