Scholars say Rihanna's Sanskrit tattoo is misspelled

You know how you always hear apocryphal stories about people who got Asian writing tattoos only to find out later that what they thought said "STRENGTH" actually says "TOENAIL" or whatever?

It turns out these things do actually happen, sort of.

Rihanna has a Sanskrit tattoo which, Hindu scholars felt they should point out, is misspelled. The tattoo, says OneIndia, is taken from the holy scripture the Bhagavad Gita and contains the words "forgiveness, honesty, suppression and control."  Speculation is that this is in reference to Chris Brown (who, rumour has it by the way, is now dating Natalie from Girlicious.)

David Beckham also, apparently, has a Sanskrit spelling error inked on him. It's supposed to be his wife's name "Victoria" but there's a random "H" in there.

And so, Hindus are urging tattoo artists to do a little research before writing on people in Sanskrit.

According to Contact Music, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed said, "Rihanna has two Sanskrit prayer tattoos - her latest is misspelled."

Zed said "We are all for the celebrity interest in Hinduism and our sacred texts, but celebrity tattoo artists worldwide really should undertake some basic training in ancient Sanskrit language and culture to get this right."

I'm inclined to say that unless agreed otherwise, it's actually up the person getting the tattoo to do his or her own research. David and Rihanna are responsible for what they ask someone to write on their bodies, not the other way around. I'd be curious to know what tattoo artists think of this one.

It's actually interesting that these Hindu people are pleased about what seems like a light-hearted appropriation of their culture and sacred texts. It seems people are far more often crying foul about this sort of touristic pilfering.

But Zed said "We are delighted that so many celebrities choose to pay tribute to Hinduism with tattoos. We only ask that the tattoo artists take the trouble to get it right."