122 Birds in Sanskrit Literature taken too literally whereas the Hindi rendering¹4 regards AV. IV. 37 as a charm or as prescribing means against the swarms of various tropical insects which invaded the homes of the Indo-Aryans in the evening during the watery (rainy) season. This, it is submitted, is probably the more correct interpretation, having particular regard to the general tenor of this and other similar sūktas of this Veda. It must however be stated that my agreement with the ends here, as my own rendering follows a line. different from theirs. (the The nuisance of insect-pests must have been very great indeed in Vedic times when the country around was full of jungles and marshes which are the great breeding grounds of all sorts of insect life. Stinking bugs and flies e evil-smelling and seem (Pentatomidae and genus Chrysopa respectively) to have been euphemistically addressed as af,15 and the buzzing (singing) mosquitos, beetles and other insects and moths, swarming and dancing around light and fire, as are. These were driven off or were kept away with the strong-smelling herbs and incense named earlier in the same Sūkta. The terms हरिता, अर्जुना, and आघाटा would seem to be insect- destroying birds fer (Hindi ) the beautiful Chloropsis; white', Hindi guer, i.e., milk-white and ar, the White bird in the verse from Rāmāyaṇa quoted above), the white Paradise Flycatcher and आघाट (दावघाट) the drumming and rattling Woodpecker. All three frequent large trees in search of insect food and have musical or semi-musical voices (-e a musical instrument); Cf. RV. 11.43.3. where the root in fr is used in association with as a bird's voice as in the above verses from the AV. Again the dipping and undulating flight of the Woodpeckers and the brilliantly white Paradise Flycatchers with their long trailing ribbons gives an impression as if the birds are moving on swings (). In short the charm draws an inviting picture of the large fig trees, and asks the various insects with the flattering epithets of अपारस to be well advised (प्रतिबुद्धा अभूतन) to visit the trees where swings and music await them (to be, of course, gobbled up there by the birds). The principles underlying the charm are deceit and flattery:- and "प्रियवाक्यप्रदानेन सर्वे तुष्यन्ति जन्तवः । "" 6. This digression is just intended o secure, if possible, a most ancient literary pedigree to a Woodpecker (ure). At any rate the basic idea of the charm put forth by the is worth investigation at the hands of Vedic Scholars. 14. Published by the Svadhyaya Mandala of Satara. 13. In the same way they have been ironically given the names of sweet-smelling herbs. and herbal products, औक्षगन्धि, प्रमन्दनी etc. In the alternative these drugs also were used with the strong-smelling art to drive off the insects-evil beings-as assumed by सायणाचार्य who renders गन्धर्वाप्सन्स: as उपद्रवकारी or malignant beings and according to him the words हरिता: and अर्जुना qualify प्रेङ खा.. 16. Compare also आराध्यमानो नितरां कपोतोऽपि हि तुष्यति-परिशिष्ट पर्वन्, 3.6 कपोत according to tradition is an inauspicious bird-See Art. 35 BARBETS 1. The Barbets are essentially birds of the tree-tops, from whence they utter their loud monotonous call-notes for hours on end; but owing to their green or greenish plumage blending with the foliage they are difficult to see, and for this reason few people know them by sight. All nod their heads in a peculiar manner in the act of calling. Sanskrit f for 'a kind of bird', if derived from its habit of eating for (figs and other fruits), may well apply to the Barbets as a group of fruit-eating birds, but if the name is after the bird's call it would be specific for a particular Barbet. 2. The Great Himalayan Barbet (13") is olive-brown streaked with greenish-yellow above, and roughly the same colour below, striped yellow and brown on the sides, blue down the centre with a scarlet patch under the tail. Seen from a distance it appears to be a dark dully-coloured bird. Purely arboreal, it is best known by its call, 'a loud melancholy mee-ou or pyillo' (Whistler), and according to Hume "a plaintive call, till- low, till-low, till-low...uttered a chorus, striking and pleasant".¹ Stuart Baker on the other hand, renders the call as a triple 'pio-pio-pio'. It is l-kno how difficult it is ender bird-voices into human syllables and no two persons agree in their syllabification. Bearing this fact in mind and the nature of the bird's call as syllabified above it is not at all difficult. to see that Hindi मियोली, हो and चैंपला and Sansk. पिप्पल for this Barbet are of an onomatopoetic origin as indeed the following Hindi verse would show: "कहत 'पीपली पीपलो' नितहि चैंपला आई"-रसनिधि Hindi , from far and a call, clearly refers to the triple 'pio- pio- pio' rendering of S. Baker, while Sans. fe is a happy blend of the bird's call as well as its fruit-eating habit. 3. In भारतमंजरी, शान्तिपर्व (Verse 1676) क्षेमेन्द्र says that an oil-thief is reborn as a पिप्पल bird (“पिप्पलस्तलहरणात्") which would seem to be in keeping with the bird's olive or yellow-brown plumage...the colour of oil. It is one of the birds that were eaten in the long past: 1. "Stray Feathers", Vol. VIII.
