“ ाची ा” (ISSN 2348 – 8417) The Peer Reviewed Refereed E-Journal in Sanskrit , Indexed in DOAJ

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A Butterfly: An Indian Perception with a Literary View

- Mr. Manish Rajan Walvekar
&
- Mr. Tanmay Jayant Bhole

{ India is a country of diversity having a long prosperous tradition and variety of folk

notions regarding deities, creatures, birds and insects. India’s philosophical tradition and
variety of beliefs inspired the western scholar A. L. Basham, who explained India’s
uniqueness and beauty in his famous book “The Wonder That Was India”. Present research
paper threw light on notions about butterfly in folk stories. The author has discussed
thoroughly variety of concepts that prevailed in Indian regions regarding the butterfly,
particularly in Orissa, Gonda, Manipur etc. He has also explained the etymology and meaning
of the very word ‘Patang’ that’s butterfly according to Nirukt, Mahabharat and Mahabhashya
etc. This beautiful symbolic aspect of butterfly, communicated generation to generation, is an

interesting one. - Editor }

Abstract:
“A flying insect of the order ‘Lepidoptera’, distinguished from moth by their diurnal
activities and generally brighter colouring.” -This is the way almost all dictionaries describe a
butterfly. But as we all know a butterfly in reality is a much livelier being than such
definitions. In many cultures a butterfly symbolises various aspects of life. In Japan it is seen
as personification of a person’s soul, but, large number of butterflies is considered as bad
omen. Roman belief is a butterfly symbolises soul and in line with it ancient Greek word for a
butterfly is ‘Psyche’ i.e. soul or mind. In some cultures it is also considered as a symbol of
rebirth. Even Indian belief system (mainly folk-culture) associates a butterfly with some
important aspects of life like birth, ancestry, marriage, deceased soul, death etc. The beliefs
and customs associated to a butterfly are quite amusing. This paper will try to put a step as far
as this symbolism is concerned.

Revered scholar Durga Bhagwat, in her masterpiece ‘Lokasāhityācī Rūparekhā’

provides an exhaustive explanation regarding a butterfly in Sanskrit and non-Sanskrit
literature (504-527). Interestingly, through several references, she stated that, in Sanskrit
literature, not a single name for a butterfly is found (504). However she quotes Mr. K.M.

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A Butterfly: An Indian Perception with a Literary View / Mr. Manish Rajan Walvekar & Mr. Tanmay Jayant Bhole
The śāstramañjūṣā, Peer Reviewed Research papers on Indology 9th Issue / Vol.V - December 2019
https://sites.google.com/site/praachiprajnaa/sastramanjusa
Dave (a scholar of Mṛgapakṣiśāstra) stating that the word pataṅga can be used for manifold
meanings including a moth and a butterfly (Bhagwat 508).
The meaning shades of the word pataṅga will be discussed later.
This topic is a vast area of research. However, in this very paper we will focus on two
issues mainly-
1) Symbolism of a butterfly in the folk culture.
2) Statement made by Durga Bhagwat regarding indication of a butterfly in the Sanskrit
literature.
It is important to mention that almost all the significant folk stories and beliefs about a
butterfly are found in the regions like Orissa, Bengal and the north eastern part of India.
Some of them seem to be travelled in greater India like Myanmar, Sumatra etc. Let us discuss
some folk stories first.
1) A legend of Kuttiya Konda-s (Orissa) mentions the story of birth of a butterfly (Bhagwat
516). Nirantali, a girl, wondering through fields of rice happened to get a flower of
‘phaphan’, assembled it with dirt of her chest and grass and gave birth to a butterfly out of it.
In Brahmadeśa (Myanmar), a butterfly is considered as the soul of rice crop (Bhagwat 527).
In Aitareya-Brāhmaṇa (1.1) while describing dīkṣṇīyeṣṭi rice is symbolised as retas i.e.
semen. Another legend of this girl named Nirantali (Bhagwat 516) quotes that she throws an
umbilical cord in the air and it gets transformed into a butterfly. A butterfly is associated with
rice and as we all know that rice is considered as a symbol of prosperity i.e. fertility. We will
be dealing with this point later. In the second story the relation between a butterfly and
creation or birth is clearly underlined.
2) A Gondi myth (Bengal and Orissa) (Bhagwat 516) mentions that Bhukanāsura (a deity) of
Kailāsagaḍha desired to attain glory. In his quest for the same he went to Koilāgaḍha and got
married to Koilāsuramāī. It is a social norm that newly married couple should not sleep
together until the ceremony for washing out turmeric is done. But they had a sexual
intercourse before this ceremony and at the beginning of vaiśākha month Koilāsuramāī
delivered phiphalīsuramāī, a butterfly. This is a peculiar and an important story. In this
story some another symbols of fertility are linked with a butterfly like turmeric. Prof. Dange,
in his legendary work ‘Aśvatthācī Pāne, clearly establishes the relation between turmeric and
the Sun as the symbol of fertility (43-54). Through several rituals and customs like ceremony
of applying turmeric on the bodies of bride and groom before their marriage, sprinkling
turmeric water on bride as sūryajala conveying that now she is able to be fertile etc.
traditions illustrate the inevitable relation between the Sun and fertility. Koilāsurmāī and

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 “ ाची ा” (ISSN 2348 – 8417) The Peer Reviewed Refereed E-Journal in Sanskrit , Indexed in DOAJ
https://sites.google.com/site/praachiprajnaa

Bhukanāsura had an intercourse before the ‘turmeric washing ceremony’ and gave a birth to
a butterfly (phiphalīsuramāī); it signifies that turmeric also is a significant cause for its birth.
Another important thing is the words like ‘Koilāgaḍha’ and ‘Koilāsuramāī’. The word Kol̥a
or Kol̥ l̥ a has resemblance with water, water puddle in the languages like Kannada, Marathi
etc. The word ‘Koḷḷa’ and ‘Koilā’ do have phonetic resemblance. Water is a well-established
symbol of fertility (c.f. Dhere, Lajjagauri, Pune: Padmagandha Prakashan, 2011, 4th
Edition) and it is often seen that the deities residing in water bodies are invoked for progeny
and fertility.
3) A butterfly is considered as progenitor of certain clans. Nāga-s [Tha Smong] (Eliade
Mircea 255) of Manipur race their ancestry to butterflies and worship them (Bhagwat 522). In
some parts of greater India like Sumatra, some communities believe that they have evolved
out of eggs of a butterfly (Bhagwat 522). They also believe that a butterfly brings progeny.
Not only in India but also in some parts of the world like North-America, Mexico etc. a
butterfly is considered as the creator of the Universe (Bhagwat 523).
4) Durga Bhagwat also quotes Dr. Prabhasachandra Majumdar saying if a butterfly touches
a young person then it denotes that marriage of that person is impending (524). So, even if we
consider the word Prajāvati then we can connect it to fertility as well. Even in China,
tradition of a butterfly dance i.e. duet dance is considered as a dance of courtship. Here a girl
plays the role of a butterfly (Bhagwat 522).
5) Significantly, these meaning shades like ‘prajapati’ and the creator of the Universe are so
dominant in the eastern part of India. It is interesting to know that in Bengali, in viṣṇupriyā
dialect of Assam and in Pāli, the butterfly is termed as prajāpati (Bhagwat 522). In Pali, the
word Prajapati or Prajavati is a feminine word (Pāli Text Society, London, The Pali Text
Society Dictionary, Chipstead: Online dictionary, 19th November 2018). That’s why Durga
Bhagwat connects a butterfly with feminity only (522). Interestingly the Vedic word tittiri,
Pali word titīla, and the Hindi word titalī are having phonetic resemblance. Let us take a
glance at this word tittiri.
 Nirukta says: tittirih taraṇāt tilamātracitra iti vā | (3.18). In Vedic literature, this
word is oft-used. [rudrāṇām tittirih, Kāṭhaka-saṁhitā 47.6] etc. The one who flies is
tittiri.
 In the Mahābhārata (5.9.35), it is clearly mentioned that after beheading a person,
tittiri came out from his mouth. (yena sarvā diśo rājan pibanneva nirīkṣate | tasmād
vaktrat viniṣpetus tittirās pāṇḍavaḥ). Here it is connected with the death.

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A Butterfly: An Indian Perception with a Literary View / Mr. Manish Rajan Walvekar & Mr. Tanmay Jayant Bhole
The śāstramañjūṣā, Peer Reviewed Research papers on Indology 9th Issue / Vol.V - December 2019
https://sites.google.com/site/praachiprajnaa/sastramanjusa
 Tittiri is a mythical serpent living in Bhogavatī-purī (Mahābhārata 5.101.130) and
it’s an epithet of a snake, mentioned in the Mahābhārata (1.31.15). Here one would
like to draw attention into the significance of a snake in the symbolism of fertility. But
this is a topic of another research paper. In the same epic (3.31.15), tittiri is mentioned
as a nāga, a son of Kaśyapa & Kadru.
 ‘Tittiri is the name of the partridge in the later saṁhitās, and the brāhmaṇas being
presumably an onomatopoetic formation. The bird is described as having variegated
lumage (bahu-rūpa). It is usually associated with the kapiñjala.’ (Macdonell and
Kieth 322). Here the word kapiñjala is very interesting. There are two components in
this word: kapi+jala . Kapi i.e. a monkey is a symbol of fertility right from the Vedic
period (Walvekar 171) and water is a well-established symbol of fertility. This
reference needs our attention. Let us not arrive at any conclusion. To state its
significance, more literary references should be examined. But it was necessary to
mention this point at this very stage.

To conclude this point, we can state that the word tittiri can be used for a
butterfly as well as a bird. In the light of aforementioned references, one can underline
the relation of a butterfly with birth and death. This could be the reason why we have
the word titalī in Hindi for a butterfly.

Now we’ll discuss different shades of meaning of the word pataṅga (collected from
the scriptorium, Deccan College Sanskrit Dictionary Project, Pune). There are almost 17
meanings of pataṅga found in Sanskrit literature namely the Sun , fire, spirit, son of
Prajāpati, a moth, a butterfly, an eagle, demi-god, a grasshopper, a firefly, a caterpillar, rice
growing in summer, Viṣṇu, śukasārikā, a black bee, a bird and a cāṇdāla i.e. lower strata
person. Though a name for it is not found in Sanskrit literature we can find some references
where the word Pataṅga can be interpreted as a butterfly. For example, in Droṇaparvan of
Mahābhārata pataṅgaṁ hi graseccāṣo,…. (Indian roller bird eats a butterfly/moth)
(7.101.37a), Mahābhāṣya, on 1.3.20, says vyādadate pipīlikāḥ Pataṅgamukham (a butterfly
opens his mouth wide for eating an ant), these are some select references. Apart from this, a
major group of references convey the meaning of the word pataṅga as the Sun. In
Atharvaveda, 13.2.30- Rocase Antarikṣe Pataṅga (O pataṅga i.e. Sun you shine in the sky),
pataṅgasya sthāne svatejasā bhāti- Taittirīya Āraṇyaka. 1.16.1 {119.2/3} (it shines with
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 “ ाची ा” (ISSN 2348 – 8417) The Peer Reviewed Refereed E-Journal in Sanskrit , Indexed in DOAJ
https://sites.google.com/site/praachiprajnaa

glory at the place of pataṅga i.e. the Sun), also in Bhīṣmaparvan of Mahābhārata 6.13.44d,
Vāyupurāṇa 1.50.124, Yuddhakāṇḍa of Rāmāyaṇa, the word Pataṅga is depicted as the Sun.

From the 7th Century A.D. in the texts like Pramāṇavārtika (3.200a), Mahāpurāṇa
(19.148), Trika (290.45) etc. the word citra-pataṅga is found having a butterfly as the major
shade of meaning. Henceforth we can state that the word pataṅga can be definitely translated
as a butterfly. The Sun is a well-established symbol of fertility in our culture. As stated
earlier, Prof. Dange discussed this symbolism thoroughly in his book. With the help of these
facts and references one can assert that undoubtedly, a butterfly is related to the Sun and
fertility.

Observations-
1) The relation between the Sun, turmeric and a butterfly is linked with fertility.
2) Rice as a symbol of fertility can be associated with a butterfly through folklores.
3) Prajāpati- the word for a butterfly is associated with one of the meanings of pataṅga and
also the Sun.
4) Conclusion made by Durga Bhagwat can be and should be tested based upon these facts.
However, an amendment to it is highly needed. In other words we can say that the
abovementioned references and explanation can be considered as the first step to enrich the
contribution of Durga Bhagwat.
5) Significance of the word tittiri is highly important.

In the light of this discussion one can trace that though a butterfly symbolizes birth,
marriage, ancestry, the prominent essence behind these connotations is aspects of fertility.
Still some questions are unanswered:
1. What is the role of a butterfly in the other parts of India except Bengal, Orissa as well as
North-East part of India?
2. Does this symbol have connections with other symbols of fertility like snake, lotus etc.?
3. A linguistic study of a butterfly.
4. Literary study of the word tittiri.
5. And last, as correctly mentioned by Durga Bhagwat: a butterfly is connected with
Prajāpati, after getting cursed by Śiva & Viṣṇu, people stopped worshipping Prajāpati,

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 A Butterfly: An Indian Perception with a Literary View / Mr. Manish Rajan Walvekar & Mr. Tanmay Jayant Bhole
The śāstramañjūṣā, Peer Reviewed Research papers on Indology 9th Issue / Vol.V - December 2019
https://sites.google.com/site/praachiprajnaa/sastramanjusa
this can be one of the reasons for unpopular image of a butterfly. Still, more literary
references are required.
These questions can be taken for the further studies.

Bibliography:

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Bharati, first edition.
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first edition.
3. Bhagwat, Durga, (2015) Lokasāhityāchi rūparekhā, Pune: Varada books, second edition pp 504-
527.
4. Dange, S.A., (1974) Aśvatthācī pāne, Nagpur: Hindu Dharma Sanskriti Mandir, first edition
5. Dhere, R.C., (2011) Lajjāgaurī, Pune: Padmagandha Publication, fourth edition.
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Walvekar, Mumbai: Dept. of Sanskrit, Ramnarain Ruia College, 71-176, first edition.
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 “ ाची ा” (ISSN 2348 – 8417) The Peer Reviewed Refereed E-Journal in Sanskrit , Indexed in DOAJ
https://sites.google.com/site/praachiprajnaa

*Scriptorium of Department of Sanskrit and Lexicography, Deccan College, Deemed University,

Pune.

***

Mr. Manish Rajan Walvekar

(मनीष राजन वाळवेकर)

Assistant Professor, Amrita Darshanam, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru-560035.

r_manish@blr.amrita.edu
&

Mr. Tanmay Jayant Bhole (त मय जयंत भोळे )

Ph.D. Research scholar, Deccan College Deemed University, Pune-411006.

bholetanmay@gmail.com