Tantric Elements in Rig Veda- a Brief Noteக்கான மூலத்தைப் பார்

'''&nbsp;Tantric Elements in the Vedas-A Brief Note'''



'''Dr K.Loganathan, 2006'''





At the moment there have arisen THREE distinct approaches to the study of the Vedas. The first is the traditional brahmanic studies where they remain fixated to the view that Vedas are Suyambu - autonomous and independent , auprushaya and so forth hence beyond history, fully authoritative and with the language Rgkt serving as the base of all world languages. The second is that of Western scholars who though they see deeper layers in the language of Vedas and so forth, but they remain fixated to the Indo-Iranian Central Asian origins and so forth and in this totally blind to the influence of Sumerian even in Indo-Iranian and the Vedas. What is really amazing is their prejudice and which is a shame to any decent academic scholarship. Despite the fact that the proto Elamite and Proto Harappan scripts are related to ProtoSumerian they remain or choose to remain BLIND to the enormous possibility to the Sumerian foundations of these cultures.



The third approach is that of myself V.Raghavan Ayengar now Rajan Menon and so forth and seeks to see the language of the Vedas and later also Sk as different species of Archaic Tamil genetically related to SumeroTamil . The facts of the matter clearly indicate that our view is the right one and will certainly establish itself in time to come.



Here I just want to make some brief comments to show the Vedism as expounded in Rig Veda is actually Tantrism or Agamism and which is also the central cultural impetus in the temple-centered culture of the Sumerians.



Puja and Aratti



These rituals of offering flowers and showing pure light by lighting up something that burns easily like camphor (suudam) is available even as the ritual practices favored in Rig Veda.



The following sloka is evidence of that :



1:1:23-8



indrajyesththaa marud gaNaa devasah pusharatayah/



visve mania sruta havam//



Here clearly ‘pusharatayah’ is ‘puusha aaratayah’ and is Tamil puusai and aaratti. These are certainly temple rituals and which are practiced to this day and something unthinkable outside image worship



Now we find a description of something similar in Sumerian literature as well



Su-da-ag = Ta. suudam



Temple Hymn 31



2. su-du-ag x x u-e gub-ba ( . . . . . standing to be admired)



Ta. suudam x x uvee kuppa (Lighting up) camphor so that there stands clear light)



Here ‘su-du-ag’ is Ta . suudu-am, the camphor and it is similar to ja-pa-ag and which exists in Tamil as japa-am, sepam etc. with ‘ag’ becoming Ta. am and Sk aH and so forth . Also this ritual practice is the same as ‘aaratti’ which also means showing light.



Apsu me Soma



Perhaps there were a number concepts as to what is Soma and which is clearly related to Sumerian Su’en , the Moon God. The soma pitaye, or ‘sumasya pitaye’ the secretion of the Moon God, as below:



1:1:23-2



ubha deva divisprisendravaaya havamahe /



asya sumasya pitaye//





Now in order to clarify as to what is exactly ‘som piitaye’ it is clearly defined as Apsu, the Sumeirian Abzu, the celestial waters. This is available in the following and enormously significant sloka:



1:1:23-20



apsu me soma abravid antar visvaani bheshaja /



agnim ca visvasambhuvam apas ca visvabheshajih//





Here the phrase ‘apsu me soma’ parallels very closely the following phrase in the Sumerian temple Hymns:



See Temple Hymn 10

2(136)



eden muru sa-ta me su-ti ( plain (with) heavy clouds, taking the me’s from its midst)



Ta. eetil muru saaytta mey cooti ( Plain that brilliant field and in the interior of which burns the true Radiance)







ஏதின் முரு சாய்த்த மெய் சோதி





Here ‘me soma’ parallels Su. me su-ti ( &gt; Ta. mey cooti) indicating that linguistic style of the SumeroTamil is continued here.



The Amirtam



Now another element that is available in this hymn and which shows that Tantric basis of the whole Hymn and perhaps the whole of the Rig Veda is the observation that the amirtam, the ambrosia is not the Apsu, the celestial waters but something inside it. We see this most clearly in the following verse:



1:1:23-19



apsv antar amritam apsu bhceshajam apam uta prasastaye/

deva bhavata vajimah//



Here clearly we have ‘apsu antar amirtam’ , the amirtam, ambrosia is deep inside the Celestial Waters. This immediately brings to our vision the mythological theme where the Devas and Asuras churn the Ocean of Milk with using the Mount Meru as the rod and Vasuki the snake as the rope and in order to gain the amirtam, the ambrosia and which is deep inside the Ocean, the Apsu.



It looks as though this mythological theme must be something later and arose by way of rendering further depth to this initial burst of metaphysical understanding of the Tantric notion of earning the Amirtam, the medicine par excellence that not only cures one of all sicknesses but also allows the enjoyment of supreme bliss.



Loga(revised 24-6-10)



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