366 MONMOHAN CHAKRAVARTI ON 



12; sarasvatyai 'sarih purusa-vak...sarasvale sukah purusa-vako, Vaj. sam. xxiv. 33; cf. 

 Maitr. sam. iii. 14. 14). The form sarika is found in the Vasistha Dharma-sutra. 



The suka is often taken to be the male of sari ; but as Biihler has pointed out, this is 

 a mistake. That the saris belonged to a different genus was known in India of old, as 

 the following quotation from the Jatakas amply shows (546, vi. 421, verse 33) : — 



Suvo va suvim kamcyya salika pana salikam. 

 Suvassa salikaya ca samvaso hoti kldiso ti. 



Trans/. — The male parrot desires for the she-parrot, and the male starling too for 

 the she-starling. But between a parrot and a starling how can there be a (love-) con- 

 nexion ? 



The parrot and the starling are classed in Medical works pratudas, i.e., birds that pick 

 up their foods (Caraka Sutra xxvii. 50 ; Sus. Sutra , ch. xlvi). The flesh of parrot is 

 said to be astringent, acid, not oily and cooling when cooked, useful in consumption, 

 cough, anaemia and diarrhoea, light and appetiser (Car. ib. 69-70). 



Though medicinally included in the diet, the flesh of the parrot and the 

 starling had ceased to be used as ordinary food from a very long time. In the 

 Dharma-sutras they are not found among permissible meats. On the other hand, 

 Gautama (xvii. 34), Vasistha (xiv. 48), and Manu (v. 12) distinctly prohibit eating such 

 flesh. It is only by Usanas that the offering of parrot's flesh is permitted in sraddha 

 (iii. 134) ; here the other Sutrakaras speak of (permissible) birds or sakunas. Even 

 Usanas with the other Sutrakaras prescribe penances for killing parrots and starlings 

 (Manu xi. 135 ; Visnu 1. 38, li. 29 ; Yajnyavalkya i. 172, iii. 271 ; Usanas ix. 10. 25 ; 

 Samvartta, 145 ; Parasara vi. 3, 4 ; Sankha xvii. 23 ; Satatapa ii. 55). 



Alune. ( v ) Alum ( in a11 )' 



Unidentified. Being named between starling and ruddy goose, it was pre- 

 sumably some kind of bird. The word might be a variant of Sanskrit aruna, red 

 coloured. In Caraka I find birds with names rakta- sirsaka red-crested, and rakta-varttaka, 

 or red-quail. 

 R , (vi) The ruddy goose or the Brahmani duck or goose, cascara nutila. 



Goose. Cakavake (in all). 



Cf. cakkavakc, plural cakkavaka (Jat. 434, iii. 520; 451, iv. 70; 535, 

 v. 406 ; 545, vi. 276 ; 547, vi. 539). 



The ruddy goose is known from the earliest times for their conjugal love. In Rk- 

 samhita. (ii. 39, 3) they are compared to Asvins; in the Atharva-sarhhita they are con- 

 sidered models of conjugal love. For further references see also Taitt. sam. v. 5. 13 ; 

 Vajasan. sam. xxiv. 22, 32 ; xxv. 8. In the Jatakas one finds jayam-patike cakkavake 

 (451, iv. 70), with mosses as their food, sevale khaditva (434, iii. 520), and as nadi-cara 



(547, vi. 539). 



Cakravakas are placed in the class vari-carinah or ambu-carinah (Car. Sutra, xxvii. 

 42) and among sarhghata-carinah (Sus. Sutra, ch. xlvi). 



In the time of the Dharma-Sutras the Brahmani duck had ceased to be among the 



