Problems

in
Assumptions and
Methodology
of
Mahadevan’s
Indus Decipherment

Dr.Jayasree Saranathan 1
 Background
• “The survival of the Brahui, a
Dravidian language…provide(s)
irrefutable evidence” “that the
Dravidians were present in
North West India when Aryans
entered the country”
(Mahadevan 1972)
• “I have revised my opinion as
experts in Dravidian linguistics
now hold that Brahui was
originally a North-eastern
Dravidian language”
(Mahadevan 2015)
“I have proceeded on the basic
assumption that the material
relevant to an understanding of
the Proto- Indian inscriptions
must be primarily Dravidian”
(Mahadevan 1970)
“..multiple-interpretations of the
seals are possible and nothing
is final in the decipherment”
(Mahadevan June 28, 2010
Indus Research Centre)
2
Necessary to examine

ASSUMPTIONS

METHODOLOGY

3
 Assumptions
1. Aryan Migration to India 2. Dravidian Migration to
S.India

• Adherence to AIT chronology. • Harappans were Proto-

Indians & Dravidian speakers.
Evidence: Survival of Brahui
• Indus was pre- Aryan.
& Elam .

• Absence of horse in Indus

• Dravidian words in Rig Veda.
motifs

• Veḷir -migration as Dravidian

• Urban Indus vs Rural Aryan.
migration to South.

• Aryans could not adapt Indus

• Dravidian migration led by
script – one reason being
Agastya.
followers of oral transmission 4
of Vedas.
 Methodology

Bilingual parallels

3 Assumptions
Names borrowed
Indus seals by Indo-Aryans,
mention a name. undergo changes
in various
linguistic forms
Survival of these names are
ascertained from
arbitrariness of symbolism,
absence of convincing Indo-Aryan
etymology &
tell-tale presence of myths and folk
etymology 5
Methodology of decipherment

6
Mahadevan:2008
 Dravidian material used for
parallelism

Corpus of Tamil Brahmi Name lists of Tamil Sangam

Inscriptions poets

Names & Titles ending Masculine Third person

with ‘an’ suffix. names ending with ‘an’
suffix.

98 composite names
first 100 names of Sangam
poets in the colophone
99 occurrences of
‘an’ suffix.
82 ‘an’ suffix.
7
 Parallelism – a sample case
Parallelism between Mesopotamian and Indus & between Indus and Tamil

Mahadevan connects the West Asian myths like sacred

sex (Inanna) and eternal virgin (Ishtar) with Mīnākṣi
Amman of Madurai and Kanyā Kumari Amman
respectively.
None aware of this kind of
Says that the legends of the sacred marriage and
parallelisms.
None challenged these ideas
eternal virgin of these deities are “reminiscent of similar
Mesopotamian myths”

Helped in building more (Mahadevan:2011:21-25)

theories to perpetuate Dravidian
8
basis for Indus.
 PROBLEMS

IN

ASSUMPTIONS ON

ARYAN MIGRATION TO INDIA

9
 Assumption 1: Aryan migration to India

Sample case

What is this vessel-like object?

Soma Bowl

Soma cult was Proto-Harappan

Mahadevan:1983

10
 Soma cult Proto-Harappan

Soma ritual borrowed by Aryans

Does it mean that Indus was Aryan?

NO
Because

Indus was pre-Aryan (AIT chronology)

No horses in Indus art

Difficult to associate this with pastoral life of Aryans

11
- Mahadevan:1983:259
12
 Were Aryans pastoral / rural people?

Difficult to accept because what makes Harappans urban is

also found in Aryans.

Folk-urban life shaped by cult practices and belief systems

- Paul Wheatley

Harappan art Vedic cosmology,

geography, deities.
URBAN
Prior system of Prior Thought system
cult-following
and beliefs.

13
 Were Aryans incapable of picking up
the Harappan script

Those who could not pick up Harappan script,

could pick up Soma cult
How?

“The failure to adapt the Indus script by the Aryans may also be due to their
strong tradition of oral transmission of scriptures” *

Neuroimaging studies done on 21 Yajur Vedic Pundits show increase in

gray matter density & cortical thickness associated with language,
memory & visual systems.
-Hartzell et al 2016

* Mahadevan:2009a:9 14
If only AIT was not assumed as a foregone conclusion

his deduction could have been….

No differentiation as post-Harappan or pre-Aryan

A continuing culture in which soma-cult was in

existence since 5000 years BP

But this analysis did not end up with this…

Mahadevan revisits the subject 10 years later…

15
 Similar looking object, held as a banner /Standard
(Mahadevan:1983 & 1993)

Animal Pāliketana

This object is equated with

Indra-dhvaja
by a contemporary
researcher, Royal Paraphernalia
Thapliyal (1983) 16
Mahadevan traces the change of shape from ‘Soma bowl’ to Indra-dhvaja
Mahadevan:1993

Mahadevan says that the similarity between ‘soma-bowl’

& Indra-dhvaja is ‘accidental’

Offers no justification for ‘soma bowl’ being held aloft

17
 What is Indra-dhvaja?

Indra-dhvaja – a pole adorned with a

‘crescent shaped jewel’
- Brihat Samhitā (Ch 43.57

Indra-dhvaja – Bamboo pole

-RV & MB
Mahadevan:1993

Spread of bamboo across the world 18

 Appearance of Indra-dhvaja in hundreds of Harappan seals

& Early use of bamboo for Indra-dhvaja

Offer scope to deduce its origin

before the AIT date.

What looks Vedic (the cult object looking like Indra-dhvaja)

in the Harappan was rejected by Mahadevan,
not because of any non-Aryan content,
but because

it did not concur with AIT date and

the AIT assumption
about the absence of horse.

. 19
 Horse was never a totem or a royal insignia
anywhere in India

Horse appeared in
the coinage of Indian
rulers
only in the
1st millennium of the
Common Era,
influenced by
European coins Galloping horse in a coin (undated),
Karur.
inscribed with Horse.
(Mahadevan:1993)

20
 Which animals were used as Royal insignia?

Mahabharata War
WINNERS LOSERS
Bhīma, Lion Jayadratha Varāha
Sātyaki, (Sindhus) (Unicorn)
Uttara Kṛpācārya Bull
Arjuna Vānara Śalva, Elephant
Nakula Sarabha Duryōdhana
Sahadeva Swan
Prominent Indus motifs
Abhimanyu Peacock
Ghaṭōtkaca Vulture Kṣatriya vrātya-s taking up
Pradyumna Makara Vaiśya-hood?

Traditional date of MB war

3138 BCE
Early Harappan Phase 21
 Kṛpācārya’s Bull inside and outside India

Mesopotamia, Gulf, Bactria and Iran

Indus - 6%
“unexcapable conclusion that
Aśvatthāma this bovid had a precise
meaning for the Indus
communities migrating, settling
and trading in the west.”
Pallavas (Vidale: 2001:268)

‘Bull’ insignia
22
 Continuing presence of Varāha in India

Vijayanagar
Gold coins
“Varāha”

‘rūpya’ –
‘jātarūpa’
punch
marked
figures

Why Gūrjara Pratihara-s, Kadamaba-s, Chālukya-s and Vijaya

nagara-s used Varāha emblem?

Were they migrants from IVC or descendants of IVC kings?

Mahadevan is silent on this issue.

23
 Why the loser’s emblem
(Varāha / unicorn)
got so much importance?

Varāha as a deity existed right from Manu’s times.

Varāha was the boar that lay amid waters (RV 1.121.11)

Varāha lifts up the land for mankind to settle down.

Manu invokes Varāha in the ceremony of erecting Indra-

dhvaja (Brihat Samhitā Ch 43: 54-55)

24
VEDIC HISTORY

STARTED FROM

MANU -

NOT FROM / BY

ARYAN INVASION

Some explanations…>>>
25
 Vaivasvata Manu – the progenitor of Indians

Who was Manu?

He was known as ‘Dravideswara’* Manu

Dravida was the 7th generation Kshatriya vrātya

(Manu Smriti:10:22)

Manu a Kshatriya vrātya?

(Means there was a pre-history)

26
* Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 9.1.2-3
 Probable escape route of Manu from floods

From Arabian sea through Dvārakā into River Sarasvatī.

Evidence of a large Himalayan or a Sub-Himalayan river that discharged into

the Arabian sea in the Rann of Kutch until 10,000 years ago (Khonde et al. 2017).

The extended , habitable sea shore at Archaeologically proved habitation

the beginning of Holocene dated at 6K BCE
27
 Manu reached Naubandhana

‘Naubandhana’ (Haramukh) in the Himalayas is in Kashmir (Chitkara 2002:290)

• Sarasvatī originated from Mānasa lake – Hymn of Vasiṣṭha (MB 9.40)

• Sarasvatī & Drisadvati mingled at Manasa lake - MB 12.151.9006

• Mānasarāwar lake (Manasbal lake, an ox-bow of Jhelum) and Kailāś ranges in

this part of Himalayas in Kashmir (Drew 1875:312-313)

• Five rivers flowing on their way speed onward to Sarasvatī, but then became
Sarasvatī a fivefold river in the land - Vājasaneyi Samhita 34.11 (Griffith) 28
 Manifestation of Varāha.

“Varāha
Salvation”
mantra
in vogue
from an
undated past

• Up to Islamabad, Kashmir was a huge body of water (Fracis Drew: 1875)

• ‘Vṛtra’, the boar was lying in the water, put to sleep by the mighty thunder of
Indra (Rig Veda 1.121.11).

•When the land rises above the water, it is considered as the manifestation of
Varāha, the Boar!

• Varāhamūla, now known as Baramulla was the first manifestation in this

region. With land forms appearing in Kashmir and the river basins of Sarasvatī &
Sindhu, Varāha became the celebrated deity in these regions. 29
 Sarasvatī – Sarayū culture from Manu’s times
Manu - associated with
Sarayū Sarasvatī

Originated from Manasa lake and Originated from Mānasa lake

surrounded Ayodhya (VR 1-24) Hymn of Vasiṣṭha (MB 9.40)

Named Sarayū because it originated Named after ‘saras’, the lake from
from Sarah, the lake (VR 1-24) which it originated.

Ayodhya was built by Manu (VR 2-71 -17)

Sarayū – a mighty river

So let not Rasa, Krumu, or Anitabha, Kubha, or Sindhu hold you back.
Let not the watery Sarayti obstruct your way. (RV 5.53.9)

Let the great Streams come hither with their mighty help, Sindhu, Sarasvati,
and Sarayu with waves. (RV 10.64.9)
30
 Rig Vedic Sarayū was not Harōiiū or Siritoi

AIT theorists do not accept the river Sarayū of East India as

the Rig Vedic Sarayū.

Rig Vedic Sarayū was in the Heart region of Afghanistan. (Witzel (1995: 24,
56, 76)

Original name of the river in Heart is Hari river, not Sarayū

Hari > Harayu (Old Persian)

Haraiva (Old Persian)

Region around Aria (Achaemenid)
River Hari Haroiva (Avestan)
(Brannon Parker: 2012:293) Afghani Viṣṇu
pendant 3rd c CE

Etymology of Sarayū absent in Harōiiū or Siritoi as

they don’t originate from ‘saras’ 31
 Ramayana character in Sarayū mentioned in Rig Veda?

“Arṇa and Citraratha, both Āryas, thou, Indra, slowest swift,

On yonder side of Sarayū,
Thou, Vṛtra-slayer, didst conduct those two forlorn, the blind,
the lame”
(Rig Veda 4.30.18-19)
uta tyā sadya āryā sarayor indra pārataḥ |
Mere arṇācitrarathāvadhīḥ || (Rig Veda:4:30:18) Charioteer
Coincidence ? of
Rama
sūta: citra ratha: ca Ārya:”
“
(VR 2.32.17).

•Arya refers to a noble person even if he happens to be a charioteer.

• Sarayū was a flood plain – even as early as 9000 years BP

32
Trans- Sarayū region – rice bowl since early Holocene

Map of wild rice zones since 20,000 BP (marked as P) in

comparison to expansion since 9,000 BP (marked as H). Recent
populations are marked in crosses and circles.
(Fuller 2011)
33
Rice- genetics support indigenous culture at trans- Sarayū
• Cultivation of rice from the Vindhyas upto trans- Sarayū region between 8th – 6th Millennium BCE
Singh:2008)

• Rice domestication at Vindhya- Ganga- Ghaghara region from 10,000 yrs BP.

• This was indigenous and NOT due to cultural diffusion from West Asia or South East Asia
(Varma:2008)

•Rice cultivation at Rakhigarhi before Indus Urban phase due to transmission from farther east (Petrie
et al 2016)

• Evidence of wild rice in Ramayana

• Rice has important place in Vedic culture
– as an offering in Agnihotra and to
Pitrus.

Ramayana date by
Pushkar Bhatnagar (5114
BCE)
falls within the period of
rice cultivation at Sarayū
( 8th – 6th Millennium BCE) 34
 Migrations happened within India

Migrations between
Sarasvatī and Sarayū.

Siblings moved out,

to the west of
Sarasvatī- Sindhu

Manu – from Sarasvatī to Sarayū

Amāvasu – (12th fore-father of Viśvāmitra) from pre-Gangetic to Gandhara

Sibi – Ikshumati (Swat). His sons Madra & Kekaya founded kingdoms in their names.

Kekaya – Founded by Kekaya, son of Sibi. Bharata’s maternal home

Jamadagni & Viśvāmitra – Vindhya- Ghaghara-Ganga region

35
 Vedic India extended till Bactria

Bāhlika – founded by Madra, son of Śibi Part of BMAC *

Kekaya – founded by Kekaya, son of Śibi

Maternal home of Kaikeyi

Six sages congregated there Kekaya
(Chandogya Upanishad (5.11.24)

Balarama & Krishna – 180 BCE
(Nagaswamy:2007)
2000-1500 BCE
Fulfills iconographic rules of
Mayamatam for Garuda
Kṛṣṇa’s Garuda-dhvajā?

Literary evidence on ferocious dogs of BMAC in Ramayana & Mahabharata

36
* Bactria- Margiana Archaeological Complex
 Mahadevan on BMAC

Aryans trickled through BMAC before they reached India

BMAC was part of Vedic India

Has “no relevance to the demise of the

Mature-phase of Indus civilization”

Did Mahadevan do justice to his stature as an Epigraphist?

37
 Assumption 2: Dravidian Migration to South India

Were Indus people Proto-Indians?

Evidence of people 74K yrs ago in Jwalapuram when Mt Toba erupted in Indonesia
(Petraglia et al :2007)

Were Harappans Dravidian speakers ?

Brahui
NE Language
No retroflex phonemes

Elam
Mahadevan’s basis is ‘Ilam
Kosar’ of Sangam texts.
Ila means young, not Elam
If Ilam Kosar came from
Elam, wherefrom ‘Mudu Kosar’
came?

(Kochetov et al. 2016) 38

 Mahadevan’s Dravidian words in Rig Veda

No words, only “Dravidian components in Vedic Sanskrit”

Viṣṇu ? Mahadevan:2011

Figurine excavated Jyeshta Devi in

in Turkey Perungaiyur, TN
Lakshmi Jyeshta
Fish with a dot inside Indigenous goddess of S.India
relegated to background by
Lakshmi (Sanskrit culture)
(Mahadevan:2011) 39
 Aryans & Dravidians identified by Mahadevan

Aryans identified
by Mahadevan
Mahabharata war
Jarāsandha
Śiśupāla Proto-Indian Civil war between
ruling and lower class of the IVC
Dravidians identified leading to the decline of IVC
by Mahadevan
Means Mahabharata and IVC were
Kṛṣṇa-Viṣṇu
contemporary.
Kuru - Pandu-s
Yadava - Veḷir
Mahadevan produces no evidence in support.

Few years after the Bhārata war, a civil war broke out among the
Yādava-s, leading to mass slaughter.

A section of a Yādava clan known as ‘Veḷir’ then migrated to South India

under the guidance of Sage Agastya and
“established the historical Dravidian Civilization” (Mahadevan: 1970:87).
40
 Was Kṛṣṇa a Dravidian?

Kṛṣṇa in RV
1.116.23, 1.117.7, 8.86.3 &10.65.12

Traced to the
root word ‘viś’, that Kṛṣṇa Father Kṛṣṇa
means ‘to enter’ Vyūha concept of Vaiśṇavism
and ‘pervade’ Viśvaka Son Pradyumna
Universal principle of Viṣṇu
Associated with Viṣṇāpu Grandson Aniruddha *
Brahman and
personified as Prayer to Aśvin-s
Viṣṇu

Soma offered by Kṛṣṇa Sharad Purnima Soma offered by Yadu &

offering to Aśvini Turvasu to Aśvin-s (AV
To Aśvin-s
in 20.141.4)
RV 8.74. 3 &4
Kṛṣṇa abandoned Indra
and patronized Aśvin-s
•Pot- dance by Kṛṣṇa
* (Silappadhikāram 6.54-55) 41
Continuing tradition
 Veḷir as founders of Tamil kingdoms
Mahadevan Tol Kāppiyam
3 tier hierarchy (IVC) ? 7 tier hierarchy (Sangam age)

High Priests Chera Brahmins Agriculturists Bards

Middle order Chola Kshatriyas Astrologers
Lower city - Pandya Vaisyas Ascetics

Harappan ruling class (Veḷir) “founded the Early Historical kingdoms

(of Andhras and their successors in the Deccan, and
the triple kingdoms, Chera, Chola and Pandya, in the Tamil country)”

(Mahadevan:2009b:108)

The three kingdoms were already in existence when Veḷir-s arrived.

Three kings generally ill-disposed to Veḷir kings

Marriage alliance was one-way.

Veḷir-s not High Priests – they were chieftains, landlords, and army chiefs of the three kings,
as known from their titles (Iyengar 2016:16)
42
 Dravidian migration led by Agastya

Agastya led a migration of Yādava-Veḷir-s to S.India after

decline of IVC

This establishes Agastya as Non-Aryan sage.

‘Agasti’ in Agastya is a loan-word without meaning in Indo-

Aryan.

No evidence of Agastya leading the migration.

The source from Naccinārkkiniyar is inconsistent and unreliable.

Etymology of Agastya – ‘‘agam sthāsyati iti agastyah’ (one who

stays the mountain’)

43
 Two Migrations (Fact-file)
Dvārakā to N.India From Dvārakā to S.India
Yādava migration to Veḷir migration to S.India after decline of IVC (1500
N.India after death BCE)
of Kṛṣṇa coincides
with Early Harappan Date supported by Tamil Sangam poem on Irungovel.
(3300 -2600 BCE) Date of Bet Dvārakā excavated by S.R.Rao corresponds
to this date.
Indus settlements of
this phase on eastern
18 Yadava kings related to Kṛṣṇa, 18 Veḷir clans & 18
banks of Sindhu* & groups of artisans + Aruvalas migrated to S.India
Sarasvatī could be (18 Yadava kings shifted along with Kṛṣṇa to Dvārakā –
those of migrant MB 2.13.)
Yādavas. (research
needed) Evidence
‘Vajra’ written on pot shred found in Porunthal
Vajra, the great grand
son of Kṛṣṇa became Ovi king ‘Nalliyakkodan’ praised in a Sangam text.
the king of Yādavas.
Ovi artisans inscribed the copper plates of Tiruvalangadu.

44
* Western boundary of Indraprasta (MB:2-64)
 Did Agastya lead Veḷir migration in 1500 BCE?

No evidence & there are too many legends of Agastya

Agastya’s appearance in Ramayana has better internal consistency

Agastya meets Rama in the 1st year of exile near Pancavati &
Meets him in the 14th year of his exile in Lanka!

In between he has crossed Vindhyas (legend that gave him the name Agastya)

The legend is connected with the visibility of Agastya star in north of Vindhyas *

6th Millennium BCE

Agastya Pushkar
Rice
became visible Bhatnagar’s
cultivation
in north of date of
. at Trans-
Vindhyas Ramayana
Sarayū
45
* Parāśara Tantra (R.N.Iyengar:2013)
 Probable date of Agastya’s Southern migration

(Abhyankar: 2005)
This kind of
internal
Agastya became visible in north of Vindhyas around 5200 BCE. consistency not
found in any
Pushkar Bhatnagar’s date of Rama’s birth 5114 BCE other legend of
Agastya
46
 Agastya, the patron sage of Veḷir?

Agastya-like statue in Rukmini Dvārakā

(restored from sea and fixed on the wall –undated)

Agastyasrama near Pancavati

Agastya could have been the patron sage of Veḷir clan.

Proximity of Dvārakā to Agastyasrama of Ramayana times could have

produced followers of Agastya in Dvārakā (More evidence needed)
47
 Agastya – neither Aryan nor Dravidian

• Arghya to Agastya upon sighting Agastya-star before sunrise.

Similar to how Vedic sages were remembered in Upākarma.

Confirms Agastya’s later residence in South India

• No Aryan or Dravidian element in the life and legends of

Agastya

• Agastya - a symbol of unitary Vedic culture throughout India

48
 PROBLEMS

IN

METHODOLOGY

OF DECIPHERMENT

OF THE INDUS SCRIPT

49
 Mahadevan’s assumptions for Methodology

Mahadevan makes three assumptions as the basis for his methodology.

They can be re-phrased as following questions:

Do Indus seals mention a name?

Are they present in Later Dravidian as loan words and loan

translations?

Are the so-called arbitrariness of symbolisms and tell-tale myths, reliable

sources to explain loan words and loan translations?

50
 Do Indus seals mention a name?

No – due to faulty concept of ‘an’ suffix for Tamil names

No ‘an’ suffix for nominative case in Old Tamil.

Masculine names end with dotted ‘n’ - and not ‘an’ (Tol Kāppiyam (Sol.5)

‘an’ suffix given by 13th century CE text called ‘Nannūl’ and not by Tol Kāppiyam.

Mahadevan is not written as Mahadeva+an .

It is Mahadeva +(dotted) n

Like how the name Deva is not split as Dev+a in Sanskrit

To say that ‘an’ is the suffix of Mahadevan in Tamil

is like saying that
‘a’ is the suffix for Deva in Sanskrit– which is wrong.

51
Faulty concept of Tamil Brāhmī inscriptions as the basis
Many names are written in Written
incorrect way in Tamil Brāhmī
inscriptions
Shows that inscribers were
unfamiliar with Tamil words or
with Brāhmī script.
Only 8 vowels in Tamil
Brāhmī as against 12 in Tamil
language.
Tamil Brāhmī in Aɻagar hills
later than Silappadhikāram
Tamil Brāhmī
inscriptions
from right to left. found only in Jain
upside down. dwellings &
As mirror image. where Veḷir
potters & artisans
were settled.
Why did Mahadevan fail to
recognize that the corpus of Tamil
Brāhmī, used by him were
donations containing names of
donors?
How could that be used as a
parallel to Indus script whose use &
application are yet to be
established?
52
 Indus – Jain – Brāhmī (but not Tamil) connection
Hāthigumphā Similar image in
Found in Harappa – inscriptions Indus seal
John Marshall (2nd century BCE) M 1356

Script - Brāhmī,
Language – Prākrit
Signs - Indus
King – Jain
Inscriber – Jain monk

Vaddha Maṅgala (Pāli word for

Proof of spread of growth)
Indus script to N. Epigraphia Indica:1983
India than S.India

Concurs with iconographic

No scope to deduce
description of a Jīna,
a Jain ascetic by that Brāhmī was the
Mayamatam script of old Tamil
64 scripts listed by
Bodhisattva
18 scripts of Jaina
Brāhmī is one among
canons
Named after place, user
etc.
?
53
 Mahadevan’s concept of Loan words

Loan words: Borrowed from the Harappan language and

“assimilated to phonetically similar words in the Indo-Aryan languages
and may be substituted by synonyms.”
(Mahadevan:2008)

Faulty concept of loan words in Tamil

Loan words (Disai sol) are those that exist in the 12 lands
surrounding Tamil lands. They are accepted as they are and with
same meaning.

Eg: ‘acchan’ meaning ‘father’ in Kuda nādu

Implies that no loan words made way from Indus sites or North
India.

54
 Mahadevan’s concept of Loan translations

Loan translations: Do not resemble the originals in sound and

meaning. They may even be incorrect or have different meaning.
(Mahadevan:2008)

Sample case (Mahadevan:2008)

kaṇṭi (buffalo bull) and ‘nīḷ’ (long).

Due to disputable nature of the assumption on AIT,

this kind of Harappan - to- Indo Aryan loan words are
disputable.
Loan word
Nīlakaṇṭha Change from nīḷ (long) in Tamil to nīl (blue) is
arbitrary.
Loan
translation All the 5 names cited by him (in the paper) from Old
Mahadeva Tamil are disputable

Excessive & obsessive pre-occupation with myths.

55
 Disputable nature of derivations

The name “Muruga” in Harappan script

Sample case
(Mahadevan:2006)

Muruga: a skeletal body in bent and contracted posture.

Uses the word ‘muruku’ to mean disembodied spirit body for Muruga

Muruku is not same as Murugu.

Arbitrary selection of meanings (Veri dance) to the exclusion of other

recurring meanings.

All the words quoted in his derivation of ‘Muruga’ are disputable.

56
 Faulty concept of loan words from Indo-Aryan

Any loan words from Sanskrit to Tamil? NO

What is Vada sol (Sanskrit)? Words having same letters in both Tamil &
Sanskrit, that are not Sanskrit-specific
(Tol:2:402),
commentary by Naccinārkkiniyar & Iḷampūraṇar

Eg:Kuṅkumam, nimittam, MĪNAM

?
Is this a Dravidian (Tamil) word?

Wrong to interpret the fish sign of the Indus as a Dravidian word

Root word in Sanskrit ‘Mī’ (meaning alter, change, lose one’s way) > ‘Mīnīte’

By the definition of Tol Kāppiyam, MĪNAM is a Vada-sol (Sanskrit word).

MĪNAM became MĪN in Tamil. Why did Mahadevan ignore the

definition of Tol Kāppiyam (Old
Tamil)?
57
 Tamil and Sanskrit, sister-languages from
a common proto-language?

Tiruvilaiyādal Purāṇam (Tirunāttu cirappu.56)

Lord Ṣiva taught Grammar for Tamil to Agastya on the one side and
grammar for Sanskrit to Paṇini on the other
(refers to grammar school of Sanskrit ).

Sri Aurobindo

“… they (Tamil and Sanskrit) may even have been two diversions, or
families derived from
one lost primitive tongue”.

(From ‘Arise Again, O India!’ by Francois Gautier)

58
 Evidence from Tol Kāppiyam (eɻuttu 102)
Tol Kāppiyar, the author, says that he has explained the external manifestation of
sounds caused by air rising above the navel.

The internal manifestation of sounds within the body is to be found in the Vedas;
he has not explained them in his treatise.

Rig Veda.1.164.45
Four divisions of speech Parā, Paśyantī, Madhyama & Vaikharī

Tol Kāppiyar explained Vaikharī (external manifestation of sound of 30 Tamil

letters) & acknowledged the presence of the other three (internal manifestation of
sound) in Vedas.
(Kānci Mahāswāmi in “Deivatthin Kural”
http://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/Kural51.htm

Tol Kāppiyam verse reveals that Tamil letters were the Vaikharī vāk of the Candas.
They have the power of Mantra when arise from the internal 3 levels of manifestation.
Explains why hymns of Azhwars and Nayanamars are considered as Vedas

No other evidence is needed to declare that Tamil is not Dravidian but

an Aryan speech.
59
 Pāli and Sanskrit, sister-languages from
a common source?

Early colonial linguists found Pāli to be closer to Sanskrit, but not a derivative of
Sanskrit.

They even suggested that Pāli and Sanskrit were sister languages derived from a Proto-
language.

“Pāli and Sanskrit are, at least, two dialects of high antiquity,

contemporaneously derived from a source of which few, if any, traces can be
discovered at the present day”

(James D’Alwis, quoted by Muir: 1871:66)

“…it is clear that the Sanskrit, both in its phonetic system and flexions,
stands much closer to the common mother of it and the Pāli than the latter
does,…”
(Prof Weber, quoted by Muir:1871:67)

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 Pāli word in Rig Veda

- Professor Aufrecht, quoted by J.Muir:1871:72

‘imasya’ in Rig Veva (8.13.21) is a Pāli word.

Many archaic words of Vedas are found in Pāli

giving rise to an opinion that
Pāli was the Vyavahārikā vāk of the Vedic sages.

Tamil retroflex phoneme ‘ɻ’ ((ழ) is also found in Rig Veda

(Kānci Mahāswāmi in “Deivatthin Kural”)

http://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/Kurall87.htm

Research needed at linguistic comparison of Pāli, Tamil and Sanskrit to deduce a common
Proto-language.

No European language comes in this picture as the very basic derivation and the
arrangement of the vowels as given by Tamil and Sanskrit grammar are the same, but not
found in any European language 61
 Mohenjo-Daro, a Pāli name?

Sanskrit asya is assa in Pāli

Mohanasya (Sanskrit) (Of Mohan)

Mohanasa’ or ‘Mohanassa’ (Pāli)

Mohanja (Pāli)

Mohenjo-Daro
(means ‘Mohan’s Daro) Mohenjo-Daro refers to
the temple / camp of
Mohan (Kṛṣṇa)
Daro, dhoro, Dera or Deri
in the names of Indus sites are conjugates of
Dera, Deri and Deru
in Gujarati and other languages spoken in Indus region
referring to
temple and also ‘camp’
62
 Pāli, a better contender than Tamil as basis for Indus script

Pāli -sounding names in

Mitanni- Hittite treaty
Names in Mitanni- Hittite Pāli
treaty
The spread of Buddhism to Mitanni mitta
Afghanistan and beyond Hatti hatthi
could have taken Pāli to Suppiluliuma Supinam,
West Asia. supinopama
Sutatarra (Pāli form of) Sutradhara
Aitakama ” Ishtakama
Shattiwaza ” Shaktivasa
Aki Akiya
Wassukanni visum and kanna

Research in Pāli language could completely change

the course of
language theories of India and AIT as well.

Tamil and any other South Indian language have a slim chance for their presence
63
In Indus & W.Asia
 No Parallelism – Only hints from Tamil

Great Bath Lay-out of Great Bath In-door pool in Pandava’s

(In-door pool) palace built by Maya

During his trip to Himalayas, Karikāl Chola was gifted with 3 exquisite artefacts
created as per the rules laid down by Maya
who taught these rules to the ancestors of the makers of these artefacts,
in return for the help they once did to him .
(Silappadhikāram Ch. 5. 99-108)

What was the help?

Did they help Maya in building the Panadava- palace at Indraprasta?
Was the in-door pool of Indraprasta, precursor to Great Bath?
Parallelism comes here – not with Mīnākṣi temple.
64
 Hints from Tamil on Indus scripts

Bundles of goods that arrived from North India carried seals of

‘kaṇṇeɻutthu’ *
( which can be understood by the look of it - a reference to rebus expressions)
*Silappadhikāram: Ch 26 –Lines 135-136 and Ch 5. Lines 111-113

Kaṇṇeɻutthu reveals
“the name of the good, the size or measurement of the good’ and
‘the stamp of the trader and the numbers”
(olden commentator Adiyārkku Nallār)

The discovery of many broken seals tied

around the bundles, does match with the
description in Silappadhikāram

It is unfortunate that
Mahadevan did not consider
these hints of Silappadhikāram

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 CONCLUSION

Assumptions and methodology do not stand scrutiny.

Did not check the veracity of assumptions (on AIT & Tamil words) before
embracing them.

Clinging to AIT chronology hampered his logical derivations.

Flawed idea of matching Veḷir migration with Dravidian migration.

Methodology based on faulty assumptions and parallels.

His works suffer from a bias of mythological and Dravidian kind.

Dravidian substratum for Indus script

stands nullified.
66