Date uploaded in London – – 11 FEBRUARY 2024
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This is my fifth research paper on peacock, the National Bird of India. In this article, I refer to three Tamil poets who give some rare information about the bird.
My previous for articles are available in my blog and they are,
Hindu Vestiges in Iraq!(Post No.1228)
Bernier’s Description of Peacock Throne (Post No.2808)
PEACOCK MYSTERY: HINDU BIRD IN TURKEY/SYRIA AROUND 1400 BCE- Part 1 (Post No.10,767)
PEACOCK MYSTERY HINDU BIRD IN TURKEY SYRIA-PART 2 (Post No.10,769)
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Kamban in his Ramayana in Tamil refers to PEACOCK and compares its rare quality to allow the first born to rule the roost, with Dasaratha’s decision to crown Rama. He used this as a simile to justify Dasaratha’s selection of Rama, the first-born son as his ward.
Here is the context:
Manthara, the evil hunch backed woman in the palace, poisoned the mind of Kaikeyi , and asked her to make her son Bharata as next king. As soon as Kaikeyi heard this, she became angry and chided Manthara pointing out that it is against the Law of Manu. It is also against the nature where the peacock always gives its first- born baby the status of head of the family.
Tamils who are keen observers of nature noted that the first born birdling has golden coloured feathers and the later born birds are not that shiny. It always become the head of the family. Kaikeyi justified Dasaratha’s selection of Rama as the next king. Kamban’s great work on Ramayana in Tamil is considered the masterpiece 1000 years ago. One later work called Thanikachala Purana also used this simile.
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Second Poet
A work called Viveka Chintamani belongs to modern Tamil period. It is by an anonymous poet. It is full of didactic poems in simple Tamil. One poem refers to 13 things in nature that teach good virtues to people. Peacock is also chosen one among the thirteen . The commentator says that the lesson a man should learn from the peacocks is that it throws out the unruly one from its group. That is ‘never align with bad people’.
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Third Poet
In Aesop’s Fable we find peacock. He stole the story from Hindu scriptures. We know that neither Greece nor Egypt ha peacocks 2600 years ago. Several stories in the fable book show that Greek Aesop, a slave in Egypt, only compiled what existed before his times. Stories such as Peacock and Juno are all from Hindu sources. A peacock wants to be a different bird so that it can get their best virtues. But it fails and Juno warned it not to try that way. This is in Tamil as well.
Avvaiyar, the most famous woman poet, lived 1000 years ago. Earlier poet with the same name lived in Sangam age. There were at least three Avvaiyars in Tamil.
This Middle Age period poet Avvaiyar says in a poem that a turkey bird saw the beautiful peacock dancing and tried to imitate it with its ugly short wings. She compared it to an unlearned man composing poems and trying to show off in the court of a king.
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Sanskrit poets
Kalidasa, the greatest of the Indian poets, lived around first century BCE, according to famous Sanskrit scholars . He used peacock in his Meghaduta (Stanza 46, 47) poem in Sanskrit:
46. Your form changed into a cloud of flowers, you should
bathe Skanda, who has taken his permanent abode there, with
showers of flowers wet with the water of the heavenly Gang*^s:
For he is ( none other than ) his own energy, surpassing the
sun in brightness, that was placed by the bearer of the young
moon (Siva) in the mouth of Agni (God of fire) for the
protection of the armies of Indra.
47. Thereafter, with your thunderings prolonged l)y their
being echoed ( lit, caught up ) by the mountain, do you make
that Skanda‘ peacock dance, the outer corners of whose ej’es
are brightened by the lustre of Siva’s moon, and whose moulted
feather, bearing circles of streaks of lustre, Bhavaiil, out of
aifection for her son^ places on her ear, usually the seat of a
blue-lotusJpetal (or, so as to make it come in contact with the
lotus-petal resting there).—Meghaduta, Kalidasa
Skanda’s (Murugan in Tamil) vahana/vehicle is peacock. The bird is shown in His flag as well. All famous Skanda shrines in Tamil Nadu have lots of peacocks in their natural surroundings.
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Emperor Asoka’s favourite food
The mighty Peacock /Maurya Empire was founded by Chandra Gupta Maurya, under the guidance of clever Brahmin Chanakya. He was insulted by Non Brahmin, Non Kshatria Nanda dynasty king. So the angry Brahmin vowed to destroy the Anti Brahmin Nanda dynasty. He called an able- bodied youth from the Peacock Farm (Maurya) and made him the emperor. Even Alexander the Great was scared to enter his powerful Empire. Being the owners of Peacock farms (Mayura in Sanskrit is peacock. It is in the Rig Veda; Maurya is the Peacock farms owners), Mauryas were fond of peacock curry.
Mauryan king Asoka , a great eater of peacocks, declared in one of his inscriptions that only two peacocks must be killed every day. The inscription says that thousands of peacocks and deer were killed every day for the palace people. But later he ordered only two peacocks should be cut in the palace everyday. His previous inscription did not even include peacock in the Non Sacrificial Birds. Buddhagosha also says that Mauryas were great peacock eaters. Here is what Asoka said,
Illustration courtesy of Yashwant K. Malaiya,
Professor, Computer Science Department,
Colorado State University
Ashoka’s First Rock Edict at Girnar
Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi,
has caused this Dhamma edict to be written.
Here no living beings are to be slaughtered or offered in sacrifice.
Nor should festivals be held, for Beloved-of-the-Gods,
King Piyadasi, sees much to object to in such festivals,
although there are some festivals that
Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, does approve of.
Formerly, in the kitchen of Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi,
hundreds of thousands of animals
were killed every day to make curry.
But now with the writing of this Dhamma edict
only three creatures, two peacocks and a deer,
are killed, and the deer not always.
And in time, not even these three creatures will be killed
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More Interesting Facts about Peacocks
Mayura Bhatta composed the famous SURYA SATAKAM 1000 years ago. The Rig Vedic word Mayura is used in masculine and feminine names by the Hindus.
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There are areas named after peacock in Chennai and Delhi; Mylapore is one of the ancient parts of Chenai Mayurbhanj in Odisha and Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu are two well-known districts in India.
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Being Lord Skanda’s vehicle, Tamil poet Arunagirinathar used peacock in most of his songs/hymns. He composed over 1300 Thiruppugaz songs praising the glory of Skanda. One of his compositions is Mayil Vrttam (Mayil came from Mayura for peacock)
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Peacock in Sangam Tamil Literature
2000 year old Sangam Tamil literature lists Seven Last Philanthropists of Tamil speaking old. That means two sets of Seven Philanthropists existed before them.
Tamils are very sentimental and sensitive to suffering of others. Modern devotional poet Ramalinga Swamigal, also known as Vallalar says that he withers away whenever he sees a withered plant.
In the Sangam period a chieftain by name Pari saw a climber without a supporting pole, the movements of the climber in the gusty wind made him sad. Immediately he stepped out of his precious chariot and made it the supporting pole for the plant. He is one of the Seven. Another chieftain was Bekan (also spelt Vaiyāvik Kōpperum Pēgan) ; when he was riding through the jungle he saw a peacock shrugging its body so that the feathers will come out and form a fan. Bekan thought it was shivering and shaking because of the cold weather and immediately gave his costly gold laced silk shawl to it. All such incidents show their kindness towards nature.
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Peacock in Linguistics
Hebrew TUKI= Sanskrit SIKI
One of the Sanskrit names for peacock is SIKI. Lord Muruga/Skanda is known as Siki Dwaja. This Siki becomes TUKI in Hebrew. And Tuki is found in the list of exports from India to Babylonia. Other exports also have one Sanskrit names. But some half baked scholars took it for TOKAI in Tamil (Thokai refers to feather only and not peacock). The S=T interchange is used by all of us in hundreds of English words where TION is pronounced as SION. (E.g. Frution, Condition etc)
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Tamil MAYIL and Sanskrit MAYURA
There has been a debate over the words Mayur and Mayil ; is it a Tamil word? or Sanskrit word? Chronologically it is found in Sanskrit 1500 years before it is used in Tamil . But the similarity of the words justify the theory that both languages were created by Lord Shiva . From poets Paranjothi Munivar, Sivanjana Munivar to modern poet Bharati confirmed it in their poems.
In the second part , I will write about
Mayil and women’s hair in Literature
Mayil and Murugan
Mayura sanctuaries
Mayura in Ayurveda
Mayura in siddha vaidhya
Mayura in vahanas flags stamps coins currency notes
Rome Vatican Peacock
Peacock as symbolism
Other names of peacock
Peacock feather fan
Jains and Peacock
Dancing bird in Babylonia
Rangoli , curtains, Mayil dance (folk dance)
Wisdom library
Symbolism Meaning
Tamil Sanskrit synonyms for Peacock
Proverbs on Peacock
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Tamil References quoted above:
1470. ‘வெயில் முறைக் குலக் கதிரவன்
முதலிய மேலோர்,
உயிர் முதல் பொருள் திறம்பினும்,
உரை திறம்பாதோர்;
மயில் முறைக் குலத்து உரிமையை,
மனு முதல் மரபை;
செயிர் உற, புலைச் சிந்தையால்,
என் சொனாய்? – தீயோய்! (Kamba Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda)
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‘கான மயிலாடக் கண்டிருந்த வான்கோழி’ (Post No.4742)
Turky imitating Peacock (Aesop copied this Hindu folk tale)
கான மயிலாடக் கண்டிருந்த வான்கோழி
தானு மதுவாகப் பாவித்துத் — தானுந்தன்
பொல்லாச் சிறகைவிரித் தாடினாற் போலுமே
கல்லாதான் கற்ற கவி –
மூதுரைப் பாடல்/வாக்குண்டாம்
(மூதுரை என்பதும் வாக்குண்டாம் என்பதும் ஒரே நூல்தான்)
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73. நற்குணங்கள் பதின்மூன்று
மயில் குயில் செங்காலன்னம் வண்டு கண்ணாடி பன்றி, அயிலெயிற்றரவு, திங்கள் ஆதவன் ஆழி கொக்கோடு, உயரும்விண் கமலம் பன்மூன்றுருகுண முடையோர் தம்மை, இயலுறு புவியோர் போற்றும் ஈசனென் றெண்ண லாமே.
மயில் (பொல்லாததை ஒதுக்கும் குணம்; அழகிய தோற்றம்), குயில் (இனிய பேச்சு), சிவந்த கால்களையுடைய அன்னம் (விவேகம்; பாலையும் தண்ணீரையும் கலந்து வைத்தாலும் பாலைமட்டும் அருந்தும்)), வண்டு (தேன் போன்ற நல்லதை மட்டும் எடுத்தல்), கண்ணாடி (உள்ளதை உள்ளவாறு காட்டுதல் – உண்மை), பன்றி (உறவுகளோடு கூடி வாழ்தல்), கூர்மையான பற்கள் உள்ள பாம்பு (எதிரிகளுக்கு பயத்தைக் கொடுத்தல்), சந்திரன் (குளிர்ந்த பார்வை – கண்ணோட்டம்), சூரியன் (ஞானம்), கடல் (ஆழ்ந்த அறிவு), கொக்கு (ஒரு முகப்பட்ட மனம்),உயர்ந்த வானம் (பரந்த மனம், அகன்ற சிந்தனை), தாமரை (ஒட்டியும் ஒட்டாத பற்றற்ற வாழ்க்கை) ஆகிய இப்பதின்மூன்று குணங்களும் ஒருங்கே உடையவரை உலகத்தார் அனைவரும் போற்றும் ஈசன் என்று கருதலாம்.- விவேகசிந்தாமணி
To be continued……………………………………
—subham—
Tags Peacock, Tamil poets,Kamban, Kalidasa, Bekan,Hebrew, Siki, Mayura, Rig Veda, Tamil, Sanskrit, Literature,Asokan, Inscription
Tamil and Vedas 