Vedic Language Less Archaic than SumeroTamil



Having discovered that Sumeru language is Archaic Tamil  and developing that understanding through studies of the original texts, it  came to me as a  surprise that the ancient Sk texts can also be understood as texts in Archaic Tamil of a sort. The present study of the first hymn of Rig Veda is in this line and though only the first hymn has been studied , some general conclusions ( quite tentative at the moment) can be arrived at . This is what I propose outline in this posting.
 

The Language of Rig  is Less Archaic than SumeroTamil.

  The language as  a whole is Archaic Tamil of a sort for every word can be given a Dravidian cognate most of the time with references to SumeroTamil texts. The grammatical elements - in Verb morphology Noun morphology and syntax are the same as in Sumerian and Tamil and hence the language is definitely a species
of Dravidian in terms of classification of language. But despite this it is also evident than the language of Rig is LESS ARCHAIC than SumeroTamil and hence a later variety. Since most of the Sumerian texts are dated around the period  4000 B.C --1500 B.C , it is clear that Rig Veda must be LATER than 1500 B.C and hence a date quite consistent with that which has arrived at by many scholars. Perhaps it is to be dated around 1200 B.C or so.

 Su. ba-ere and Sk. -bhir , Ta. peer

I shall point out some evidences for this from this first hymn. This pertains to the nominal suffix  'bhir' as in
"puurve-bhir" 'rishi-bhir ' devee-bhir" etc. Here it is a variant of Su. ba-ere which itself is variant  of 'ba-ene'  where the roots 'ba' and 'inam' are still available in Tamil. The late version of Ta. peer, is quite close to this Rig Vedic "-bhir" . Thus we can see a line of development as follows : Su. ba-ene> Su. ba-ere > Sk. bhir > Ta. peer.
 
 

Su. -ere Sk-ir Ta. ar, aar

Another  noun morphology element  related to the above is Sk  -ir which can be taken as a variant of Su. ere which is itself is a variant of Su. ene ( Ta. inam:  a group, a collectivity) This we see in in such words as 'nutani-ir" ,  the newly forth coming , a notion rendered in Sulgi as "sa bal-bal-a egir-da"  and "doshavastar ' ( , dhosavastu-ir) .

Derivative Semantic Notions

.Semantically we can also note the SECONDARY and hence derivative meanings in such words as "bhadram' which can be taken to mean contextually  "safety and security" but originally a weapon Su. ba-da-ra , and which is instrumental in providing such a security.

Temple Centredness

Whoever sang these moving hymns, must have been people very familiar with temple worship. Just from this First hymn we can provide some evidences for this. We have the important word 'puroohitam' which is still in use with Tamil  parallels such as 'purootayam' etc. (but means day break : pur= paruti: the sun). The 'pur' in 'purohitam' means temple, the Ta. puram which originally meant an enclosure and which later became also a word for the palace as in Ta. anta-puram etc. a fate we meet with also with the term Ta. kooyil ( <Su. e-ku) used both for temple and palace. In Indonesia  the word 'pura" is still retained as the word for temple. Thus "purookitam" can be derived from "pur--uu-si-dam" meaning 'the lighting up the temple ' and hence 'puroohitar' as the people who light up the temples. In the first sloka where this word occurs, it is used in METAPHORICAL form for describing  "agnim  ellee" which itself is a variant Su. ugnim ellu, as already pointed out.
 

Another evidence comes from the 'daasushe' that occurs in the 6th sloka and which means Ta. taasi-se: towards the taasies,  the taasies are women  who  ahve abandoned themselves to God and hence to service to temples, an institution that survives even now in some parts of S. India. That 'dasu" means 'taasi' appears to be clearfrom the fact  that the poet seeks security ( bhadram)  for them and so that they  can continue with their tapas and become resplendent ( tavet tat satyam angirah). This presence  of women  as who have sacrificed
their life for  temple services is a continuation of the Sumerian institution of "es-dam", temple women also another term for prostitutes ( es. Ta. veesi) a fate for such women that wecontinuously meet with ( note Ta. teevataasi,  teevadiyaaL etc.). Perhaps the poet calls for divine blessings for  the security for such women so that they are NOT abused and turned into prostitutes but would  rather continue with their true vacation :  tapas  and such other austerities

Metaphysics of Light

The description of BEING as 'agnim ellee" and the noting that it is that which destroys as well as nourishes mankind by becoming the source of food  "ritvijam  (> urita-biijam) , divine illuminations that shines in truth and so forth are certainly very sophisticated and presuppose a philosophic culture of millenniums in which such metaphysical questions must have been pondered at . Such notions are present very widely in Sumerian metaphysics. We have "u dall-e-a  " of  En Hudu Anna ( `2200 B.C. ) and the following words in EnMerkar
and Aratta :
 

504. u-bi-a inim im-ma gub-bu nu-ub-ta-gal-la (Formerly, the writing of messages on clay was not established)

*Ta. uuzbiya enam imma kuppu naa upparttu kaala ( " )

505. i-ni-se Utu ude-a ur he~n-na-nam-ma-am  (Now, with Utu's bringing forth the day, verily, this was so)

*Ta. inikkee utu utiya uRu innanamma aam ( ")
 

Here we see the same nation as in the firsthymn of Rig   but at its initial stages and in conjunction with contemplation as to  the growth of intelligence and the birth of new technical competencies.

There is a long  history   of the worship of light in Saivism , Murukaism Saktaism and the monograph below traces the history of it  from the Sumerian times to  19th century Tamil literature.

                  https://members.tripod.com/loga/radian.htm
 

This historical continuity in metaphysical understanding also makes it clear that the "puurveebhir rishibhir" mentioned here  are  the Sumerian mystics/philosophers like  Ubartutu, Jiusudra, EnHudu Anna, Sulgi , Gudya , Utuhegal  and so forth and NOT some nomadic European tribes wandering at the North Pole seeing the sun with soft rays over the horizon only for the six months of the year. The term "agnim ellee" betrays a knowledge of  a severe sun, very destructive such as the sun  of the deserts or the tropics

Brahma and Brahmanahs

The Rig Veda appears to be hymns specially composed for the worship of Brahma, the Veetan and hence only a part of the temple rituals and not the whole of it. The Brahma-worship makes the worshippers Brahmanahs  and hence the  term is similar to Saivas, Saktas, Vaishnavas and so forth, sectarian in its origins.  We can cite again the following lines as evidences for this.

                  Sir

                 84. as-im babbar na-an-kus-u-de ( I cannot appease Ashimbabbar )

                  *Ta. aatimpaarpaar naan kuucittee ( " )

                  85. su-luh-an-ku-ge-ke ni-nam-ma-ni-in-kur ( (Lugalanne) has altered the
                  lustrations of holy An and all his (other rites)

                  *Ta. cuulai aaN kookkee nii nammanin kuuRu ( " )

This shows that there were rituals conducted with fire pits ( Su. suluh Ta. cuulai)  within the temples (as it is till today) and they were for aaN, the BEING but by way of Aatimpaarpaar, the Brahma. The term 'babbar 'is derived from "bar-bar", by the duplication of the  verb or noun "bar" which as "bari" means setting up of fire, light etc. ( Ta. paal, pariti, parai etc.). Thus bar-bar to which the Tamil 'paarpaar' correspond pretty well means simply a ritual of kindling continuously the fire in the fire pit and as term for a group of people , it means simply people who practice this ritual. Thus in course of time there must have arisen a group of people specially devoted to Brahma, the Ati paarppan and the Rig Veda might have be composed by such people.  These people could have become the Brahmanahs, the devotees of Brahma just like Saivas Vaishnavas and so forth. So it follows that the paarppaars or the Brahmanahs were NOT people different from others ethnically but rather simply people devoted  to Brahma, a deity, and interesting enough , that is NOT worshipped  that much by the general public.

I conclude this essay with these notes with the hope that  these ideas can be further substantiated with future studies into Vedic Tamil, closely to be linked with SumeroTamil.


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