6 - Baladeva’s brahmanicide.

The Birds explain the third question-Baladeva, in order to avoid siding with the Pandavas and Kauravas, went to the Raivata Forest-Overcome by intoxication, love, and the influences of the place, he killed Súta for not saluting him-To expiate that sin he undertook the pilgrimage. 

The birds spoke.

1 The plough-armed Ráma, knowing the perfect affection of Krishna for Arjuna, deliberated much-” Can what has been

2 done be better done? Without Krishņa, assuredly, I will not go near Duryodhana; or how, siding with the Pándavas, shall 

3 I slay king Duryodhana, my royal son-in-law and disciple? Therefore, I will go neither to Arjuna nor to king Duryodhana.

4 I will myself bathe myself at holy bathing places, so long as it conduces to the ending of the Kurus and Pándavas.”

5 Having thus taken leave of Krishna, Arjuna and Duryodhana, the descendant of Súra, surrounded by his army, went to Dváraká.

6 Arriving at Dváravatí, which was thronged with glad and well-fed citizens, Ráma Haláyudha drank a draught at the

7 holy bathing places, which are to be visited in future. Having drank his draught, he then marched to the flourishing park of Raivata, * taking with him the intoxicated Apsaras-like Revati.

*A mountain near Dváraká in Gujarat. The woodland scene described seems to be a fanciful one, compounded from the author’s observations everywhere. 

 8 Encircled by a bevy of maidens, the hero went on, intoxicated, stumbling in his walk. And he saw a forest, fascinating, beyond

9 compare, loaded with the fruits and flowers of every season, thronged with troops of monkeys, sacred, dotted with clumps of

10 lotus-flowers, a great forest abounding in pools. Listening to the copious, pleasure-inspiring, love-soft, beautiful, ear-delighting, melodious songs poured forth from the mouths of the birds,

 11 he saw the trees there, loaded with the weight of the fruits of every season, bright with the blossoms of every season, rendered

12 resonant by the birds; -mango trees, hog-plums,† kámarangas,†† cocoanuts, and tindaka trees, § and little bel 

†Amrataka, the Hog-plum, Spondias mangifera; the modern amra. It is both wild and cultivated. I give the botanical names, from Hooker’s Flora of British India, of all except the most common, as many of the trees have no English names, and are better known by those names: but there can be no doubt that the various species in a genus are not always distinguished, and that the Sanskrit names are sometimes as much generic as specific. The descriptions are taken from Roxburgh’s Flora Indica, Edu. Clarke, 1874, from Oliver’s Indian Botany, 1869, and from Firminger’s Manual of Gardening for India. 

††Bhavya, Averrhoa carambola, the modern kámranga. A garden tree. 

§ I do not find tindaka in Prof. Monier-Williams’ Dictionary: tinduka occurs in verse 14. The late Rev. Dr. Banerjea, in a translation he began, translates it Ebony, which is Diospyros melanoxylon, the modern tindu. It is a large tree, growing in most woody mountainous parts of India. 

13 trees * cumin, † pomegranates, †† citrons, § jack trees, || monkey-jack trees, ¶ [ plantain trees, and very charming kadam trees, ** and párávata trees, †† kankola trees, †††† nalina

* A’bilvaka, I do not find this in the Dictionary. Bilva, the Bel or Bengal Quince, Aegle marmelos; the modern bel-phul and shriphal. Both wild and cultivated. It bears panicles of large white flowers, which are used in worship. 

†Jira, Cumin, Cuminum cyminum; the modern jira; this is a slender cultivated annual, Jíra also means Panicum miliaceum, Roxb., the modern cheena, which is a cultivated cereal from 2 to 4 feet high. (Roxb., p. 104.) Neither seems appropriate. 

††Dádima, the Pomegranate, Punica granatum; the modern dárim or dalim. A cultivated tree in India. 

§Vija-puraka, Citron, Citrus medica, the modern nebu. A cultivated tree in India. 

||Panasa, the Jack or Jack-fruit tree, Artocarpus integrifolia; tho modern kanthal. A cultivated tree. (Roxb., p. 633: Oliver, p. 272: not in Hooker). 

¶ Lakuc’haka, the Monkey-jack, Artocarpus lacucha; the modern dephul. A garden tree. (Roxb., p. 634; Firminger, p. 188; not in Hooker). 

** Nipa, Anthocephalus cadamba (Nauclea cadamba, Roxb.); also kadamba, the modern kadam. A garden tree, highly ornamental with its large, globular, beautiful, orange-coloured heads of flowers, and very useful from its extensive close shade (sco Roxb., p. 172). 

††Párávata: The Dictionary says this is Diospyros embryopteris (glutinosa, Roxb.), which is tho modern gáb: but this tree is also tinduka, which occurs in the next verse, and tindaka has occurred in verse 12. Párávata means also a dove or pigeon, and has been corrupted into the Bengali payrá; might not párávata, the tree, be corrupted into the Bengali peyárá, which means the Guava, Psidium guyava? 

†††† Kan kola. I do not find this in the Dictionary, Read kankellán for kan kolán? Kan kella is given as the Ashok, Saraca indica (Jonesia ashoka, Roxb.), but this occurs in verse 15. 

14 trees, §§ docks, |||| marking-nut trees, ¶¶ emblic myrobalans, * and gáb trees† bearing large fruits, almond trees, †† karamcha trees, § yellow myrobalans, || beleric myrobalans. ¶

§§ Nalina. Dr. Banerjea translates this as the Indigo plant, but Prof. Monier-Williams says nalina, neut., is the Indigo shrub, Indigofera tinctoria; while nalina, masc. as here, is the Carissa carandas; but the latter occurs in the next verse. 

|||| Amla-vetasa, the Dock or Sorrel, as Prof. Monier-Williams - gives it. The Dock is Rumex vesicarius, Roxb. The Sorrel is Oxalis corniculata, Hooker sec Oliver, pp. 181 and 269). 

¶¶Bhallátaka, the Markingnut tree, Semecarpus anacardium, the Bengali Bhela. A tree, growing in all the mountainous parts of India, with large panicles of small greenish yellow flowers. (Roxb., p. 268.) 

* A’malaka, the Emblic Myrobalan, Phyllanthus emblica, the modern amla (Roxb., p. 684 and Oliver, p. 279). I do not find it in Hooker. Emblica officinalis is an earlier name. 

† Tinduka, Diospyros embryopteris (glutinosa, Roxb.), the modern gab. It is a tree common in Bengal, and among the mountains in the Circars. Its fruit is as large as a medium-sized apple. 

††In-guda, the Almond tree, Terminalia catappa, the modern badám. A beautiful large tree, growing everywhere. 

§ Karamarda, Carissa carandas, tho modern karamcha. A common small tree, with beautiful, white, jasmine-like flowers. 

||Haritaka, the Yellow or Chebulic Myrobalan, Terminalia chebula; a large forest tree. 

¶Vibhitaka, the Beleric Myrobalan, Terminalia belerica, the modern bahera; & large forest tree. 

15 He, Yadu’s descendant, saw these and other trees, and also aśokas, **

** A’shoka, the Ashok, Saraca indica (Jonesia ashoka, Roxb.). A middling-sized, very handsome, garden tree, with large, globular bunches of rather large flowers. The flowers are of a beautiful orange colour when they first expand, and gradually change to red, forming a variety of beautiful shades: they are fragrant during the night. (Roxb., p. 312). 

16 punnágas, †† screw-pines, †††† and vakulas, §§ ch’ampakas, |||| saptaparnas, * karņikáras, † and Spanish jasmines, †† párijáta trees, § kovidáras, || mandáras, ¶ and jujube trees, **

†† Punnága, Rottlera tinctoria, (Roxb. and Oliver): it is still called punnag. I do not find it in Hooker. A tree, a native of Coromandal. 

†††† Ketakí, the Screw-Pine, Pandanus odoratissimus, (Roxb. and Oliver), the modern keora. A large shrub, with panicles of large white, sheath-like leaves, enclosing bundles of closely-packed minute flowers. “It is the tender white leaves of the flowers, chiefly those of the male, that yield that most delightful fragrance, for which they are so universally and deservedly esteemed; for of all the perfumes in the world it must be the richest and most powerful.” (Roxb., p. 707.) 

§§ Vakula, Mimusops elenghi, the modern bakul. A tree, commonly cultivated, with flowers middle-sized drooping, white and fragant; but Firminger says they are small, pale-green. (Roxb., p. 318; Hooker, p. 458; Firm., p. 490). 

|||| C’hampaka, Michelia champaca, the modern champak or chámpá. A garden tree with large yellow delightful fragrant flowers. 

*Sapta-parna, Alstonia scholaris. An ever-green tree growing in the drier forests of India. 

†Karņikára, Pterospermum açerifolium, the Bongali kanak-champa. A Himalayan tree, but also grown in gardens. It has very large, pure white, fragrant flowers. 

††Málati, the Catalonian or Spanish Jasmine, Jasminum grandiflorum, the Bengali játí or chameli, Hindustani chambeli. It is a spreading garden shrub with graceful pinnate foliage and middling-sized white fragrant flowers, which retain their odour when dried and are much used for perfume. (Firm, P. 518), Málati also means the Clove-scented Echites, Aganosma caryophyllata (Echites caryophyllata, Roxb.), now called málati, which is a climbing shrub, with bay-like leaves and sprays of middling-sized fragrant white flowers. (Roxb., p. 245; Firm., p. 518.) 

§Parijáta, Erythrina indica. A large tree growing all over India, with racemes of numerous large bright scarlet flowers. This tree is generally called mandar now. 

||Kovidára, Bauhinia variegata, the Bengali rakta-kanchan. A garden tree with large reddish-purple flowers. 

¶ Mandára. Prof. Monier-Williams says this is Erythrina fulgens, but I do not find it in Hooker or Roxburgh. May it be E. stricta, which grows in the Western Peninsular and much resembles E. indica? In Bengal E. indica is now generally called mandár. 

**Badara, Zizyphus cenoplia (jujuba or scandena, Roxb.), the Bengali kul, the Hindustani ber. A small tree with fruit of the size of a large cherry. 

17 delightsome Bignonia trees†† in blossom, and devdár trees, †††† sál trees, SS palmyra palms, |||| and tamálas, *

†† Pátala, Bignonia suaveolens, Roxb., the modern párul. I do not find it in Hooker. A tree, with large, exquisitely fragrant, dark dull crimson flowers. It blossoms during the hot season. Prof. Monier-Williams calls it the Trumpetlower tree, but I do not find this name in any of the Botanical books I have consulted. 

†††† Deva-dáru, Pinus devdara, Roxb, this modern devdár. I do not find it in Hooker. A great tree, native of the mountains north of Rohilkhand. No species of pine is native in the Peninsula (Oliver, p. 294); this tree therefore is quite out of place in this Gujarat scene. 

§§ Sála, the Sál tree, Shorea robusta, the modern sál. An immense timber tree. 

|||| Tála, the Palmyra Palm, Borassus fiabelliformis, Roxb., the modern tállot in Hooker. Fans are made from the large fan-like leaves. 

*Tamála. Prof. Monier. Williams says this is Garcinia xanthochymus (Xanthochymus pictorius, Roxb.); this is a tree, a native of the mountainous districts in India. But Roxburgh says the Tamála is Diospyros cordifolia, which Hooker unites with D. montana; this is a common tree. 

18 kimsukas,† and fine vanjula trees††: -inhabited by chakors,§ and woodpeckers, shrikes, || and parrots, koils, ¶ and

†Kims’uka, Butea frondosa, tho Bengali palásh. Oliver calls this tree the Dhak, (p. 195), but I do not find this name anywhere else. It is a common tree, with handsome, irregular, orange-red flowers in racemes which are covered with a soft greenish-purple down. (Roxb., p. 540.) 

††Vanjula, Ougeinia dalbergioides (Dalbergia oojeinensis, Roxb.). A tree with racemes of numerous, rather small, very pale rose-coloured flowers, somewhat fragrant. 

§Ch’akora, Caccabis chukor. The Chakor is said in Prof. Monier-Williams Dictionary to be the Greek partridge, Perdix rufa or Tetrao rufus, but the Greek partridge, Caccabis saxatilis, is a different species, inhabiting Europe, from the chakor the Asiatic species. The chakor is found in the Himalayas and the other northern ranges. It is always a bird of the hills, and does not occur in Gujarat, where this scene is laid (Jerdon’s Birds of India, Edu. Godwin-Austen, Vol. II, p. 564; Hume and Marshall’s Game Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 33). Tetrao rufus is the name Linnaens gave the Europoan bird. Perdix rufa seems, from the edition of his works in the Bengal Asiatic Society’s Library, to be an earlier name. There are other partridges in the plains of India, Ortygornis gularis, &o., but I do not think the reference can be to them, for the writer seems to be mentioning birds inhabiting the Himalayas; see the note on the Jivajivaka pheasant, below. 

||Bhringa-rája. Prof. Monier-Williams translates this, Malabar shrike, Lanius malabaricus. This bird stands in Jerdon as Edolius malabaricus, and if, I am informed by Dr, J. Soully, a king-crow. Another bird may be meant, the Malabar Wood-shrike, Tephrodornis sylvicola, but, as the writer seems to be referring to birds found near the Himalayas, bhringa-rája may mean any kind of shrike, almost every kind of which is common throughout the greater part of India. (Jerdon, Vol. I, p. 400). 

¶ Kokila, the Koil, Eudynamys orientalis (Jerdon, Vol. I, p. 342).

 19 sparrows, green pigeons, ** and jívajívaka pheasants, †† by priya putras, * and pied-crested cuckoos, † and by various other birds,

**Háríta, the Green Pigeon, probably the Bengal green pigeon, Crocopus phaenicopterus, or the Orange-breasted groen pigeon, Osmotreron bicincta. The Sonthorn green pigeon, Crocopus chlorigaster, and the Green imperial pigeon, Carpophaga sylvatica, are not found near the Himalayas. 

†† Jívajívaka. Prof. Monier-Williams gives the synonym, jíva-jíva and jivanjiva, and explains the word as a kind of bird supposed to be a pheasant, or the chakor. As the chakor is mentioned already, it must have the first meaning, taking it to be a kind of pheasant, I would suggest that it is the Cheer Pheasant, Phasianus Wallichi, The Sanskrit name looks like an onomatopaeous one, and the cry of this bird is “something like the words chir a pir, chir a pir, chir chir, chirwa chirwa.” Cheer is the native name. The bird is found in Garhwal and Kumaon and the neighbouring country, and inhabits the middle slope of the Himalayas (Hume and Marshall, Vol. I, p. 169: Jerdon, Vol. II, p. 527). If this bird be a pheasant, it is clear the writer is mentioning, not the fauna of Gujarat, but of the country near the Himalayas, for it appears from Hume and Marshall, and Jerdon, that no pheasants are found in India except in the Himalayan and Indo-Burmese mountains and forests. 

* Priya-putra. I do not know what this bird is. The name affords no indication. 

† Ch’ataka, the Pied-crested Cuckoo. Prof. Monier-Williams says the bird is Cuculus melanoleucus, but I find no such name mentioned in Jerdon. It is the Coccystes melanoleucos of Jerdon (Vol. I, p. 339), which he says is called chatak. It is found all over India. 

20 warbling pleasingly and very melodiously: -and the lakes, beautiful and placid, crowded on all sides with the lotus water-lilies, †† and lotuses, § and the brilliant blue water lilies, *

†† Kamud, the Lotus water-lily, Nymphaea lotus (Oliver, p. 155). There seems to be some confusion in distinguishing between the Sanskrit names for the lotus and the water-lilies, and I would attempt a solution in this and the following notes. 

Of the water-lilies, Nymphaea, large water-herbs with leaves and flowers floating on the surface, there are 2 species common in India, viz., N. lotus, the Lotus water-lily, and N. stellata, the Blue water-lily. 

N. lotus has leaves 6-12 inches broad, and flowers 2-10 inches broad, white, rose, or red. This species combines Roxburgh’s N. rubra and N. edulis (esculenta). Its Sanskrit name is kumud, and probably ambu-ja; the red variety is raktotpala. It closes during the day and opens at night. 

The latter species, N. stellata, has fluwers 1-10 inches broad, slightly odorous. It comprises 3 varieties, (1) cyanea (N. cyanea, Roxb.), flowers medium-sized, blue; (2) parviflora, flowers usually smaller, blue; (3) versicolor (N. versicolor, Roxb.), flowers larger, white, blue, purple, or flesh-coloured. The blue-flowered N. stellata is called indivara, utpala, kuvalaya and nilotpala. (Hooker, Vol. I, p. 114: Roxburgh, p. 427.) 

§Pundaríka, tho Lotus or Sacred Lotus, Nelumbium speciosum. This is the only species of Nelumbium in India. It is a large erect water-herb with its leaves and flowers raised high above the water. Its leaves are peltate, cupped, 2-3 feet in diameter. The flowers are 4-10 inches broad, white or rose red. Its Sanskrit names are kamala, nalini, padmini, pundarika, sarasi-ja, and sahasra-patra. The flower is padma and panka-ja. The red variety is kokanada and támarasa. Roxburgh says tho white variety is called in Sanskrit sitámbu-ja, and the red variety raktotpala; but these names more properly designate the white and red varieties of the water-lily (Nymphaea), and Prof. Monier-Williams translates them so. The Lotus opens during the day and closes at night (Hooker, Vol. I, p. 116; Oliver’s Indian Botany, p. 156; Roxburgh, p. 450.)

* Nílotpala, the Blue water-lily, Nymphaea stellata, see note †† on kumud, supra p. 29. 

21 with water-lilies, † and lotuses; †† and thronged with kádamba geese, § and ruddy shieldrakes|| and water-fowl, ¶

†Kahlára. Prof. Monier-Williams says this is the White esculent water lily, Nymphaea lotus, but Roxburgh assigns it to his N. cyanea. Can it mean the rose-coloured variety of the N. lotus or stellata? See note †† on kamud, supra p. 29. 

††Kamala, tho Lotus, Nelumbium speciosum; see note § on Pundarika, supra p. 29. But there must be some difference between the two. 

§Kádamba, a kind of goose with dark grey wings (kala-hansa), so Prof. Monier-Williams. It seems to be the Grey Lag-Goose, Anser cinereus, which is called kar hans in Bohar, (Hume and Marshall, Vol. III, p. 55; Jerdon, Vol. II, p. 779.).

||C’hakraváka, the Ruddy Shieldrake or Brahminy Duck, Casarca rutila. Anas casarca is tho Linnaean name. (Hume and Marshall, Vol. III, p. 125; Jerdon, Vol. II, p. 791.) 

¶Jala-kukkuta. This is probably the Water-hen, Gallinula chloropus, commonly called the jal-murghi, which means the same. (Jerdon, Vol. II, p. 718.) 

22 with kárandava ducks, ** pelicans, †† geese, †††† tortoises, and divers; * thronged with these and other birds swimming in the water all around.

** Kárandava, a kind of duck; also called karanda. I wonld suggest that this is the Common Teal, Querquedula crecca, which is now called kerra in the N. W. Provinces, and kardo in Sindh. (Hume and Marshall, Vol. III, p, 205; Jerdon, Vol. II, p, 806.) 

††Plava. Prof. Monier-Williams translates this as pelican, Pelicanus fusicollis; but I do not find any such species in Jerdon. It may be the Grey pelican, Pelecanus Philippensis, which is the most abundant species in India. (Jerdon, Vol. II, p. 858.) 

††††Hansa. This is of course general, and means any kind of goose or duck.

*Madgu, a kind of diving bird. It is probably the Little Grebe, Podiceps Philippensis, commonly called dub-dubi from its inveterate diving. (Jerdon, Vol. II, p. 822.) But it may be the Bald Coot, Fulica atra, which is also a ready diver (id., p. 715.) 

23 So gazing on the delightful forest, Shauri accompanied by the maidens gradually proceeded onwards to an incomparable

24 bower of creepers. There he saw brahmans, deeply read in the Vedas and Vedángas, belonging to the families of Kushika,

25 and Bhrigu, Bharadvája, and Gotama, and brahmans    sprung from various families, all eagerly listening to the tales,

26 seated on large outer garments made of the hide of the black antelope, and on the kusha grass and on kušha-grass seats; and

27 Súta (their bard) in the midst, reciting glorious tales of the olden times, based on the deeds of the first Surarshis. Seeing

28 Rám, whose eyes were red with drinking, all the brahmans, perceiving he was intoxicated, rose up in haste, saluting the

29 plough-bearer, except that scion of the bards. Then filled with rage, the mighty plough-bearer, who caused all the Dánavas to quake, rolling his eye, smote Súta.

 30   When that bard was slain while repeating the words of the Veda, all those brahmans, clad in black antelope skins, departed

31 from the wood. And the plough-armed hero, perceiving himself disregarded, thought, “This is a very grievous sin

 32 that I have committed; for since I have come here to a brahmans’ abode and have slain Súta, these dvijas perceiving

33 me have all departed. And my body has a disgusting odour, as it were of blood, and I perceive that I am contemned as

 34 a brahmanicide. Fie on my rage, and the wine, my arrogance, my cruelty! Possessed by them, I have committed this most

35 grievous sin. To expiate it I will perform a twelve-year vow, making the confession of my deed the uttermost penance.

36 This then is the pilgrimage which I have now undertaken; I

37 will go to the Pratilomá Sarasvati itself.” Hence he, Ráma, went to the Pratiloma Sarasvati.

         Next listen to this reference to the story of the Pándaveyas.