Iam thinking on the lines of "If it be true that the sun rises in the west; that the moon shines hot; then it is indeed true that gaurI cooked beef". Or a straightforward negation by introducing the nakAra in the adjacent pAda. Im sure there are smarter ways (invoking adbhuta/amazement) of answering this riddle.
DRS, Very good thinking - Indeed I was also thinking in a similar way (Something in the lines of kanti's samasyA padyas lile iliyaM tiMbuda kaMDe jaInara maneyoL, danavam kaDidu basadigeLeyutirpar). I am sure that could be a good pAda pURaNa.
But the answers given by the avadhAni and the pRchchaka offer a very different (Should I say out of the box) line of argument.
I hope to see some more rasikas to chip in too before I post those answers.
-Ramakriya
Last edited by ramakriya on 24 Apr 2007, 00:43, edited 1 time in total.
I was also thinking on alternate interpretations of gOmAmsa. mAmsa can be pulp of a fruit etc. gO?
ANd Im trying to think of a paurANika reference- ISvara killed gaja, hari killed dhEnukAsura -----
Of course one can complete it in a humourous way as well.
BTW- for pAdapUrti, does one have to write one line or 3 lines? (I am thinking 3). This fits into anuShTup chandas.The chandas itself is not so much of a problem at all here.
[ When King George the 5th ruled, the white lady (the queen) cooks beef. The white man (husband) eats what she cooks]
Both these make use the word gourI to mean white woman
DRS's answer is also equally witty, and uses the traditional meaning of gourI. I am translating it for the benifit of those who do not follow Samskrta.
trilOkajananI kA bhO? sUpakRt kim karOti bhO?
kim khAdanti turuShkAH bhO? gaurI pacati gOmAmsam
DRS's riddle of three questions and three words answer in the last line reminds me of a similar riddle I studied in my samskrit book in the thirties: kastUri jAyatE kasmAt, kO hanthi kariNAm kulam, kim kuryAth kAtharO yuddE, mrigAth simmah palAyathE !
Sundara Rajan wrote:DRS's riddle of three questions and three words answer in the last line reminds me of a similar riddle I studied in my samskrit book in the thirties: kastUri jAyatE kasmAt, kO hanthi kariNAm kulam, kim kuryAth kAtharO yuddE, mrigAth simmah palAyathE !
There is another shlOka pUrana riddle similar to this ( I think I mentioned it earlier)
kuntI sutO rAvana kumbhakarNaH
The full padya looks like
kA pAnDu patnI gRhabhUShaNam kim
kO rAmashatruH kimagastya janmam
kO sUrya putraH ???? ? (forgot this part)
kuntI sutO rAvaNa kumbha karNaH
trilOkajananI kA bhO? sUpakRt kim karOti bhO?
kim khAdanti turuShkAH bhO? gaurI pacati gOmAmsam
Who is the mother of three worlds? What does a cook do ? What to musalmans eat? (answers): gourI. Cooks. Beef.
Shall I say 'dyUtam chalatAmasmi' - "I am the gambling of the fraudulent" and
''taskarANAm patayE namO' - "I salute the Lord of thieves" belong to the same category as drs has said in his version?
drs,
My understanding of what you said is, that the 'trilOka janani' cannot have any distinction of Hindu, Muslim etc. Every woman, be it in the house-hold of a Hindu or a Mussalman is the form of 'gauri' only; therefore, I take it literally that 'gauri' is cooking gOmAmsam. I was touched by your version.
Vivekananda once visited the temple of Kali in Kashmir which was desecrated by the Muslim rulers. He felt that, had he been there, he would have protected the temple even by giving his life. That night, in his dream, Mother Kali appeared and told him, "who are you to protect me? One of my sons built a temple for me; other one desecrated it; what difference does it make it to me?"
Similarly, the statement of kRSNa in BG;
Similar is the statement in rudram 'taskarANAm patayE nama:'.
The above remind me some instances in Thamizh too. You can find a plenty of such things in Sanskrit and Thamizh - the two rich languages. When Bharathy was a student, an Eetradi "Bharathy Chinnappayal" meaning "Bharathy is a small kid" was written by one Kaanthimathinaathan, jelous of Bharathy's talent, who asked Bharathy to complete it. Bharathy did not hesitate and recited the following:
'kaaradhu p'ol nenju irundha Kaanthimathinaathanaip paar athi chinnappayal' (Look at Kaanthimathinaathan - a very small kid who has a heart as dark as the darkest clouds). With all his intelligence Bharathy split the word Bharathy as Paar+Athi [Paar = look at , athi = very, chinnappayal small kid]. This was possible because the Eetradi was written so that Bharathy took "Bha" as "Paa" since there is only one P in Thamizh when you write.
In another instance, a Thamizh Poet was promised a sum of 100 gold coins for his poems by a rich man. Since the latter forgot to pay, the poet reminds him as follows:
"Aiyaa NeengaL Nooru Tharugire'n Endru ShonneergaL"
(Sir, you promised to give a 100)
The rich man remembers and agrees to pay. Then the poet repeats:
"Iru Nooru tharugire'n endreergaL"
Here the rich man is surprised as he never promised to pay two hundred coins (Iru= Two). When he counters, the poet explains that he asked him to wait to pay the 100 [Iru=wait]
Now the poet tells him" Munnooru tharugire'n endreergaL"
Flabbergasted, the rich man seeks explanation, on which the poet tells that he once told him to pay 100 coins. [Mun= a prefix for Three; Mun+ Once]
Ultimately the poet ends his demand "Naanooru tharugire'n endreergaL"
The rich man now understands that the poet is really intelligent and used the term 'Naan' for I, i.e. the rich man and Naa' (Four) as a suffix for 100 to mean four hundred. Thus, he pays the poet 1000 coins.
Another poet was paid a reward - two handsfull of golden coins, on which he commented " O King! Iru kai po'dhaadhu, palakai ve'Ndum!!". Though it appears that the poet is greedy he meant otherwise indicating that he should be paid after he was provided a seat. (Iru kai: Two hands, Pala kai: Several hands, Palagai: a wooden seat)
Late U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, a great Thamizh scholar, was once reminded of the steps in the University of Madras when he was alighting. The phrase used was "Aiya Padi". For this he quipped:"Aiya PadikkiRen even at this age and Padippe'n in thedays to come" {Padi: Step, Padi:Read}
Late KV Jagannathan, was well versed in such usage.
One can go on quoting such instances which are really interesting. I thank ramakriya for initiating this topic and drs, other contibuters keeping it lively. Pl continue.
Eating beef (gOmAmsam) by Hindus was not taboo during Vedic times. http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/08/1 ... 140833.htm
E.g.
"In therapeutic section of Charak Samhita (pages 86-87) the flesh of cow is prescribed as a medicine for various diseases. It is also prescribed for making soup. It is emphatically advised as a cure for irregular fever, consumption, and emaciation. The fat of the cow is recommended for debility and rheumatism."
)
for thought for those interested in samskRta poetry! Post your answers - or what you think the answer would be like.
there is no specification where this pAda should appear
