Vanaspati: Plants and Plant-Life as in Indian Treatises and Traditions c5.s8.18

c5.s8.18

Once an owl and a vulture quarrelled over the possession of a nest in a certain tree each laying an equally emphatic claim to its ownership. Unable to settle the dispute themselves they preferred an appeal to Rāma. On being asked how long they had been there the vulture replied that he had been there since man began to inhabit the earth (मनुष्यैः परितोयदा). The owl replied that he had been there since the earth became decorated with plants (पादपै रूपशोभिता). In consultation with his ministers Rāma decided in favour of the owl on the score of the prior appearance of plants on earth.