History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c27.s2.6

v1.c27.s2.6

Next in importance is Pālakāpya, the first and most ancient author on Elephantology. Edgarton, Professor of Sanskrit, Yale University, USA, remarks in the introduction to his book ‘The Elephant Lore of the Hindu’, ‘All known texts agree in attributing the founding of scientific elephantology to a mythical sage, Pālakāpya. They likewise agree in making this elephant lore to an apparently mythical Romāpada, the king of Aṅgas, whose name is not otherwise known’ etc. The name of Romāpada, the king of Aṅgas, occur in Bālakāṇḍa of the great epic Rāmāyaṇa, where it is stated that king Daśaratha had invited to Ayodhya the sage Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, the son-in-law of Romāpada. This points to the indication that Pālakāpya’s book on elephantology must be older than epic period.