saMskRta hAsyaM: Sanskrit Humour

[saidevo]

If you think that Hinduism and the Hindus of the olden days were very serious people and that their texts and literature had no sense of humour, think again!

• Here is a subhAShita--wisdom words, that speaks about the samudra mathana--churning the ocean of milk, and says humorously that ultimately it was the dress that made the difference for the gods ViShNu and Shiva!

किं वाससा इत्यत्र विचारणीयं
वासः प्रधानं खलु योग्यतायै ।
पीताम्बरं वीक्ष्य ददौ स्वकन्यां
दिगम्बरं वीक्ष्य विषं समुद्रः ॥

kiM vAsasA ityatra vichAraNIyaM
vAsaH pradhAnaM khalu yogyatAyai |
pItAmbaraM vIkShya dadau svakanyAM
digambaraM vIkShya viShaM samudraH ||

"What's in one's dress"—-is a point for contemplation;
apparel is indeed important for appropriateness;
Looking at the one dressed in bright yellow clothes (MahAviShNu), the ocean gave him his daughter;
seeing the one dressed in nothing (Shiva) it gave him poison!

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• This subhAShita says that a doctor is like the brother of Yama, the Lord of Death!

vaidhyarAja namaH tubhyaM yamarAjasahodara |
yamaH tu harati prANAm vaidhyarAjaH dhanAni cha ||

वैध्यराज नमः तुभ्यं यमराजसहोदर ।
यमः तु हरति प्राणाम् वैध्यराजः धनानि च ॥

O Doctor, I salute you! You are the brother of Yama Raja!
While Yama only takes the life, the doctor takes the money too!

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• A doctor contemplates on a burning body in the pyre!

chitAM prajvalitAM dRuShTvA vaidyo vismayamAgataH |
nAhaM gataH na me bhrAtA kasyaidaM hastalAghavaM ||

चितां प्रज्वलितां दृष्ट्वा वैद्यो विस्मयमागतः ।
नाहं गतः न मे भ्राता कस्यैदं हस्तलाघवं ॥

Seeing a body burning on a pyre, a doctor remarks in surprise:
"He is gone not by me, or by my brother, then whose sleight of hand is this?"

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• Do our three gods of the Trinity have any fear? This subhAShita says indeed they have!

kamale brahmA shete haraH shete himAlaye |
kshIrabdhau cha hariH shete manye matkuNashankaya ||

कमले ब्रह्मा शेते हरः शेते हिमालये ।
क्शीरब्धौ च हरिः शेते मन्ये मत्कुणशन्कय ॥

BrahmA sleeps on a lotus, Shiva sleeps in HimAlaya,
ViShNu sleeps in Ksheersaagar--it's all due to the fear of bugs in their bed!

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• This one is about the persistent itch of becoming famous in us.

ghaTaM bhindyAt paTaM ChindyAt kuryAt rAsabharohaNaM |
yena kena prakareNa prasiddhaH puruSho bhavet ||

घटं भिन्द्यात् पटं छिन्द्यात् कुर्यात् रासभरोहणं ।
येन केन प्रकरेण प्रसिद्धः पुरुषो भवेत् ॥

Breaking a pot, tearing a cloth, or riding on a donkey--
doing something by hook or crook, (everyone) tries to be famous!

(Reminded of the Guinness Book of World Records?)

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• Blessed are the poor!

bho dAridryaM namastubhyaM siddho&haM tatprasAdAtaH |
pashyAmyahaM jagat sarvaM na mAM pashyati kashchana ||

भो दारिद्र्यं नमस्तुभ्यं सिद्धोऽहं तत्प्रसादातः ।
पश्याम्यहं जगत् सर्वं न मां पश्यति कश्चन ॥

O poverty, homage to you; by your grace I have obtained magical powers:
I see the whole world, and nobody sees me!

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[LALKAR]

Namaste Saideo G,

I do accept that humour was in hinduism, but those sanskrit texts must have their serious meanings

[saidevo]

saMskRta prahelikAH: Sanskrit Riddles
http://www.speaksanskrit.org/

01. The women and the tiger

ekona viMShatistrInAm snAnArthaM sarayuM gata |
viMShati punarAyata, eko vyAghreNa bhakShita ||

एकोन विंषतिस्त्रीनाम् स्नानार्थं सरयुं गत ।
विंषति पुनरायत, एको व्याघ्रेण भक्षित ॥

Nineteen women left for taking bath in the Sarayu river;
one was eaten by a tiger, still twenty returned!

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02. What a Pandit knows well

kRuShNamukhI na mArjArI dvijihvA na cha sarpiNi |
panchabhartrI na pAnchAlI yo jAnAti sa paNDitaH ||

कृष्णमुखी न मार्जारी द्विजिह्वा न च सर्पिणि ।
पन्चभर्त्री न पान्चाली यो जानाति स पण्डितः ॥

Black-faced but not a cat; split-tongued but not a serpent;
five 'husbands' but no PAnchAlI; the Pandits themselves know it well.

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Solving the Riddles
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01. The women and the tiger

ekona viMShatistrInAm snAnArthaM sarayuM gata |
viMShati punarAyata, eko vyAghreNa bhakShita ||

The mistake is in the transliteration: It is not 'ekona'--'one less than' but 'ekaH + na'--'one man and', so 'ekona viMShatistrInAm' means 'ekaH na viMShati strInAm'--'one man and twenty women'. The man was eaten by the tiger.

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02. What a Pandit knows well

kRuShNamukhI na mArjArI dvijihvA na cha sarpiNi |
panchabhartrI na pAnchAlI yo jAnAti sa paNDitaH ||

• The dvijihvA--split-tongued is the nib of the pen that writes, and the nib is black-faced because of the ink it dips into.

• panchabhartrI--five 'husbands' or masters refer to the five fingers used to hold the pen. They live together like the five husbands of PAnchAlI (panchApi angulayaH tayA saha vartante), but here no PAnchAlI is in sight.

This the paNDita--scholars, themselves know very well.

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[saidevo]

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Sanskrit is Amazing!
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anuloma and pratiloma: regular and reverse orders

shrI VenkatAdvari kavi, a follower of shrI vedAnta deshika, composed a poetic work in 30 shlokas--verses, titled rAghava yAdavIyam, that tells the story of shrI RAma and shrI KRShNa together. Using a poetic style called anuloma and pratiloma, he tells the story of RAma in the natural order of reading, and that of KRShNa in the reverse order.

Here is the first verse of the composition:

vande ahaM devaM taM shrItaM rantAraM kAlaM bhAsA ya:|
rAma: rAmAdhI: ApyAga:leelAm Ara Ayodhye vAse||

वन्दे अहं देवं तं श्रीतं रन्तारं कालं भासा य:।
राम: रामाधी: आप्याग:लीलाम् आर आयोध्ये वासे॥

By anuloma or primary order, the shloka describes RAma.

I pay obeisance to Sri Rama, who traveled to the mountains of Malaya and Sahya, with his mind occupied with the thought of Sita and returned to Ayodhya and was sporting with Sita for a long time.

Let us remember that in Sanskrit, the unit of writing is the akShara--syllable. An akShara can be a single vowel or consonant (or consonant cluster) followed by a vowel. The vowel in either case may be anusvAra--nasalized or visarga--aspirated.

Now by prathiloma or reversion, the same shloka describes KRShNa. Reading backwards from the last, it is as follows:

sevAdhyeyo rAmAlAlee gopyArAdhI mArAmorA:|
yassAbhAla~gkAraM tAraM taM shrItaM vande ahaM devam||

सेवाध्येयो रामालाली गोप्याराधी मारामोरा:।
यस्साभालङ्कारं तारं तं श्रीतं वन्दे अहं देवम्॥

I bow to lord Krishna, who is contemplated by penance and sacrifice, who plays
with Rukmini and other consorts, who is worshipped by the gopis, whose chest
is the sporting field of Lakshmi and who is adorned with radiant ornaments.

(This book can be downloaded at:
http://www.ahobilavalli.org/raghavayadaveeyam.pdf)

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shivA-viShNu abhedaH: Shiva-ViShNu identity

An amazing feat of this shloka is that it is about Shiva when read as such. When the first syllable of each word is removed, it adores ViShNu!

I have attempted the overall and phrasal meanings related to Shiva and ViShNu, enhancing on what I found here (http://sa.wiktionary.org/wiki/). Any corrections and suggestions for those phrases I can't make out, are welcome.--sd

gavIshapatro nagajArtihArI kumAratAtaH shashikhaNDamauliH |
la~gkeshasampUjitapAdapadmaH pAyAdanAdiH parameshvaro naH ||

गवीशपत्रो नगजार्तिहारी कुमारतातः शशिखन्डमौलिः ।
लङ्केशसम्पूजितपादपद्मः पायादनादिः परमेश्वरो नः ॥

Adoring Shiva:
May he protect us whose vehicle is the bull, who is the remover of the sorrow of Goddess PArvatI, who is the father of Skanda, who wears a moon on the head, whose lotus feet RAvaNa, the Lord of Lanka worshipped, who is beginningless and he who is the Supreme Lord.

padArtha--phrasal meanings:
gavIshapatro: patra--vehicle, gavIsha--of the cow kine
nagajArtihArI: nagaja--mountain-born, so PArvati; arti--pain; harI--remover
kumAratAtaH: tAtaH--father, of kumAra--Skanda
shashikhanDamauliH: shashi-khaNa--piece of moon, so crescent moon; mauli--head
la~gkeshasampUjitapAdapadmaH: la~gkesha--Lord of Lanka, so RAvaNa; sampUjita--greately honoured; pAdapadmaH--lotus feet
pAyAdanAdiH: can't get the meaning, any help is welcome.
parameshvara: Supreme Lord.

Adoring ViShNu:
May he protect us whose bed is the poisonous snake, who is the remover of the sorrow of Goddess LakShmI, mAratAtaH (meaning?), who wears a peacock feather on the head, who is the ViShNu, greatly honoured, with lotus feet, yAdanAdiH--of the lineage of the YAdavas, and who is the Lord of RamA--LakShmI.

padArtha--phrasal meanings:
vIshapatro: visha--poison, so the Snake; patra--sheet, bed

gajArtihArI: Goddess LakShmI is surrounded by elephants; does this phrase refer to her?
mAratAtaH: can't make out, any help is welcome.

shikhaNDamauliH: shikhaNDa--crest or plume as of the peacock's tail, lock of hair; mauli--head

keshasampUjitapAdapadmaH: kesha--ViShNu; sampUjita--greately honoured; pAdapadmaH--lotus feet

yAdanAdiH: of the YAdava clan, lineage?
rameshvara: ramA--LakShmI; Ishvara--Lord; so Lord of Goddess LakShmI

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yA Right!

Would you believe that the following amazing piece of poetry that looks gibberish is actually an adoration of ViShNu?

yAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyA |
yAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyAyA ||

To understand the meaning, we need to do some anvaya--break up and associate the syllables in the verse.

yAyAyA, Ay, yAyAyA, Ay, AyAy,ayAya, ayAy, ayAy,ayAy, ayAy, |
ayAy, ayAyA, yAyAy, AyAyA, AyAy, yA, yA , yA, yA, yA, yA, yA, yA ||
--vedAnta deshika (1269 - 1370), 'PAdukAsahasram', shloka 936

यायाया, आय्, यायाया, आय्, आयाय्,अयाय, अयाय्, अयाय्,अयाय्, अयाय्, ।
अयाय्, अयाया, यायाय्, आयाया, आयाय्, या, या , या, या, या, या, या, या ॥

Now the verse reveals the meaning:

The sandals that adorn the Lord, which help in the attainment of all that is good, which gives knowledge, which causes the desire to attain the Lord, which removes all that is hostile, which attain the lord and are used to travel aound by which all the places can be reached--these sandals are for Lord Vishnu.
(Ref: http://www.sharansharma.com/2006/08/ya-right.html)

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[devotee]

Namaste Saidevo ji,

Very witty & humorous collection ! Thanks !

Regarding meaning of a few words, let me try. Mostly it is my guess ... if that helps ! The poets use many words figuratively & sometimes even don't write the full word in the verse.

pAyAdanAdiH = pAyAt (from water ?) + anAdih (beginning less)
yAdanAdih = YAdan (Yaadvas, just a guess) + Adih ( the first "among")

Gajaartihaari ==> I have slight doubt over meaning that you have used. This should mean Gaj (elephant) + aarti (pain) + haari (remover) ====> who is the remover of pain of the elephant (refer the story of elephant & the crocodile).

mAratAtah = mAra ( obstacles) + Taatah ( father or any respectable elder ... but might have been used poetically ... a guess)


OM

[saidevo]

namaste Devotee.

I think you've got it. Very nice, specially about the gajArtihArI. You have had a formal Sanskrit education or just learning now like me? Since you've the interest, why don't you search out and add to this collection? I would love Yajvan, Atanu and any other interested member to hop in and share their wisdom.

I have seen some more of such verses; I shall share them shortly.

[devotee]

Namaste Saidevo ji,

I don't think I am as studious as you are !

Yes, Sanskrit was third language during my school days but as you know about the course of & attention to third language, it was basic & it was long back. So. I do have "formal" education on Sanskrit but ... (a big BUT !) ...

I was forced to take interest in Sanskrit again when I wanted to understand Bhagwad Gita myself as according to me, the translations available are tainted with translator's bias towards one or the other views.

The biggest problem is finding the true meaning of words ... as sometimes words used in the scriptures are no longer used in modern Sanskrit.

OM