Here is a couple of stanzas – uncannily similar in content and style – in each of which the author records their impression of the inhabitants of a particular part of South Asia that they were visiting.
(1) Ram Manikya Bidyalankar (born c. 1780), a native of Kalashkathi (কলসকাঠি) in the Barisal district of present-day Bangladesh, was a noted scholar of his age. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Sanskrit College, Calcutta, for about ten months from 1845 until his death in 1846. It is said that, after his short stay in Jessore (Bengali যশোর, rendered यशोहर or sometimes just यशोर in Sanskrit), he composed the following versified review of local administration.
(1) Ram Manikya Bidyalankar (born c. 1780), a native of Kalashkathi (কলসকাঠি) in the Barisal district of present-day Bangladesh, was a noted scholar of his age. He served as Assistant Secretary of the Sanskrit College, Calcutta, for about ten months from 1845 until his death in 1846. It is said that, after his short stay in Jessore (Bengali যশোর, rendered यशोहर or sometimes just यशोर in Sanskrit), he composed the following versified review of local administration.
राजा किशोरः सचिवः किशोरः पुरोहितो दम्भमयः किशोरः|
अहो यशोरे परितःकिशोरे किशोरखेलाः परितः स्फुरन्ति||
अहो यशोरे परितःकिशोरे किशोरखेलाः परितः स्फुरन्ति||
– राममाणिक्यविद्यालङ्कार
rAjA kizoraH sacivaH kizoraH purohito dambhamayaH kizoraH|
aho yazore paritaHkizore kizorakhelAH paritaH sphuranti||
– Ram Manikya Bidyalankar
Loose translation: The king is an adolescent! (His) counselor is an adolescent! (His) priest is an adolescent, and a hypocrite to boot! Ah! Here in Jessore, where one is surrounded by adolescents, one can only see adolescent shenanigans unfolding everywhere!
Source: Biographical sketch of Ram Manikya Bidyalankar by Pandit Haraprasad Shastri, published in the Sahitya Parishat Patrika (साहित्यपरिषत्पत्रिका) Number 4 in the Bengali year 1338 (1931-32 CE).
Source: Biographical sketch of Ram Manikya Bidyalankar by Pandit Haraprasad Shastri, published in the Sahitya Parishat Patrika (साहित्यपरिषत्पत्रिका) Number 4 in the Bengali year 1338 (1931-32 CE).
बालोऽपि चोरः स्थविरोऽपि चोरः समागतः प्राघुणिकोऽपि चोरः|
दिल्लीप्रदेशे मथुराप्रदेशे चोरं विना न प्रसवन्ति नार्यः||
दिल्लीप्रदेशे मथुराप्रदेशे चोरं विना न प्रसवन्ति नार्यः||
bAlo(a)pi coraH sthaviro(a)pi coraH samAgataH prAghuNiko(a)pi coraH|
dillIpradeze mathurApradeze coraM vinA na prasavanti nAryaH||
– Anonymous
Loose translation: Every child is a thief! Every senior citizen is a thief, too! And every arriving guest is a thief! In the regions of Delhi and Mathura, a woman does not give birth unless to a thief!
Source: Samayocitapadyamalika, Verse 21 of the chapter focusing on words that start with the consonant d (द्). A variant that does not mention Delhi and replaces the guest with any random person roaming around is recorded in Udbhata Chandrika (Volume I Appendix; it is inexplicably placed आदिरसात्मकाः श्लोकाः, "erotic verses"):
Notes: The word prAghuNika (प्राघुणिक) is quite interesting. It refers to a guest, usually a stranger (like a traveler looking for a night's stay), who shows up at your doorstep without an invitation or prior intimation but is entitled to your hospitality by tradition. The forms prAghuNa (प्राघुण) and prAhuNa (प्राहुण) are also documented. These are said to be derived from the morphologically accountable prAghUrNa (प्राघूर्ण्), "wanderer", making this one of the rare instances of Prakrit words being absorbed into later Sanskrit literary vocabulary. This set of words survives in various forms in present-day languages ranging from the dialects of Rajasthan (पांवणां, पांवणों, पांवणू) to Marathi (पाहुणा) to Maithili (पाहुन).
I am not sure if the verb prasavanti (प्रसवन्ति) – which evidently means "(they all) give birth to" in this context, and hence must be derived from the root pra-√sU (प्र-√सू) – would be considered grammatically sound by the Paninian school; however, this form does occur in at least one recension of the Mahabharata: The description of the birth of Ghatotkacha in the Adiparva includes the line "सद्यो हि गर्भान् राक्षस्यो लभन्ते प्रसवन्ति च"।
Source: Samayocitapadyamalika, Verse 21 of the chapter focusing on words that start with the consonant d (द्). A variant that does not mention Delhi and replaces the guest with any random person roaming around is recorded in Udbhata Chandrika (Volume I Appendix; it is inexplicably placed आदिरसात्मकाः श्लोकाः, "erotic verses"):
बालोऽपि चौरः स्थविरोऽपि चौर इतस्ततः पर्यटितोऽपि चौरः|
आश्चर्यमेकं मथुरानगर्यां चौरं विना न प्रसवन्ति नार्यः||
Notes: The word prAghuNika (प्राघुणिक) is quite interesting. It refers to a guest, usually a stranger (like a traveler looking for a night's stay), who shows up at your doorstep without an invitation or prior intimation but is entitled to your hospitality by tradition. The forms prAghuNa (प्राघुण) and prAhuNa (प्राहुण) are also documented. These are said to be derived from the morphologically accountable prAghUrNa (प्राघूर्ण्), "wanderer", making this one of the rare instances of Prakrit words being absorbed into later Sanskrit literary vocabulary. This set of words survives in various forms in present-day languages ranging from the dialects of Rajasthan (पांवणां, पांवणों, पांवणू) to Marathi (पाहुणा) to Maithili (पाहुन).
I am not sure if the verb prasavanti (प्रसवन्ति) – which evidently means "(they all) give birth to" in this context, and hence must be derived from the root pra-√sU (प्र-√सू) – would be considered grammatically sound by the Paninian school; however, this form does occur in at least one recension of the Mahabharata: The description of the birth of Ghatotkacha in the Adiparva includes the line "सद्यो हि गर्भान् राक्षस्यो लभन्ते प्रसवन्ति च"।
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