228 Birds in Sanskrit Literature अजिराधिराजो श्येनौ सम्पातिनाविव आज्यं पुतन्योपहतां यो न कक्षाभ्यघायति ॥ AV. 7.70.3. 11. The Saker (Arabic, al-saqr) or the Cherrug Falcon (22") has a whitish head and brown upper parts. The lower parts are white often marked with brown drops. The bill is pearl or ivory white. It is a desert form frequenting open lands, deserts and wide uncultivated tracts. Next to the Peregrine it is a very fast and courageous bird and was formerly trained to capture gazelles, fawns, hares, Cranes, Bustards, etc. In nature, however, it lives on small mammals and principally on lizards. It is known as w or in Hindi, and ' or in Persian while . . mentions it by its Hindi name of and refers to its frightful attack and perseverance when let go after a fawn : हारिणं शिशुमादाय सान्त्राण्यङ्गानि भक्षयन् अनिवार्यों हि बीभत्सं चरखो जनयत्यलम् ॥ 6.39. The Hyena is also or in Hindi and names are from Sansk. or. The e in Prakrit, and these mentions are as a bird of prey and defines it as मणितुण्ड ("मणितुण्डो तरक्षक:") where मणि means 'a pearl' and g'a beak' so that the white-billed (er with or to fill the metre) is no other than the Cherrug Falcon which alone has a white bill. चरेल्लग (fr. चरक a wanderer ) is a kind of bird in अर्धमागधी and probably corresponds Hindi or for this Falcon. (fr. ) again in the same dialect, is defined as a class of mendicants who obtain their food by violent means. In Persian, too, 'charkh' not only means this Falcon but also a 'faqeer' or mendicant who goes out on his rounds night. Evidently, therefore, Ardhamagadhi , Hindior and Persian 'charkh' are identical and have their root in Sansk. or which means (i) the hyena which prowls for prey at night and (ii) this Falcon which secures its food by violent means. is also a kind of bird in Prakrit where is synonymous with for which means rock-crystal, alum, and camphor which are all of a white colour. It is thus a bird with a white bill and should refer to the Falcon under discussion. 12. The late Shri C.V. Vaidya, author of Mahabharata, A Criticism in English, contributed a voluminous epilogue in Marathi to a nine- volume translation of Mahabharata in Marathi published by G.V. Chip- lunkar and Co., Poona, the epilogue, named are being the tenth volume of the translation. This 3r is based upon a very close, detailed and systematic study of the great Epic. According to Vaidya it was Souti who converted the original 'Bharata' into present 'Mahabharata' about the second century B.C. by incorporating into it a very great amount of floating tradition, stories, moral teaching, and Brahmanical religious dis- courses and doctrines with a view to strengthen and consolidate the ant or Brahmanical religion against the persistent onslaughts cal Jainism and Buddhism on it. In the process of augmentation of the the hereti- Eagles, Falcons and Allied Birds Epic he, says Vaidya, inserted a large number of or enigmatic verses throughout the body of the work, each chapter having its share of a few such verses (eg, ch. 1, pp. 37-40). The following verse from the appears to be of the type. I have picked it out just to see if the words मूग, शृगाल, and तरक्षु have been used in their usual meanings or in a कूट sense for particular birds, a being the fast-flying Laggar Falcon. Here is the verse: मृगाः शृगालाः शितिकण्ठाश्च काका गृधा बकाव तरक्षवश्च । सुवर्णपत्राच पतन्ति पश्चाद् दृष्ट्वा रथं श्वेतयप्रयुक्तम् ॥ 229 MBh. 5.48.104-5. The commentators have taken the terms मृगाः शृगाला and तरक्षवः to mean 'deer', 'jackals' and 'hyenas' respectively, and fafar, Peacocks. These interpretations, barring the 'deer' do not suit the context at all.¹ Arjuna, the great warrior, makes in this verse a proud statement regarding the extra-ordinary speed of his war-chariot drawn by a pair of white horses, and bearing this in mind one must admit that the poor hyena with his limping gait or run is indeed no match for any much less a really fast horse. The very idea of a horse outstripping a hyena in a race is most incongruous and the comparison is simply ridiculous. The jackal, though a fast runner, is too mean a creature for Arjuna's boast. In the Rgveda the speed of horses has been compared with that of the wind and in litera- ture with that of the Golden Eagle", the fastest of the tribe. The Peacock, again, mostly a ground bird with a heavy and laboured flight. It is therefore submitted that all the names in the above verse represent large and fast-flying birds as suggested below: अथ श्येना मृगाश्चैव कङ्का गृध्रास्तथाऽपरे । तुण्ड: शवान् विनिष्कृष्य भक्षयन्ति ततस्ततः । fr., one looking around for food; 'a large bird' in RV. ded Vulture 1.182.7; 10.136.6 (M.W.). It is probably either the I (w) or Pallas's Fishing Eagle (g), more probably the latter. Both, like the other birds of prey have to search for food from the air and both are carrion eaters and fast fliers. as a carrion bird. occurs in the हरिवंश : 3.122.20 is thus different from ar, Eagles, g, the Adjutants or Pallas's Eagles, and m, the common Vultures (excluding the Bearded Vulture which despite its name is often regarded as a different bird). If is taken for the Adjutant Stork, a great carrion eater, the two that would 1. Cf. नवाजिनं वाजिना हासयन्ति न गर्दभं पुरो अश्याप्रयन्ति । RV. 3.53.31 2. The Vedic horse fut is compared to an impetuous Eagle in RV 38.2.40; 40.3, etc. Compare also expressions like, "हयाः सुपर्णेन समानवेगा:" in कर्णभारम् of भास, 13.
