at risk again

[Dominik Wujastyk]

In the Introduction of my Roots of Ayurveda book, p.23, I discuss plant
names, and I list a whole lot of good reference sources on the history of
plants in India, including texts that help with Sanskrit and vernacular
names and Linnean identifications.

Animal names:  KN Dave, Birds in Sanskrit Literature (Motilal) is *the*
bible for birds.  SH Prater, The Book of Indian Animals, is a goldmine of
info., and really helpful in identifying animals, though it doesn't do the
Sanskrit itself.  It does give vernacular names, though, which can be very
important and helpful.  It is published by the Bombay Natural History
Society, all of whose publications are very useful indeed (including
Daniel's Reptiles).  Similarly, Samuel Israel and Toby Sinclair, Indian
Wildlife: Sri Lanka, Nepal (ARA Publications, ISBN 0-245-54523-9) is
excellent; same caveats as for Prater.

Klaus Karttunen is interested in realia too, and his volumes on India and
Greece are full of useful identifications and remarks.  You might not
think to look there at first.

Best,

Dominik

On Sun, 9 Feb 2003, jkirk wrote:

> Not being an expert, I still try. Can anyone point me to a Sanskrit source
> that gives translations into English of animal names in Skt to their common
> or biological or both names in English?
>
> Not much of Indian birds or flowers in Monier-Williams it seems, nor on the
> Capeller online or Cologne online lookup machines.
>
> Thanks
> Joanna Kirkpatrick
>