A legend from Karnataka is that a donkey brayed each time a son was born to Devaki in prison. Vasudeva prays at the feet of the donkey and expresses his gratitude to the donkey for not braying when Sri Krishna was born.
"This sculptural frieze narrative is in a Karnataka. Lord Vasudeva thanking the donkey. Kamsa did not believe his soldiers so he tied the donkey in front of cell because donkey knew the smell of new born baby, then donkey would start to bray. VASUDEVA requested the donkey not to make noise and indicate the birth of Krishna to Kamsa. So he thanks the donkey." -- Gopinath on Facebook
Annamayya folk song on Sri Krishna's birth:
సువ్వి సువ్వి సువ్వాలమ్మా
నవ్వుచు దేవకి నందను గనియె ||
నవ్వుచు దేవకి నందను గనియె ||
శశి వొడచె అలసంబులు గదచె
దిశ దేవతల దిగుళ్ళు విడచె ||
దిశ దేవతల దిగుళ్ళు విడచె ||
కావిరి విరసె కంసుడు గినిసె
వావిరి పువ్వుల వానలు గురిసె ||
వావిరి పువ్వుల వానలు గురిసె ||
గతి సేసె అటు గాడిద గూసె
కుతిలకుడిచి జనకుడు నోరు మూసె ||
కుతిలకుడిచి జనకుడు నోరు మూసె ||
గగురు పొడిచె లోకము విధి విడిచె
మొగులు గురియగ యమునపై నదచె ||
మొగులు గురియగ యమునపై నదచె ||
కలిజారె వేంకటపతి మీరె
అలమేల్మంగ నాంచారమ్మకలుకలు తీరె ||
అలమేల్మంగ నాంచారమ్మకలుకలు తీరె ||
గతి సేసె అటు గాడిద గూసె
కుతిలకుడిచి జనకుడు నోరు మూసె॥
Word-Word:
గతిgati= motion; సేసెsese= doing; అటుaTu= there; గాడిదgaaDida= donkey; గూసెgoose= brayed;
కుతిలkuthila=pain; కుడిచిkuDichi=assembling; జనకుడుjanakuDu= father (of Krishna); నోరుnooru= mouth; మూసెmoose= closed;॥
Meaning:
Motion started there; a donkey brayed
assembling pain, Father mouth closed
Discussion:
Commotion started and a donkey started braying. As Vasudeva was escaping from prison, the donkey's braying caused a lot of noise and Vasudeva was scared that the noise would wake up a lot of guards that were sleeping. So Vasudeva, Krishna's father goes to the donkey and tries to calm it and cause it to stop bryaing. There is a reference to the donkey in a popular proverb in Telugu that a King like Vasudeva had to calm a donkey in bad times. http://annamayya-sankirthana.blogspot.com/2015/09/
Short Sword with Four Kulans’ Heads on the Handle
Northeast China, 10th-8th century BCE
Bronze, L. 9 5/8 in. (24.5 cm)
(The kulan is a species of onager or wild ass native to Central Asia).
Source: Met Museum
Copper model of a quadriga from Shara Temple at Tell Agrab, Iraq, c. 2600 BC. Oriental Institute of Chicago
Rein Ring with Electrum Onager on Top. British Museum, London
A Copper Rein-Ring from Southern Iraq
M. E. L. Mallowan
Iraq
Vol. 10, No. 1 (Spring, 1948), pp. 51-55 (7 pages)
Published by: British Institute for the Study of Iraq
DOI: 10.2307/4241674
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4241674
![Image result for sumer onager ancient sculptures]()
A Copper Rein-Ring from Southern Iraq
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/4241674
- Published online: 07 August 2014
The copper rein-ring illustrated in this article is at present privately owned, and was shown to me in London in 1947: it is published here by kind permission of the owner. It is said to have been acquired in Nasiriyah in 1922, and to have come from the Samawa district. There is little doubt that this object must have been found at some Sumerian site such as Kish or Ur; it may be dated to the end of the second or the beginning of the third Early Dynastic period, c. 2500 B.C.E.
Electrum, silver and copper rein rings of this type, surmounted by a model animal, have been found at Kish and at Ur, and a variant form was discovered in a tomb at Til-Barsib, near Carchemish, on the upper Euphrates. This specimen is of particular interest because the animal appears to be an onager, or wild ass, which was evidently known to the Sumerians not later than the middle of the third millenium B.C.E.https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iraq/article/copper-reinring-from-southern-iraq/DD73BE96B90A7754518444ABF81815A9
