The sentence ‘Able was I ere I saw Elba’ is often quoted as a great example of a palindromic sentence in English as it can be read in reverse too. This is said to be created in the 17th century.
Now, consider the following:
A Sanskrit poet by name Daivagjna Surya Pandita wrote a Sanskrit work by name “Ramakrishna Viloma Kaavyam” in the 14th century (English-equivalent of the word ‘viloma’ is ‘inverse’). This book is supposed to have 40 slokas (a sloka is a Sanskrit poem). Each sloka makes sense both when read in from the beginning of the sloka to the end AS WELL AS from the end to the beginning of the sloka (a sort of palindrome).
Now comes the best part. When each sloka is read in the forward direction, the book deals with the story of Ramayana and when each sloka is read in the reverse direction, the book deals with the story of Maha Bharata.
One sloka is given below (in devanagari font)
तां भूसुता मुक्ति मुदारहासं
वंदेयतो लव्य भवं दयाश्री
The same sloka, read in backward direction is given below:
श्री यादवं भव्य लतोय देवं
संहारदामुक्ति मुता सुभूतां
In the first sloka, भूसुता implies Sita and hence, Ramayana story and in the second sloka, श्री यादवं implies Lord Krishna.
The meaning of the first sloka is “I pray to Sita, the incarnation of Lakshmi who is affectionate towards a smiling Lava (Sita’s son)”.
The meaning of the second sloka is “The teachings of Gita, bestowed upon us by Lord Krishna who draws people towards him with his benevolence, destroy evil and are close to our heart”
And there are 39 more slokas like this.
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