In his monumental research in ancient Sanskrit literature, the author has restored gaps in lexicons, and removed doubts in the later Sanskrit works about the identity of a very large number of birds of the Indian sub-continent.The ancient sages of India were great lovers of nature, with keen powers of observation and an ex- traordinary sensitivity about animal behaviour. The Vedas, Purāṇas, Epics and Samhitās are full of descriptions of birds, animals and plants, but the exact identi- fication of names had got lost or con- founded over the centuries. Acharya V.M. Apte, the great Sanskrit scholar described this contribution of the author in the following words: "It will be a study the fascination of which will be matched only by its utility. Scholars intel- lectually constituted with a purely theo- retical bias and studying Nature not in the open but through books, have not a leg to stand on in this field and we will feel highly indebted to a scholar who introduces the ancient (and also mod- ern, because surviving still) Birds in Vedic and Classical Sanskrit Literature to us in such a way as to make us feel that we can actually admire their colourful plumage and appreciate the effusions of their vo- cal chords." This book fills a void in Sanskrit litera- ture, and should prove useful not only to scholars, but also to researchers who may be inspired by it to delve deeper into Sanskrit texts and ancient Indian culture.
