Jīrā
Jīrā, “cumin”
Grammar: the word as the Hindi text gives it (जीरा).
Meaning: cumin.
In the scriptures: in the Rambhā vrata, jīrā is the first of the eight things of the Saubhāgyāshṭaka offered before Mahādevī Rudrāṇī (Uttara Parva, Chapters 18–19). In the Ananta-tṛtīyā vrata white cumin is in the naivedya, and in the Rasakalyāṇinī-tṛtīyā vrata cumin is the thing given up in Āshāḍha (Uttara Parva, Chapter 26).
In the Sāvitrī vrata, a woman places an image of Sāvitrī with Brahmā in a vessel of bamboo. Into it she places and offers to Devī Sāvitrī kūshmāṇḍa, nāriyala, kakaṛī, turaī, khajūra, kaitha, anāra, jāmuna, jambīra, nāraṅgī, akharoṭa, kaṭahala, guṛa, lavaṇa, jīrā, sprouted grain, saptadhānya and the neck thread.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 18–19, 26, 102
Related terms: Sāvitrī Vrata · Jambīra
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 18–19, 26, 102