Hymn 2-1

If the first hymn of Rig was about the Agnim ellee, BEING as the destructive FIRE,  the second hymn seems to about the Cool Moon, the Soma, the Su'en or Nanna Su'en of the Sumerians whose eldest daughter is said to be  In-anna herself, the eternally fecunditive WOMAN who gives birth to the world and everything in it tirelessly.

Having recognized the Sumerian connections of Rig veda , I shall strive to the best of my ability to recover the original Sumerian-type forms of the words and phrases in order to elucidate better the meanings knowing very well that I may be wrong in some  places but hopefully not entirely.

The references to the text of Rig Veda I use is already  given earlier.
 
 

This Sloka goes like this:

Vayav a` yaaki darsateme` somaa aramkritah/ tesham paahi srudhi havam.

O Lord of the cosmic vitality, may you, loving as you are, come to us. These devotions are all for you. Please accept them, and hear the invocations of minstrel and intellectuals.

Vayav a` yaaki

Vayav : Lord of Cosmic vitality ; the fluid in the mid-region, air and wind  etc.

This complex should be analyzed into "vay-av ' and taken as a variant of 'vaan-av" and which in Sumerian would appear as "an-ab" where 'an" is the sky and 'ab' a pronoun meaning  "that" that also seems to function as the plural marker and hence an archaic form of Ta. av,  avai : they , those etc. Here it seems to function more as an adverb of place , something like "from" as in Ta. avvidam, avvu , avvee etc.

vay : sky

The 'an' as sky occurs in the phrase 'an-ur-as-a' that we have already considered. This exist in Ta. as ' aan'  and 'vaan' without change of meaning.

We note a phonological change along the lines:

Su. an , ( aan, vaan?)> Ta. aan, vaan >  Sk vaay.

The term Sk vaayu can be taken as Ta. vaan-u i.e. something that emerges from the sky or space and hence  the wind and metaphorically that which agitates everything to move and the  hence Power, the Sakti. The term Ta. vayam  (  strength) perhaps is also linked to it.

ab ( >av)

23. sa-an-na-ke hul-la ma-ab-tum

The heart of An ( sa -an-na-ke ) filled (um) me ( ma) with that (ab) i.e.. enthusiasm ( hul-la)

29. me-sen-sen-na um-ta-ab-e-en ( He had me come out in war and battle)

In war and battle ( me sen-sen-na) towards being above ( um-ta< um-ta)  he  ( ab ) e-en (  cause me to attain)
 

The 'a`" here is certainly the Su. a: power , strength etc. and which exists in Tamil as "aal' as aaRRal (< aal-al). it has also the meaning of 'spreading out'  as in 'aala maram' the Bothi Tree or the Banyan Tree.

a`: power , ability etc.

9. a` lu-sir-ra di-se mu-un-e

The power or competence (a`) of the singer ( lu-sir-ra)  spreads ( mu-un-e) in all directions (di-se)

"yaaki" is the Su.ag and Ta. aaku , to become. We can cite the following lines as evidences for all these.

ag

1. lugal-e mu-ni nig-du-se

2. u-su-du inim pa-e ag-de

The King ( lugal) in order to make his name ( mu-ni)  be there for very long ( nig-du-se u-su-du) produced ( ag-de) this song of words ( inim pa-e)

The word 'ag' means Ta. akku, the active verb derived form verbal noun Ta. aaku : to become etc.

Thus this phrase can be reconstructed as " vaan-ab aa yaaki" and meaning " (soma)  emerging from the sky as the power.. )

darsateme

This phrase can be analyzed into "dar-se-tume" where 'dar" is the Ta. tarai (> talam , talai) meaning the earth , place etc. We have also Malay : darat,  (the land, ground)) related to this. The sa (<se ?) is ablative case marker , and teme (< tum-e) the 'tum' as in line 23 above.  We must note that 'dar' as Ta. tarai  makes sense as a contrast to 'vay' , the  sky
 

Thus " darsateme" can be taken to mean " (Soma) that fills the earth"

 aramkritah :?

Here we can analyze this word as  'aaram-kirutah' where Ta aar means "to drink'  meaning among many others . Thus we have here 'aar-nam> aar-am'  meaning the verbal noun of  " drinking". The "karutah"  is a variant of Su. gar-u : to set , to do etc. We can also link it with Ta. karutu: to think, to intend etc.

Thus we can recover the meaning of " Vayav a` yaaki darsateme` somaa aramkritah"  : the Soma that which emerges from the sky and fills up the earth, (Oh Lord)  grant us to  drink  to the full

tesham paahi :?

Here  'tesham ' can be taken as 'te-shi-am' (  tii-shi-am) where 'te' is equated here with Su. de and Ta. tii: fire. Words like Ta. teecu Sk tejas  Ta. teeyu and so forth are perhaps related to this. And hence the meaning is literally 'brightness' but metaphorically happiness,  cheer and so forth.

'paaki" is to taken Ta. paa-ki meaning 'to give' Ta. paa, paku etc. and Su. ba

srudhi havam.

The "srudhi " can be taken as Su. sir-uti where 'sir' is the same Ta. ciir: to sing. This occurs in  the phrase 'lu-sir-ra in the line 9 above. We can also locate a variant of it in the frequently occurring phrase "dub-sar" where it means , among others 'reading' (sar) tablets ( dub).

The 'havam"  can be taken as a variant of "av-am"  hence meaning 'that , there etc." or perhaps "we" "they" etc.

Thus we can reconstruct the sloka and the meaning as follows:

vaan-av aa yaaki  tarse tumma soomaa aaramkarutah/ teesham paahi surudhi hav-am ( *Ta.Å¡ý -«ù ¬ ¡¸¢ ¾¨Ã§º ÐõÁ §º¡Á¡ ¬Ãõ ¸Õ¾:/ §¾º¡õ À¡¸¢ º¢Õ¾¢ «ùÅ¡õ

Oh Lord ! Grant us to drink to the full the Soma that emerges from the sky and fills the earth ; let us rejoice singing songs

Note: Those without Tamil TSCII fonts please ignore the Tamil rendering above.)

Hymn 2.2

With the excitement of discovering more and more  intimate connections of the language of Rig Veda with Sumerian in my mind let now come the second Sloka of the Second Hymn which goes as below:

vaaya ukthebhir jarante tvaam aachaa jaritarah/ sutasomaa aharvidah

O Lord of the cosmic vitality, we, your devotees, invoke you with holy praises, pouring forth sweet emotional yearning from our hearts.
 

vaaya ukthebhir:

We have already discussed 'vaaya" as Su. an-a and Ta. vaan-a where we have the phonological change   -n- > -y- . We must notice that the suffix  '- a' is certainly Tamil, the cuddu 'a' used however as the locative/ablative/possessive  case marker and is mentioned as the 'atu enum veeRRumai'  in Tolkaappiayam where it is  also mentioned that it will also occur as '-a' when the object named is of the nonperson gender.

ukthebhir : uktha: holy praises, stotras, hymns of praise, lauds recited or spoken in opposition to the verse or sung

I have already discussed 'bhir' as a variant Su. ba-ere and Ta. peer , a plural marker of the person gender  which also includes the devas.

The "uktha" can be taken as a variant of Su. utu, uti and Ta. utti ( Sk ukti) as in 'otta kaadci utti" in Tol. Marabiyal last sutra. The meaning appears to be that which causes 'uti', i.e. something emerging as there --uu-ti. The root appears to be Su. u , Ta. uu meaning light, coming to light etc. There is also another word Su. us Ta. ooccu, to drive away with magical incantations , Ta. uccaadanam, exorcism. This may be related SK. ukthu  ( Ta. oottu) here  ( to praise,
recite , incant etc.)

We have an instance of 'us"  ( to recite etc) below

Udug Hul

33.

us-dug hul-bi-ta eme ba-ni-dab-dab-be-es ( the spels thorugh their evils seized the tongue)

*Ta. uccu tukku olbitta  emmee(?)  baNNi tabutabbiyisu (  ")

However the most appropriate seems to be  Su. us and Ta. ucci , the top or as a verb to move out to the top.

Thus 'vaaya ukthebhir" can mean " those in the sky  who cause something to emerge or who emerge out to the fore"

jarante : ?

This can be related Su. sar and Ta. cari : to move or flow. The following are  instance of it.

Sir.

50.

gurus-sa-gan-bi lu-ese ma-ra-ab -sar-re-es ( It drives its young adult before you as captives)

*Ta. kurucil  caGkanbi  aaLuvici maanRa av saariyicu

91. (d) sun-zi-mu lu he-mi-sar-re lu he-im-mi-in dab-be ( My divine impetuous wild cow, drive away this man, capture this man!)

*Ta.  cuunjimoo aaLu eeymi  cariyee aaLu ee yimmin adaippee(  " )

Thus 'jarante' can be taken as Ta. carintee : to flow out or cause to flow out.

Another possibility is Ta. curantee : to ooze out where Ta. cur, cori means to flow or cause to flow like milk from the udders of the cow.

Another word related to this Su. sil , Ta. cel and Malay jal-an  meaning to go move out, travel etc. The Ta/Sk calam jalam : water,  may actually mean 'something that flows" and hence derivatively water.

We have an instance of  Su. sil as below:

Udug-hul

64. sil-igi-mu-ta .......... ( Depart from before me .......)

65. zi an-na he-pa zi ki-a he-pa ( Be you adjured by heaven, be you adjured by earth)

*Ta. cel imai moo-t-ta ....

*Ta.  jii vaanna  eeypa jii kiiza eeypa

tvaam aachaa jaritarah:  we invoke you with holy praises.

The word 'aachaa'  appears to be related Ta. arcci meaning offer prayers etc.  We have also words  Ta. araatanai etc. This is related to Su. ar  and Ta. aa,  aar,  cause to be amazed (Ta. viyappu) which is available in Ta.  accoo, aa-c-cariyam: something amazing, bewildering etc.

Sulgi

324. ar-e zag li-bi`- til-til-la-mu ( My praise will never be finished)

*Ta. aaree caakai ili biiyi tiir tiiramoo (  ")

Note :  Su. ar Ta. aar : praise as in aaraati etc. We have also Ta. aaravaaram  where it simply means "loud noise" a secondary meaning arrived at by the duplication of the verb 'aar"

However the best possibility is to take 'aacca 'as Su. a-se  Where Su. a & Ta. am, aal etc. means water.

The ' jaritarah' as Ta. caritaru, coritaru i.e. effect the ritual actions  where ' jari ' as Ta. cariyai : rituals involving bodily movements.

Thus  'aaccaa jaritarah' can  mean " sprinkle water" i.e. the suklaam parataram.

sutasomaa aharvidah:

Here 'aharvidah' taken as Ta. akalvida  ( akal-idu) would mean  'in order to remove' . But what ? with this question we have to approach the meaning of the enigmatic 'sutasomaa'. Here we have Ta. cutam : destruction, injury , loss  etc. as relevant. Thus "sutasomaa" would mean the destruction of somaa and which is desired to be removed.

Thus the sloka can be rendered as

vaana ukthebhir carinte  tuvaam  aaccha coritarah/ sutamsoomaa akalvidah

*Ta. (TSCII) Å¡É ¯ì§¾À£÷ ºÃ¢ó§¾ ÐÅõ ¬î§º ¦º¡Ã¢¾Õ/ ;õ§º¡Á¡ «¸øÅ¢¼

Oh! Deities who come down emerging  out from sky ( heavens), we pray unto you sprinkling pure waters so that you would remove the destruction of pleasures ( in our life)

Hymn 2.3

The third sloka of the second hymn goes like this :
 

vaayo tava praprinjcati dhenaa jigaati daasushe / uruucii somapiitaye

O Lord of cosmic vitality, your inspiring voice resounds all through the thoughts and feelings of your devotees, the preceptors of divine wisdom, who have tasted the sweetness of your  favors.
 

vaayo tava praprinjcati

vaayo : already considered.

The' -o ' may be invocative, the viLi of Tol.

tava praprinjati :  your inspiring words?

We  can analyze this complex as : para-para- in-cati , where "para-para" denotes continues flow. The root appears to be Su. bal-bal-a which has given us Ta. paramparai, paarampariyam and so forth and which is attested in many Indian languages. From the root  meaning 'flowing  across unbroken" , it has come to mean a tradition , a 'marabu'  as said in Tol..

From the root meaning of ' bara', to flow, to cross over we have many words in Tamil. We have 'paratal' , to spread out, paraNi; a river and as a derivative of this we have 'paravai'', the sea. The word paraNi, meaning a river is noted in the name of a river TaamiraparaNi.

We can also note here 'baratam' as a derivative of this -- the science of movement.

Dwaraka

The ' dwaraka' of Lord Krishna of MahaBharata may actually be "tu-ba-ra- akam", the place of pure waters or river of pure or fresh  waters.
 

We  can cite the following evidences for this :

Sulgi

6. sa-bal-bal-a egir-u-da inim su a-bal-e-de ( In order to pass down word to the generations of the future)

*Ta. caan parampara etiruda enam collal itee  ( " )

67. za-pa-ag-bi-se gaba-mu ba-ra-ba-ra-gal (  would direct my course towards the roar)

*Ta.  japambicee kavanama parapara kaal  ( I would hasten towards the  roar carefully)

Here ba-ra-ba-ra,  also related to movement is retained in Ta. as parapara as an adverb, and paraparappu as a noun.

There is also Su. bal-a in the sense of 'to cross over' and which may be  the root of Ta.  paalam: bridge, that which helps to cross over.  The Sk praptam can also be related to this word as 'para-ab-tam" , that which crosses over.

However  the most appropriate but also related to above sense is to analyze it as "paraparanjam-aati" from which may have evolved Ta. pirapanjam-si-ati, that pertaining to the manifest universe that is characterized by FLOW and CHANGE, a metaphysical notion that is central to many Indian darsanas.

Thus the phrase " vaayo tava praprinjcati" can be taken to have the meaning: Oh Vayu! You are the foundation of the Universe.

dhenaa jigaati daasushe:

Taking this as " tina jigaat taasu-se  "  and equating 'tina" with 'dive' of  1.3 , and taking 'daasu', as already analyzed as those who have abandoned themselves  for divine service, the taasan and taasi,  this phrase can be taken to mean " in the daily life of the devotees" and the whole sentence to mean : O Vayu! You are the foundation of the Universe and the daily life of the devotees.

We are taking 'jigaat' as "ji-ga-atu", the living, the existence.

uruucii somapiitaye

This phrase, is quite straight forward. We have here the Ta. uruci-i  meaning ' to taste"  and taking "pii-ta" as Ta. piitu/paaytu etc. i.e. that which flows or oozes out, we can see that the meaning is " to taste that which oozes out from Soma or the Soma juice"

Thus the whole sloka can be reconstructed as below:

Vayoo! tava piraparanjaati tina  jigati taasu-se/ uruci-i somapiitaye

*Ta. (TSCII) Å¡§Â¡ ¾Å À¢ÃÀÃﺡ¾¢ ƒ¢¸¡¾¢ ¾¡Í§º/ ¯Õº¢-­ §º¡ÁÀ£¾¡§Â

Vayu! You are the foundation of the universe and the daily life of your devotees; let them taste the juice that flows out from Soma

 Hymn 2.4
 

The fourth sloka of the second hymn:

indravaayuu ime suta upa prayobhir aa gatam/ indavo vaam usanti

O Lord, resplendent and the source of cosmic vitality, verily our songs and invocations are for you and your eternal order. May you come to us and nourish us with your blessings.

Here we notice that  the following words are not problematic: ime ( Su. immee  Ta. immee : immediately,) suta ( Ta. sutam, sitai : destruction) , vaam  (Su. am,  Ta. aam: to become , be present etc.). With these meanings behind us , let us look at the  remaining words and phrases.

indravaayuu: ( indra-vaayuu)

The 'indra" can be taken as "indi-ir" indi-ra" where in Su. ir and ra alternate and has the meaning of a pronoun and in which it corresponds with Ta. ar, aar , ir , iir etc. The word 'indi' here seems to be another word for Soma, something to do with the metaphysical moon and hence to be equated with Ta. intu : moon and Su. iti : moon.

Sulgi

292. gestu-gal-gal-mu hur-da hu-mu-un-ag-e ( Let him keep in high esteem my very great intelligence)

293. kala-ga nig  in-da-sim di-da-gin.  (What the strong one, the hero, may have achieved in his expeditions)

294. ki a-na la-ba-ni-ib-gal-la-am  ( Is not something that depends on his power)

*Ta.  kestu gaLgaLLamoo uyarida uumun aakkee ( " )

*Ta. kaaLaka  nika intacim  oodi-idukaN   (")

*Ta. kii aanna ila baN iv kaal aam  ( " )

Here 'in-da-sim" stands for great achievements and noting that Su. sim/sum means 'carrying, getting etc. ( Ta. cumai) , we can see that "in-da" by itself   means something great, that which is excellent noble, desired by all etc.

Below we have the occurrence of "in-di" in view of which we can take 'in-da" as "in-di-a"
 

164. gis.al-gar gis. sa-bi-tum in-di lugal-la  ( The algar, the sabitum (which) are of the king's rite..)

*Ta. kiicu yaazkaal kiicu cevitummu inti ulugaL-La ( ")

While the above terms may  be  derivative meanings ' iti' (= idi) means  primordially the moon as below.

Sir

147 iti (U.(d)NANNA) -e-gim a-gim la-la ba-an- gur (Like the light of the rising moon, how she was sumptuously attired!)

148. (d) nanna u-zi-de-es  mu-un-e-a  ( When Nanna appeared in proper view)

*Ta. intu eeGim aagim  izai izai baNkuuRai ( ")

*Ta.  Nannan un citteeisu mun eeya  (  ")

In Malay "indah' means beautiful and 'induk" means the ideal.

We can connect these words also with Ta. itam: something pleasing and appealing, the ethically acceptable, that which is in good taste.

Thus the  '  in-di lugal-la" in 164 can be interpreted  to mean: to please the King , a meaning also fits the playing of musical instruments perhaps the yaaz and drum (?)  sabitum ( = cevitum)

Thus 'indra' is "in-di-ra" perhaps another name for (d) Nanna, the moon god but meaning the lord of all the pleasures in the world and hence perhaps also the King of the gods who are the bringers of all the good things. We should note here that the Ta. veentan,  the name for Indra, which also means the King, can be derived from the same roots : ba-in-ti-an> beentan> veentan

Thus "indravaayuu" as 'intira-vaan-uu"   can be taken as meaning: the good things  from the heavens

ime suta up  : already discussed : immee  sutam uuba : to overcome destruction immediately

prayobhir aa gatam:

The word 'prayobhir" can be analyzed into "para-u-bi-ere " and taking the 'para' as  Ta.paravu and Su. ba-ra meaning to spread out , we can  equate the word with Ta. paravuviir  and take the meaning to be : in order to spread  out, pervade etc.

"aa" is Ta. aa, aaku  and Su. ag , am etc. . The 'gatam ' Ta. kati, katam etc. meaning " in haste , fast, speedily" etc. thus  'aa gatam" means  : become present in good haste.

indavo vaam usaanti :

We have already discussed 'inda' and 'vaam'.  The word "usaanti" has many parallel constructions in Sumerian and appears to be a verb morphology still  retained in Rig Veda. Below some samples:

Sulgi 2. u-su-du ( last for long)  74. u-me-da u-ul-li-a-se ( be in truth, be till the end of the world) . 195. u-ti-la su-du-se (  my life to last long)

Thus 'u-' here just as in Su. means Ta. uy:  to live, to last etc. The saanti can be taken as a variant of "sii-an-ti" meaning the limits of fulfillment or contentment where the Su. si and Ta. cii means fullness , roundness, be enough   and hence beauty etc.

Thus the whole sloka
 

indravaayuu ime suta upa parayobhir aa gatam/ indavoo vaam uysaanti

can be taken to mean:

Let the good ( happiness conferring) things from the heavens,  in order to overcome the destruction ( and miseries) immediately, become manifest and spread out in good haste. Let there be real contentment arising from these pleasure conferring things.

*Ta. (TSCII)

­ó¾¢ÃÅ¡ë! ­õ§Á   ;õ ¯À ÀÃ×Å£÷ ¬ ¸¾õ/ ­ó¾¡§Å¡ Å¡õ ¯öº¡ó¾¢

Hymn 2.5

As I dwell deeper and deeper, it is becoming more and more clear to me that the language of Rig Veda is very close  to Sumero Tamil but definitely a later variety of it.. The fifth sloka  of the second hymn contains elements that reinforce this idea and I shall  try to bring about the parallels  by way of giving evidences for this claim from Sumerian texts. Also I notice that the real meaning, as deduced from these parallels are vastly different from that given below.

The sloka goes as below:

vaayav indras ca cetathah sutanaam vaajiniivavasuu/ taav aa yaatam upa dravat.

O source of cosmic vitality and Lord-resplendent, law and order is abiding in this creation. You are, assuredly, aware of our devotional thoughts and emotions. May we always keep the light of love and dedication burning for you and for your eternal laws.

vaayav indras : vaan-av indi-ra-es

We have already discussed vaayu and indira but not yet the suffix '-s'  in 'indras' that parallels the plural marker in Sumerian.

There are  many meanings to Su.es and they vary from :  sanctuary, many, three etc. We have : es-gi ( great sanctuaries Ta, iisu mii Agade; 194)  " lu-es: (three men, or many men Agade 187.)

We have '-es' as the plural marker of the noun as well verbal complex in the following lines.

Udug Hul

19. lu-ulu pap-hal-la-as   bar-se mu-un-na-te-es ( The (evil effects of the past) approached the distraught man's side)

Note the -as in the pap-hal-as is a variant  of 'es'

22. u-mu-un hul-a-ni bar-ta im-mi-in-gar-re-es ( (the demons) injected his bad blood separately)

Thus we have 'e/s-s" as plural marker of a  kind arising perhaps from the fact that 'es' means the number three or simply an indefinite many, a morphological element  perhaps to be linked to the  Colloquial Tamil '-c-cu' normally used as verbal suffix with neuter gender but not plural but singular.

Thus 'vaayav indras?  means: You  Vaayuu!  the source of worldly pleasures!
 

ca cetathah sutanaam:

The word 'suta' is  frequent occurrence in the Rig and seems to have the meaning of destruction , disappearance and so forth. This is reinforced by the following line where 'su`' occurs in the sense of Ta. saay: to incline, or Ta.  saa, saav: to die

Agade

195. utu e-ta utu su-us erim-bi ba-tur ( From East to West he reduced their stores)

* Ta. utu ee-ata  utu saayicu araNbi baa tur)

The contrast between  'utu-e-ta' and 'utu-su-es' , the places of  rising of the sun and the setting of the sun, used here for the  directions East and West makes the meanings quite clear.

Thus 'sutanaam" means : the setting or the disappearance, the vanishing.  Here we also should note the occurrence the Su. noun formative "nam" as in 'nam-en, nam-en-na, nam-lugal-la, nam-tar-ra ' and so forth and which exists in Ta. as '-am' and 'nam' . It occurs also as a separate term 'nayam, nalam" etc. where it means the essence as in the 'nan-nayam/ nayam' of Tol.. from which we have naiyaayika ( nan-nayam-aka) and which is also a term of logic in the Logic of Tamil Jains.

Thus "cetathah" can be equated with Ta. citai, citaR ; to scatter , disintegrate etc. And also we have Ta. cetu, ceRu (Su. se-ru) ; to cut, split etc. Thus 'cetathah"  would mean : those that are disintegrating, splitting up  and thus collectively "ca cetathah sutanaam"  emans: the disappearance of those that disintegrate and decay.

vaajinivasuu

This can analyzed into : baa-iji- niiva-su

We have already discussed Su. ba/ Ta. baa: to give and iji meaning 'fire' as in Su. iji, eji, ejen etc. The term 'nii-va' appears to be the same Su. ni-ba: on their own . The following lines are  instances of it.

Agade

183. un sa-gar-bi-ta ni-bi-a su im-dub-dub-ne ( People were falling at themselves from hunger)

Inanna

46 ugnim-bi  ni-bi-a ma-ra-ab-lah-e ( It leads its army captive before you of its own accord)

The word 'ni' on it's own means 'self' ( Ta. nii) but here as 'ni-bi-a" it means 'on its own, on their own" etc.

The 'su' means 'to do'  and there are many occurrences of this in Sumerian.

Thus "vajiniivasu"  means : burn to (ashes) on their own.

Thus collectively vaayav indras ca cetathah sutanaam vaajiniivavasuu :  You  Vaayuu!  the source of worldly pleasures! Note that those that are disintegrating burn off on their own accord!

taav aa yaatam upa dravat.
 

Here  the key term is 'dravat' and which can be analyzed into "daravata" . Corresponding to this we have numerous Tamil terms : taarai ( to sprinkle like rain waters, to flow, Su. da-ra)), tirai: the sea waves, the sea, tiraavakam: liquid and so forth. The most suitable appears to be Ta. taar-va-tu ; to stream down like rain waters. Thus the whole expression can be taken to mean : You must show yourself there ( aa yaatam)  as the rain waters ( upa dravat)

Thus collectively the whole  sloka

vaayav indras ca cetathah sutanaam vaajiniivavasuu/ taav aa yaatam upa dravat.

means:

You  Vaayuu!  the source of worldly pleasures! Note that those that are disintegrating burn off (to ashes)  on their own accord!  So you must show yourself there  as the rain waters.

Ta. ( TSCII)

Å¡Ô«ù ­ó¾¢Ã¡Š º¡ º¢¨¾¾: º¡ö¾Éõ À¡­ƒ¢ ¿£ÅÝ÷/ à «ù ¬ ¡¾õ ¯À ¾¡÷ž

Hymn 2.6

This sloka parallels the above in many ways and hence a bit easier to see the Sumerian connections and meanings.

vayav indras ca sunvata a yaatam upa nishkritam/ makshv ittha dhiya nara

O source of cosmic vitality and Lord-resplendent, may you bless the devotee for his dedication. Only your blessings will enable him to realize his aspirations.

vaayav indras :  vaan-av indi-ra-es : You  Vaayuu!  the source of worldly pleasures!

ca sunvata: that/those  which burns off or destroys; or those aggressive and destructive elements from desert regions

This is quite easy to identify as a variant of Su. sur-va-ta where 'sur' occurs both as 'sul' (Ta. cuul) and 'sun' ( Ta. cuun). The meaning is quit clear: that which burns, turns into a waste land  or those from the desert-like regions, etc. It is this 'cuun" that underlies the later philosophical notion popularized by the Bhuddists: cuunyam ( emptiness, nothingness)

aa yaatam: (they) come over here

upa nishkritam:  they (upa) do destructive actions

The 'upa' here is Ta. u-pa where 'u' is the  intermediate deitic marker while  the others are 'a' (that) 'i' (this) .

The 'nishkritam' should be analyzed, I think,  as 'na-shi-kar-tam' and hence taken to have the meaning " do destructive actions, evil deeds  etc., a meaning that fits the description of those described as as "sunvata". Perhaps here we have 'na-shi> Ta. naacam : destruction , Ta. naci: to destroy,  devastate etc.

makshiv ittha dhiya nara:

While "ittha dhiya nara"  can certainly be equated with Ta. itta/ inta tiiya nara : these evil people, 'makshiv" sounds a bit problematic . However by analyzing it as "mak-shi-av" and equating 'mak' with Ta. makku : to cause to decay, disintegrate, the whole expression can be taken to have the meaning: you should cause these evil persons to decay ( or become ineffective).

The word 'nara' meaning 'persons or human beings', quite well attested even in Tamil,  can be taken as aderivative from Su. ni-e-re where 'ni' means 'person, a human being" (Ta. nii)  and 'e-re' is the plural marker Su. ene and Ta. inam

Thus overall the reconstructed form of the sloka will

vaaya-av indira-es ca  sunvata aa yaatam upa nash-kartam/ mak-shi-av itta  tiiya nara

and the meaning to be:

You vaayu, the source of world pleasures! the aggressive people  come over here and do actions that are  destructive/ you make them these evil individuals ineffective (or decay)

Å¡Ô«ù ­ó¾¢ÃÂ¢Í ! º¡ Ýýž ¬ ¡¾õ ¯À ¿¡º¸÷¾õ/ Áì̺¢«ù ­ó¾ ¾£Â ¿Ã.

Notes: It is quite clear that at the time this sloka was composed there were many attacks by the 'sunvata' which can also be taken to mean 'those who come from desert and arid regions.

( to continue) 2.6

Hymn 2.7

This hymn introduces the very significant  concepts of mitram and varuNam that play a very important role in the Rig Vedic metaphysics. We should also note that varuNan also occurs as  a deity in Tolkappiyam. ( varuNan meeya perumaNal ulakam :  VaruNan pervades the seaside lands)  The sloka goes as below:

mitram huve puutadaksam varuNam ca risadasam / dhiyam ghritaciim sadhantaa

I invoke the lord the source of light and bliss. He is the dispeller of evil forces. Verily, with His blessings, the worshippers will be bestowed with happiness and wisdom.

mitram huve puutadaksam : ?

mitram : dark, black?

This word should be analyzed as  mi-tir-am ( < S.  mi-til-am ) where the Su. til means to live,  exist and so forth. Thus til-am> tir-am ( Ta. tiram, Sk tra, tram) would mean something in which the 'mi' exists. Now in Su.. there  are TWO unrelated meanings to the 'mi". One is 'mi' as dark as in "mi-u-na " which means 'at night, in the dark" etc.  This corresponds Ta. mai : black, dark, swarthy etc.

Another meaning is 'woman' and both meanings  are available in the following sentences:

Sirbiyam

55. mi-be dam-a-ni-ta sa-ga na-an-da-ab-be (Its woman no longer speaks of love with her husband)

56. gi-u-na  ad na-an-di-di-ib-gi-gi  (At night they no longer have intercourse)

*Ta. maibiyee tam-aanittau saGkam naa aanodu avaiyee ( " )

*Ta. mai uunna aadu naa iduidu iv mii-mii ( ")

The 'gi' is also read as 'mi'.

Looking at the context both meanings seems to applicable, the dark associated with femininity and brightness ( varuNan) associated with masculinity.

huve  puuta daksam :

The 'huve' here is the pronoun 'uv/huv' with particle of emphasis '-e' , Ta. ee. We have already discussed 'puuta" which  arising from the Ta. puu: to blossom, emerge etc. it means the five fold basic elements and whatever generated out of them and hence the objects both concrete and abstract in general

The 'daksam" can be analyzed into 'dag-si-am" and taken as meaning "where the (objects) are conserved, retained, provided security" etc. The 'dag' here can related to Su. tag and Ta. taakku as well as Ta. taGku and Malay tingkal that means both to stay as well as leave.

Sulgi

90. an-za-kar libir-ra-gin hu-mu-su-ub ( (The beast) would collapse like an old tower)

91. sag-bi gis. gum-hul-gin ki he-bi-tag ( Its ( animal's) head, like a thrown mortar, would sink into the ground)

*Ta. vaan jia kaal iliviiraGin ummu cuumbu  ( The creatures living in the wilderness would collapse without any strength)

*Ta. caanbi kisu kumkolGin kiiz eyvi taGku ( Their head attain lying on he ground as if struck by a mortar)

Thus the  whole phrase "mitram huve puutadaksam" can be taken to mean:  You  the Black One ( the Feminine One) , your are the one that conserves ( who provides security) for every object in the world.

The word 'daksam' exists now as Ta. tanjsam:  a safe and secure place
 

varuNam ca risadasam: ?

The word 'varuNan" can easily be seen as related to Ta. par-uti, the sun Ta. par, parai: brilliance etc. and Su. bar and taken as meaning "that which is very bright , brilliant " etc. This stands in contrast to 'mitram' as the dark. We can also take it as the Masculine as opposed the mitram taken as feminine.

risadasam :

We can analyze it as 'eri-si-a-da-sim' and as already discussed take the  meaning to be " that which burns to the full"  where we are  taking the Su. sim as Ta. simaiyam: the peak , the upper limits. It can also be related Su. sum: to carry as Ta. cum as Ta. cumattaL : to carry  hence the phrase  meaning 'that which is capable of burning off"

Thus the whole phrase varuNam ca risadasam can be taken to mean : You the Bright One , you are capable of burning off  all

dhiyam ghritaciim sadhantaa;

Here 'dhiyam' as related Ta. tiiyam means both fire ( Su. de~) and derivatively something  bad and evil. The word 'ghrita-ciim' can be analyzed into kuRaitta-si-im where Ta. kuRai means to reduce, to cut off and which corresponds to Su. gur in one of its meanings.

sadhanata taken as "sat-anta"  and equated with Su jid-anta where 'jid' means 'truly' and 'anta' to the limits, it means : effect it truly to the limits. Thus the whole phrase  dhiyam ghritaciim sadhantaa : reduce the evils  truly to the limits .

Thus we can reconstruct he whole sloka as follows:

mitiram huve puutadaksam varuNam ca risadasam / dhiyam guRaitaciim sadhantaa

and take the meaning to be:

O You the Black One ( the feminine), you serve as the conserver of all objects, and You the Brilliant One (the Maculine), you serve as that which burns off all. Both should reduce effectively the evils in the world.

¨Áò¾¢Ãõ ¯§Å â¾¾ìºõ ÅÕ½õ º¡ ±Ã¢ºò¾ºõ/ ¾£Âõ ̨Èòк£Â¢õ ºò¾ó¾
 

(to continue) 2.7

 Hymn 2.8

The sloka 2.8 seems to be concerned with specifying some additional qualities of Mitram and VaruNam mentioned above and it goes as below:

ritena mitraavaruNaav ritaavridhaav ritasprisaa / kratum brihantam aasaathe

O the source of light and bliss, you are the agumenter and dispenser of knowledge for every mortal man in this life. May you be pleased to fulfill the truthful aspirations of your devotees. May all their noble endeavors attain success.

I shall show below that the real meaning,  by recovering the original form with reference to the Sumerian,  is rather different.

ritena mitraavaruNaav

By relating this Su. (e)ri and Ta. eri, uri and so forth and analyzing it as  uri-tu-ena,  it can be seen the meaning is  'that/those which emerge into the world and PRESENT as such". But this is next qualified as 'mitraavaruNaav" which can be analyzed as ' mitram- varuNa-av" where the 'av' is Su.ab and Ta. av meaning that or those, i.e. Ta.avai. It can also be taken as the honorific 'you'. Thus the phrase means: O Mitra and VaruNa who are forever  present in the world!

ritaavridhaav ritasprisaa: ?

Here 'rita'  is common to both expressions and linking it with eri and uri above it can be taken to have the meaning: presence, being-there as such. And analyzing 'ritaaavridhaav' as 'rita-a-varidhu-av" we can see that Mitra, as that which  brings DARKNESS into the world is also  that which covers up ( varai)  and hence blocks up or prevents the the emergence into worldly presence of things. In contrast to this is the function of VaruNa  which is 'rita-si-paar-si-a" --  that which makes things manifest themselves and PRESENT in the world (Su. bar-a Ta. paar, paal,  puRam etc.). At the moment through a long line semantic evolution it exists as Sk sparsa and Ta. parisam, the feeling especially that of touch.

The word 'varai' though available in Ta. but not exactly in this form. It seems to derived from Su. kar, kar-ra meaning the dykes, river banks i.e. Ta. karai.

The following lines can be cited:

.J Gadd (47)  (the Edict of Hammurabi)

8. ambar-ra hu-mu-ni-nigin  ( I made a marsh to stand surrounding it )

9 id buranun zimbir-(ki)-su hu-mu-ba-al ( I digged out the river Euphrates into sippar)

10. kar-silim-ma-ge hu-mu-ni-us ( a dyke of security I set up)

*Ta. ambaram  umminee nikkin ( ")

*Ta. iiddu Porunai Cipparcee ummu paaz ( ")

*Ta. karai ciilammakkee umminee ucci ( " )

As is the case with  many words,   we have  Su. kar-ra> Ta. varai,  meaning metaphorically however to block off , arrest etc. which is also one of  the meanings of  Ta. varai. It is this secondary sense which appears to be rendered here 'vridhu' with the vowel deletion that we meet with so frequently.

The paar-si-a has many parallels such 'paal-si-a' 'paar-si-a' and so forth and which are available in Su. too

kratum brihantam aasaathe :?

We have to interpret this so that its meaning is consistent with the earlier part where distinct and contrary functions are attributed to  Mitra and VaruNa.

I shall analyze it  as ' kaartum peri-hantum aa-si-a-athee ' and take the meaning to be : establish ( kaartum) the world order such that only the great (peri-hantum) continues to be present there ( aa-si-a-athee)

Thus  we can recover the sloka as below:

uriteena mitra-a varuNa av urita-a-varaidhu av  urita-si-paar-si-a/ kartum berihantum aa si-a-athee

and take the meaning to be :

O the ever present Mitra and Varuna!  Mitra you concealed that which seeks to be present and you varuNa you allow them shine forth and be present. Please grace the world so that only the great things are continuously present!

¯Ã¢ò§¾É Á¢òá ÅÕ½¡ «ù! ¯Ã¢ò¾ ŨÃòÐ «ù, ¯Ã¢ò¾ º£ À¡÷º¢Â/ ¸¡÷òÐõ ¦ÀÕ¸óÐõ ¬º£Âò§¾
 

(to continue) 2-8

Hymn I:2-9

Let us take up now the final sloka of Hymn I: 2 where historically the very significant 'urukshaya' that connects Rig Veda with the Sumerians and Tamils occurs. The whole sloka goes as below:

kavi^ no  mitraa^va^ruNaa tuvijaata^ uruksha^yaa / daksham dadhaate apasam

O supreme Lord of cosmic enlightenment, may we attain prosperity through our self work and may we be strong to accomplish them. O Lord, you exist for the benefit of all of us  -- so we think. You are the refuge of the multitudes.

kavi^ no  mitraa^va^ruNaa tuvijaata^

Here we have already discussed the word 'kavi"  which also occurs in Hymn I 1:4 as 'kavikratuh' that we  recovered as Ta. kavi karaitu : the calls of the oracular priest. In support of this we can furnish further evidence from the word 'ka-pirig" that occurs as below.

kavi^

Forerunners to Udug-hul

146 ka-pirig me-en [.....] ( I am the exorcist [ ...] )

147. tu-ga me-en  [....] I am the incantation priest [....]

Here  Su. pirig is certainly the Ta. piri (> viri) meaning to open up. The ka (> Ta. kaay > vaay) means the mouth. Hence ka-pirig literally means "opening the mouth wide" . Hence derivatively it means : reciting some mantras very loudly , in fact it can mean "shouting at". The 'pirig' also has the meaning 'stripped' as 'tab-pirig-tur' i.e. the Ta. ciRutaippili, the leopard -- the small stripped tiger that leaps. Thus 'kavi^' can be taken as a truncated version of 'ka-pirig" (> ka-pirig> ka-piri> ka-viri> ka-vi). Currently it has come to mean the poet , Ta. kavi, kavinjan etc.

no: you? ( ni-u> ni-o. no?)

This can be taken as a variant of Su.ni-u where 'ni' means the indefinite singular person from which the Ta. nii, the second person singular is derived. This second person sense   seems to available here  but along with the cuddu 'u' meaning that yonder as  opposed to i ; this, here and a: that , there

mitraa^va^ruNaa tuvijaata^:

The meaning is not problematic here : mitra and VaruNa , the divine powers that emerge as always the double

The 'tuvi'  here  meaning two or double can be taken to be a derivative of Ta. tumi (> tuvi) meaning to split into two and hence a term for number derived from the act of splitting something into two parts. Incidentally the CTamil term for two " iir, iru,  iraNdu'  is also derived from the same kind of roots where Ta. iir also means to split into two parts. 'jaata' is certainly the Su. ji-a-ta : to emerge , to come into being etc.

Thus the whole phrase kavi^ no  mitraa^va^ruNaa tuvijaata^ can be taken to have the meaning: Mitra and VaruNa, Divine beings who always come together , we sing loudly before you!

It is against this context that we have to seek out the meaning of

uruksha^yaa.

We can analyze and recover the  original form as ''uru-ki-sha-ya-a" and take the meaning to be: so that you (both) would  pervade ( be present) in the lands of our cities.

The term 'uru' is of very wide occurrence in Sumerian where the major city  of Sumer was called 'uru' and Agade was also called uruk and we have similar terms 'unug' ( pisan-unug : the city priest, exorcist? ). The term 'ki' is also of wide occurrence especially as a  category marker of place , towns and cities. It is noteworthy that to this day Ta. retains this 'uuru' with the additional and derivative sense of "homeland".

The double occurrence of cuddu 'a' ( sha^yaa> sha-ya-a ) is noted also in such phrases as below:

Sulgi ( Hymn B)

13 . tur-ra-mu-de^  e^-dub-ba-a-a-am ( Since my (very ) youth I belonged in the edubba)

*Ta. tur-ra mudee il tubbaiya aa aam  ( From my very youth I attended the tablet house )

This sha-ya-a can be taken as 'sha-ya-aa' where 'aa' means to become, to pervade etc.

Thus collectively kavi^ no  mitraa^va^ruNaa tuvijaata^ uruksha^yaa can be taken to have the meaning:

Mitra and VaruNa, Divine beings who always come together , we sing loudly before you, so that you (both) would  pervade ( be present) in the lands of our cities.

We now  we come  to the second part of the sloka the meaning of which must be consistent with the above

 daksham dadhaate apasam:

The words 'daksham' and ' dadhate'  have already been considered. The word 'daksham' occurs in 'puutadkasham' (I 2:7) and we have identified it as the archaic form of Ta. tanjcam ( taG-si-am), a place of safety and security. The word 'dadhaate" can be analysed as " da-dha-ate" and taken  as the archaic form of Ta. tantu-atee : having given that;  where we have  Ta. taa, taru  and Su. tar, tar-ra  meaning to give. Thus 'daksham dadhatee" can be taken to mean: having given us a place safe and secure. Thus it is against this that we have to seek the meaning of

apasam .

It appears to me that this word is a transform of the original 'upa-si-am' where 'upa, uba' is of  frequent occurrence in Su. both as spatial and temporal adverbs of which Ta. appoo, the temporal adverbial  meaning "then'  is still retained . The spatial sense  is retained as  of noun of place 'umbar, upper' etc. Thus the meaning appears to be " lift us up, bless us, make us be cheerful" etc.

Perhaps the word 'upaacanai, upaacittal' are derivatives of this  where 'upaaci" has the meaning of 'to request, pray for ' and so forth. Thus  daksham dadhaate apasam can be taken to have the meaning: lift up our spirits by granting us safety and security.

Thus the whole sloka

kavi^ no  mitraa^va^ruNaa tuvijaata^ uruksha^yaa / daksham dadhaate apasam

can be taken to have the meaning:

Mitra and VaruNa, Divine beings who always come together , we sing loudly before you, so that you (both) would  pervade ( be present) in the lands of our cities. Lift up our spirits by granting us safety and security.

Tamil ( TSCII fonts)

¸Å¢ ¿¢§Â¡ Á¢òáÅÕ½¡ ÐÅ¢ƒ¡Â¾ °Õ츣 º£Â ¬/ ¾ìºõ ¾ó¾§¾  ¯À¡º¢Ôõ

Hymn I:2 concluded.

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