Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.2504

c7.2504

KOLIKA (KOKILA). This is the name of a rat. Kokila is a character in the story known as Biḍālopākhyāna, told by Nārada to Dhṛtarāṣṭra. Once a cat began to perform penance holding up both of its hands, on the bank of the Gaṅgā. After a long time birds and rats began to come very close to it believing that it would not hurt them. They made the cat their leader. The wicked cat daily ate a rat secretly. Thus the body of the cat grew stronger day by day and there appeared a steady decrease in the number of the rats. Among them there was a wise rat called Kokila. He understood the deceit played by the cat. So proclaiming independence he and his fellows ran away and saved themselves. (M.B. Udyoga Parva, Chapter 160).