Post No. 13,859
Date uploaded in London – 6 November 2024
Contact – swami_48@yahoo.com
Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
this is a non- commercial blog. Thanks for your great pictures.
tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
xxxx
To play a musical instrument before a buffalo and it is not listening to it is a proverb found around the world.
From India to China, Japan and other Southeast Asian countries, the proverb is used. In Tamil we used to say blowing a conch in the ear of a deaf person. There is a Chinese story for this proverb.
The musician Gongming Yi was playing the lute, while a cow was nearby. He began to play an exquisite melody for the cow, but she took no notice of it. Then he played a melody imitating the buzzing of mosquitoes and the cry of a calf. The cow wagged its tail and pricked up its ears and began to listen attentively.
Teachers used these proverbs when the students were not listening to him, but listening to the teacher when he spoke about films.
In Thai language they say
Si so haikway fang.
In Bihari in India,
He plays the flute before the buffalo and it sits and ruminates.
“Bhensh ke aage bin bajana”
****
In Sindhi language it is,
Years have passed in playing music to the sheep without any profit to them.
هُو بهنس جي اڳيان بانسري وڄائي ٿو ۽ اُها ويهي رهي ٿي
hoo bahans je agiyan bansri wajai tho ein uha wehi rahi thi
****
In Japanese and Korean there is another equivalent proverb,
Uma no mimi ni nenbutsu (A Buddhist prayer to a horse)
In Korean
To read a Sutra into the ear of a cow.
The same idea is found in Persian,
To read the Sura of Koran into the ear of an ass.
****
In Tamil they say,
Like pouring rain on a buffalo (It is unconcerned; it wouldn’t even notice it.)
செவிடன் காதில் சங்கு ஊதியது போல
Like blowing a conch in the ear of the deaf
எருமை மாட்டின் மேல் மழை பெய்தது போல
As it rained on a buffalo
It is interesting to note that it is used throughout Asia.
–Subham—
Tags- To play the Lute before Buffalo, Chinese Story, conch, deaf, blowing, Tamil, Japanese, Korean, Persian, proverbs
Tamil and Vedas 