Research source

THE CUCKOO, THE HERON, THE HEATHCOCK, THE PARTRIDGE, THE NIGHTINGALE, THE SWALLOW, THE SPARROW, AND

Date of account: English edition published 1872
Source: Zoological Mythology; or, The Legends of Animals, Volume 2 (of 2)
Reference: Zoological Mythology; or, The Legends of Animals, Volume 2 (of 2) · selected passage 149
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-25

Record summary

The gods bandage his eyes; the serpent sings a verse in praise of the somas; the gods, as an antidote, sing several verses, and counteract the effect of the serpent's verse

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

The gods bandage his eyes; the serpent sings a verse in praise of the somas; the gods, as an antidote, sing several verses, and counteract the effect of the serpent's verse. And the witch (âsurî) of the long tongue (Dîrghagihvî) is no doubt a serpent, who in the _Âitareya Br._,[557] again, licks the morning libation of the gods, and makes it inebriating. In the _Râmâyanam_ it is recorded that the long-tongued witch (Dîrghagihvâ), the devourer, is killed by Indras. The struggle between the gods and the serpents for the possession of the ambrosia is the subject of a long episode of the first book of the _Mahâbhâratam_.[558] The serpent loves dampness, water, ambrosia, and rain. When Bhîmas, the son of the wind, is thrown into the waters of the Ganges, he falls into the kingdom of the serpents, who give him the water of strength to drink.[559] In the _Mahâbhâratam_, the mother of the serpents, who have been burned by the sun, invokes the rain to bring them to life again; Indras, to please her, veils the sky with clouds.[560] In the _Râmâyanam_, instead of the serpents, the monkeys are resuscitated by means of the rain.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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