History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c89.307

v7.c89.307

A noticeable feature of Vasantarāja's work is that more than half of it (781 verses) is devoted to the sounds¹³¹² made by three birds viz. Śyāmā (400 verses), crow (187) Pingalikā (200) and that 312 verses are devoted to the barking, movements and howling of dogs (verses 222) and female jackals (verses 90). It is remarkable that among the Śāktas it is believed that a female jackal is a messenger of Kālī and is auspicious and on hearing its howl in the early morning a person should offer salutation and then success is in the hands of the sādhaka. The brief contents set out above will show that he extends the meaning of śakuna so as to include prognostications based on the actions of men and beasts. He himself says at the end that¹³¹³ is śakuna, which in this world is remembered, heard, touched or seen or which is declared in dreams, since they all yield results. He claims that the system of śakunas is as authoritative as the Vedas, smṛtis and purāṇas, since it never fails to convey correct knowledge.¹³¹⁴ Some of his interesting statements may be briefly set out. If an owl hoot at night on the top of a house that portends¹³¹⁵ sorrow and the death of the owner's son (VIII. 40). This is in line with modern popular belief in India. The cawing of crows is at the head of all prognosticatory sounds 'The barking of dogs is the essence among all śakunas.' The Bṛhad-yogayātrā¹³¹⁶ provides that certain animals and birds are useless for prognostications at certain seasons viz. the *rohita* (red) deer, horse, goat, ass, deer, camel, hare, are useless in winter (śiśira); crow and cuckoo are useless in spring; boar, dog, wolf and the like should not be relied upon in Bhādrapada; in Śarad (autumn) lotuses (or conch), bull and birds like krauñca are useless; in Śrāvaṇa month, the elephant and cātaka bird; in Hemanta (early winter), tiger, bear, monkey, leopard, buffalo and all animals resorting to holes (like snakes) are useless and so are all young ones except of human beings. Vasantarāja in IV. 47-48 pp. 56-57 has the same provisions almost word for word. Vasantarāja's work appears to have been based mainly on Varāhamihira's Bṛhat-saṃhitā section on śakuna, chapters 85 to 95 (321 verses) in which Varāhamihira devotes 47 verses in chap. 85 to the cries of birds in general, deals with the movements and barking of dogs (88. 1-20) and female jackals (89. 1-15), the cries of crows (62 verses in chap. 94), to horses (92. 1-15), elephants (94. 1-14) and cows (90. 1-3).