कथा कौतुकम् - 1 - राघवयादवीयम्
Veṅkaṭādhvarī’s Rāghava-Yādavīyam contains 30 verses that can be read forwards to narrate the story of Rāma and backwards to narrate the story of Kṛṣṇa. Each verse is constructed so intricately that both readings remain grammatically meaningful and metrically valid.
Article compiled by Harsha M Krishna
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एकं काव्यम् अस्ति। तस्य नाम "राघवयादवीयम्"। ekaṃ kāvyam asti. tasya nāma "rāghava-yādavīyam". (There is a poem. Its name is Rāghava-Yādavīyam.)
कविः वेङ्कटाध्वरी। सः काञ्च्यां वसति स्म। kaviḥ veṅkaṭādhvarī. saḥ kāñcyāṃ vasati sma. (The poet is Veṅkaṭādhvarī. He lived in Kanchi.)
तत्र त्रिंशत् श्लोकाः सन्ति। tatra triṃśat ślokāḥ santi. (There are thirty verses in it.)
यदा वयं श्लोकम् आदितः पठामः, तदा रामस्य कथा भवति। yadā vayaṃ ślokam āditaḥ paṭhāmaḥ, tadā rāmasya kathā bhavati. (When we read a verse from the beginning, it becomes Rama's story.)
यदा वयं तम् एव श्लोकम् अन्ततः पठामः, तदा कृष्णस्य कथा भवति। yadā vayaṃ tam eva ślokam antataḥ paṭhāmaḥ, tadā kṛṣṇasya kathā bhavati. (When we read the very same verse from the end, it becomes Krishna's story.)
त्रिंशत् श्लोकाः — किन्तु षष्टिः कथाः। 🤯 triṃśat ślokāḥ — kintu ṣaṣṭiḥ kathāḥ. (Thirty verses — but sixty poems.)
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पश्यन्तु — Look at verse 2 👇
अनुलोमम् (forward): साकेताख्या ज्यायामासीद्या विप्रादीप्तार्याधारा । पूराजीतादेवाद्याविश्वासाग्र्यासावाशारावा ॥
sāketākhyā jyāyām āsīd yā viprādīptāryādhārā | pūr ājītādevādyāviśvāsāgryā sāvāśārāvā ||
Meaning: On this earth there once stood a city called Sāketa (Ayodhya) — radiant with its learned brahmins, upheld by its noble merchants. It was won by the son of Aja (King Dasharatha). That great city trusted no one but the gods, and rang always with the contented sounds of those who partake of the sacrifice.
विलोमम् (reversed): वाराशावासाग्र्या साश्वाविद्यावादेताजीरापूः । राधार्याप्ता दीप्राविद्यासीमायाज्याख्याताकेसा ॥
vārāśāvāsāgryā sāśvāvidyāvādetājīrāpūḥ | rādhāryāptā dīprāvidyāsīmāyājyākhyātākesā ||
Meaning: Foremost among cities is that one seated beside the ocean (Dwaraka) — rich in horses, its courtyards alive with the sound of learned debate. Blessed by the noble Rādhā, it shines as the very frontier of knowledge, and is celebrated as worthy of worship.
Read forward, it describes Ayodhya — the great city where Rama was born. Reverse the very same syllables, and it describes Dwaraka — Krishna's city by the sea.
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In English 👇
Rāghava-Yādavīyam was composed around 1650 CE by Veṅkaṭādhvarī, a poet from Arasanipalai near Kanchipuram.
It has 30 verses. Read normally (anuloma), they narrate the story of Rama. Read syllable-by-syllable in reverse (viloma), the exact same verses narrate an episode from the life of Krishna — his bringing of the Pārijāta tree down from the heavens.
Both readings are grammatically correct. Both fit the metre. Both make complete sense. So the work is really 60 verses hiding inside 30.
The poet knew it was hard going — he wrote his own commentary in simpler Sanskrit to help readers.
A thought to sit with: he had to choose every single syllable so that it worked in two directions at once, across an entire poem. No computer. No undo button. 🙏