Vṛntāka
Vṛntāka, “the brinjal”
Grammar: masculine or neuter noun; the text glosses it as baigan.
Meaning: the brinjal.
In the scriptures: in the Vṛntāka-tyāga, which Śrī Kṛshṇa tells the king, the vratī gives up vṛntāka for one year, six months or three months and then does the udyāpana. The dāna to a brāhmaṇa includes ornaments, clothes, an umbrella, shoes, a black blanket, a black bull, a black cow and a vṛntāka made of gold, with dakshiṇā, and brāhmaṇas are fed according to means (Uttara Parva, Chapters 112–113). In the Vijayā Saptamī vrata, the seventh pradakshiṇā of Bhagavān Sūrya is done with vṛntāka fruits (Uttara Parva, Chapter 43). Baigana is the third of the sixteen fruits made in gold in the Sarvaphalatyāga Caturdaśī vrata (Uttara Parva, Chapter 98).
Related terms: Dāḍima
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 43, 98, 112–113