Monday 28 May 2012

To day's Prahelika

     In Sanskrit poetry there is a form of writing known as Prahelika meaning a riddle, in which the writer gives some hints about an object and asks the reader to identify .it. It is  a sort of  a Mind Game and is liked very much,as it tests the intelligence of the reader.

(The answer to yesterday's riddle is an apparel known as "Angarkha' (akin to a coat now a days) worn over the upper middle part of the body.)


व्रक्षाग्र वासी  न  च  पक्षिराजस्त्रिनेत्रधारी  न  च  शूलपाणिः 
द्रग्वस्त्रधारी  न  च  सिद्धयोगी  जलं  च  विभ्रन्न घटो  न  मेघः 

Vrakshaagravaasi  na  cha  pakshiraajs-trinetradhaari  na  cha  shoolpaanih
Dragvastradhaari  na  cha  siddhayogi  jalam  cha vibhrann ghato  na  meghah

     It lives at the top of a tree but is not Garuda (the king of all flying birds),  has three eyes but is not the 'Shoolpani' (another name of Lord Shiva), bare bodied but is not a 'Siddha Yogi', carries sweet water but is neither a pitcher nor a rain bearing cloud.

Pakshiraaj  = In Hindu mythology 'Garuda' i.e. a large falcon is treated as the king of  all species of animals that  can fly because it is used by Lord Vishnu as his vehicle.
 Vibhram = sweet or juicy.              Ghata = a pitcher
Shoolpani = Another name of Lord Shiva because he always carries a Trident (a spear with bthree heads) and has three eyes.

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