430 Birds in Sanskrit Literature मल्लिक, मल्लिकारूय – white like the Jasmine flower. ar-patronymic from (i) , the mythological Swan-Mother of all Swans, Geese, etc., and (ii) ya, 'a king'. urdu son of a king and therefore next to him in status. The real significance of the name, despite its last place in the above verses, must be determined, as shown by क्षीरस्वामी on अमर, with reference to राजहंस as 'the king or best of Swans':- "धृतराष्ट्रे अमात्ये भवा धार्तराष्ट्राः, राजहंसेभ्यो न्यूनत्वात्" cf. also :- परस्मिन्न्यूनतामेति यथाऽमात्यः स्थिते नृपे quoted by पतञ्जलि, 5.3.57 धार्तराष्ट्र is thus the next best Swan after the राजहंस धन्वन्तरि defines राजहंस as beautiful and धार्तराष्ट्र as a white हंस. सारस सारं असति, ie, one that takes out the essence from the water-after the effe conventionally attributed to a Swan. It is in this etymo- logical sense that uses the phrase "fare:" for a Swan in a metaphor in बृहत्कथामञ्जरी, 9 359 and सारसी for राजहंसी at 9.145. सारस is again a Swan in रामायण 3. 19.8; cf the following :- यत्सारभूतं तदुपासितव्यं हंसो यथा क्षीरभिवाम्बुमध्यात् -सुभाषित, 173 878. माथ has used the term rather loosely for the Geese in शिशुपालवध, 12.44 where it may well refer to water-side birds in general. See also fear, 8.9 & 31, and Art. 62. fe and gf, adnouns for a g or Goose must refer to (i) a juvenile Swan or (ii) the Grey Lag Goose as the terms denote a tawny or brown colour (M. W.). If हरिण also means white (शुक्लवर्ण-शब्दकल्पद्रुम), हरिण हंस would also be an adult Swan. 6. Now looking back to the physical characters and habits of the three different Swans set out above, it should not be difficult to fix their identity in Sanskrit. The rare Chinese Swan, Cygnus davidii, is the proper of the later lexicons, a mere memory of the past which readily led to the transference of the name to the familiar Bar-head. , as Cygnus davidii, is not mentioned in the Rāmāyaṇa or Mahabharata but the much later Harivamsa certainly mentions it at 3.41, 61-62 (quoted in para. 5 of Section B). The Whooper with its black (partly yellow) bill and feet is the and, celebrated alike in the Jataka, the Indian Epics, and European literature from the time of Homer. It is the wise and talking Swan described as 'f' or 'beloved of the gods', for did not w, the Creator, assume its beautiful and spotlessly white form as related in the Epics? Its far northern home is 2. The Mute Swan's bill is mainly reddish-horny and the feet dull- black so that the description of fe is fully applicable to it and the name afererger is descriptive of its spotless white plumage. It has a weak voice and is generally silent and this is the reason why it does not figure as talking Swan in Puranic stories. Nevertheless it finds its proper 1. The simplest way to interpret the name is to equate with 'King' and धार्तराष्ट्र as the king's son, and hence next in status to the King, ie. राजहंस Swans, Geese, Ducks and Mergansers 431 place in the चुल्ल हंस (533) and the महाहंस जातक (534) under the names of सुमुख and पाकहंस respectively. As सुमुख हंस it is the Army chief of the धतरट्ठ gerrar,, the king of the Swans, and the name refers to the black knob or 'berry' worn like an ornament at the base of its bill; compare the name for the Comb Duck after a similar but larger knob on the bill, and gg for (i) the Black Vulture with red face and ear-lappets, and (ii) the Common Coot with a white bill and shield against a dark body. 7. Juvenile Whoopers are clothed in a uniform grey-brown and take from eighteen months to two years to assume the white plumage of the adult. They are the सुवण्ण वण्ण हंस or सुवण्ण हंस (सुवर्ण हंस cf. जातरूप हंस below) of जातक, 534 where the queen dreams of one discoursing upon religion to the king and feels an irresistible longing to see it. The res and age type of Swans, both with their kings, come into the story at a later stage, and while both types are said to have the same body-colour (white) the young daughter of the king of the reger is also said to be of a golden colour- "पाकहंसरणो पन धीता सुवण्णवण्णा अहोसि", and she married to the was king.1 The re, therefore, is evidently the Mute Swan, the name being true of it in a double sense : (i) as indicating a change of colour from brown of the young to white of the adult through lapse of time or advanc- ing age (पाक, 'ripening'- "जरसा केशस्य शोक्त्यम्" मेदिनी; cf. पाकशुक्ला for chalk, i.e. lime in reference to the change undergone by dark coloured lime-stone on baking), and (ii) , 'a child or ignorant person' in view of the bird not having the full voice of the us, the Whooper. In the eager (533) the King of the Swans and his Army-chief, the gg g, are trapped and taken. to the king. The king holds a learned discourse on religion with the king but when the latter requests for his views as well, he excuses himself by saying that he is not so cultured or educated and is, there- fore, unable to discourse seriously in the presence of the great - अहं खलु महाराज नागराजारिव' अंतरं पतिवत्तुं न सक्कोमि न मे सो विनयो सिया- verse 75. Evidently is the Mute Swan with a weak voice. Thus grand ge are one and the same. 8. Parties of golden-plumaged Swans on a Himalayan lake mentioned as हिरण्यहंसावलि and हिरण्यहंसव्रज in कुमारसम्भव, 13. 27 and 39 are the same as gg of the war. This accords well with the statement of S. Baker that the great majority of Swans visiting India are young birds in brown plumage. 1. Does this statement not show that the ancients knew that the two species occa- sionally interbreed, a fact now acknowledged by orinthologists ?. 2, In the first sense both the Whooper and the Mute Swan would be rege. It is in this sense that (1.23,37) uses the name Trg for an adult Swan and it correctly 23 श्वेतहंस. renders
