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Raghava-yadaviyam by Venkatadhvari (17th cent.) is an “anuloma-viloma kavya” that narrates the story of Rama. But the Shlokas read in the reverse relate an adventure of Shri Krishna.

Given below is an extract on “Raghava Yadaviyam” from “Pride of India” published by Samskrita Bharati, Bangalore.

There is a recent work (17th century AD) of the name Raghava Yadaviyam. The name is intriguing. Raghava refers to the one born in Raghu-kula viz. Rama the protagonist of the epic Ramayana. Yadava refers to the one born in the Yadu-kula, Krishna, the protagonist of the other epic Mahabharata.

The 30 slokas in the work tell the story of Rama, obviously very briefly, justifying the first part of the name. Why the second part of the name – Yadaviyam? These slokas, if read in the reverse, letter by letter, narrate an episode from the life of Lord Krishna – of bringing parijata tree from the heavens to the earth.

This interesting though brief work

– shows that verbal ingenuity of the composer Arasanpalai Venkitacharya (also known as Venkatadhvari) and also

– proves the encryption capability of the Sanskrit language.

Here is a random sloka from the text.

рд╡рдиреНрджреЗрд╜рд╣рдВ рджреЗрд╡рдВ рддрдВ рд╢реНрд░реАрддрдВ рд░рдиреНрддрд╛рд░рдВ рдХрд╛рд▓рдВ рднрд╛рд╕рд╛ рдпрдГ ред
рд░рд╛рдореЛ рд░рд╛рдорд╛рдзреАрд░рд╛рдкреНрдпрд╛рдЧреЛ рд▓реАрд▓рд╛рдорд╛рд░рд╛рдпреЛрдзреНрдпреЗ рд╡рд╛рд╕реЗ рее

тАЬI pay my obeisance to Lord Shri Rama, who with his heart pining for Sita, travelled across the Sahyadri Hills and returned to Ayodhya after killing Ravana and sported with his consort, Sita, in Ayodhya for a long time.тАЭ

In reverse

рд╕реЗрд╡рд╛рдзреНрдпреЗрдпреЛ рд░рд╛рдорд╛рд▓рд╛рд▓реА рдЧреЛрдкреНрдпрд╛рд░рд╛рдзреА рдорд╛рд░рд╛рдореЛрд░рд╛ ред
рдпрд╕реНрд╕рд╛рднрд╛рд▓рдВрдХрд╛рд░рдВ рддрд╛рд░рдВ рддрдВ рд╢реНрд░реАрддрдВ рд╡рдиреНрджреЗрд╣рдВ рджреЗрд╡рдВ рее

тАЬI bow to Lord Shri Krishna, whose chest is the sporting resort of Shri Lakshmi;who is fit to be contemplated through penance and sacrifice, who fondles Rukmani and his other consorts and who is worshipped by the gopis, and who is decked with jewels radiating splendour.тАЭ

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60 Responses to “Raghava Yadaviyam with English Translation”

  1. ramu says:

    superb. May be one of its kind in poetry, either Sanskrit or otherwise, having a palindrome effect like ‘M a l a y a l a m’.

  2. isaac says:

    Certainly not one-of-a-kind, no, even if we only look to S┼лryad─Бsa’s R─Бmakс╣Ыс╣гс╣Зavilomak─Бvya.

    M─Бgha, Bhaс╣нс╣нi and Bh─Бravi have sections of such verses in their works, and similar long palindromic works are not unknown in other languages (look to early 20th century Russian, for example).

    • bharateeya says:

      Isac,

      Namaste

      Thank you for enlightening me. In fact I have read only a few Kavyas of Kalidasa, that too not very deeply.

      Is “Ramakrishna Vilomakavya” available for online reading?

      • isaac says:

        http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_pdf/raamakrshhna.pdf

        As far as I know it has been printed in two editions, one by K.N. Misra as Haridas Sanskrit Series 288 (Chowkhamba, 1970), the other, with translation, by S.B. Velankar (Bombay, Keshav Bhikaji Dhawale, 1977).

        There is an interesting paper by Christopher Minkowski, “On S┼лryad─Бsa and the Invention of Bidirectional Poetry (vilomak─Бvya)” in the Journal of the American Oriental Society (2004, 124(2): 325-333).

  3. […] рдЬреНрдЮрд╛рддреБрдВ, рд░рд╛рдШрд╡рдпрд╛рджрд╡реАрдпрдВ рдкреВрд░реНрдгрдВ рдкрдард┐рддреБрдВ рдЪ рдПрддрддреН рдЬрд╛рд▓рдкреБрдЯрдВ рдкрд╢реНрдпрдиреНрддреБ ред Posted by bharateeya Filed in […]

  4. Vishnu-ansh says:

    really Beautiful , yes came across some more such work but the power of Sanskrut never fails to amaze me

  5. Soham says:

    Isaac,

    Anuloma-Viloma-K─Бvya is not same as Palindromic work. Palindrome essentially reads the same in both directions and therefore has the same meaning. While anuloma┬╖viloma┬╖k─Бvya is dvyarth─л (having two meanings).

    рдирдорд╕реНрддреЗред

  6. bharateeya says:

    Soham,

    Thank you for explaining this difference between palindrome and Anuloma-Viloma-K─Бvya.

  7. H.S.RAMANI says:

    Excellent,painstaking inspirational work
    from ancient texts. Needs tobe reprinted,
    explained and circulated for language-
    lovers of literary taste.

  8. srinivasdas says:

    Excellent, I am blessed to get to know about this.

  9. vasant b patil says:

    рдзрдиреНрдпрд╡рд╛рдж.

  10. Himasnhu Acharya says:

    Excellent work showing power of Sanskrit

  11. sridevi says:

    wonderful work. so much ancient history.

  12. lakshita says:

    lucky to know about it . headsoff to sanskrit and its writers

  13. Deepak Kapoor says:

    Hidden nuggets of Sanskrit literature found by chance by an ignoramus like me…..makes me want to read more of this wonderful work.
    Is it available for download.

  14. Rajesh mahajan says:

    Unbelievable no words for this.

  15. A.K. Gupta says:

    Sanskrit is known as ‘deva bhasha’ (language of Gods) and such wonders can exist only in such a language.

  16. HEMA RAIYANI says:

    Dear Sir,

    I want to purchase book of Raghava Yadaviyam with English Translation than how can I ordered?

    HEMA

  17. Arti Shah says:

    sir, Namaste, I am a teacher. I want to teach chanting shlokas of this glorious poetry.I want cd of shloka chanting. what can I do?

  18. Dr.janardan panday says:

    I came to know abt this when pujya murari bapu mentioned in his katha few minutes back at jamunotri. Amaging work.

  19. P.A. Venkataraman says:

    Really Sanskrit is a rich and amazing language. I am interested in knowing whether such anuloma viloma poems or verses have been written in any of our Indian languages. Can some one enlighten?

  20. Akhil Jain says:

    An outstanding piece of work. Shows beauty of Sanskrit language.

  21. Damodar Thakur says:

    Would you kindly give an example of palindromic poetry in Sanskrit

  22. Gopala Krishna Rao says:

    I think there is some difference between different types of figurative poetry. It can be first two types-Camatkara kavya and citra kavya. citra kavya targets just the “bandha”or the structural aspect and the other, about the meaning. Camatkara kavya can be anulo-vilo where two types of different meanings can be read into twodifferent types of words when read in opposite directions. Dvyardi kavya actually means two meanings to be applied to the same word and is read in the same direction. An eg. would be Telugu raghavapandaveeyamu.A palindromic kavya sprouts one meaning only while can be read backwards. That way, it is only a citra kavya.Can anything else be read into this cetohari form of sanskrit literature?

  23. Vineet Agrawal says:

    Not able to download-
    Not Found

    The requested URL /Ahobilavalli/AV042 – Raghava yadaviyam.pdf was not found on this server.

    Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

    • bharateeya says:

      Vineet Agrawal, I have rectified the download link of Raghava Yadaviyam. You can download the book now.

  24. Selvi Rajan says:

    Amazing, what a talent and knowledge by the writer and to realise by the reader. Need to be proud of being Indian and to know about it. Tnk u

  25. maruti rajgole says:

    рдореИрдВрдиреЗ ‘рдХрдВрдХрдгрд╛рдмрджреНрдз рд░рд╛рдорд╛рдпрдг’ рдХреЗ рдмрд╛рд░реЗ рдореЗрдВ рд╕реБрдирд╛ рд╣реИрдХреА рдПрдХ рдмрддреНрддреАрд╕ рдЕрдХреНрд╖рд░реА рд╕рдВрд╕реНрдХреГрддрд╢реНрд▓реЛрдХ рд╣реИ . рдЗрд╕ рд╢реНрд▓реЛрдХ рдХреА рдЧреЛрд▓рд╛рдХрд╛рд░ рд░рдЪрдирд╛ рд╣реИ . рдкрд╣рд▓реЗ рдЕрдХреНрд╖рд░ рд╕реЗ рдмрддреНрддреАрд╕рд╡реЗ рдЕрдХреНрд╖рд░ рддрдХ рдПрдХ рд╢реНрд▓реЛрдХ рдмрдирддрд╛ рд╣реИ . рджреБрд╕рд░реЗ рдЕрдХреНрд╖рд░рд╕реЗ рдмрддреНрддреАрд╕рд╡реЗ рдЕрдХреНрд╖рд░ рддрдХ рджреБрд╕рд░рд╛ рд╢реНрд▓реЛрдХ рдмрдирддрд╛ рд╣реИ . рдЗрд╕реА рддрд░рд╣ рдмрдирддреЗ рд╣реИ рдмрддреНрддреАрд╕ рд╢реНрд▓реЛрдХ . рдЗрд╕реА рдЧреЛрд▓рд╛рдХрд╛рд░ рд╕реНрдерд┐рддреА рдореЗрдВ рдЙрд▓рдЯреЗ рд╢реНрд▓реЛрдХ рдмрддреНрддреАрд╕ рдмрдирддреЗ рд╣реИ .
    рдЗрди рдЪреМрд╕рд╖реНрдЯ рд╢реНрд▓реЛрдХ рдореЗрдВ рд╕рдВрдкреВрд░реНрдг рд░рд╛рдорд╛рдпрдг рдХрдерд╛ рдмрдирддреА рд╣реИ .
    рдХреНрдпрд╛ рдРрд╕рд╛ рд╢реНрд▓реЛрдХ рдпрд╛ рд╢реНрд▓реЛрдХрдкрд░ рдкреБрд╕реНрддрдХ рд╣реИ ?

  26. amarnath says:

    I have come across few thevaram songs of this category in Tamil. Few verses in PARIJATHAPAHARAM in Telugu prabhandha kavyam are like this.

  27. R KRISHNAMURTHY says:

    wonderful language

  28. Anandi says:

    I am interested to read and understand Raghava Yadaveeyam.Where is it available for purchase and how much is the cost

  29. Nanda says:

    When I click on the download it gives error page saying site can’t be reached

    • bharateeya says:

      Thanks for pointing out the broken link. I have rectified it. You can download the book now.

  30. Aditya says:

    We should be proud of our Sanskrit language.
    Superb work!

  31. Sunil Kumar says:

    Is the book with translation available?
    Where and how to purchase it?
    Regards

    • bharateeya says:

      Raghava Yadaviyam with Sanskrit commentary and English translation by Sudesh Narang was published by J.P. Publishing House, Delhi in 1993. Not sure if it is still available in print. You may find its copies in public libraries or University libraries.

  32. Rajeshbm says:

    Dear sir pls send be the link of KAVYALANKARA SARA SANGRAHA OF UDBHATA BY- NIRANYA EDITION- BOMBAY

  33. Rajeshbm says:

    *NIRANYASAGAR EDITION- BOMBAY

  34. ksv kuppuswamy says:

    sir,
    I need a english commentary of Raghava Yadaveeyam.Please provide.

    Kind regards
    Kuppuswamy

  35. damodar kansara says:

    in first shloka somewhere given bharamora and somewhere maramora which appears correct

  36. Usha says:

    Where can Ibuy Raghava yadaveeyam book?

  37. Vinod kumar yadav says:

    Translate in Hindi

  38. Dinesh Kumar Tiwari says:

    Sanskrit kavya vividh saily ki jankari aur link ho to bheje.

  39. Jayesh Bhatt says:

    Has anybody translated this unique creation in Hindi poetry? I mean, not the translation in phrases, but in real poetry similar to the original one.

  40. Rajesh Singh says:

    I want to purchase this holy book with proper translation . Please guide me, how can I get this book.

  41. Venkataramani says:

    I enjoyed рдЕрдиреБрд▓реЛрдо vilom please keep me posted on intellectual sanskrit postings

  42. Sunil Tiwari says:

    I want this complete translation in English if any have please send it to on my mail IтАЩd suniltiwari0510@gmail.com

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