434 Birds in Sanskrit Literature In the following pen-picture the full moon in a clear blue and starry sky is compared with a single हंस or राजहंस on a large lake studded with lilies. Both are obviously Swans :- तमास्युत्सायं भगवाञ्चन्द्रो जृम्भति सो ऽम्बरे । कुमुदालडकूते हंसो यथा सरसि विस्तृते ॥ मत्स्यपुराण, 139.16. स्फुटकुमुदचितानां राजहंसस्थितानां मरकतमणिभासा वारिणा पूरितानाम् । श्रियमतिशयरूपां व्योमतोयाशयानां वहति विगतमेषं चन्द्रतारावकीर्णम् ॥ ऋतुसंहार, 3.21. The sun and the spiritually elevated man are compared with the wise Swan in the following :- हंसस्य चोवंगमने गतिर्भवति निचला । तत्त्वातत्त्वविवेकोऽस्ति जलदुग्धविभागवत् ।। -शिवपुराण, रुद्र सं. 2, Ch. 15, 10. The Mute Swans ( मल्लिकाब्य हंस) are known often to go about in pairs and they are greatly devoted to each other. These, therefore, should be the हंसमिथुन in the examples below. Swans in pairs add to the charm of a river :- हंसमिथुनैनंद्यः ( भान्ति) -सुभाषित, 188.1042 Swans resting on the sand-bank of a river were a favourite theme for the •painter's brush :- कार्या संकतलीनहंसमिथुना स्रोतोवहा मालिनी । -शाकुन्तल, 6.17. अश्वघोष was certainly aware of the affection between a pair of Swans and the following appeal to Prince Siddhartha to return to his wife based upon the behaviour of these birds is particularly forceful : हंसेन हंसीमिव विप्रयुक्तां त्यक्तां गजेनेव वने करेणुम् । आर्ता सनाथामपि नाथहीनां त्वातुं वधूमर्हसि दर्शनेन । -बुद्धचरित, 9.27. 1. Even with the reading "राजहंसाश्रितानां" in the first line it is incorrect to separate compound with the plural राजहंसा: as the comparison with the Moon postulates only one Swan. 2. The change of attitude in the rising and setting sun is readily noticeable but its movement or change of position near the zenith is not easily perceptible. It is then that the sun is at its brightest and hottest and its power of sucking up pure from impure ground water is at its best. The critical faculty of a person who has atrained perfect wisdom and balance of mind does not falter and he instinctively, as it were, and with certainty discriminates between good and evil. Swans, Geese, Ducks and Mergansers The last three items in the synonymies quoted in paragraph 5 above relate to मराल or अभव्य हंस as a grey-brown bird and as belonging to the हंस group which includes the three pure white Swans. Evidently, therefore, मराल signifies a juvenile Swan. मराल is often associated with god ब्रह्मा whose mount is said to be a हंस, the adult Whooper. In पद्मपुराण, 6, उत्तरखंड, 180,41ff ब्रह्मा assumes the form of a talking Swan ( मराल ) who was once pure white (पनवकर्पूरपाण्डुर) but underwent a sudden change of colour and is conteinptuously called a कलहंस because of its resemblance with the grey-brown of the Grey Lag ( कलहंस) : देवेश धूर्जट विद्धि मां मरालं स्वयंभुवः । कलहंस गतोऽसि त्वं मां विलध्य विहायसा । • 435 The Swan story, based on छान्दोग्य उपनिषद्, 4, related in स्कन्दपुराण, ब्रह्मखंड, सेतु- माहात्म्य, ch. 29.48ff would seem to confirm the above interpretation of मराल. Here certain sages have assumed the form of talking Swans which can only be Whoopers, and one of them jocularly addresses the leading bird as an inexperienced young Swan (मरालक) having a poor eye-sight :- एको हंसस्तु संबोध्य हंसमग्रेसरं तदा सोपहासमिदं प्राह..... ..... भो भो भल्लाक्ष भल्लाक्ष पुरोगच्छन् मरालक न पश्यसि किमन्धवत् ॥ The statement "हंसेषु तु मरालाः स्युः" seems to show that there are more than one kind of मराल and they are all Swans, and as the मराल of today is the pure white Swan of tomorrow the name came to be used for the adult bird as well, and this sense that is the nount of ब्रह्मा and called रथ-राजहंस (राजहंस as a रष or vehicle) in ibid. 16.31. ( Compare also ibid. 9, 37-38 "वर्णेनैव परं मरालघवलः– सुभाषित, 222, 31. ) The name मराल, having lost its identity, has been used indiscriminately by the poets for a ger (Swan) in general or even for a कलहंस B. GEESE 1. The Geese stand midway between the larger and heavier Swans at one. end and the smaller Ducks at the other. If the Swans are almost entirely aquatic and the Ducks chiefly so, the Geese may be said to be almost terrestrial in their habits. The legs being placed forward they walk easily. and well and have none of the waddling gait of the domestic Goose. They feed on grass and green crops, causing considerable damage to winter 1. Weer means 'bear-eyed', i.e. having weak eyes. It may also mean "having excellent eyes' used in an ironical sense.
