Bīja (nt.) [cp. Vedic bīja] 1. seed, germ, semen, spawn. Used very frequently in figurative sense: see on similes J.P.T.S. 1907, 116. -- D i.135 (˚bhatta seed -- corn & food); iii.44 (the five kinds: see below under ˚gāma); M i.457; S i.21, 134, 172, 227; iii.54, 91; iv.315; A i.32 (ucchu˚), 135, 223, 229, 239; iii.404;iv.237; v.213 (ucchu˚); Sn 77 (saddhā bījaŋ tapo vuṭṭhi, cp. SnA 142 sq., where a detailed discussion on bīja is found), 209, 235 (khīṇa˚ adj. fig.); J i.242 (tiṇa˚ -- ādīni grass and other seeds), 281; Pv i.11; Vism 555 (in simile); KhA 194 (on Sn 235, in another comparison); Sdhp 24, 270 sq., 318. nibbatta˚ (or nivatta˚) (adj.) that which has dropped its seed (hence a lawful food) Vin i.215, cp. ii.109; iv.35. -- 2. element, in udaka˚ whose element is the water J vi.160.

 -- gāma seed -- group, seed -- kingdom, seed -- creation (opp. bhūta -- gāma). There are 5 kinds of seeds usually enumd, e. g. at D i.5 (expld at DA i.77, trsln at Dial. i.6 and passim), viz. mūla˚, khandha˚, phalu˚, agga˚, bija˚, or plants propagated by roots, cuttings, joints, buddings, shoots, seeds (Dial. iii.40: tubers, shoots, berries, joints, seeds). The same set occurs at D iii.44, 47; Vin iv.34; SnA 144. -- Without ref. to the 5 kinds at M iii.34; S v.46; Miln 33. -- jāta species of seed S iii.54. -- bīja one of the 5 groups of edible or useful plants, falling under bījagāma. It is expld at Vin iv.35 & DA i.81 by the termspubbaṇṇa (i. e. the seven dhaññāni or grains, sāli, vīhi, yava, godhūma, kangu, varaka, kudrūsa) and aparaṇṇa (i. e. beans and other leguminous plants, and gourds such as mugga, māsa, tila, kulattha, alābu, kumbhaṇḍa). -- sakaṭa a cart ( -- load) of seeds SnA 137.