A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.731

c5.731

JARITĀ. A certain female bird of the species called Sārngikā, whose story is told in the Mahā-bhārata. The saint Manda-pāla, who returned from the shades because he had no son, assumed the form of a male bird, and by her had four sons. He then abandoned her. In the conflagration of the Khāndava forest she showed great devotion in the protection of her children, and they were eventually saved through the influence of Manda-pāla over the god of fire. Their names were Jaritāri, Sārisrikta, Stamba-mitra, and Drona. They were “interpreters of the Vedas;” and there are hymns of the Rig-veda bearing the names of the second and third.