Sunday, February 14, 2016

A risqué riddle

Since this is a riddle, I will provide hints below. But I won't give away the solution since I think it is fairly obvious. 

Devanagari text:

एकेन रोमनालेन जातं पङ्केरुहद्वयम्|
ज्ञात्वाधो धनमस्यास्ति खनन्ति निशि रागिणः||

Harvard-Kyoto transliteration:

ekena romanAlena jAtaM paGkeruhadvayam|
jJAtvAdho dhanamasyAsti khananti nishi rAgiNaH||

 Anonymous

Loose translation: On a single bristly stalk, blossoms a pair of lotuses – knowing that there is a treasure beneath it, passionate individuals excavate at night. 

Source: This couplet actually seems to be quite well-known. I first came across it in the 19th century Vidyakara Sahasrakam (see this post for details).

Hints: In Indic literature, various parts of the body such as the face, hands, feet, and suchlike  especially those of a voluptuous woman  are often compared to lotuses in full bloom. Moreover, there is a particular feature of the female body that was, for many centuries, considered a mark of great beauty in the Subcontinent – a vertical streak of hair on the abdomen above the navel. Known by various names, including romaavali (रोमावलि), romaraaji (रोमराजि), and romalataa (रोमलता), it was often described as something that could distract even men with the highest level of self-control,  and its first appearance was celebrated in poetry as a sign of puberty! It is amazing how much our attitude towards body hair, especially female body hair, has changed in recent times.

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