Kokilā
Kokilā, “the cuckoo”
Grammar: feminine noun kokilā; masculine kokila.
Meaning: the kokila bird; as Kokilā, the one addressed as Devī in the Kokilāvrata.
In the scriptures: The Kokilāvrata. Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Yudhishṭhira that Kīrtimālā, queen of Śatrughna at Mathurā, asked her kulaguru Vasishṭha Muni for a vrata by which her unbroken saubhāgya would grow. Vasishṭha taught that a woman, on Āshāḍha pūrṇimā in the evening, makes the saṅkalpa to bathe daily through Śrāvaṇa, eat at night, sleep on the ground and keep brahmacarya. After the dhyāna of Bhagavān Sūrya she grinds tila and makes from it a mūrti of the kokilā bird. The mantra calls Kokilā Tilasahā, dark as tila, one whose happiness is tila, to whom tila is dear, and asks her for saubhāgya, sampatti (wealth) and sons. At the end she makes a kokilā of tila paste with gem eyes and golden wings, and places it in a copper vessel. The woman who keeps it by this rule has saubhāgya for seven births, and at the end goes to Gaurīloka in an excellent vimāna. Kīrtimālā kept it and gained unbroken saubhāgya, a son, happiness, prosperity, and the favour and love of Śatrughna (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 11). The index of the Bhavishyottara names Kokilā (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 208).
The kokila bird. Women with a voice like the haṃsa, kokila, vīṇā, bee, peacock or flute have many bhogas and servants (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 5). The wise do not like an alliance with one of another jāti, for by it both fall, as in an alliance of the kokila with the parrot (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 6). Among the omens, when the earth trembles, mountains collide and the kokila and owl cry out, the king, minister, king’s son, elephants and the like are destroyed (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 3, Chapter 20). Nārada tells Bhagavān Śaṅkara that the kokila and others aid Vasanta (Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 133–136).
Related terms: Vrata · Saubhāgya · Vasanta
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapters 5–6; Madhyama Parva, Bhāga 3, Chapter 20; Uttara Parva, Chapters 11, 133–136, 208