Vyasa said: ‘Donkeys are born of cows, sons couple with their mothers, and the trees of the forest show flowers and fruit out of season. Pregnant princesses give birth to dreadful beings: flesh-eaters, birds, jackals, and other beasts. Ill-omened animals appear: three-horned, four-eyed, five-legged, with two sexual organs, two-headed, two-tailed, and fanged. They are born with gaping mouths and utter ill-omened sounds; three-legged peacocks appear, and garuda-like birds, four-fanged and horned. In your city even the wives of the knowers of Brahman give birth to garuda-like birds and peacocks. O lord of the earth, a mare gives birth to a calf, a dog to a jackal, and the krakara birds, the sharikas, and the parrots speak ill. Some women give birth to four or five girls at once, and these, no sooner born, dance, sing, and laugh. The nursing infants of common folk in the houses of thieves dance and sing, proclaiming a great fear. Others, driven by time, draw armed figures; children with sticks in hand rush at one another and, eager for battle, lay siege to cities. Lotuses, utpalas, and water lilies appear on the trees; fierce winds blow from every side, and the dust does not settle.’