ANIMALS IN THE INSCRIPTIONS OF PIYADASI. 363 



II. Animals in Special. 

 Various animals have been named in the rock edict I. and in the pillar edict V. Animals, 



special 



These two edicts are the well-known ahimsd orders of the Emperor. Edict No. I. names, 

 forbade the general destruction of life, both in his own kitchen and in his empire ; the 

 pillar edict V. specified a number of animals which should not be killed or cruelly dealt 

 with. 



Let me now examine them in detail. In the rock edict No. I., two animals are 

 named, viz., the peacock and the deer. 



(i) The peaCOCk. Peacock. 



[Mora (G. u), majura (S. 3, M. 4-5), ?najula (K. 4), majuld (J. 4, Dh. eff.] 



Cf. mora-pinca (Kulavagga, v. 23.1 ) ; in the Jatakas the common form 

 is mora, fern, tnori (Jat. 159, ii. 33; 339, iii. 120 491, iv. 336); the 

 other forms are mayura (Jat. 535, v. 406 ; 545, vi. 276 ; 547, vi. 534) 

 and mayura (Jat. 547, vi. 534). 



Peacocks are known from the earliest times; mayuiyah (Rg-samhita, 1st mandala, 

 sukta 191, verse 14), mayura-romabhih (Rg-sam. iii. 45. 1), mayitryah (Ach. saiti. vii. 

 56-7), mayura (Taittinya-samhita, 5th kanda, 5th prapathaka, verse 16;, mayurdn (Vaja- 

 saneya-sarhhita, 24th adhyaya, verse 23). 



At present the peacock is a sacred bird ; and its killing is forbidden specially in 

 Rajaputana. But we see from the edict that in the older days its flesh was a permissible 

 food. Visnu-dharma-sutra says (Adh. Ii. 31) : — 



Tittiri-kapinjala-ldvaka-varttikd-mayura-varjyam-sarvva-paksl-mdms-a^anec-dho) dtram. 



31. For eating (unawares) the flesh of any bird, excepting the francoline partridge, 

 the kapinjala, the (quail called) lavaka, the peahen, the peacock, (he must fast) for a 

 day and a night. (Jolly's translation, Sacred Books of the East, vii., p. 166). Same in 

 Baudhayana i. 5. 12. 7. 



Sankha quotes a dictum of Yama (xvii. 27) : — 



Tittirin-ca mayurail-ca Idvakaii-ca kapinjaram. 

 Vdddhrinasam varttaka-ii-ca bhaksydn-dha Yamah sadd. 



Trans/. — " Yama says : — the partridge, the peacock, the (quail called) lavaka, the 

 kapinjara, the (crane called) vaddhrinasa, and the varttaka are always eatable." 



Gradually the idea changed ; and in the other Dharma-sutras, the killing of a pea- 

 cock involved a penance, though of a small nature (Manu xi. 136, Apast. i. 9. 25. 13. 

 Yajn. iii. 272; Baudh. i. 10, 19, 6). The Mahabharata also specially prohibited the eating 

 of its flesh (Anusas. P. civ. 93). At present its connection with the ancestry of many 

 royal families has made its killing prohibitive and dangerous. 



It is interesting to note what the older medical writers, Caraka and Susruta, said 

 about the peacock. It belonged to the class viskira (Caraka, Sutra-sthana, Adh. 



