rAjahaMsa in the ha?sasa?des ´a

[Valerie J Roebuck]

I expect you are familiar with this book:

Vogel, J. P., 1962,  The Goose in Indian 
Literature and Art.  Memoirs of the Kern 
Institute No. II. E. J. Brill, Leiden.

According to my notes, Vogel (good name?) 
identified haMsa and rAjahaMsa with a mainly 
white form of the Indian goose (Anser indicus), 
and kalahaMsa with the greylag goose (Anser 
anser).

Valerie J Roebuck

At 7:12 am -0700 15/4/09, Oliver Fallon wrote:
>I would like some help on the identity of the 
>ra¯jaha?sa which is the subject of 
>Veda¯ntades´ika's Ha?sasa?des´a. He tells us 
>little of the bird except that he repeatedly 
>stresses that it is a pure white water bird and 
>that it has a beautiful call as it flies to 
>which that of the peacock is unfavourably 
>compared. I was first provoked into considering 
>that this is not a goose by a comment in 
>Shastriar's 1902 Madras edition of the poem, 
>where he says: "ra¯jaha?sa is a species of swan 
>with red legs and bills (sic). Compare 
>'ra¯jaha?sa¯s tu te cañcucaranair lohitais 
>si¯ta¯?'"