Sanskrit Riddles 1

-Dr. I. Srinivasa Rao

Department of Sanskrit

Riddles in Sanskrit are based on then pun and play, and joining and dividing of
the words. They thus are not only witty, but also highly scholastic. Lets see a few of
them:

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When Hanuman killed Rama, Sita felt happy. The demons wept crying Alas,
Rama is dead.

Impossible! How it could be? Well, the meaning becomes something else if we
split the word hanumata ramah as hanumata aaramah, and ha ramo as ha aaramo.
Aarama is a garden. So when Hanuman destroyed the Asoka garden, Sita felt happy
and the demons cried that the garden was destroyed.

Another riddle where the answer is in the verse itself.

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Who is black? What is sweet? Who is the stream of cold water?

Whom did Krishna kill? Which strong man the cold cannot hurt?

When you combine the words in each question as given below, they form the answer.

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A row of crows is black. Passion is sweet. The Ganges flowing in Kasi.

Krishna killed Kamsa. Cold does not hurt one having a blanket.