Birds in Sanskrit Literature RV 10.142 as we shall presently see. For the present let us see if it is possible to distribute the four names among the four North-Indian species of Bee-caters, जरिवारि, the same as जरिता (जरिन्ट singer) of the Veda, is said to be eldest of the four and the physical basis for him should be the Blue-bearded species which is the largest of all. Next comes सुज to let go; v.1. सारिसूक्व (सारि arrow, with सूक् to be pointed, who should be the next larger, the Blue-tailed सुक्क and सूक्त) species. The name afa for the third w clearly implies a type that prefers a low bush for a perch, for means a bush or clump. It is said to be a phonetic variation of with probably a slight change in meaning. M. William gives also f as v.l. for f. The RV hymn is a late one and it is suggested that has the same meaning there as in expressions like, 'by clumps or tufts' and Faf, 'bushy' occurring in TB and MS respectively (see M.W.). We have already noted the Common Bee-eater's habit of perching low and it remains to add that such perches are mostly in the open and fully exposed to the sun. The statement, "स्तम्बमिनस्तपः कुर्यात्" in the verses quoted above from the MBh 1.232, therefore, clearly points to it as af. Lastly, the fourth, is said to be the best of 'praise-singers'-- fat and the basis for him can only be the Chestnut-headed species which roosts in flocks and begins its trilling chorus with the first glimmer of morning light. The only objection to this allocation of the names is that they are all said to be from a single nest but it will be readily seen that this is entirely due to the exigencies of the story as told in the MBh., for there is no such statement in the hymn or in the Anukramani and so far as the hymn goes Jaritä alone appears to speak for all. The Anukramani, however, attributes two verses each to the four joint bird-authors of the hymn. They thus sing there as adults and most probably represent the four different species of the bird known to the Vedic sage. 152 13. The story in Mahabharata mentioned above is nothing more than a Puranic elaboration of the situation envisaged and briefly described in RV X.142. The author of the hymn would seem to have loved the birds for their beauty, graceful flight, pleasant call notes and their winsome ways. What is more, he also knew their breeding habits and the occasional danger to their young from a forest fire, and having witnessed their apparently wonder- ful escape from a conflagration he, in a spirit of thankfulness, attributed their safety to the mercy of god Agni and celebrated the event in the form of a beautiful prayer hymn. This he placed in the mouths of the birds themselves, for according to the Anukramaņi each of the four birds contributed two verses to complete the hymn. afar, the eldest according to MBh, opens the prayer and is followed by the others. The general purport of the hymn is summarised below:- 1. Cf. the epithet argrafe: for all four in MBh 1.131.16. Bee-eaters 14. On behalf of all Bee-eaters and particularly the young in their under- ground nests Jarită says in the first verse that he has always been in a special relationship with god Agni and that he has no other kinship, i.e. he does not expect help from any other quarter. He then pays the compliment of heavenly birth to Agni and reminds him that he is a helping friend to all living creatures, and assures himself that his prayer, moving fast like fleet horses to the god, would of themselves protect him as does a herdsman his herd. (The comparison with a fleet horse is very apt as the bird sees the advancing fire and hence the need for quick action, and a cow-boy leading his little herd into a dense jungle is better than one who follows it.) 153 15. In the third verse, describing the awful results of a conflagration, Jarita humbly assures the god that he would never think of incurring his displeasure. The next two verses, the 4th & 5th, vividly describe the action and course of the forest fire, while verse 6 allows for a full play of the flames, both hig!. up and low down, and expresses a fervent hope that other gods in their benevolent mood (:) may be with god Agni at the moment so that their silent influence may persuade him to spare the little young in the nests. The 7th verse refers to the waters of a river and a large tank or jheel' in the neighbourhood of which the nests are located, and requests god Agni to stop there and choose a different course (as in the very nature of things he must), and, finally, in the last verse of the hymn, after the fire has destroyed the grass about the nests and the place has cooled off, Jacità looks around and, out of gratefulness to the god for having passed lightly over the nests and spared the young, prays for a fresh growth of green grass all about and continued existence of the waters and the lilies¹ as provid- ing safe homes for the progeny of the future. The phrase refers to possible future visits of the god and Jarita's faith in his kindness at all times. 17. The above rendering gives a perfectly natural setting to the entire hymn and when so read one cannot miss its great poetic beauty and artistic composition. Griffith is certainly not right when he says that stanzas 7 and 8 belong to some other hymn and have been simply transplanted there. Similarly the opinon of Bloomfield (S.B.E., XLII, p. 515) that these two verses are independent of the hymn and have been "repeated with variants" both here and in AV 6.106 is not correct. Both the verses, in fact, are not 1. The lilies typify all aquatic vegetation where insect-life of all sorts thrives and furni shes food to the Bee-eaters. 2. No blame whatever attaches to these and other scholars who have dealt with the hymn for the simple reason that they did not know what exactly was the Sariga bird. It has been identified for the first time by the writer of this article and it is only with the help of the life history of these birds and the MBh version that a proper understanding of the hymn has become possible.
