442 Birds in Sanskrit Literature मङ्गल्यार्थप्रदः शब्दरत्ववर्तन्त सर्वशः । सारसा: शतपत्राच हंसाक्ष मधुसूदनम् ॥ म. भा. 5.83.25. (b) See मनुस्मृति, 5.12, याज्ञवल्क्य स्मृति, 1.172, etc. singular or plural signifies all Swans, prohibited as food. For the separate everywhere see Section C, para, 7 & 8. where हंस in the Geese and Ducks mention of चक्रवाक (iii) राजहंस for (a) the Chinese Swan very occasionally, and (b) mostly the Bar-head Goose which is more graceful on land and water than the Grey Lag Goose : (a) See passage from हरिवंश, 3.41.61-62 quoted in para 7 above. (b) पदर्गात शिक्षमाणानीव कामिनीनां पश्चात्परिभ्रमन्ति राजहंसमिथुनानि-मृच्छकटिक, 4.28. वामाङ्गनासुगतिनिजितराजहंसी--- बिल्हण काव्य, 40. सा राजहंसैरिव संनताङ्गी गतेषु लीलाश्चितविक्रमेपु—–कुमारसंभव, 1.34. येऽपि त्वद्गमनानुकारिगतयस्ते राजहंसा गताः - सुवृत्ततिलक, 2.39 (काव्यमाला, pt. 2). (iv) मराल for (a ) a young Swan; (b) an adult Swan; and (c) the Grey Lag Goose, as a Swan, with legs placed farther back, is very awkward Con the land: (a) See Section A. para. 11. (b) यस्याच्छमानसपथे विजिहीर्षयेव याता विमानपदवीं कति नो मरालाः –श्रीकण्ठचरित, 16.30. Note-these मराल birds are called रच-राजहंस in the next verse, and Swans serving as vehicles of the gods are described as embrac- ing the sky with the wide expanse of their wings in किरातार्जुनीय, 18.19. (c) निजतीरशेखरमरालकुलगतितस्करीः (त्रिदिवसुन्दर्य:) — श्रीकण्ठचरित, 9.37. The "केलिमराल यूथ" in Ibid. 11.37 are a party of tame Grey Lag Geese, while the wording of the following line clearly shows that the poet is referring to the same Geese (viz., कलहंसाः) as मराल on the Ganges: संमिलद्भिर्मरालः सा कलं कूजद्भिरुन्मदः कुमारसंभव, 10.33. (v) कादम्ब is the Bar-head Goose in the Epics and Puránas but the name has been very sparingly used in classical literature as it was replaced by राजहंस and to a certain extent by the euphonious कलहंस. For examples see para. 6 and (viii) below. Swans, Geese, Ducks and Mergansers (a) (vi) कलहंस for (a) the Grey Lag and (b) the Bar-head: विमलस्फाटिकाभानि पाण्डुरच्छदनद्विजः । कलहंसैरुपेतानि सारसाभिरुतानि च । - म.भा. 3.158,72. कलहंसगणैर्जुष्टामृषिकिन्नरसेविताम् (महागङ्गाम् ) – Ibid. 3.159,99 ततः स कूजत्कलहंसमेखलां सपाकसस्याहितपाण्डुतागुणाम् । -किरातार्जुनीय, 4.1. 443 See also para. 6. (b) The pale grey Bar-heads, having a white head and a good bit of white in the neck, and not the brown grey Lags, assimilate with white lotuses where their existence is known only from their conversational notes : सितारविन्देषु चयंषु लीनाः संसक्तफेनेषु च सकतेषु । कुन्दावदाताः कलहंसमालाः प्रतीयिरे श्रोवसुखनिनादः ॥ -भट्टिकाव्य, 2.18. भवनकलहंसमालाभिर्धवलिताङ्गण-कादम्बरी, 145. The Moon moving through dark clouds looks like a Bar-head floating in the midest of the Dark waves of the Jamna: सितकरः कलहंस इवाभितस्तरति संवलितो यमुनोमिभिः । — क्षेमेन्द्र in सुवृत्ततिलक, 1.27. (vii) सितखग, धवलविहग, etc., literally a Swan, have often been used for the Bar-head Geese. "कूलसितविहग" and "कूलधवलविहग" (श्रीकण्ठ चरित, 9.16 & 38 ) on the banks of the Mansarovara Lake can only be the Bar-heads which breed in the neighbouring territory and are plentiful there. Poet माघ, who knew full well that सितविहंग had come to mean the Bar-head, has deliberately used the descriptive "afafaarfag (the extremely white bird) for a Swan : स्मितसरोरुहनेवसरोजलाम् अतिसिताङ्गविहङ्गलसद्दिवम् । अकलयन्मुदितामिव सर्वतः स शरदं शरदन्तुरदिङमुखाम् ।। - 6.54. (viii) The compound "हंसकारण्डव" or हंस and कारण्डव named separately in the same verse refer to a mixed assemblage of Geese, Ducks and Coots. The phrase हंसकारण्डवाकीर्ण is the commonest epithet for rivers, lakes and tanks where some of these birds are often present, and the picture is some- times made richer by naming other common water-side birds along with हंस and कारण्डव कादम्बैचक्रवाकैच कुररैजलकुक्कुटं: । कारण्डवैः प्लावैहंसवं कर्मद्गुभिरेव च ।। – म.भा. 3.158.56 कारण्डैः साससेहंसँवंञ्जुलैर्जलकुक्कुटैः । चक्रवाकंस्तथा चान्यैः शकुनै रुपनादितान् ॥– रामायण, 4.13.8. 1. The first line refers to white birds like white Ibises, Egrets, etc. and not to Swans as it would amount to circumlocution and poetic pedantry which is quite foreign to Epic poetry. The कादम्ब Geese are mentioned a little earlier in the same chapter verse 56.
