196 Birds in Sanskrit Literature "भासामिषादानुसृतैः श्येनैश्वामिषगृघ्नुभिः" (वृतं देशम् ) “कङ्कवटादिभिश्चेतस्ततस्तिग्मतुण्डैराहन्यमाना “गृधकङ्कवटश्येनश्वसृगालादनीकृतान्" "व्याघ्रव्यालाननं रौद्रे: काककङ्कवटैस्तथा" Harivamsa, 2.5.20. आत्मशमलं स्मरन्ति” भागवत, 5.26.32. M. Bh. 11. 16.29 Sk. P. Avanti Kh. 6.33 Yet another name for him is कम्बालायिन् (कम्बल a dew-lap; a little incorrectly rendered as 'a Kite' by Wilson but doubted as a bird name by M. Williams) after his beard hanging downwards like a dew-lap. The Vulture that dropped a bone into a tank from the air was probably this : “पुरा गृध्रेण केनापि नभोमार्गेण गच्छता अस्थिखण्डं स्वकात्तुण्डात् पातितं क्वापि वारिणि” Padma-purāna 8181.64. The possibility of this bird being the mythological भेरुण्ड considered in Art. 81. and then to his red eyes and large body : जटायु according to हेमचन्द्र and विश्वप्रकाश is 'a kind of bird' (खगान्तर) evi- dently in reference to his being the महागुष्य • the Rāmāyana. The name clearly implies 'one possessing tufts of hair' which, as we have seen, is perfectly true of the Bearded Vulture with long narial bristles on the face and a beard on the chin; cf. जटिल for a person with plenty of hair on the face Mythologically जटायु is the son of अरुण and brother of सम्पाति. These names are certainly founded upon the characteristics of three different Vultures. Thus the physical basis of (i) अरुण is the Black Vulture with red upper-parts : "अरुणो गरुडभ्राता जपापुष्पचयप्रभः” Harivarmsa 3. 37.20; (ii) सम्पाति, the Griffon of gregarious habits; and (iii) जटायु, the Bearded Vulture. Both गवड and अरुण, described as birds, were given authority by their father कश्यप to rule over other birds: "एतो सर्वपतवीणामिन्द्रत्वं कारयिष्यतः" M. Bh. 1.31.29, whence the Hindi name of राजगिद्ध for the Black Vulture or अरुण. The description of the dying जटायु in the रामायण leaves no doubt what- ever as to his identity with the grand Lammergeyer. First we have a reference to his dark-grey back and white breast : "तं नीलजीमूतनीकाशकल्पं सपाण्डुरोरस्कमुदारवीर्यम्”– 3.51.45, “तं गृधं प्रेक्ष्य ताम्राक्षं गतासुमचलोपमम्” – 3.68.19. Vultures and Lammergeyer 197 The colour pattern of the bird has already been given above, and as for the eyes, his irides are of a pale orange colour and the sclerotic membrane is blood-red. No other Vulture has red eyes, much less such strikingly red. ones, and I need hardly add how very faithfully the great Valmiki has described जटायु. He has also truly called him गुधराज, महागूध, and पक्षिप्रवर in the chapters quoted from and elsewhere in the work. I conclude with a highly poetic description of his powerful flight: "पर्यायात्क्षणदृष्टनष्टककुभः संवर्तविस्तारयोः नीहारीकृतमेघमोचितधुतव्यक्तस्फुरद्विद्युतः आरात्कीर्णकणात्कणीकृतगुरुग्रावोच्चय श्रेणयः श्येनेयस्य बृहत्पतवघुतयः प्रख्यापयन्त्यागमम्" Mahāviracarita, 5.1. The verse is put into the mouth of Sampati who, listening to the distant sound of his younger brother's wing-beats, anticipates his visit to himself : 'With rythmic beats alternately covering and uncovering parts of the sky; scattering the clouds and thereby exposing flashes of lightening to view; and breaking down the rocky cliffs of the mountain ranges into pebbles and powder, the mighty vibrations of the vast wings of Jatāyu proclaim his arrival from a great distance.' Lastly, the monkey-eating habit attributed to a vulture in the following passage of the Rámāyana is clearly based upon information furnished by sea-faring Indians visiting the castern Pacific Islands where the Harpy Eagle of the Philippines, is said to live chiefly on monkeys :- "ते प्रायमुपविष्टास्तु दृष्ट्वा गृधं प्लवङ्गमाः चक्रुर्बुद्धि तदा रौद्रां सर्वान्नो भक्षयिष्यति" Ram. 4.51, 2.
