34 BLOOMFIELD— ON THE ART OF 



with (the prefixed syllable) vi it is pondered by pious men (vidhi, 

 'religion'); with (the prefixed syllable) ni it is desired by .people 

 (nidhi, 'treasure') ; by itself it makes no sense (dhi, which is no 

 word)."" When the queen was thus asked by the parrot she an- 

 swered :—" The syllable dhik (dhikkarah)."^« 



p. Riddle on the Syllabic na. — " That which is at the beginning 

 of night (first syllable of naktam, 'night'), at the end of day (last 

 syllable of dina, 'day'), and different from evening;" though it is 

 in the interior of the mind (manasa, which has the syllable na in the 

 middle) it is somehow not'^ perceived." When the parrot had 

 been thus questioned by the queen he answered : — " The syllable na 

 (nakarah)." 



10. Riddle on the Compound xhalanikarasamgatam, " a Combina- 

 tion of Effort and Rhetoric." — The next needs to be before the eye, 

 to wit: 



laksmi-kheda-nisedhartha-brahma-cakraiiga-Qarmanam, 

 ke gabdah vacakah khantarii bruhi kirii nantarii ichasi. 

 arthinam ka sada citte^^ ka dagdha kapina pura, 

 iksuyasteh kim ichanti kirii ca hahsasya sundaram. 

 sukavinarh vacah kidrg gukena visame krte, 

 iti pragne yada rajiii navadad mudhamanasa. 

 ekadvisarvavarnanaiii paripatlkramena sah, 

 quka evottaram cakre ihalariikarasamgatam. 



The trick of this riddle is (i) To divide ihalamkarasamgatam 

 into single syllables each of which furnishes a word, disregarding 

 vocalic fusion; (2) to divide it into pairs of syllables, each pair 

 being a word; (3) to allude to the word as a whole: (i) "What 



■^■5 The last passage, kevalas tu nirarthakah, seems to hold a second 

 meaning, to wit: "by itself it has an unmeaning letter ka." 



"''■ Merutuiiga's Prabandhacintamani, p. 156, has a similar charade, in 

 which the prepositions a, vi, and sam are prefixed to the word hara. 



"' The trick here appears to be as follows : pradoso, " evening," does not 

 contain the syllable na; therefore it is different from na. Yet evening should 

 be at the beginning of night and end of day. Hence the catch : " That which 

 is at the l)eginning of night, the end of day, and yet something else than 

 evening." 



"^ Again a catch : laksyate na kathamcana, with second meaning, " na is 

 somehow perceived." 



"'' Te.xt, erroneously, cite. 



