A History of Sanskrit Literature c9.25

c9.25

The *chakravāka* or ruddy goose, on the fidelity of which the post-Vedic poets so often dwell, is mentioned once in the *Rigveda*, the Açvins being said to come in the morning like a couple of these birds, while the *Atharva-veda* already refers to them as models of conjugal love. Peahens (*mayūrī*) are spoken of in the *Rigveda* as removing poison, and parrots (*çuka*) are alluded to as yellow. By the time of the *Yajurveda* the latter bird had been tamed, for it is there described as "uttering human speech."