Skanda - An Ancient God Rediscovered

AN ANCIENT GOD REDISCOVERED

The Indus Valley’s Ancient Culture

- Its Seals, Script and Heroes -

Wim Borsboom

Triple Gem Press

© Copyright 2011, Wim Borsboom (Exclusive of quotes and illustrations)

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PART ONE

Things we can be quite be sure about

(theoretically that is…)

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INTRODUCTION TO PART ONE

“Praise the Lord of Love!”

Seal H-1997A

This artifact from the Indus Valley in India and Pakistan is between four and five

thousand years * old.

Because of its tastefully depicted theme of fertility of flora and fauna as well as the

quality of its still fresh appearance, and due to its unique shape it is quite a rare seal.

Referring to Kandarpa (the God of love), it reads and translates as:

'Nu he Priany' – ‘Prais) the Lord of Love!'

This publication introduces a series of ancient objects found in the Indus Valley of

prehistoric India.

By means of these archaeological artefacts - seals and seal tablets - dating from between

5000 and 4000 * years ago, I will present a theory that explains not only the Indus

Valleys script (and its spoken language) but also its cultural and spiritual roots - the roots

from which India's religious, artistic and cultural heritage has grown so copiously.

Insert a section the Unicorn here

* all dates with an asterisk to be adjusted, the IV Civilization is ca 2000 years older

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Location of the Indus Valley Civilization

Currently

the

Sapta

Sindhu

Valley or

Indus Valley straddles two

countries:

modern-day

Pakistan and

North-West

India.

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The ancient Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) is archeologically known as the 'Harappan

Civilization', because its first excavated settlement was Harappa.

Harappa's excavation began in the 1920s in what at that time was the Punjab province of

British India. Harappa lies now in Pakistan.

The Harappan Civilization (or IVC) was a Copper / Bronze Age civilization that lasted

from 3300 to 1300 BCE * right up to the beginning of the Iron Age.

Before the Calamities

Spread out over an area of 1,260,000 km², which larger than the area of the ancient

Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations combined, the Indus Valley Civilization was

the largest civilization in the ancient world.

It was also one of the world's earliest urban civilizations, more urbanized than

Mesopotamia and Egypt. At its peak, the Indus Valley may have been home to a

population of well over five million people.

The valley was an enormous delta that was kept fertile by the mineral-rich waters of

seven rivers - the Sapta Sindhu - which flowed from the Himalayas. It was the homeland

of a civilization thriving and flourishing with commerce, agriculture, animal husbandry,

craftsmanship, and a long history of civility, culture and spirituality.

Although now this valley is called the Indus Valley (after its main river the Indus) up to

about 1300 BCE * its main rivers were the Sarasvati and an additional 6 rivers. Hence the

name Sapta Sindhu (the Sanskrit ‘sapta’ means seven).

The Sarasvati river has since dried up, but its elevated banks and sedimentation are still

present and visible on land-satellite pictures.

Its civil, moral, spiritual, literary, artistic, technological, mercantile and 'fun'

contributions to India and the World

The inhabitants of this ancient region developed:

1. New metallurgical techniques with which they produced copper, bronze, lead and

tin used for casting bronze implements and small sculptures,

2. A standardized weight and measuring system,

3. Handicrafts that produced carnelian ornaments, baked clay and very fine shell

bracelets, drilled glass-like beads sized from about 1 millimetre to 2 centimetres

in length,

4. A unique stone drilling technique using thin hard-stone drill bits,

5. The production of toys such as scaled down bullock carts, clay puppets, clay

animals with freely moving heads, mazes and games similar to chess,

6. Cotton clothing,

7. Dentistry,

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8. Walled cities were built mainly out of large brick, along streets that used a pre-

planned grid system,

9. Covered roadside drainage systems and a simple but very effective garbage

collection system,

10. Multi-storied houses were built from mud brick but most often from baked clay

bricks. First floor rooms were arranged around an L shaped area for cattle and

poultry,

11. Large public baths, private bathing rooms and private WCs (bathrooms) were

found in some cities,

12. Specially dug canals and irrigation channels, as most cities and settlements were

built close to rivers,

13. City storm water collection and re-distribution systems,

14. Port facilities for interurban and international trade using boats and barges,

15. Fruit tree cultivation and fruit pressing systems (baked ware sieves and mortar-

and-pestle like implements) to produce large quantities of fruit juice and paste,

16. Apiary:

a. the honey was used for sweetening and to make mead (soma),

b. the wax was collected for sealing and attaching arrow and lance heads to

shafts and handles,

17. Inter-racial relationships,

18. A non-hierarchical religious system based on hero-worship and legendary-story

telling,

19. A centralized administration system with professional inscribers, (I have found

some preliminary reasons to conclude that cursive writing was employed by a

highly trained exclusive group of scribes. Cursive writing and seal sign carving

was done by two distinct and separate professions: scribes and

administrator/artisans.)

20. An ingenious script that up to a year ago had not been successfully deciphered.

This script was carved on postage-stamp size baked soap-stone (steatite) pieces or

oblong baked silica-paste tablets. They had various formats, depending on their

function. Imprints were made in wax (perishable), soft clay and in firm silica-

paste to be baked later (thus also acquiring a protective glaze) Depending on their

shape, size and craftsmanship the seals or tablets were used:

a. for personal identification,

b. as a mark (mudra),

c. as tokens,

d. as votive medallions,

e. as tags for merchandize,

f. as seals for stamping and duplicating,

g. to pictorially tell short cartoon or comic-book style historical accounts,

legends and folk tales.

To date, over a thousand cities and settlements have been discovered. Among them are

the major urban centers of Harappa, Lothal, Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira, Kalibanga, Kot

Diji, etc..

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The End of the Indus Valley Civilization

After around 1350 BCE *, a variety of different factors came into play that brought the

Harappan culture slowly an end. There is evidence of some very severe catastrophes:

1. A two hundred year period of drought,

http://www.sanskritimagazine.com/india/indus-valley-civilization-was-wiped-out-

by-200-year-drought/

2. Earthquakes both under the ocean floor and in the mountain ranges,

3. Tsunami flooding from the sea and river flooding from the mountains,

4. End of Ice-age climate change causing massive ice-melts in the Himalayas,

5. A huge natural river-dam (near Paonta Sahib close to Kurukshetra) broke through,

causing a river that used to flow into the Arabian Sea, to become part of the

Ganges River System (near Rishikesh). From that time the river flowed into the

Gulf of Bengal,

6. Sea level rises periodically as high as eleven meters. It was up 3 to 4 meters at the

end of the Harappan period. During this period also intense droughts took place.

There is evidence of a submerged city in the Bay of Kutch, by some (a.o. Dr. S.R.

Rao) considered to be Dwarka (Krishna’s city) or even more ancient cities (up to

12000 years old) as supported by astronomical data based on references in the Rig

Veda and Mahabharata.

7. As many rivers changed their course, most cities lost their connection to the rivers

and thus the sea, which jeopardized local, inter-urban as well as international

trade which eventually caused the population to move away - first to North East

of India and later to the South, even as far as the South Asian archipelago.

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Notes

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CHAPTER ONE

The Indus Valley and the Harappa Civilization

Where and What

The Sapta Sindhu valley and the Harappa Civilization

(North-West India and Pakistan)

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Harappa

A drawing by Dr. Mark Kenoyer of how ancient Harappa would have looked around

2200 BCE

(http://www.harappa.com/indus4/360.html)

Lothal

On the peninsula at the bottom of the map above.

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Dholavira

A reconstruction of a Dholavira gate with Signboard

(South on the map in the Rann of Kutch)

The signboard reads from right to left:

'asha-ra-ra-a-ka-aksha-ra-nga-pu-ra'

'Rangpur, city of the beloved Ravi, Skanda and Sarasvati.'

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Clockwise from top left to centre:

The "Priest King",

Red Torso,

Children's Toy*,

Jewellery and Ornaments ,

Seals and Tablets*,

Brass Dancing Figure,

Terracotta Figurines,

Toy with Movable Head,

Perforated Terracotta Jar.

* from http://www.indianetzone.com/1/indus_valley_civilization.htm

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Notes

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CHAPTER TWO

The Indus Valley Civilization Reappraised

Its Ancient Language Understood

The Indus Valley Seals and Their Links to Ancient Indian Scriptures

An imprint of seal H-166a from Harappa.

(The interpretation of this seal appears at the end of this chapter.)

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This chapter and the next eleven chapters will together tell and illustrate the story of

Shiva, Skanda (Murugan, Kirtikeya) and the Kṛttikā (Krittikas) as found in the Ramayana

and the Mahabharata, book 13 (Anusasana Parva), chapters 84-086.

Propositions

1. A number of seals from the Indus (Sapta Sindhu) Valley, which appear to be

different from the norm, tell the story of Skanda, Shiva and the Kṛttikā as found in

various sections of the Mahabharata.

2. The signs on a variety of seals (the ones shown in the following chapters and

many other Indus Valley seals) can be deciphered according to the Sullivan Code

and can be read to contain the name of and references to Skanda.

The Strange Conception and Birth of a Six-headed Child...

Excerpt from the Mahabharata, Book 13 (Anusasana Parva), Chapters 84-86.

Bhishma said, 'The gods and the Rishis, O monarch, reduced to

great distress (by Taraka's prowess and the conduct of Ganga in

casting off Agni's seed), urged the six Krittikas to rear that child.

Amongst the celestial ladies there were none, save these, that could,

by their energy, bear the seed of Agni in their wombs.

The god of fire became exceedingly gratified with those goddesses

for their readiness to sustain the conception caused by the cast off

seed of Agni which was endued with his own high energy.

When the energy of Agni, O king, was divided into six portions and

placed within the channels (leading to the womb), the six Krittikas

began to nourish the portion that each held in her womb.

As the high-souled Kumara, however, began to grow within their

wombs, their bodies being afflicted by his energy, they failed to

obtain peace anywhere (in heaven or on earth).

Filled with energy as their bodies were, the time at last came for

delivery. All of them, it so happened, O prince of men, delivered at

the same time. Though held in six different wombs, yet all the

portions, as they came out, united into one.

The goddess Earth held the child, taking it up from a heap of gold.

Verily, the child, endued with excellent form, blazed with splendour

even like the god of Fire. Of beautiful features, he began to grow in

a delightful forest of reeds.

The six Krittikas beheld that child of theirs looking like the morning

sun in splendour. Filled with affection for him,--indeed, loving him

very much,--they began to rear him with the sustenance of their

breasts. In consequence of his having been born of the Krittikas and

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reared by them, he came to be known throughout the three worlds as

Kartikeya.

Having sprung from the seed which had fallen off from Rudra he was

named Skanda, and because of his birth in the solitude of a forest of

reeds he came to be called by the name of Guha (the secret-born).

The gods numbering three and thirty, the points of the compass (in

their embodied forms) together with the deities presiding over them,

and Rudra and Dhatri and Vishnu and Yama and Pushan and

Aryaman and Bhaga, and Angas and Mitra and the Sadhyas and

Vasava and the Vasus and the Aswins and the Waters and the Wind

and the Firmament and Chandramas and all the Constellations and

the Planets and Surya, and all the Ricks and Samans and Yajuses in

their embodied forms, came there to behold that wonderful child who

was the son of the deity of blazing flames.

The Rishis uttered hymns of praise and the Gandharvas sang in

honour of that child called Kumara of six heads, twice six eyes, and

exceedingly devoted to the Brahmanas. His shoulders were broad,

and he had a dozen arms, and the splendour of his person resembled

that of fire and Aditya.

As he lay stretched on a clump of heath, the gods with the Rishis,

beholding him, became filled with great delight and regarded the

great Asura as already slain.

The deities then began to bring him diverse kinds of toys and articles

that could amuse him. As he played like a child, diverse kinds of toys

and birds were given unto him.

Garuda of excellent feathers gave unto him a child of his, viz., a

peacock endued with plumes of variegated hue.

The Rakshasas gave unto him a boar and a buffalo.

Aruna himself gave him a cock of fiery splendour.

Chandramas gave him a sheep, and Aditya gave him some dazzling

rays of his.

The mother of all kine, viz., Surabhi, gave him kine by hundreds and

thousands.

Agni gave him a goat possessed of many good qualities.

Ila gave him an abundant quantity of flowers and fruit.

Sudhanwan gave him a riding chariot and a car of Kuvara.

Varuna gave him many auspicious and excellent, products of the

Ocean, with some elephants.

The chief of the celestials gave him lions and tigers and pards and

diverse kinds of feathery denizens of the air, and many terrible

beasts of prey and many umbrellas also of diverse kinds.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13b051.htm

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Proposition 1

The Theory

What is being proposed in this and the following chapters is a new appraisal and a re-

appraisal of eight different seals that together tell the story of Skanda and Shiva.

Seal M-1186A

This remarkable seal will be interpreted in much detail in a following chapter, for now

just notice the procession of seven female figures (the Kṛttikā) at the bottom of this seal.

The list below details various story themes from the Mahabharata:

1. Skanda's birth and the Kṛttikā (his six stepmothers).

Well, what is it, six or seven? There are usually seven Kṛttikā depicted (see the

illustration above)… Is there perhaps a seal that shows just six of them? If so,

then there is enough evidence to proceed... Yes, there is!

2. Skanda's fighting and slaying of the asura bull-king Mahisha and the asura Taraka

with a spear or lance... Is there a seal showing a warrior fighting a bull with a

lance (vel)? Yes, there is even a seal showing a warrior fighting a 'half human /

half bull' figure!

3. A number of gods presented a number of animals as gifts to Skanda for his

successful slaying of the Asura King Mahisha. Is there a seal that shows these

animals as a group? Yes, various animals surround the sitting meditating figure on

seal M-304a and cylind-5 (Kalyanaraman's website*) which are identical to the

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story in the Mahabharata... except for one, the rhinoceros, but that will be

explained as this discrepancy is due to an interpretation and translation error.

4. A mango tree is featured in a story related to Skanda / Kirtikeya. The story relates

how the evil king Surapadma turned himself into a mango tree, upon which

Skanda / Kirtikeya splits the mango tree in half and a rooster and a peacock

emerge from the split trunk's branches. Is there a seal that depicts this theme? Yes

there are a number of them showing part of or the whole story line!

5. The accounts of Skanda's exploits have him go by many names: Kanda, Kumara,

Kartikeya, Guha (The hidden or mysterious one), Murugan, Velan (bearer of the

lance), Ahmuvan, Shadanan (six-faced, as Skanda is often depicted with six faces.

Remember he had six mothers.), Shashthinathan (that name has to do with

Skanda's victory in his fierce battle with Surapadma which is celebrated in South

India during 'Skanda Shashti'), Subrahmanya, etc. Are there sign inscriptions that

can be translated as showing one or more of those names? Yes, according to Sue

M. Sullivan's "Indus Script Dictionary", the names Kanda, Skanda and various

names that contain the sign for the number six, appear on a on a larger than

chance expected number of seals!

6. According to Skanda's birth accounts his father was either Shiva or Agni (who is

often equated with Shiva). Do these names appear on the seals? The name 'Shiva'

does not appear in the Rig Veda nor does it seem to appear on the seals, however

according to Sullivan's 'Indus Script Dictionary' the names Ravi, Agni and the

word 'ma' or 'a' (often standing in for Shiva) appear numerous times on at least 40

seals.

7. The father of Skanda is Shiva / Ravi or Agni, is there evidence of that on the seals?

Yes, on one of the seals Agni / Ravi's symbol (the wheel sign 'ra') is prominently

shown. Incidentally 'Ravi' means fire-bird and represents the sun traversing the

firmament.

8. The brother of Skanda was Ganesha the elephant God, is there evidence of that on

the seals? Yes, on one seal the elephant appears prominently in relation to Skanda

and the elephant also appears on a number of other seals related to Skanda.

9. Is there evidence of a possible migration of cultural or religious ideas or practices,

or even the migration of Harappan Culture people to other parts of India, e.g the

Tamil South? A certain story - the contest between Kirtikeya / Skanda and

Ganesha, about who can circumnavigate the world the fastest and reach Shiva the

first, is not depicted on the Indus Valley seals or tablets. It should not be, as the

loser - Kirtikeya / Skanda and his travel companions - ended up elsewhere (in

East and South India), after leaving the Indus Valley, and thus that story could not

be depicted on any Indus Valley seals, as nobody who cared could have done that.

(K.V. Sarma - http://murugan.org/research/sarma.htm*) This is one of the few

instances where the 'absence of evidence' proves the 'evidence of absence'.

Additional questions to be considered:

1. Are the seals predating the Skanda Purana and the Mahabharata?

2. Is the Rig Veda predating the seals?

3. What spoken language does the Indus Valley script represent?

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Proposition 2

A short Overview of the Sullivan Code

The Sullivan Code

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Anthropologist S.M. Sullivan published her 'Indus Script Dictionary'* (Sebastopol, CA

USA ISBN 978-14507-7061-3) in early 2011, after she, by a fluke circumstance

happened on something that she recognized in Linear Elamite as a pictograph and

possibly a phoneme that could well be used to interpret or even a translate two particular

Harappa Culture seals.

After investigating more scripts (e.g. Brahmi) and finding more correlations, on a hunch

she thought, "What if some seal inscriptions are identifying first names?"

Subsequently she connected data from a 'baby-names' database (the Indian / Sanskrit

section) to the signs and phonemes she had already correlated and, lo and behold, the fits

were better than chance.

She took it from there, eventually, after she had deciphered about 90 signs, she had

enough to start her dictionary.

Her dictionary is very well illustrated with well over 1000 seals and their decipherment in

an easy Western alphabetical order. She added a selection of possible interpretations and

possible translations, as well as (in the second part of the dictionary) a profusion of notes

and background essays, some original and some with information lifted from Wikipedia -

all very helpful for anyone who felt the urge to also take this on while using her

dictionary as a source, reference and guide.

Relevant seals, seal tablets and their script-sign decipherments, as well as in depth

discussions will appear on the following slides.

Proposition 3

Discussion of Counter Arguments and Possible Anomalies

1. The ancient Indian texts contain such an abundance of stories, of course it is easy

to read many of those into the Indus Valley Civilization seals, one might even be

able to 'read them into' today's newspaper stories. Such projections can hardly be

used as evidence or proof…

2. The rhinoceros or the boar. There is evidence of a mis-interpretation and

mistranslation in later versions of the ancient scriptures and commentary text of a

particular Harappan Culture word that must have signified the single-horned

Indian rhinoceros - 'eka-zRnga' or 'one-tusked'. That term became translated as

'boar' rather than 'rhinoceros'. Subsequently (e.g. in Buddhist cave sculptures such

as in the Elephanta caves) Vishnu is accompanied by a boar instead of a rhino.

Only in Buddhist Khmer (current Cambodia) was the interpretation done right as

there the rhino appears with Vishnu instead of the boar.

3. Some slim human figures on the tablets and seals are usually identified as female,

in this theory they are identified as male. If so, is that supported by the

Mahabharata, Puranas and Rig Veda?

4. At least one scholar (Mahadevan and possibly Parpola) and one South Indian

researcher *(K.V. Sarma - http://murugan.org/research/sarma.htm), have

connected the Harappan Culture seals to India's ancient texts, so this theory is

nothing new! They may have but for different or the wrong reasons.

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Proposition 4

A Short Account of how I Arrived at this Proposition

I grew up in a Catholic background in Holland, but very early in my life (1950) I

developed a great affinity for Hindu and Buddhist ideas and mythical stories from

Indonesia through books that could be obtained from a coffee bean importer and a peanut

oil company both with old oriental connections.

Collecting a coupons by buying more coffee or peanut butter would enable you to collect

books with beautiful color photographs for free. One such book was titled "Bali in Color"

Although being Dutch, and there still being remnants of a colonial past, it was

nevertheless rare for a six year old child to have an interest in 'things exotic'.

Indra Kamadjojo

When I was ten years old, a favourite TV program of mine offered even more oriental

perspectives, as someone from Indonesia (Indra Kamadjojo) made me familiar with some

simple and rudimentary stories and exotic animals like elephants, peacocks and

crocodiles that figured in so many of the ancient Hindu legends he was telling us.

Of course such youthful interests enabled me greatly to later discover obvious links

between the narrative Indus Valley seals and the tales I remembered.

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I loved learning and eventually I studied to be a schoolteacher while being especially

interested in language but foremostly the origin of languages and thus etymology, so very

early on I learned some Sanskrit and even a bit of Sumerian.

In 1994 my interest in Hinduism and Buddhism got another boost and I also learned

about the Indus Valley Civilization and its un-deciphered script. Many years later, in

2008, during an extended visit to India I connected up again with my interest in Sanskrit.

In 2009 a friend of mine invited me to a conference on the Indus Valley Civilization in

California and since I have been working on understanding its seals and tablets.

Somehow I never attempted to decipher the script, what was more important to me was

getting a feel for the cultural background of the original Indus Valley inhabitants - - I

wanted to understand those ancient people, their culture, their spirituality.

In the beginning of 2011 after another visit to India, I familiarized myself with the

"Sullivan Code," a decipherment of the Indus Valley script which enabled me to slowly

read the inscriptions on the IVC seals. I quickly noticed that there was a high number of

occurrences of the names Ravi (Shiva) and Kanda or Skanda and then... suddenly... I

remembered one particular tale about a deer, a hunter in a tree and a tiger.

It was the name Kanda, that triggered it, as for one reason or another the Indonesian story

teller from my youth had named the hunted deer 'Kanta'. I then easily recalled a number

of narrative IVC seals showing... a man in a tree, a tiger and a Shiva-like figure

meditating.

Eventually I ran across the bird seal above (H 166a) in the collection of photographs on

Dr. S. Kalyanaraman's website and I wondered what that peculiarly shaped seal

signified... But what I was very sure about from the very first moment I saw that seal,

was that the bird was a peacock and not some other bird like an eagle or so.

When I figured out (with the help of Pradipta Banerjee) that the bird on that seal could

very well be Skanda's vehicle Parvani - the snake killing peacock - I remembered from

my Mahabharata readings that Skanda (also known as Kumara, Guha, Muragan or

Kārtikey) 'the seed' of Rudra / Agni / Shiva was 'brought forth' and 'brought up' by six of

the seven sisters known as the Kṛttikā, the spouses of the Saptarṣi sages.

I had already noticed that there was one rather unknown seal that showed six instead of

seven of the Kṛttikā. (Coming up in the next chapter.)

It eventually dawned on me that a number of 'different from the norm' cartoon or comic

book-like seals could very well be pictorial accounts of the life of Skanda, e.g. how he

was begotten and by whom he was raised, themes I was somewhat familiar with since

early youth.

I then looked up and read the section of the Mahabharata (book thirteen chapter 84 -86)

which tells of the exploits of Skanda, and I realized how the story of Skanda in the

Mahabharata and the various depictions on a number of seals and tablets from the Indus

Valley offered parallel narratives.

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Conclusion

1. A number (I am showing eight) of different and distinctive Indus Valley seals

together, tell the story of Skanda and the Kṛttikā.

2. The name of the main character in that story can be identified as Skanda in the

script on a number of applicable seals.

Regarding the Illustration

Original seal H-166 a & b

Right - Parvani the peacock - Skanda's vahana (mount or vehicle).

Notice the shape of a peacock in the centre of this seal, its tail is down. You can see the

drooping tail just to the right of the triangle in the centre. (It is much clearer on the

imprint at the beginning of this chapter - there it is to the left of the triangle in the centre.)

About the diamond shape and edge of this seal:

It looks to me that the chipped pattern is not original; instead of a diamond shape this seal

might have been square, the short fragmented horizontal lines at the top and bottom seem

to suggest it.

It was perhaps square with a diamond shape inside containing the bird/peacock symbol.

To be sure on that we would need to have the physical specimen to inspect the chipped

edges.

Could the wiggly lines at the top left and right above the spread wings be snakes?

Left - The symbolism of the cross, although it appears frequently on many seals, is not

clear as yet.

27

Notes

* http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/?/nl/items/previous:next/&p=1&i=17&o=-

4&st=LOV&sc=%28LOV%29

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CHAPTER THREE

How One of Shiva's Sons (Skanda) was Born from Six Mothers

Seal M-1186A

Skanda's Birth - Mahabharata Book 13 (Anusasana Parva), Chapter 84

We have seen the following quote in a previous chapter, but this time we are

concentrating on the 'bringing forth' and 'bringing up' of Skanda by the sisters known as

the Kṛttikā, the spouses of the Saptarṣi sages..

Note: In this part of the Mahabharata, Shiva is equated with Agni / Rudra, and Skanda

appears also under the names Kumara, Guha and Kartikeya.

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Seal HR-4161

Bhishma said, 'The gods and the Rishis, O monarch, reduced to great distress [...],

urged the six Krittikas to rear that child. Amongst the celestial ladies there were

none, save these, that could, by their energy, bear the seed of Agni in their wombs.

The god of fire became exceedingly gratified with those goddesses for their

readiness to sustain the conception caused by the cast off seed of Agni which was

endued with his own high energy. When the energy of Agni, O king, was divided

into six portions and placed within the channels (leading to the womb), the six

Krittikas began to nourish the portion that each held in her womb.

As the high-souled Kumara, however, began to grow within their wombs, their

bodies being afflicted by his energy, they failed to obtain peace anywhere (in

heaven or on earth). Filled with energy as their bodies were, the time at last came

for delivery.

All of them, it so happened, O prince of men, delivered at the same time. Though

held in six different wombs, yet all the portions, as they came out, united into one.

The goddess Earth held the child, taking it up from a heap of gold. Verily, the

child, endued with excellent form, blazed with splendour even like the god of Fire.

Of beautiful features, he began to grow in a delightful forest of reeds.

The six Krittikas beheld that child of theirs looking like the morning sun in

splendour. Filled with affection for him,--indeed, loving him very much,--they

began to rear him with the sustenance of their breasts. In consequence of his

having been born of the Krittikas and reared by them, he came to be known

throughout the three worlds as Kartikeya.

Having sprung from the seed which had fallen off from Rudra he was named

Skanda, and because of his birth in the solitude of a forest of reeds he came to be

called by the name of Guha (the secret-born).'

31

Seals M-0442at, M-0442bt, HR-4161

Let's compare a number of seals that show six or seven standing female figures, it

appears as though they are participating in some kind of procession.

In most current literature in which these seals are discussed, the seven (or six) ladies are

seen as representing the Pleiades, a formation of seven stars. While not discounting that

interpretation (after all, the Pleiades feature in the constellation Taurus... the Bull), for the

purpose of the theory presented here I am putting that aside.

Notice that the two seals on the right only have six females (Arundathi is missing) while

the left seal shows seven.

We will find out why that is in following chapters.

Notice a genuflecting or hunched figure in a praising or offering pose on many of these

seals.

Note as well the composite animal and the standing figure in the strangely split tree.

This will be dealt with in much detail later on.

I will also be explaining why that tree has that peculiar shape in a following chapter.

Seal M 417a

This round seal fragment features six different animal heads - well, that is if it wasn't

broken - we will find out later why six, there are two reasons.

32

Notes

33

CHAPTER FOUR

What is so Special about a Six Headed God in India?

Seal M-304a Seal M-1186A

It looks a bit confusing, but when one looks carefully, it can be seen that both seals have

almost identical sign inscriptions *. That may be hard to distinguish, so let's take some

time to check it out.

The left seal.

Notice that in the top left corner you see a little man-like figure. In this particular case the

inscriptions starts from there. In sequence you see:

• two X or scissor-like signs,

• a U with two little vertical stripes inside at the top, each leg of that U has two tiny

horizontal lines on the outside (that is an important detail to remember as it

contains a hidden clue that comes in handy later when we have to unravel a small

mystery)

• next you see an upright fish,

• then another U - a bit narrower and it is without those little vertical stripes.

The right seal.

Also notice that you can distinguish a vague little man-like figure on this seal, but now in

the top right corner.

The script begins in the middle, at the top of the seal.

Again in sequence, we can distinguish:

34

• two X like signs, although the second one is damaged and this seal seems to have

been carved by a different inscriber,

• the U sign is there again but it is very heavily damaged, but I'm sure that it is the

same sign as on the other seal,

• then the inscriber moved down and just below one of the horns of that strange

composite animal, he found room for the fish sign,

• to its right is another U sign (also damaged).

Each seal depicts a different scene from 'the same page', so to speak, of the Mahabharata,

book 13, chapters 84-86. (See chapter two. )

Seals ???

As per the Sullivan Code the left seal reads from left to right:

• 'ash-ash-in-ma-an', and the right seal:

• 'ash-ash-in-ma-an', (the 'in' sign is damaged).

35

I am proposing that the figure in the double-trunked tree on the "procession seal" as well

as the seated figure on the other seal is Skanda **.

Like many Indian gods Skanda has many names, some of his are: Subrahmanya, Kanda,

Kumara, Kartikeya, Guha, Murugan, Velan, Sanmukha, Shadanana, Skanda and Guha. In

the southern states of India, Kartikeya is a popular deity and is better known as

MuruganAhmuvan but also:

• Shadanana (six-faced, as Skanda is often depicted with six faces. Remember he

had six mothers)

• Shashthinathan (Skanda is known as the Lord who came out victorious during the

period of Shashti, which has to do with Skanda's victory in his fierce battle with

Surapadma - and celebrated in South India during 'Skanda Shashti'.)

Of particular interest are the last two names: Shashthinathan and Shadana.

*(http://murugan.org/texts/names.htm

http://hinduism.about.com/od/godsgoddesses/p/kartikeya.htm)

Shadana - six-headed Skanda ***

Now let's look at the deciphered inscriptions above, it is clear that these inscriptions were

executed by different scribes, but apart from their spelling (e.g. the scissor-like signs, the

fish signs, etc.) they are identical:

'ashashinmaan', which can be read as 'shashinmaan'

36

As 'sha' stands for six in Sanskrit and as Skanda is six-headed (Shadana), his epitheth

Shashthinathan makes sense, it reminds us that he was brought forth from the seed of

Shiva and brought up by six mothers, the Kṛttikā.

37

Notes

* Egbert Richter-Ushanas also made note of this.

** Both Professor Asko Parpola and Dr. Iravatham Mahadevan and a few other

researchers at one point proposed a link between the Indus Valley Culture and Skanda -

albeit for different reasons. Unfortunately they never pursued those links further. Here we

have linguistic support for that link, as well as for what is proposed here - the link

between the narrative seals and the ancient Hindu scripts such as the Mahabharata... oh,

and of course it also supports the Sullivan Code.

*** http://murugan.org/gallery/adheenam_gallery/pages/Saravanabhavar.htm

39

CHAPTER FIVE

Lord of the Animals

Cylinder Seal from Musee le Louvre

Stamping this cylinder-seal into clay caused the

duplication of various figures at the left and right edges.

The above is a rare cylinder-seal imprint, showing across two horizontal registers a

number of creatures:

• a standing horned figure with pipal tree headgear standing in front of a table,

• a water-buffalo,

• a markhor (goat),

• a rhinoceros,

• a peacock,

• a zebu,

• a horned seahorse-like animal,

• an insect-like creature, possibly a honeybee,

• a snakelike shape,

• a male figure flanked by two upright tigers,

• three trees,

• two vertical fishes (which might be script signs).

From the Mahabharata, Book 13: Anusasana Parva: Section LXXXVI:

• Garuda of excellent feathers gave unto him a child of his, viz.

• a peacock endued with plumes of variegated hue.

• The Rakshasas gave unto him a boar and a buffalo.

• Aruna himself gave him a cock of fiery splendour.

• Chandramas gave him a sheep, and

40

• Aditya gave him some dazzling rays of his.

• The mother of all kine, viz., Surabhi, gave him kine by hundreds and thousands.

• Agni gave him a goat possessed of many good qualities.

• Ila gave him an abundant quantity of flowers and fruit.

• Sudhanwan gave him a riding chariot and a car of Kuvara*.

• Varuna gave him many auspicious and excellent, products of the Ocean, with

some elephants.

• The chief of the celestials gave him lions and tigers and pards and diverse kinds

of feathery denizens of the air, and many terrible beasts of prey..."

* 'car of Kuvara' - 'car' is a usual translation of the word 'vāhana', but 'vāhana' can also

be translated as vehicle or mount. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vahana

A little earlier in the Mahabharata account, even just after Skanda had been born, the

Gods already anticipated his heroic deeds, one of them being the slaying of the evil Asura

king Mahisha, and presented him:

• a peacock,

• a boar,

• a buffalo,

• a cock,

• a goat,

• a ram,

• elephants,

• lions,

• tigers,

• splendour,

• etc.

41

Seal M 417a and Seal ???

Comparing the animals

Is it a coincidence that one of the seals, the one with Skanda, the seated figure, is

surrounded by a selection of animals?

Is it a coincidence that the list of animals - Skanda's divine presents - include* the ones

seen on this and other seals: square, round and cylindrical?

The figure on the seal with Skanda is often identified as 'Lord of the Animals', although

the validity of that appellation has many times been disputed.

What about that very special round seal? Is there a horse on the round seal-fragment?

Looking carefully one can identify four animals from the above list, it keeps us guessing

which animals the fifth and the sixth might have been... Perhaps the rhino and the

elephant - there seems to be enough room for an elephant's large head and trunk.

In a later chapter we will find out why all of the seals shown in this chapter feature

depictions of one or two male figures.

42

Notes

* Note that the only anomaly is the rhinoceros, it is the only animal that does not appear

in the Sanskrit version of the Mahabharata.

But we will sort that out later when we find out that this is not an anomaly in the seals,

but a possible anomaly in the old scriptures - an interpretation error that may have

happened very long ago and which has never been caught except... by Pali speaking

Buddhists in the land of Khmer (now Cambodia).

Interestingly according to Hindu-Buddhist tradition the rhinoceros is the avatar of Skanda

as well as the vehicle (vāhana is often called the deity's mount) of Agni, Skanda's father.

43

CHAPTER SIX

Skanda's Major Heroic Act

From: http://manasasancharare.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/03.jpg?w=405&h=450

What we already know about this six-headed hero

The reader should already know from the Mahabharata quote in Chapter Two, why

Skanda needed to be born, but the Mahabharata language is quite archaic, so let me tell

why in modern language.

There was this evil king Mahisha and his brothers. They were terrorizing the population

of many kingdoms, even the heavenly kingdoms, so Shiva got petitioned to do something

about it.

44

The problem was though that Shiva went through a stage in his life in which he was

devoting all his time to meditation, so he did not feel like taking time out to fight this evil

king. Eventually though he got talked into producing a child who could at some point

take on the asuras.

Well, even the sexual act wasn't something that Shiva was into at the time, so he devised

a plan. Actually he got quite excited by this clever plan of his. He knew that someone

was needed with more talent than just one single normal human being, so rather than

having intercourse with his spouse Parvati, he decided to produce a copious amount of

sperm and dispense of it in a rather ingenious way: he dropped it in the river Ganges...

No, don't worry, he made sure it didn't go to waste because he put the word out and many

ladies gotto know about it... (Perhaps he invented the first human fertility lab).

As it turned out, six ladies - the Kritikas - were waiting for a chance to carry his child.

But rather than playing favourites, Shiva ensured that all six got pregnant at once while

bathing in the river Ganges... (Eh... or did they visit Shiva's lab?)

In any case, it did not take long for... Surprise!... ONE boy to be born, but one boy with

SIX heads or, to say it differently, one boy with the skills of six.

The boy was hardly even born or already he was given plenty of gifts, no, not just some

baby toys. No, already, before he could even walk, he was give 'ownership' of the animal

kingdom and boy did that come in handy for the things he had to pull off...

Apparently, when he was six years old he was already winning heroic battles.

(Keep his young age in mind, because we will see in upcoming chapters how his youthful

demeanor features in pretty well all his exploits.)

Skanda's names

This boy had many names, one was Kirtyikeya, because his mothers were those six ladies

who are starring in this story - the Krititkas. Another name was Murugan (Murukan), and

also Kumaran, and of course Shadanan - meaning 'six-faced', but that is obvious.

But he had many lofty names as well, one of which was Subrahmanya.

His most likeable and popular name though was Skanda.... a kind of humorous naughty

name actually, well... eh...humorous, some would call it uncouth... It had to do with the

way Shiva had delivered (dropped) his seed...

Mahisha, the Bull King

Collected from Wikipedia:

In Hindu mythology, Mahishasura was an asura, a demonic king.

Mahisha's capital is currently known as Mysore, a city in Karnataka. His

kingdom is mentioned in Mahabharata, though Puranas (especially Markandeya

Purana) gives more information. The Sanskrit word Mahisha means a buffalo.

Mahishasura's father Rambha was king of the asuras, and he once fell in love

with a water buffalo (Princess Shyamala, cursed to be a buffalo); Mahishasura

was born out of this union. He was therefore able to change between human and

buffalo form at will (mahisha is Sanskrit word for buffalo).

45

He terrorized heaven (Swarga Loka) and earth (Prithvi) and even invaded heaven,

defeating the king of gods Indra, and he drove all the gods (devas) out of heaven.

The gods then went into conclave to decide what could be done with this

invincible asura.

It was then decided that Shiva should produce a son to fight Mahisha, and we already

know how that happened.

Skanda's work

Skanda had to somehow get rid of that beast of a man, the Asura king Mahisha, as well as

his brothers. How did he pull it off to take them out?

It is rather complicated, there were many fights with these evil brothers all over India. In

this chapter, we will just concentrate on one heroic act Skanda's/Muruga's conquering of

Surapadma.

In that fight it also becomes clear why Skanda is connected to a peacock and a rooster.

A statue of Mahishasura Surapadma in Chamundi Hills, Mysore.

46

Skanda-Muragan and Mahisha-Surapadma... the fight

from: http://murugan.org/research/clothey.faces.of.murukan.htm Pg. 83

Mahisha-Surapadma transforms himself into a

monstrous and frightening upside-down mango tree.

47

Skanda-Murugan uses his spear to split the tree in half to destroy Mahisha-Surapadma.

Notice the split trees, they are upside down, just as in the Skanda Purana stories.

Out of one half of the tree comes the rooster, and from the other half the peacock. This

peacock then becomes Skanda's vehicle or vāhana (वाहन).

The rooster has become Skanda's banner.

Surapadma became Skanda's a peacock vāhana (detail on pottery).

The peacock and the rooster elements both appear in the Skanda Purana stories and

feature in a number of seals.

48

Two trunks or a split tree?

Detail of the 'procession' seal DK-6847 (see chapter three).

Notice that the split trees around the two standing figures only show leaves on their outer

sides. The leaves are 'vel' or lance-tip like (lanceolate).

The peacock, the rooster, the split tree and Surapadma's fate...

(This narrative seal tablet will be dealt with in depth in Chapter Eight.)

Surapadma eventually asked for his life to be spared, Skanda/Muruga obliged, providing

that he would be his peacock vāhana (vehicle).

Notice that this tablet shows Surapadma in a position of devotion, he is even wearing

headgear that looks like a peacock. Notice also that what looks like a rooster is on a stool

behind him.

The figure in the split tree (an arch open at the top)

In that same chapter we will find out that the figure in the split or double-trunk tree is

Skanda *.

49

The figure under the arch (an arch closed at the top)

There are a number of seals and tablets that show an arched tree (the opening is below)

inside which is a standing figure... Is that the same tree and are the figures the same

person? Apparently not!

The inscription according to the Sullivan code reads (from right to left):

'aksha-ja-ash-nu-nu'

In Chapter Ten we will find out that that would be Vishnu...

50

Notes

* ‘skandati’ (Skt) means ‘be split’ (Uschi)

51

CHAPTER SEVEN

Skanda fighting the Asuras

According to the Mahabharata Book 13 Anusasana Parva, and the Skanda Purana,

Skanda fought many fierce asuras, three of them being brothers, there are various

versions:

• In one version the demon Surapadma changed himself into a mango tree in order

escape Skanda, but Skanda split the tree in half with his lance, resulting in two

half trunks and... mysteriously also two birds: the rooster and the peacock.

• In another account Skanda fought Taraka and his associate Kiravuncan (or was it

Taraka's brother Mahisha, the versions differ) and he overcame them single-

handedly.

• In another fight he met Mahisha again, Mahisha the Asura King (mahisha means

buffalo) whom he finally killed with his spear. (bottom right)

52

The central figure in the seals above is often identified as female, especially in the bottom

right seal, but that 'breast' is probably a damage mark. However the artist has attempted to

portray Skanda's youth. Skanda (often under the name Kumara) is usually identified as

youthful.

"As he lay stretched [just being born] on a clump of heath, the gods with the

Rishis, beholding him, became filled with great delight and regarded the great

Asura as already slain."

Mahabharata

Like many Indian gods Skanda has many names, some of his are: Kanda, Kumara,

Kartikeya, Guha, Murugan, Velan, Ahmuvan but also:

• Shadanan ('six-faced', as Skanda is often depicted with six faces. Remember he

had six mothers)

• Shashthinathan (that name has to do with Skanda's victory in his fierce battle with

Surapadma which is celebrated in South India during 'Skanda Shashti'.)

Of particular interest are the last two names: Shadanan and Shashthinath... notice the "sh"

sounds in their names.

53

Let's look at the deciphered inscriptions above.

According to the Sullivan code the inscriptions read:

• aSH-nta-va-ku-an

• ra-chi-an-SH-aSH-an-kam

• SHi-chi-vi-ma-ni

When we look carefully we notice that they all have the "sh" sound in common: ash, sh,

shi.

Could it be that the sounds "ash, sh and shi" have to do with the above mentioned names

of Skanda: Shadanan and Shashthinath, the "ash or sh" standing for six? Remember

Skanda was six-headed as he was brought forth and brought up by six mothers, the

Krittikas.

(more to come)

The two pictures at the bottom (one horizontal the other vertical) of the collage above, are

two sides of the same seal.

It was the fact that they ARE on one and the same seal that made me investigate whether

the standing figure could by any chance be Skanda.

The fact that none of the standing figures on the seals above look the way other male and

female figures look on other seals (e.g. on the 'procession' seals they all have ribboned

kind of pony-tails, bangles and most are dressed) but instead these seals show someone

with short hair (could even be curly). That made me think it was a youthful person... a

young offspring of the six Krittikas and Shiva-Agni-Rudra.

Subsequently, when googling images of Skanda (Kumara, etc.) I was struck by the many

youthful depictions and characterizations of him. I quote:

"Justifying his name Kumara, he is shown here as a handsome youth, bright like

the morning sun. The lance (Vel) he holds in his left hand is said to have been a

gift from his mother Parvati. The right arm is raised in the abhaya mudra, or the

gesture of fearlessness. He wears a karandamukuta - the high crown which

signifies a deity's exalted status - and which here eminently suits the youth who

was destined to be the commander of gods.

http://www.puja.net/Pages/Yagyas/Journal/05Events/05AugustSubramanyam/Skanda.ht

m

By the way, Kenoyer is careful not to assign a gender to this seal's standing figure (in

spite of the possible breast), but he also calls the two animals lions, now IMO that is not

right, but I think he calls them lions and not tigers because tigers are not mentioned in the

Rig Veda. However the Skanda Purana and Mahabharata mentions tiger(s) as well as

lion(s) in similar versions of the same story theme.

The above seals though IMO show tigers...

54

About the elephant on this seal, as far as I know elephants do not come up in Lilitu's tales.

Ganesh by the way is Skanda's brother (both a-sexually fathered by Shiva).

This brother is involved in the lovely story of Skanda the "youthful god’s amorous

relationship with Valli" a young country-girl. Ganesh appears as a frightening elephant to

scare the young girl into the arms of Skanda who though, in this story, had disguised

himself as an old man (swami) to get closer to the girl.

Could there be a seal depicting something like that...

55

Notes

* Lilith / Lilitu definitely has lions, it is part of her story, lions licked her tears...

Quote:

"Lilitu wept for the lions

She cradled their heads in her arms

The lions awoke to her tears

The lions licked away her tears and became strong

They became Lilitu's loyal friends"

57

CHAPTER EIGHT

The peacock, the rooster, the split tree and Surapadma's fate...

Figure 1

Seal tablet M-488

Oblong seals like the illustration above are usually called tablets. What is shown is one

side of a prism shaped artifact that is about four cm long and 1,5 cm wide with three

faces. Typically each face of this kind of tablet has a narrative scene, sign inscriptions or

a combination of script and scene, sometimes one of the faces is blank. (See the

illustration at the very end for the three faces of this tablet.)

Figure 2

From left to right:

• A rooster (?) on a low table,

• A 'two-in one ' presentation of a peacock and a horned devotee seen from the side,

This horned devotee is Surapadma who, after he was defeated, asked Skanda/Muruka

to spare his life. Skanda/Muruka obliged, providing that Surapadma would be his

peacock vāhana.

• A composite creature,

• A standing horned figure (Skanda/Muruga) in a double-trunked upside-down tree.

As we have seen in Chapter Six, Skanda/Muruga split a mango tree in half with his lance

after he saw that demon/asura Surapadma had changed himself into an upside-

58

down mango tree in the hope of escaping defeat by Skanda, which, as we know, was to

no avail. (By the way, one of Skanda's names is Velan - the lance bearer.)

The right side of this tablet depicts the result of Skanda's blow, two half tree trunks on

both sides of a standing figure...

Remember that after the tree was split, that two fowl emerged from its branches: a rooster

and a peacock!

The rooster became Skanda's banner emblem and the peacock (Surapadma really) his ride

(vāhana).

Note that there are no leaves on the inner sides of the two half-trunks.

Figure 3

Seal DK 6847 (2000 1900 BCE)

(This is the same 'Procession' seal that we have encountered before, except now the

photograph looks golden as it was taken under special lighting.)

Let's compare figures 2 and 3.

Both show a standing person in a split tree, both split trees have no leaves on their inner

sides, both seals have a devotee making an offering (which, as we now know is one of the

three evil Asura brothers: Surapadma), and both seals feature a composite animal. In

figure 3 however, the animal has a human face (in profile) and is shown to be even more

complex than the composite animal in figure 2.

This creature in figure 3 is composed of:

• a markhor/goat (horns),

• an elephant (the trunk, usually featured on other seals that show this creature, is

missing),

59

• a zebu (its neck/chest),

• a water buffalo (its rump),

• a tiger (the back side),

• a bird (bird feet),

• a human face in profile.

The ritual implement on the small table in front of the kneeling devotee might

be, according to professor John C. Huntington, "a rather standard pujari’s offering tray..."

the two small cup-like extensions on it intended for holding ghee.

http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-

state.edu/resources/downloads/webPresentations/harappanSeals.pdf (Slides 81-83)

The small left-centre square shape could well be Skanda's banner showing a rooster, but

it could also be an Indus script sign ('kam') possible meaning 'beloved'.

The person who stands inside that split-trunk tree is Skanda/Muruga...

We will find out why in an upcoming chapter.

60

Notes

61

CHAPTER NINE

The Deer Hunter in the Tree, the Tiger and the Shiva Lingam

The deer hunter in the tree, the tiger and the Shiva lingam

The painting at the top of the collage is from:

http://www.netglimse.com/holidays/mahashivaratri/myth_and_history_of_mahashivaratri

.shtml

The popular story of 'The hunter in the tree, the tiger and Shiva' (associated with Maha

Shivaratri) is related to a similar recurring theme found on a number of Indus Valley

seals and seal tablets.

62

Please see the collage above before reading the story.

The Shiva Purana and Shanti Parva tell the story of Lord Shiva and the hunter Lubdhaka.

Before I tell that story it should be realized that the hero of that story, Lubdhaka, was our

original Skanda. Similar stories about Skanda were told in other parts of India where the

hero also acquired different names like Murugan or Kartikeya, but over time I found out

that it was all about Skanda. On the seals his name is usually spelled Kanta.

"Lubdhaka, a hunter was roaming in the jungle on the banks of the Kolidum River.

Suddenly he heard the growl of a tiger while he was chasing a deer. To put

himself in safety from the tiger, he ran as fast as he could to the closest-by tree

and climbed in it. The tiger just waited at the foot of the tree, not intending to

leave.

All through the night, the hunter had no choice but to stay in the tree. But to keep

himself from falling asleep (afraid that he would fall if he didn't) he nervously

kept plucking the leaves of the tree's branches one by one and dropped them to

the ground below, chanting all the while.

He did not know it, but at the foot of the tree (a Bilva or Bael tree) was a Shiva

Lingam. Without realizing it Lubdhaka was dropping Shiva's favorite Bilva leaves

on the Lingam.

By sunrise, when the hunter looked down to see if the tiger had gone, he didn't see

the tiger, but instead in its place was Lord Shiva.

The hunter quickly climbed down and immediately prostrated himself before the

lord, and while Shiva blessed him, Lubdhaka became liberated from samsara,

attaining moksha."

Looking at the four seals beneath the painting, we see the figure in the tree - the fearful

hunter - and we see how the tiger is patiently waiting. The tree on the seals is the Bilva or

Bael tree.

What is missing on the seals is the Shiva Lingam that figures in the story. But quite likely

the devotion to Shiva in that specific Lingam format had not developed to that extent yet

when these seals were produced in the Indus Valley.

Throughout India in the country-side one finds Lingam stones along the wayside. The

Lingam picture in the collage was taken on Elephanta Island, it was under a Bael tree.

The brown coloured seal also shows a crocodile and possibly a water buffalo, indicating

that this was in the proximity of water, a river, in the story named the Kolidum river.

I placed another seal next to the painting, suggesting that the figure who is in a pose of

devotion to Shiva, is the hunter from the story.

As certain details in the more recently composed Shiva Purana and Shanti Parva versions

are not on the seals, the seals must be predating the Purana versions.

Some time ago, after I drew the above conclusions, my next step was to find out if the

inscriptions on the seals were indeed about Shiva. As I found no corroboration in other

decipherment attempts I decided to use Sue Sullivan's (See chapter two) decipherment in

63

her 'Indus Script Dictionary' to read and interpret the various inscriptions on the seals

shown. If the inscriptions were indeed about Shiva, the conclusion I drew about the

relationship of these seals to an early origin of the hunter story would be supported; as

well, it would lend support to Sue Sullivan's decipherment to be on the right track.

Decipherment and reading as per 'The Sullivan Code':

Bottom left (M 310a): 'ash-an/selv-kam' (Shiva beloved son),

Bottom middle (K 049): 'Aa-sau-ja' (Shiva associated with Soma),

Bottom right (M 309a): 'ra-vi-ta-an-na-ma-a' (Greetings Ravi warrior)

Related modern day videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBVbjRrfLuY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbLJvzr2GQM

The first of the two videos links above is an inspirational video that contains the legend

of the hunter in the tree, the deer, the lingam and Shiva, but it does not talk about the tiger.

The second link is a delightful animation with... the tiger

Sequence of this discovery:

1. As far as I know a connection between the

'hunter/tiger/tree/Shiva/lingam/moksha' story and various IVC seals showing 'a

figure in a tree, with a tiger beside it looking back' has not been made before.

If the story refers to Shiva (and it does) and if the seals and the story are

connected, then the seals must therefore also refer to someone who was either

Shiva or who later was equated with Shiva. The Sullivan code translations looked

very promising at that point in my search.

2. While I was looking for Shiva/tiger pictures in Google images, I found that

modern painting of the hunter with a tiger skirt and the lingam. I found it very

beautiful and it somehow inspired me deeply. It was some hours later that I read

the legend that came with that painting. When I read it though, it struck me that

there was no tiger in that legend, but it was a tiger that reminded me of a story

that I heard in 1954 on Dutch TV by the Indonesian storyteller Indra Kamadjojo. I

was about ten years old at the time in Holland. That memory helped me to draw a

definite link between various Indus Valley tablet seals and the ancient Hindu

legends.

3. I selected a few of the seal photographs that I had already collected and posted

them on the Harappa.com Facebook site together with the above picture and story

and announced the logical connection.

4. I also found that there are a number of seals showing a figure in devotion in front

of or underneath a meditating figure and suspected that they might very well be

related to the Shiva/lingam story, although if so, they must predate the story as no

64

lingam was showing on those seals, instead it shows the sitting figure who I

thought might well be Shiva. What must have happened over time (thousands of

years), in the telling and retelling of the story, Shiva must have become

symbolized by the lingam.

5. The way I interpreted the kneeling figure, he was either in a devotional pose or a

pose of gratitude as he had been granted moksha.

6. Throughout the country-side in India one finds lingam stones underneath a tree by

the wayside... (The first one I saw was on Elephanta Island near Mumbai, under

a... Bael tree .) If the lingam stones have no marigolds, which they often do, then

at least they are painted reddish orange.

7. The Bael tree was very important in the IVC agriculture and industry. In my story

"the Valley" I refer to those trees (although not by name as I then was still looking

for more evidence). There is mention in many ancient hymns of a hard citrus fruit

or a stone apple.

(The seals I am showing: the broken one was excavated in Kalibangan (about 300 km

SW of Kurukshetra), the other two were found in Mohenjo-Daro.)

65

H2001-5075/2922-01

66

Notes

67

68

INTERMEZZO

The Story of Skanda, the Deer, the Tiger, the Bael Tree and

Shiva.

69

Drawings by Eric Power (request for permission is in process)

www.clearproductions.net

70

71

PART TWO

Things we can not be quite be sure about

(more speculative they are…)

Many of the deliberations in the chapters that follow in this second part, are more

speculative than the topics dealt with in part one.

I was at first considering not to publicize the topics that appear in Part Two, but I was

advised by a good friend that many of the ideas I would offer, even if they cannot be fully

supported by iron-clad evidence, that at least they can help open many a reader's mind to

expanded ways of the expression of truth.

It could even be that many of the following chapters give occasion to gain deeper insights,

which, I hope, will lead to a consideration of thoughts and opinions that invite and enable

a wider understanding and acceptance of seemingly opposing ideas and values, the ones

that are all too often encountered as rather dogmatic... historically, spiritually and

culturally.

73

CHAPTER TEN

Vishnu and Garuda

'Savo deve eko Nara

yana na dwitiyacha kaschit'

'There is only one God - Narayana - and no second.'

~ Yajurveda

Figure 1

Garuda, carrier of Vishnu and Lakshmi.

Sixteenth century painting, artist unknown.

(Islamic Museum, Berlin)

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How Vishnu Rose to Supremacy

Together with Brahma and Shiva, Vishnu is regarded as one of the three major gods in

Hinduism and Indian mythology.

Whereas Brahma and Shiva are considered to be the creator and destroyer of the universe,

Vishnu is its preserver.

Ancient Sanskrit literature describes Vishnu as 'the infinite ocean of the universe', the

source of the entire world. Thus, over time, in Vaishnavism, Vishnu became the 'God of

all gods', the central and even major deity of the Hindu trinity.

The solar deities Surya (fire-bird) and Ravi (the sun) are usually identified as being the

same as Vishnu (see figure 6).

Vishnu is equated with Narayana, the one God who pervades the spiritual as well as the

material universe.

How Garuda became Vishnu's Mount

Vishnu's mount, the eagle Garuda, is at times represented as a winged male creature with

bird feet, a curved beak, having a plumed feather crest on his head or wearing a crown.

Garuda was very strong and daring and could overcome any dangerous situation.

I remember, from when I was a 12 year old kid in Holland, that an Indonesian storyteller

told us an ancient story about Garuda in which the moon played the part of immortality.

He told us that the moon was immortal because, although it looked like the moon died

every month, he always returned.

It so happened that one day Garuda had to free his mother from the darkness of a snake

infested underworld. In order to do that, he decided to steal the moon from the night sky -

a lunar eclipse perhaps?

In any case, while hiding the moon under his wings he was able to bring light and...

immortality into the underworld thus making life or actually death - at least temporarily -

impossible. That's how he set his mother free.

Indra and all the other heavenly gods obviously did not like the disappearance of the

moon from their firmament so they battled Garuda to try and get the moon back, but

Garuda conquered them all except for... Vishnu.

Eventually Garuda gave up the fight with Vishnu after he was granted immortality in

exchange for the moon's return to its monthly sojourn. That is why Garuda is often

depicted carrying 'amrita with him', the elixir of immortality. Also, Vishnu so admired

Garuda's perseverance in the fight and the clever way in which he freed his mother, that

he took Garuda as his mount to traverse the universe.

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A Commemorative Seal for Vishnu and Garuda

Figure 2

Seal H-95 -2485ab *

Square seals usually have a picture on the front and a punctured knob (or boss) on the

back to pull a string through, making the seal wearable. As you can see in the middle of

the diagram above, this seal does not have a boss. Instead, like a coin - but a square one -

it features a scene on both sides.

Could this mean that this seal was 'coined' with a purpose different from the norm?

Details of interest:

• The standing figure with bird feet,

• A bird's head-crest like headdress,

• Feather-like (?) features on the figure's arms.

• The arch,

• The leaf shaped decorations on the arch.

The inscription on the obverse goes from right to left and according to the Sullivan Code

the signs read:

• 'aksha' (diamond shape),

• 'ja' (three short vertical stripes),

• 'ash' (crab pincers shape),

• 'nu-nu' (the two waffle shapes).

'aksha-ja-ash-nu-nu'

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'Aksha' is a name of Garuda.

'Akshaja' is a name of Vishnu.

'Ashnunu' is a name of Garuda.

'Jaashnunu' can be compared to 'janunuash' on seal M-4a (see figure 4) which means

'swift Garuda' .

This seal clearly represents Vishnu and Garuda as a composite being.

When it was 'issued' it could very well have been meant to commemorate a special

occasion!

The fact that this artefact is a moulded terracotta seal, suggests that it could even have

been 'mass produced'.

Figure 3

Tablet H-179a ** Tablet H-177b

(See figure 6 for the script on the reverse of this tablet.)

The tablet on the right though shows that the artist was confused: here he shows the arch

(with Vishnu) but he has combined it with the devotee and the markhor (goat), both of

which are usually shown with the split mango tree, the one with Skanda inside.

Compare the following details with those of figure 2:

• The standing figure under an arch on both tablets,

• The star at the bottom right on the left tablet,

• A bird's head-crest like headdress,

• The leaf shaped decorations on the arches.

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Figure 4

Seal M-4a

Reading from right to left:

1. 'ja' (three short vertical stripes)

2. 'nu-nu' (the two waffle shapes)

3. 'ash' (crab pincers shape)

4. 'vi' (two short vertical stripes)

5. 'ma' (vertical fish)

6. 'na' (a U shape with a vertical stripe | inside)

7. 'ja' (three short vertical stripes)

8. 'pa' (a crook)

9. 'la' (three crooked vertical shapes)

'ja-nu-nu-ash vi-ma-na ja-pa-la'

'Janunuash' is a reference to 'swift Garuda'.

'Vimana' is a flying carrier.

'Japala' could mean 'victorious', it also refers to Vishnu.

78

Figure 5

Two sides of the same tablet.

The left side shows the same standing figure as in the illustrations above: Garuda.

The right side reads 'vahany' - carier or vehicle (Garuda).

Figure 6

'ra-vi-a-na-yama-ja-an'

Ravi anya ma jana.

'There's nobody else but Ravi'

Ravi is the Sun God - a possible reference to Narayana.

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Vishnu's Tilak

Figure 7

Left: Vishnu's followers usually wear a tilak on their forehead in the shape of a U with a

vertical stripe | within it.

Right: This Indus Valley sign stands for 'na' as in Narayana.

The tilak or tilaka is a mark that consists of a powder, ash or sandalwood paste applied to

the forehead by smearing.

The Vaishnava tilak has two parts: a vertical centered line between the ridge just above

the nose and the hairline. It is surrounded by an elongated U.

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Notes

* Harappa, moulded terracotta tablet, period 3B/3C.

Period 3B Harappa c. 2450 BC - c. 2200 BC

Period 3C Harappa c. 2200 BC - c. 1900 BC

** Script on reverse: 'pri-a-an', benevolent.

81

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Tilak and the Most Frequent Indus Script Sign

What is a Tilak?

A tilak is a mark of distinction ritually applied to the forehead of a religious person, it

consists of ash, a smeared coloured or white powder or a paste of sandalwood.

There is a large variety of tilaks, the kind depends on which religious sect someone is a

follower of.

The main tilaks (out of ca 30) belong to followers of Vishnu, Shiva and Devi Shakti.

VishnuTilak Shiva Tilaks Shakti/Devi Tilak Tilak and Bindi

http://www.hindudevotionalblog.com/2010/03/tilaka-in-hinduism-tilak.html

http://www.harekrsna.de/Tilak.htm

http://brahmphool-anita.blogspot.ca/2010/08/significance-of-tilak.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilaka

• The simple Vaishnava tilak has two parts: a sandal paste (chandan) is applied

vertically centered between the bridge just above the nose and the hairline, and it

is surrounded by a shape in the form of a large U.

• The tilak worn by the followers of Shiva is applied to the forehead using sacred

ash (bhashma) in three horizontal bands with a single vertical stripe or circle in

the middle.

• Shakti or Devi worshippers in South India wear a round or rectangular mark of

kumkuma (a red tumeric powder) on the forehead.

.

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The Differences between Tilaks and Bindis

Whereas tilaks always consist of ash, powder or paste, the bindi may be a paste, jewellery

or even a sticker. Unlike bindis, tilaks can be applied to other parts of the body as well,

and they are always of a religious and spiritual nature,

A bindi is worn between the eyes, just above the bridge of the nose, and is more of social

mark, it can indicate being married or it can simply be ornamental.

A bindi and a tilak can be worn together.

A Different View on the Origin of the Vishnu/Krishna Tilak

Skanda's Split Tree, Vishnu, Narayana, Krishna and the Tilak

Figure 1

Tilaks (forehead marks) worn by followers of Vishnu and Krishna

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Figure 2

Young Shaivite (Shiva Follower)

Members of the Vaishnava tradition wear their tilaks on their forehead in the shape of a

'U', while Shaivites tend to wear their tilaks as three horizontal lines (see figure 2.)

Most often tilaks are seen as references to the third eye but they can have many other

meanings as well: from being solely devoted to a god to a woman being married.

One also finds Shiva's tilak (the three horizontal lines) 'smeared' on Shiva Lingams.

In this chapter we will be concentrating on the U shaped tilaks worn by followers of

Vishnu. There are various forms of these U shaped tilaks, but most of them have a dot or

a long stripe inside them.

Whereas traditionally the two vertical lines of the U shape are said to represent the feet

(or one foot) of Vishnu / Narayana (the Lord who pervades both the spiritual and material

universes) it is of course possible that the origin of this tilak is based on something

perhaps more fundamental... especially when a vertical stripe is present.

1. The 'na' sign as found in 'Narayana', one of Vishnu's names. *

Figure 3

According to the Sullivan Code, it so happens that some Indus Valley signs meaning 'na'

(as in 'Narayana') have that very same U shape, but with a vertical stripe inside. This

particular stripe can appear either as | or !.

84

Is it a coincidence that according to the Sullivan Code one vertical stripe | by itself also

stands for 'A' symbolizing Vishnu?

Speculative perhaps, but in some previous chapters we have already encountered a few

instances that show how the Indus Valley people loved word- and sign-play as well as

multiple meanings.

In the Sanskrit language one particular word for water is 'Naara’ and Vishnu's ('Ayana')

resting place is 'Naara', hence the name 'Naaraayana' - number 245 in Vishnu's list of one-

thousand names.

Figure 4

Narayana

Narayana is the primeval Lord symbolizing the universal ocean from which everything

originates.

"Naara" also means 'living beings' or Jivas. So, another meaning of Narayana is 'resting

place for all living beings'.

The close association of Narayana (Vishnu) with water explains the frequent depiction of

Narayana in Hindu art as standing, sitting or resting on an expanse of water.

85

Om Namo NārāyaNāya is one of the most famous mantras chanted by Hindus. This

mantra, along with Om Namah Shivāya, and the Gayatri mantra are the most sacred

prayers by Hindus.

2. The 'na' sign representing Skanda's Split Tree. (See Chapter Six.)

Skanda is number 327 in the list of Vishnu's one thousand names:

"Skandah": He whose glory is expressed through Subrahmanya"

In the collage below you can see many U signs, and it may not be a long stretch to

recognize the 'split tree with leaves on the outside' in the various signs. Look especially

for the ones with the tiny extra features at the tips of the various U shapes.

Figure 5

(As to the script inside the white oval, see note ***.)

86

As can be seen above, sometimes the U shape contains | (the dark purple oval) or ! (the

red oval), but it can sometimes also have two short stripes '' (green), or none at all (blue,

black, mauve, white).

We have already noted that:

• one vertical line meaning ‘A’ stands for Vishnu,

• two vertical lines might stand for 'aa' (Ravi),

Could it be that the ! is a symbol for the lance (the 'vel') that Skanda used to slay the

asura king Taraka by splitting the tree that he was hiding in?

Just above the seated figure's head (See figure 5, the middle of the top row) identified

before as Skanda, is a beautifully centered 'an' sign with... two short vertical stripes!

(inside the green oval.)

Is Skanda perhaps under the guidance (sponsorship?) of Ravi (Vishnu)?

The bottom left sign (inside the yellow oval) is also remarkable!

By the way, it seems to me that the Skanda stories as presented in this book, predate

Krishna's domicile in Dwaraka. Who knows, perhaps Skanda was Krishna's hero when he

was young.

As Skanda, Krishna (number 550), Ravi (number 881) and Narayana (number 245) all

appear in Vishnu's name list they can all be equated to each other.

3. The 'an' Sign - the U without a Stripe inside?

Over time during the use of the Indus script, the 'an' sign came to stand for "the man",

(compare this with the English 'postman' or 'milkman,) and eventually 'an' became a

masculine gender identifier!

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Notes

* Because of the many interpretations by scholars who from the very beginning identified

the U sign as a vase or jar, we unfortunately got stuck seeing only a pot in it...

**

Tablet M-394a

From right to left this tablet reads: 'na-ja-eka-ndra-an'.

'na-ja-eka' can be interpreted as 'nayAka' which means 'leader, chief, hero'

'The chief leading the battle'

***

Tablet M-478a

The inscription reads from right to left: 'cha-an-aa-y'.

'Pure follower of Kandarpa'

(‘Y’ is Kandarpa, God of love according to the Sullivan Code.)

"Regarding Skanda and Vishnu, there is another place where their mythologies

merge. One of the divisions of Vaishnasim is Kumara-sampradaya (worship of

Vishnu through the Kumaras). These Kumaras are the sons of Brahma (manas-

putras), and they are 4 in number. The last one is Sanatkumar, otherwise known

as Skanda. This could be from a period before Skanda had merged with Kartikeya

and Murugan."

~ Pradipta Banerjee

I ran into these four sons (four is 'chahur' in Sanskrit) when I attempted a translation of

this seal.

89

CHAPTER TWELVE

Two more Seals about Vishnu and his vehicle Garuda

What is a Deity's Vehicle or Vāhana actually?

A 'vāhana' is a Hindu deity's mythical mount, ride, or vehicle. Typically a vāhana is an

animal used by a Hindu god or demi-god (deva) as a means to go places... to traverse the

mythical universe. Often, deva are depicted as riding or mounted on their vāhanas, but

they can also appear side by side. It is not unusual that a particular characteristic of a god

is represented by a vāhana as his divine attribute, symbolically expressing that god's

characteristic.

For example, Nandi the bull, the vehicle of Shiva, stands for strength; Parvani, the

peacock; Skanda's ride, represents splendour and majesty; Hamsa, the swan of Sarasvati,

represents wisdom, grace and beauty.

Vāhanas though, can also symbolize the evil forces over which their deities dominate, e.g.

reining-in his peacock Skanda can also be seen as reining-in his vanity. Ganesh crushing

a little mouse, symbolizing putting a stop to useless thoughts that can multiply like…

eh… mice.

Depending on time and region, a deity's vāhana can take on a different meaning, role or

purpose. Three examples (from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vahana):

• While Ganesh was still a child, a giant mouse began to terrorize all his friends.

Ganesh trapped him with his lasso and made him his mount. Mushika was originally

a gandharva, or celestial musician. After absentmindedly walking over the feet of a

rishi (wise man) named Vamadeva, Mushika was cursed and transformed into a

mouse. However, after the rishi recovered his temper, he promised Mushika that one

day, the gods themselves would bow down before him. This came to pass when

Mushika's path crossed Ganesh's.

• Before becoming the vehicle of Shiva, Nandi was a deity called Nandikeshvara, lord

of joy and master of music and dance. Then, without warning, his name and his

functions were transferred to the aspect of Shiva known as the deity Nataraja.

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From half-man, half-bull, he became simply a bull. Since that time, he has watched

over each of Shiva's temples, always looking towards him.

• Murugan, the first form of Skanda in Southern India, is also mounted on a peacock.

This peacock was originally a demon called Surapadma, while the ostrich was called

the angel [Krichi]. After provoking Murugan in combat, the demon repented at the

moment his lance descended upon him. He took the form of a tree and began to pray.

The tree was cut in two. From one half, Murugan pulled a rooster, which he made

his emblem, and from the other, a peacock, which he made his mount.

In another version, Lord Karthikeyan, son of Mother Parvathi and Lord Shiva (and

elder brother of Lord Ganesha) was born to kill the demon, Tarakasura. He was

raised by the Kritthikas and led the divine armies when he was 6 days old. It is

unique to him that he is the only god to be worshipped alongside his enemy,

Tarakasura. It is said that after defeating Tarakasura, the Lord forgave him and

transformed him into his ride, the peacock, partially also because Tarakasurs had

earned a boon to be immortal… apparently the boon did not say in what form. So,

whenever flowers are offered to Kartikeya, a transformed Tarakasura also stands

addressed.

Left: 'dhuka viva mahesh ja kuva biryaan'

'Riding his bird (Garuda) in the wind, (Vishnu) the swift, powerful and brave

fighter of wickedness.'

Right: 'dhuka vina ja biryaan ekade'

'Riding the wind, swift Garuda, (Vishnu's) brave remover of obstacles.'

• For those not too familiar with the square seals, except for a few rare exceptions, the

depicted animals and the inscriptions do not relate to each other. This is different

91

with the oblong narrative seal tablets where the inscription and the scene more often

than not parallel each other.

• On the square seals, the direction of writing and reading starts from the head of the

depicted animal to the other edge of the seal. Therefore H-99 reads from left to right

and H-8a reads from right to left.

• Seals that show the animal heads on the right side are as a rule the sculpted originals,

when the heads are on the left they are imprints made from the originals.

• These above two seals have seven Indus Script signs in common.

• Both these seals were found in the upper levels of the Harappan excavation site,

hence they do not necessarily refer to Skanda and / or Ravi, who are earlier

Harappan heroes.

1. Decipherment and Translation of Seal H-99

'dhu'- the javelin shape with a C shape inside

'ka' - the large X shape

'vi'- two short vertical stripes

'va'- two long vertical stripes

'ma'- upright fish shape

'he'- capped upright fish shape

'sh'- oval shape with a small grain stalk inside

'ja'- three vertical stripes *

'ku'- elongated C

'va'- two long vertical stripes -

'bi'- shovel shape -

'rya'- grain stalk shape - '

'an'- U shape (gender post-fix)

'dhuka' - 'wind'

'viva' - 'riding a bird'

'mahesh' - powerful

'ja' - could mean 'son' or 'swift' (reference to

Vishnu)

'kuva' - 'bad stuff', 'badness', wickedness'

'biryaan' - 'brave fighter,' 'biren' (SC) (bhArya

soldier),'virya' is bravery (the 'v' is often

pronounced as 'b')

'dhuka viva mahesh ja kuva biryaan'

“Riding his bird (Garuda) in the wind,

(Vishnu) the swift, powerful and brave

fighter of wickedness.”

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2. Decipherment and Translation of Seal H-8a

'dhu'- the javelin shape with a C shape inside

'ka' - the large X shape

'vi' - two short vertical stripes

'na' - the Vaishin tilak shape U with ! inside

'ja' - three long vertical stripes *

'bi' - shovel shape

'rya' - grain stalk shape

'an' - U shape (gender post-fix)

'eka' - a short vertical stripe **

'de'- the fork shape ***

'dhuka' - 'wind'

'vina' - 'taking away', 'removing' (of obstacles)

'ja' - could mean 'swift' or 'son'.

'biryaan' - 'brave fighter,' 'biren' (SC) (bhArya soldier)

'virya' is bravery (the 'v' is often pronounced as 'b')

'ekade '- 'the same as', 'this one is...', 'lord Vishnu'.

'dhuka vina ja biryaan ekade'

Riding the wind, swift Garuda, (Vishnu's) brave remover

of obstacles.

How I came to this interpretation

It was almost at the very end of this translation attempt (when I realized that 'ekade' could

mean 'the same as...' or 'this one is...') that I became convinced for 99% that I had a viable

translation. When P. Banerjee made me aware that 'ekah' is one of the one thousand

names of Vishnu** I reached 100%.

I had already figured out from seal H-99 that its inscription was about Garuda, so it was

most reassuring that I found in the "Encyclopaedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses" by

Suresh Chandra, pg 101:

"Garuda is also known by another name of Vinayak, [see above 'vina' - 'taking

away', 'removing'] which name he shares with god Ganesh. Thus this god-bird is

thought to be the remover or destroyer of obstacles."

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Garuda is also the protector against poisonous snakes and... Ganesh does not fly!

Just prior to that I had found:

"nayAmi paramam sthAnam arcirAdi-gatim vinA garuda-skandham Aropya

yatheccham anivAritah"

"My [Vishnu's] devotees need not follow the path beginning in light. Riding on

Garuda's shoulders, I personally take them to my supreme abode."

~ Varaha Purana

I was now 101% convinced...

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Notes

* The three stripes could refer to Tripada Trimurti.

Quoting from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekapada:

"Sometimes, when the [three] legs of Vishnu and Shiva are seen, the icon is called

Tripada-trimurti ("three-legged trinity")

** Ekah is number 725 in the list of Vishnu's one-thousand names.

The English word 'equal' derives from 'eka'. In science 'equals 1' means 'unity'.

*** De as in 'deva' and the Latin 'deus' are related.

95

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Brahma, Shiva, Skanda, the Drummer Boy and... OM

How Skanda's Importance Increased...

In large regions of southern India (especially Tamil Nadu) Skanda (Lord Murugan, also

named Subrahmanya) became at some point more important than Lord Shiva.

The following story explains why and how... you may be surprised...

In the Intermezzo I showed a cartoon strip about how

Skanda, the youthful hunter, was granted karmic liberation

by Shiva. In Chapter Nine a very similar ancient story was

told about a certain Lubdhaka, how he was "liberated from

samsara, and attained moksha". Both stories are making it a

point that it was just because Skanda had dropped some

Bael leaves on Shiva's lingam stone. The interesting thing

is though, that Skanda did not even know that that stone was there, so, how can there be

any good karma in that, and we may well wonder how would 'dropping leaves' as

haphazardly as he did, have anything to do with liberation?

I was twelve years old was living in Holland (which in

those days still had a strong colonial Indonesian Hindu

connection) when I was told the story of the deer, the

hunter and the tiger, and it was supposed to contain a moral

message. I loved the story, but I remember that I had a hard

time understanding the moral of the story: although there

are deer in Holland and tigers in zoos, there are definitely

no lingam stones to be found anywhere there.

It is a story I would love to tell again, but if I were to tell it

nowadays, I would do it - based on what I learned in life

about fear and illusion, dependency and liberty, spiritual

understanding and religious dogma - with a different

and deeper psychological understanding.

Our world is so different now from the ancient world, we deal differently with authority,

especially if it is religious, instead we like to find things out for ourselves, in fact we are

encouraged to do so.

Of course I could tell the Tiger/Shiva story to a young audience the old-fashioned way

with the tiger morphing into Shiva, after all, nowadays young people are very used to

special effects in the movies they watch. They have seen more cinematographic

morphing than they could ever have imagined themselves, but... no matter what, they also

know that tigers don't really turn into Shivas.

96

I would probably tell the story the way it is so simply depicted on the seal above, just

why the hunter sits in that tree but without that lingam and initially also without Shiva,

but I would also tell it in connection with some other seals, and one in which Shiva does

appear.

A bit worn those old seals, and poorly photographed as well, and you probably wonder,

as I did at some point, what they 'for heaven's sake' could have to do with the story of

Skanda.

But then, one day, I read on Dr. Kalyanaraman's website that the little central figure on

the large seal, the one with that tiger-like animal, was a drummer-boy, and then I also

remembered that I had seen another smaller seal with a drummer-boy on it.

Suddenly an avalanche of thoughts tumbled through my

brain. I had read somewhere that the name of such a

double-sided drum was 'pranava', and I also remembered

that 'pranava' stood for 'Om', the primordial sound. It is

then that I suddenly I knew what happened to Skanda when

he jumped out of that tree, what he felt and why he

suddenly became aware of that sense of freedom...

What was so extraordinary was that Skanda found out that the fearsome roar of the tiger

suddenly made place for such a strong vibration that instead of making him shiver with

fear that he felt himself vibrating with life in all the parts of his body... instead of

escaping death he had just now really discovered what life was... not just a spark of life

but life in its most energetic form.

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Pranava, Primal Sound, Om, Drum

But let me not go there yet. Let me just start telling the story the way I would tell it to,

say, a twelve year old. One thing though, I have a hard time telling 'make-believe'

stories... Of course the tiger is no imagination, but what about a tiger turning into Shiva?

Of course Shiva is no imagination either, but where did he come from? Did he come from

a higher level of reality or did Shiva actually have a physical human body... Could he

roam the streets... for instance the streets of Dwaraka?

We will see, we'll meet him, and... we will also meet Brahma. There is a very old story

that goes something like the following:

"There was a time when the Creator, Brahma, out of arrogance. did not show

respect to Skanda, Shiva's son. Skanda then queried Brahma on his knowledge

about Om. Unfortunately though Brahma could not answer, so the little boy

imprisoned him due to his incompetence."

But let me retell it in my own words

As soon as Skanda, after his liberating experience, passed the city gates back into town,

that he ran into Brahma who was getting on in years. It so happened that Brahma saw

something odd in the boy, actually something about him upset him, "That boy is too

lively," he thought.

Of course Brahma was jealous, but he also felt that Skanda did not greet him with

enough reverence.

True, Skanda was perhaps a bit precocious, practicing his newly found freedom a bit too

freely.

In any case, Brahma stopped the boy, and took him aside to put him in his place, "What's

the matter boy, a bit high or what? Show some respect will you?!"

But somehow Skanda's buttons did not get pushed, and although he was Shiva's son and

Brahma should have respected that, he did not care. In fact he wondered if Brahma could

help him understand what just happened to him, Skanda.

Perhaps Brahma with his age-old experience could shed some light on his new feelings.

So he started explaining what happened in the jungle with the him and the deer and the

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tiger and eventually that enormous relief that overcame him. How overcoming his

excessive fear brought him this intense sense of freedom,

"I can feel it, Lord Brahma," he said, "I feel an enormous power of eh... well... eh...

BEING. You must know what that means, you are Lord Brahma. You know, I can now

hear and even feel the energy of existence in everything, it's coming from you too. It is...,

it is... the vibration of life..., don't you feel it? You know 'pranava'! You are supposed to

know it..., tell me more about it..."

"What are you talking about, son?" Brahma answered back impatiently, he was tired, it

had been a long day, a long life really, and kids nowadays... they were too vivacious he

thought.

"Skanda" he said, "You are barely dry behind the ears, and you could not even shoot a

deer..."

"But Brahma please" Skanda implored, "Come with me, let's go somewhere quiet, I want

you to hear it too." and Skanda led him into one of the small guard rooms, right next to

the main city gate. He closed the heavy wooden door, it would be quiet there, surely, and

then Brahma can maybe hear it too...

"Come on..." Brahma said, "what are you doing, shutting me up in this cell, telling me to

be quiet and listen to that silly hum of yours? What did you say it sounded like... hum...

om... or something???"

Then it happened, Brahma heard it too, "Gosh yes, I remember, and his face lit up, that's

how I felt when I was still young..."

Brahma became quiet and listened and felt..., "Wow that is good, Oom... Omm.... Om...

Hey Skanda... Skanda listen..."

But Skanda had quietly left the guard-room, closing the heavy doors, not knowing that

they locked shut behind him with a long echoing boom... ooom... oom.. om.

But I jumped ahead a little too far with the story, I wanted to tell you more about what

went through Skanda's mind while he was shaking from fear in the tree. What was it that

brought him to his sudden insight and freedom?

As much as the hunted deer ran away in fear from Skanda as much did Skanda

climb that tree in fear of the tiger.

While he was shuddering in the tree, he was also thinking, thinking deeply and at last he

said to himself: "How stupid of me, why am I plucking these leaves and breaking those

flower buds and throwing them to the ground? Am I not also troubling the tree? First it

was that innocent deer that I chased and now it is this tree that I'm hurting. Why am I

doing that... For the God's sake, it is protecting me from the tiger! Gosh, it's like I can

still hear the tiger's roar... No... it's worse, I can FEEL his roar in my body..."

Skanda tried to relax, he slowed down his breathing, "Aah..., another long deep breath.

Ah that's better, I can think again..." And then he thought about the flowers, many of

which he must have crushed. "Am I not robbing the blooms' honey from the bees! And

then, we also won't have honey for our sweets. The tree needs its leaves to grow and it

needs flowers for its fruit, and the bees need the honey to feed their queen and little ones,

and if the bees can't build their honey-combs, how can we ever collect enough wax to

stop our boats from leaking?

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And Skanda was thinking: "How different nature is: plants and birds and bees and fruit...

they have no fear, they don't hunt each other, nature does not operate that way, but we

humans, it is US that do that. Is it really human nature to do harm? No... it is that we

LOST our good nature that we are doing that...!"

"When Shiva learned about this, he came to help Brahma and questioned his little

boy's authority in imprisoning the creator of the universe. He even wondered if

his son really knew things about Om. The little boy was confident enough to tell

his father that if he also does not know its meaning, then, he could always learn it

from him as long as he asks him very politely like eager students who wishes to

learn from their master.

His father, Shiva, agreed to this. Like any obedient student, he seated himself

lower in front of Murugan and put one hand over his chest and another hand over

his mouth. [...] His little son then told him the secrets of the Om discretely by his

father's ears."

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Bottom left:

One person sits on a low stool while the other person sits on a throne of sorts...

Skanda (on the higher seat) has taken the place of Shiva (on the lower seat).

Top left:

According to the Sullivan Code it probably reads:

'nya-va-ma-an-ni' (r to l) or:

'ni-an-ma-va-nya' (l to r).

'nya' has to do with judging, validating, justice.

'niya' has to do with a 'low position' (lower seat?)

'vanya' wild animal

The following themes will be expanded upon as part of this chapter:

• Skanda's father Shiva, finds out that Brahma is locked-in in the guard room.

• He finds Skanda who now has to account for his actions.

• Skanda wonders if even Shiva know about 'omkara', 'pranava'.

• How can he explain it to him so that he also experiences it?

• He gets Shiva a drum and a gong...

• Shiva promises to be a good listener (student) even to his son.

• Skanda uses a drum to drive his point home.

• It so happens that the Sanskrit word 'pranava' is used to identify both OM as well as

the DRUM.

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Pranava: 'om', 'primal

sound', drum, droning,

trembling, drumming, as in

ear-drum. 'Dhran' the

etymological root for

'drone' - that typical sound

that a certain sitar-like

Indian instrument makes.

The English 'drum', 'drone', and the Dutch words 'dreunen', 'trommel' are derived from the

Sanskrit root DHRAN - to sound.

Skanda is beating a drum or... clanging a gong? (I have seen that in Shiva temples) And

Shiva his father is looking like he is enjoying the PRANAVA vibes!

“ka-nta-ma-ha-an”

"Skanda the Great"

102

Notes

103

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Dholavira and its Sign Board

Dholavira, a City to Feel Safe in

Figure 1

Dholavira - looking South - an artist's rendering.

The blue-green areas surrounding the town are part of an ingeniously constructed

rainwater harvesting system without which Dholavira would not have thrived in the

desert-like climate during part of the year.

The ancient city of Dholavira, dating back to 2500 BCE, covers about one hundred

hectares and was one of the largest inhabited cities in the Indus Valley. It was laid out

according to a rectangular plan with the streets mostly in grid-like patterns.

The city was divided into three parts. The citadel site and middle-town were constructed

with smoothly stuccoed sun-dried brick and stone masonry, whereas lower-town

consisted of simpler mud-wall habitations.

http://www.goldenageproject.org.uk/746.php

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Figure 2

Dholavira - looking North -

The citadel and middle-town were set-up with their own defence structures consisting of

thick brick walls, individually guarded gates, a densely built street and lane system, wells,

a sewage system, and one of the world’s earliest water collection systems. In addition to

large communal areas, the city also sported a stadium with one of the earliest well

organized seating arrangements.

The citadel was certainly the most impressive complex with its well-defensible double

ramparts. Situated next to the citadel (see map) is the 'bailey', the quarters of the city's

magistrate and officials.

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Figure 3

The citadel - a reconstruction.

Dholavira went through seven distinct evolutionary stages, from initial growth to

maturity to decline. After its social culture peaked, Dholavira was temporarily abandoned,

after which settlers returned with a markedly non-urban style of living.

The Archaeological Survey of India started excavations in 1967 but it is only since 1990

that the sites have been more systematically excavated. Artefacts found include terracotta

pottery, beads, gold and copper ornaments, seals, fish hooks, animal figurines, tools, urns,

and some imported vessels that indicate trade links with lands as far away as

Mesopotamia.

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Figure 4

The 'Dholavira Sign Board'

The signs as found, and a possible reconstruction of its original set-up.

The signboard reads from right to left:

'ash-ra-ra-a-ka-aksha-ra-nga-pu-ra'

Which, according to the Sullivan Code can be read as:

'ashra raksha rangpura'

Translated it says:

"(under) the shelter (and) protection (of) Rangpura"

The signs in the above formation were discovered in one of the side rooms of the

northern gateway to the city.

It is generally hypothesized that rectangular pieces of gypsum rock were inlaid or

attached to a wooden board that was about 3 meter long, and that it , when it was in use,

was displayed in a prominent place to be in clear view of visitors to the city. The signs

which are about 37 cm in size, made of rectangular pieces of gypsum forming ten large

symbols. At some point, the board must have been stored after which the wooden panel

decayed, fortunately the arrangement of the signs did survive.

The Signs

Identification

Before we get into an interpretation and possible translation of this signboard, let's first

identify the signs. The sequence of signs is read from right to left:

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• crab shape,

• wheel (six-spoked)

• wheel

• vertical stroke,

• X shape,

• diamond shape,

• wheel (six-spoked)

• quatrefoil leaf,

• board on a post,

• wheel (six-spoked)

Phoneme sound and meaning:

• Crab: 'ash' - Skt. 'ashta' - can mean 'eight'. Think of an eight-legged crustacean.

• Wheel: 'ra' - as in Skt. 'rathah' (car) - can mean 'heat, light'. Think of rotary or

radiance.

• Wheel: 'ra'.

• Vertical stroke | : 'a' - a diacritical mark which can also mean Shiva. Think of 1st

letter of the alphabet.

• X shape: 'ka' - the Skt. 'kaa' means pleasure or love. Think of the Kama Sutra.

• Diamond or O: 'aksha' - Skt. 'aksha' (eye) can mean 'eye, soul, overseeing, scope'.

Think of scOpe.

• Wheel: 'ra'.

• Quatrefoil: 'nga' - can mean linking or branching or ancestral connections. Think of

juNCtion or genetic linking.

• Horizontal board on a post: 'pu' - can mean clean, pure. Think of pure or the Greek

letter pi.

• Wheel: 'ra'.

Altogether Now

'ash-ra-ra-a-ka-aksha-ra-nga-pu-ra'

Interpretation

Having already found (shown in previous slides) that the people of the Harappan Culture

(IVC) liked double meanings, it is clear that they loved puns and wordplay, showing that

they were by no means lacking erudition, and that they didn't underestimate each other's

intelligence.

I have already documented a few instances of intended use of double meanings ('double

entendre') appearing in Harappan Culture textual inscriptions and story-like depictions.

Why Multiple Meanings?

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The Indus Valley people were quite used to multiple meanings.

It shows up in:

• The principle of using pictographs expressing sounds that represent things and ideas,

• The basic idea of having animals expressing virtuous or vicious characteristics, e.g.

respectively the peacock or the asura bull,

• The use of multiple animal features making up one composite creature thereby

expressing multiple qualities or characteristics,

• The depiction on a number of seals of one animal with two or three heads

symbolically standing for two or more multiple heroes or gods,

• A circular seal with six animal heads radiating from its centre, telling the story of the

Gods' gifts of various animals to Skanda while also equating Skanda's powers with

those animals' characteristics,

• Having land animals serve as sky-flying 'vahanas' or vehicles,

• A chart pulled by horses to represent the course of the sun across the firmament,

• The double meaning of some sign sequences on at least two seals and two oblong

tablets.

This may look quite complex so it is good to keep 'Occam's Razor' in mind. On the other

hand, what may look complex to us nowadays, might have been self-evident in the days

of yore.

Multiple Meanings on The Sign Board

Meaning 1

'ashra' - shelter,

'raksha' - protection, defence,

Meaning 2

'ash-ra-ra' and Sarasvati.

Catherine Ludvík in her book 'Sarasvatī, Riverine goddess of knowledge' wrote about the

river Sarasvati:

"...Seven-sistered (saptasvasvar) Sarasvatī […] the divine one from amongst the

rivers (ASURYA nadinam)."

'Ashrara' could refer to 'aSurya nadinam', the river Goddess Sarasvati.

'Ash' means actually 'eight' and in fact there were originally eight rivers in the delta, one

of which after a break in a massive ice-dam at Paonta Sahib, M.P. became part of the

Ganges river system. (After it was originally part of the Indus river system.)

Meaning 3

'ra-ra' and Ravi - the two wheel signs.

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The name 'Ravi' is usually inscribed (on well over a forty seals) as 'ra' (the wheel) and 'vi'

(two short vertical strokes), 'vi' though also means 2.

So it looks like this wordplay (or is it sign play?) is representing Ravi as two wheels.

Additionally, the two wheel signs are followed by one long vertical stroke which stands

for 'A', which is one of Shiva's one thousand names, thus underscoring the reference

Ravi/Shiva.

Preparing for a Viable Translation

• 'ashra raksha'

The first half of the signboard: 'ashra' (shelter) and 'raksha' (protection or defence), has

already been dealt with.

The city clearly was a defence post, the city's citadel signifies that function quite well.

• 'ra-nga-pu-ra'

These final four signs have been identified by S.M. Sullivan as 'Rangapura', which name

even nowadays appears as the full name or part of the name of at least thirteen Indian or

Pakistani towns or villages. Four of these can be found in the Indus Valley alone close to

excavation sites (e.g. Lothal, Somnath).

Ranga or Ranganātha is a Hindu deity, more well known in South India. The deity is a

resting form of Lord Vishnu, one of the foremost of Hindu Gods.

'Rangapura' can of course still be further translated as 'royal city', but in the Harappan

Culture days, 'royal' did not apply. Nowadays we might translate it as district capital,

township, or community, which would make sense, as 'nga' stands for 'genetic linkages'

in tribal groupings or clans. (By the way the words 'kin, kinship, king, genes', etc. derive

from the same Sanskrit root that 'nga' comes from: 'GAN', which means 'carnal

knowledge' - knowing each other intimately: intercourse!!)

Translation of the Dholavira Sign Board

'ash-ra-ra-a-ka-aksha-ra-nga-pu-ra'

"ashra raksha rangapura":

"(Under) the shelter (and) protection (of) Rangapura"

Appendix, Somewhat Technical

The two central signs on the sign board (the X and the diamond shape) 'ka-aksha' may

add some additional meaning.

110

As said above, the X shape: 'ka' simply means pleasure or love, so if | (the vertical stroke)

is interpreted as Shiva, 'ka' could also mean 'beloved’ or even ‘benevolent', and the

diamond shape 'aksha' can mean eye, soul, overseeing, scope.

As to the diamond shape 'aksha' and its meaning of eye, vision or scope, that deserves

some closer attention.

First notice that both 'aksha' and 'scope' contain the consonants 's and k', then notice also

that 'scope' has to do with the 'eye' and 'seeing; and 'vision'.

When I first realized that, a word came to mind that I learned a long time ago when I was

taking Latin classes and reading Julius Caesar's 'De Bello Gallico' (The Celtic War). In

one of the lessons my teacher explained that the word 'episcopus' (usually is translated as

'bishop') initially did not have a religious meaning at all, it was a profession, a function.

We would nowadays call a person with such a function a 'CEO' but in those days such a

person was an 'episcopus', an overseer or supervisor. The word comes from the Greek

'episkopein', to oversee. The Roman 'episcopus' was originally an overseer, an 'akshan' in

the Indus Valley terms, an administrative functionary, overseeing imperial building

projects such as administrative buildings, temples, forts, etc.

The inclusion of this sign has possibly much to do with the centralized overseeing

function of Dholavira as it was at one point the largest city in the Indus Valley and likely

the seat of a major administrator.

111

Notes

http://asi.nic.in/asi_exca_2007_dholavira.asp

http://www.goldenageproject.org.uk/267dholivera.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Bj1yUD7dnKs#!

Rangapura vihara by M.S.Subbulakshmi - devoted to Subrahmanya (Kumara/Skanda)

Kriti: http://vimeo.com/29306867

Lyrics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangapura_Vihara#Meaning

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The First Found Indus Seal, Harappa 1872

Seal and Drawing

Figure 1 ****

Top:

Found by Major General Clark in 1872

Bottom left:

A hand-drawn copy, probably from 1875.

Bottom center:

In order to find the differences between the hand-drawing and the terracotta seal, I

overlaid the drawing on the picture of the seal.

Bottom right:

Real size: 2.5 x 2.5 cm. or 1 x 1 inch.

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The Drawing and the Seal, Discrepancies

It is interesting that:

• the drawing is rectangular rather than square,

• the drawn bottom edge is not accurate,

• the hind right leg is shown in the drawing, instead of the left one,

• a clear star is drawn rather than five dots

• the bottom of the legs are not showing on the drawing.

All of the above leads to the conclusion that this particular drawing must be an incorrect

copy of a possible more original drawing.

Decipherment and Translation

According to the Sullivan Code this seal reads:

'ra-vi-ma-da-va-an,’, 'ravima davan' and/or 'ravi madavan'

which can be translated as:

'Ravi's flame' (Ravi is of course Surya* - the solar deity.)

and/or

'Ravi - great provider' (heat, life-energy)

"Foreign to India ", but Indigenous to the Indus Valley

This artefact was reported by Sir Alexander Cunningham in 1872-3 or in 1875, in which

report he detailed that this flat piece of "dark brown jasper" was "a most curious object"

and "foreign to India", and showed "two stars" under the neck of a "bull without a hump".

It seems to me that Cunningham had not made or seen this particular drawing.

'The First Seal', Remarkable but not Rare at all

Curiously, the first three graphemes (from right to left) on this seal, are found together on

at least 39 other seals and typically this particular group is followed by different groups

of 3 graphemes which in translation appear to function as adjectives.

(See also M-453ab.)

This earliest discovered Indus seal remained rare only until many more seals with almost

identical inscriptions were found decades later.

It is remarkable that this first found seal already contained the clues that lead S.M.

Sullivan to the Indus script's conclusive decipherment and interpretation. (Even

Cunningham's mistaken star-identification contained some truth... as will be shown later

in this piece**.)

The Animals and the 39 seals

Although there are 39 seals that contain virtually identical textual signs, they feature quite

a variety of animals: 19 unicorn bulls, 3 elephants, 2 two-horned bulls, 2 tigers, 3 zebus,

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1 rhino. In addition there are 6 oblong tablets without animals, and 3 fragments not

showing their animals.

We can conclude from that, that the inscriptions and the specific animal depictions are

not related.

Distribution

The distribution of these 39 seals was across all of the Indus Valley.:

• Mohenjo Daro: 25

• Jhukar: 1 (nearby Mohenjo Daro)

• Harappa: 6

• Lothal: 3

• Unknown: 4

Important Findings Inspired by this Seal

1. The word 'ravi' is formed with two graphemes: in this case a variant of the 'six-

spoked wheel' (Sullivan's 'ra' phoneme) and 'two short vertical strokes' (Sullivan's 'vi'

phoneme).

There are 280 seals in S. M. Sullivan's "Indus Script Dictionary" that contain the

word 'ravi'. That is one-fifth of the 1380 seals that she deciphered and translated***.

2. The word 'ra' standing on its own or as part of a sequence of signs but referring to 'ra'

as a radiant solar entity (the six-spoked circle) appears on an additional 39 seals.

3. The word 'surya' appears just once in Sullivan's collection of 1380 seals, but... as a

'dvandva' construction with the word 'rabi' ('ravi'), indicating that 'ravi' and 'surya'

are considered to be synonyms. (Seal Lothal 29, I.S.D. page 208.)

It can be concluded from this that the Indus Valley Civilization had a solar-entity (if not a

solar-deity) centered world view.

Sullivan Code

It is well-known that most 'reasonably sophisticated' civilizations of the past had a

religious worldview that was sun-centered:

Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and the Roman Empire to some extent, the Mayan and Inca

cultures. (I am not familiar enough with ancient China.)

Thus, to assume that the Indus Valley Civilization's world-view might also be sun-

centered seems reasonable, it was after all sophisticated enough.

However, if it were not for Sullivan's decipherment, that would just be an inspired guess

or wishful thinking.

To have 319 out of 1380 (close to one quarter) of the seals featuring deciphered

graphemes that testify of a solar entity though, that, in my opinion, is convincing.

(It also convinces me, but I have to concede that it is a circular argument, that the

Sullivan code is therefore correct.)

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Notes

* Etymologically the English word 'sun', via the Latin 'sol', may be related to 'surya'.

(Linguistically, the 'r' often turns into an 'l'.)

** After all, the Sun - Surya is a star.

*** At last count, the "Indus Script Dictionary" covers 1380 deciphered and translated

seals.

****

https://www.google.com/search?q=unicorn+indus+seal&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X

&ei=y5GaU8D5HcH4oASAyYLIDw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1142&bih=674