 |
|
|
Sridhar Krishnaprasad
The Times of India
April 26, 1999
Title: Language of Indus seals is Vedic Sanskrit: new book Author: Sridhar Krishnaprasad Publication: The Times of India Date: April 26, 1999 A new book by two scholars N.S. Rajaram from Bangalore and Natwar Jha from Farraka, West Bengal, based on readings of over 2,000 seats of the Indus Valley civilisation sourced from the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, will present the conclusion that the language of the Indus seals is Vedic Sanskrit, of the Sutra period of Vedic literature. The remnants of the Indus Valley civilisation still generate controversy ever since they were first discovered in 1921, when the Aryan invasion theory had already been formulated by European scholars. Subsequently, they had decided that the Indus Valley must be an earlier, "Dravidian" civilisation, destroyed, pushed southwards, by the Aryan migrants. Over the last few years, the Aryan invasion theory is being seen as just that by many scholars -a theory without basis in fact. Mr Rajaram, a former consultant to NASA, U.& in the field of computer science and artificial intelligence, told The Sunday Times of India that the book, scheduled to be out later this year, shows that the decipherment does not support the popular view that the Harappan civilisation is different from the Vedic, that the language of the seals is Proto-Dravidian (a theoretical construct for which not a single syllable has been found), or even that it is the ancestor of the Vedic (proto-Indo-Aryan). "The language of the seals is Vedic Sanskrit, with a significant number of them containing words and phrases traceable to the ancient Vedic glossary Nighantu, compiled from still earlier sources by Yaska. The language is less archaic than that of the Rigveda, and corresponds closely to that of the later Vedic works like the Sutras and the Upanishads," he said. Despite the shortness of most messages, the rules of Vedic grammar and phonetics are clearly discernible in the structure of the Indus script, he said. Consonants are used but there is a deficiency of vowels - making them difficult to read without a knowledge of the context. Symbols for the "sa" and "ma" sound for example, can be read as either "soma" or "sama." In style, the messages are similar to the cryptic aphorisms for which the Sutra literature is famous. "Those familiar with the Sutras (Panini, Ashwalayana, Baudhayana) will recognise this immediately." In addition, the images on the seals are often symbolic representation of Vedic themes. The written messages often serve as Sutras or short formulas that when elaborated, serve to explain the symbolism of the image. "For example, the famous horned deity known as the Pashupathi seal has the message Ishya Dyata Mara -forces of destruction controlled by Iswara. Read along with symbolism, it means that the forces of creation and destruction of the universe belong to the Supreme," he said. Mr Rajaram and Mr Jha, a traditional Vedic scholar, have come together for this book. Mr Jha first made the announcement that the writings on the seals were Sanskrit in the World Archaeology Conference in December 1994. "I first encountered Mr Jha when he published his 'Vedic glossary on Indus seals connecting the writing to the Shulba Sutras, in October 1996. I am a mathematician and familiar with the Shulba Sutras. Every other month, there is someone claiming a decipherment. But I new this had substance," says Mr Rajaram. A major outcome of the decipherment is a clearly- defined historical context for the Harappan civilisation, radically different from conventional history. "It further demolishes the myth of the Aryan Invasion, a creation of European scholars with their own vested interests, using an artificial Biblical chronology. It has only served to divide the Indian people and pit one against another," he said. It also takes care of a paradox. There is a great body of Vedic literature, but no archaeological evidence. There is the archaeological evidence of the Indus valley, but no literature. How can that be?" asks Mr Rajaram.
This archive was generated by (modified version of) hypermail.pl 1.00
|
|
|