How a buck/stag could have become a lion!

[Palaniappa at aol.com]

In a message dated 97-06-30 11:31:25 EDT, you write:

<< If there were an early text mentioning the vehicle of DurgA as
 >'mRgendra', is it possible that it was interpreted as the 'king of animals'
 >instead of 'king of deers'? While the original could have referred to a
 >buck/stag as the 'king of deers', the mistaken interpretation could have
>led to 'lion' as the 'king of animals'.
 
 However, the mR^igendrAgama is about shiva and has little to do with
 durgA! Hence it is more probable that the title of the text would have
 to do with the pati-pashu-pAsha of the shaivite texts and not literally
 the "king of animals". Moreover shiva is not associated with lions in
 any text, AFAIK. >>

I was referring to the possibility of an earlier text even before the
Markandeya Purana where the word 'mRgendra' might have been used. (Tamil
texts refer to the male buck as aNNal iralai which means the 'leader buck'
and if for similar meaning an early Sanskrit text used an expression 'king of
deers', then 'mRgendra' would be a possibility.  I did not mean the word
would have been used in the specific Agamic text mR^igendrAgama.

Regards

S. Palaniappan