Temples & shoes (many languages) was Re: Khajuraho

[Narayan S. Raja]

On Wed, 6 Mar 1996 RAJAGOPALANM at HARPO.TNSTATE.EDU wrote:

> I am glad to know from your message of 6,mar ,1996 that you 
> go to the temple for a sexy feeling . 


No, I also go to the temple to steal footwear.
As Julius Caesar has said: "Veni.  Vidi.  Givenchy."  

I'm guided by an ancient Sanskrit inscription 
that I found on the wall of my house in Srirangam,
embodying the noblest of human values:

   "AkAshAt patitam tOyam   yathA gachchati sAgaram
    sarva loka pAdarakshA:  pratigachchanti mAm tathA"


Or to put it in our mutual mothertongue, Tamil:

   "siRappu kettAlum
    seRuppu kidaiththathu"

Or again, as the Tamil poetess Auvaiyar might have 
said ("aaththich chUdi" style):
 
   "kAlaNi kayattEl"


Even Meerabai warns us from the sixteenth century:

   "pag ghunghru BAANDH Meera naachi re"
                 ^^^^^^
    
In Gujarati they greet each other:

   "Shoe chhe?  Saaru chhe"


And for the benefit of German Indologists visiting
Indian temples:

   "Pilger, ich hoff' du findest Ruh'
    vergesse aber nicht dein' Schueh'  "


Happy shoehunting.  Have a Nike day,


Narayan Sriranga Raja.