Birds in Sanskrit Literature 'essence' and as hidden (af) i.e. within the body of the cow or the plant. The site and it for the and g (the sun) are equally essences hidden in the muddy waters and are drawn, as it were, by both for their respective purposes. Nos. (4) & (5) connect the waters with milk (site) and food (aa) while Nos. (6) & (7)regard Soma and milk with which it is always mixed as a drink or food for strength. eft, again, in the sense of 'milk', occurs in the Rgveda and Atharvaveda as an item of food both for gods and men. It is also used metaphorically for all kinds of wealth which in Vedic times consisted principally of cattle and food stuffs (RV, 1. 104.3). It is therefore submitted that eft in VS 19. 73 quoted above. stands metaphorically for the almost liquid food (ar) extracted by the Flamingo from the water with bill which works like a seive and separates the unwanted water and retains what is site or food for itself. The same is true of the sun, pictured as a Swan, for it takes up with its rays a different essence, viz., the Soma or clean water out of the impure waters. This pure water, though named as , is also eft but in a different sense, for it is sent back in the form of rain-water, which, dropping from above in thin streams like milk from the cow's udder, is truly a kind of efte (often क्षरते:–यास्क, 2.5.4). 416 11. The above passages from VS 19.73-74 and their parallels in KS 38.1; MS 3.11.6; and TB 2. 6.2 contain to my knowledge the oldest version of the forefae attributed to the ge or Swan in later literature and which has served as a beautiful argument in the Vedanta and Nyaya Philosophies or as a motif in story. Bloomfield in his Foreword to Vol. VII of Penzer's edition of The Ocean of Story, 1926, pp. xviii-xix, has opined that attempts to explain the drinking apart of milk from water "as a feature of the natural history of the hamsa are, in my opinion, fatuous" and he cites the example of mentioned in the texts cited above. He however makes the mistake, in common with the authors of the 'Vedic Index of Names and Subjects', of rendering as the Curlew. The Curlew feeds on "insects, reptiles, coleoptera, slugs, worms, and at times, berries, seeds and seaweed" (S. Baker) and the Snipe, suggested as an alternative in the Vedic Index, also feeds on worms, grubs, tiny snails, etc. for much of which it bores into soft ground with its sensitive. bill. It is thus impossible to consider these birds as separating their food from the water. The Flamingo alone as we have seen does it to perfection and is the of the above texts which also clearly indicate the next step 1. क्षीर is described as food (अन्न) in the following passage: "तस्मै हान्यागताय सर्पिःक्षीरम् आमिक्षां दधीत्येतद् उपनिदधुः तस्य ह सुहित आस, तं होचुः सुपर्णेष एव ते बलिर्भविष्यत्येतद् अन्नम्"- "Contributions from the Jaiminiya Brahmana to the History of Brahmana literature" by Prof. H. Gertel, JAOS, vol 19, pp. 97 ff. For an explanation of the story see Art. 52. * and eft are closely associated in AV 10.10.8 where , at stands for earth and cow both. Flamingos 417 which led the people to substitute the more beautiful Swan for the Flamingo in later literature. Colebrook certainly understood the phrase, are sufer, in the correct sense when he said-"Because the bird seems, as the Hindus apprehend, to extract his food by suction from solu- tion in water" (quoted by Bloomfield a foot-note to his Foreword, referred to above, at p. xviii).1 I would only modify his statement to this extent, viz., that the bird is not the but the , that it did not merely seem to extract food 'by suction from solution in water' but actually did so in the manner explained in para. 4 above, and that the ancient Indians had a correct knowledge of it based upon observation. The following verse not only clinches the issue but also shows a clear consciousness on the part of the author that in the context means simply food and nothing else and that it is definitely incorrect to assume that site or eft is intended to mean literally a mixture of milk and water. No doubt the idea is very beautiful and tempting and has been used with great effect in didactic and other poetry but the true basis of it must be understood: मत्स्यादयोऽपि जानन्ति नीरक्षीरविवेचनम् । परं प्रसिद्धिहंसस्य यशः पुण्यैरवाप्यते ॥–सुभाषित, p. 155, verse 116. This statement is perfectly correct of the Carp family of fishes which feed exclusively on micro-organisms like the zoo-planktons and phyto-planktons, and in this respect they resemble the Flamingos. The Vedic Indians killed and ate the Flamingo and had ample opportunities to examine the contents of its stomach as well. This is clear from the following aphorism which permits the eating of Flamingo, the Common Crane and the Hornbill: क्रुञ्चकौञ्चवार्धाणसलक्ष्मणवर्जम् For a discussion of this aphorism see Art. 62, para. 10. 12. in the following passages is the Flamingo: -आपस्तम्बधर्मसूत्र, 1.5.17.36. (i) इन्द्राग्निभ्यां कुचान्– VS 24.22; MS 3.14.3. (ii) क्रुञ्ची श्रोणिभ्याम् – VS 25.6. The reason for selecting the Flamingo for the dual deity in (i) would seem to be the white and red colour of the bird, the flame colour being parti- cularly representative of the god of fire, af; and the bird's association, during its homeward flight, with the rain clouds high up in the sky goes well with the rain-god Indra. In the second passage a pair of Flamingos are the deities to whom cuts from the sit or the waist-region of the sacrificial horse are offered. The propriety of this assignment does not seem to have 1. Dr. Elliott Cones of Washington quoted by Prof. Lanman in the aritcle refered to on the f.n. to para 6, is also of the same opinion as Bloomfield. 2. "श्रोणिभ्यां दक्षवामाभ्यां कटिप्रदेशाभ्यां कुची देवी प्रीणामि।"-महीघर भाष्य.
