Suddhikasutta
Phoenixes may be born from eggs, the womb, moisture, or spontaneously.
Translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · Pāli: Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka · Public domain (CC0) via SuttaCentral
1.1Sāvatthinidānaṁ.At Sāvatthī.
1.2“Catasso imā, bhikkhave, supaṇṇayoniyo.“Mendicants, phoenixes reproduce in these four ways.11.3Katamā catasso?What four?1.4Aṇḍajā supaṇṇā, jalābujā supaṇṇā, saṁsedajā supaṇṇā, opapātikā supaṇṇā—Phoenixes are born from eggs, from a womb, from moisture, or spontaneously.1.5imā kho, bhikkhave, catasso supaṇṇayoniyo”ti.These are the four ways that phoenixes reproduce.”
1.6Paṭhamaṁ.
The supaṇṇa (Sanskrit suparṇa, “bright-feathered”), later garuḷa (Sanskrit garuḍa, “devourer”), is to the eagle as the nāga is to the cobra. He has been falsely compared with the loathsome harpy; but his golden wings, closeness to the sun (eg. Rig Veda 5.47.3), and role as bearer of the nectar of immortality (RV 4.26.4, 8.100.8) show that he is the Indian phoenix, the golden eagle of the sun. As the brother of Aruṇa the Dawn (Matsya Purāṇa 174.47), his golden wings at sunset “devour” the sun. He disappears in darkness only to be born again the next day, just as the European phoenix combusts itself and is born anew. Thus he is both the older and the younger brother of Aruṇa, for which came first, sunrise or sunset?
