Dakshinamurthi and Proto Shiva seal
Dakshinamurthi and ‘Proto-Shiva’ seal
Abstract
Who is the god depicted in the ‘proto-shiva; seal? There is a big difference of opinion on this issue. I believe that the god depicted in the Indus seal was ‘Brahma’; however, Shiva has replaced Brahma over time. Hence, there is nothing wrong with calling him ‘Proto-shiva’.
God Dakshinamurthi.
Picture courtesy – Wikipedia. (1)
Dakshinamurthi is generally shown with four arms and depicted as seated under a banyan tree facing the south. He is placed upon a deer throne and surrounded by sages who receive his instruction. Sometimes even wild animals are depicted surrounding Dakshinamurthi. (1) Earlier, Dakshinamurthi was a separate god but later identified with the god Shiva.
Figure 1: Sky map showing the Orion constellation
Picture courtesy – Wikipedia
I think the Orion constellation is only being worshipped as the god Dakshinamurthi. This constellation is located south of the ecliptical pathway, the pathway of the Sun, Moon and all the planets. Further, the southern side position of Dakshinamurthi coincides with the Orion constellation’s place in the sky’s southern hemisphere. The name “Dakshina-Murthy” itself means “southern god”.The basic visualization of Hindu priests is that all the celestial gods (Planets) pass through a pathway (ecliptic pathway), which is the central axis of the Hindu temple. In this scheme, Dakshina-Murthy is a minor god on the southern sidewall of the temple.
The relevance of this discussion about Dakshinamurthi is that the ‘Proto-Shiva’ seal corresponds with this god Dakshinamurthi in all aspects. For ready reference, details about the proto-Shiva seal are produced below.
Indus seal showing ‘Proto-Shiva’/ Brahma/Dakshinamurthi/Sastha
Orion constellation and surrounding animals
Proto-Shiva seal
The god shown in the seal is “Proto-Shiva”, as per the observations of Harappan historians. He wears the buffalo horns as his headgear, the characteristic emblem of all Harappan gods. He is also known as Mrigashira (Pasupathi) (Orion), and the lunar constellation is named after him. If you take a close look at that constellation in the sky map, the position of the tiger tallies precisely the way it is represented in the seal.
Other animals depicted in the seal had to be visualized with difficulty, but all the animal constellations surround him, as illustrated in the seal. Even minute points of the constellations are also depicted naturally in the seal. For example, there is a sign of a man standing near the back of a tiger; there are a small constellation called puppies (modern name) (i.e. Little dog).
The puppies constellation gives the appearance of a little man standing over the tiger’s back, as depicted in the seal. This little man symbol brings to my mind the idea of “Lord Ayyappan“. It is a fantastic achievement that the constellations are so beautifully depicted; ordinary people cannot achieve this accuracy. It is the work of intelligent people.
Proto-Shiva had been depicted with four faces because he could see everything happening in this world because of his topmost position in the sky. He was the god of moral value and punisher of immoral people because he could watch all actions of people day and night on earth because of his position in a high observation point in heaven and all-seeing four/three heads. He can be identified with latter-day Shamash (Sumeria) and Brahma (of India). It is highly logical to correlate this four-headed god to Brahma because of the four heads. It is seen that in some temple statues, Dakshinamurthi is depicted with four heads.
Further, Brahma is considered a creator god who created all animals and human beings. Creative myth is associated with Brahma in India. All animals surround him, further consolidating this creative power of Brahma. Brahma is also considered an intellectual god, the author of the four Vedas. All these above said characteristics of Brahma tallies with attributes of Dakshinamurthi.
It looks like Shiva had effectively replaced Brahma (or), Dakshinamurthi in all spheres of life. It is relevant to note that there is a myth that Shiva pinched one head of Brahma to show his power over Brahma. The overriding replacement of power is attested by the fact that no temple for Brahma exists in India today, except for one at Pushkar in Rajasthan. These observations show that Brahma has been sidelined by Shiva and relegated to the inferior position at the southern sidewall of Garbha Graha of Shiva temples.
The conclusion is that the god depicted in the Indus seal could be Brahma (Dakshinamurthi). According to modern Hindu priests’ ideas, modern-day Dakshinamurthi is another aspect of Shiva. That means the original Brahma constellation has been transformed into the Shiva constellation. But, I think the god depicted in this seal should be considered Brahma, who exists as Dakshinamurthi in the modern Hindu pantheon.
Brahma is an old-time god and has been replaced by many other new upcoming gods. One important phenomenon to be remembered is that in Hindu mythology, one god is replaced by another god (because of conquest by a new invader or ruler). The new god is given all attributes of the old god, whom he had replaced.
From the above-given analysis, it can be presumed that ‘Brahma/Dakshinamurthi’ was one of the prime gods of the IVC people, replaced by ‘Shiva’. Shiva is a later-day god; I have identified him with the Sumerian god ‘Enlil.’ Read my article, ‘mountain symbol could be indicating land of the dead’, for more information. (2) Because of this replacement phenomenon, Brahma was relegated backstage, and Shiva took over those powers. Shiva reigns supreme today.
Sastha
In addition to the above gods, there is one more contender for this Orion constellation: Shasta. Sastha is the name of a Hindu deity in India. Shasta is a generic Sanskrit term for a teacher. In South India, Shasta is attested in Tamil Nadu from the 3rd century C.E. He is identified with various deities like Ayyanar, Ayyappa and Skanda. In Kerala, Dharmashastra refers to Ayyappa, whereas Brahma-Shasta is Skanda. Read my article,’ Ayyappan and Ayyanar -difference explained’, for more information. (2)
Even though the Wikipedia article on Ayyappan says that ‘Sastha’ means ‘teacher’, this idea is not attested by Sanskrit dictionaries. The word is likely derived from the word ‘Zakhastha’, which means ‘branch living god’. (3) This name ‘Zakhstha’ could have transformed into the word ‘Sastha’ today. Note the similarity between Sastha and Dakshinamurthi; both are intellectual gods and were known as teachers.
Figure 2: Picture of the new copper plate from Pakistan.
Picture courtesy — (4)
The above-given seal is one of the five new copper plates found recently in Pakistan. (4) See the god figure shown in the figure above. The god has a ‘Mani’ (gem) on his neck. That is the specific identification mark for the god Ayyapan (Kerala). Because of this identification, he is still called Manikanda (God with a gem on his neck). (2) Most probably, the word gem indicates the Dog Star (Sirius) (Canis Major). For more details, refer to pages 29 and 30 of my book, New Interpretations on IVC. (5)
Ayyappa is also called Dharma Sastha. Dharma Sastha is the god of judgment (Ayyappan). In contrast, the Brahma Sastha is Rudra or Muruga (skanda). Skanda is the gatekeeper god and messenger of the ‘god of death’ (Mahakala/Shiva/Yama/Varuna). Hence the differentiation between Dharma Sastha and Brahma Sastha is correct.
Another critical feature of these IVC gods is that they are depicted with a tree in the background. If you carefully observe the details in the copper plate from Pakistan, it can be seen that the tree is shown in the background with few leaves.
The conclusion is that all these gods, Brahma/ Mrighashira/ Dakshinamurthi, are all the same as far as the Orion constellation is concerned. The only difference is that different names are used for Orion in different periods. I have verified the Dakshinamurthi statues in many temples; he is always depicted with a tree in his background.
Bibliography
1. Wikipedia(Dakshinamurthi). Dakshinamurthi. wikipedia. [Online] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakshinamurthy.
2. jeyakumar(mountain-symbol). Mountain_symbol_indicates_Death_God. academia.edu. [Online] 2015. https://www.academia.edu/19142411/Mountain_symbol_indicates_Death_God.
3. Jeyakumar(Ayyappan). Ayyappan_and_Ayyanar -difference explained. Academia.edu. [Online] 2018. https://www.academia.edu/31640471/Difference_between_Ayyappan_and_Ayyanar.
4. Jeyakumar(Sastha). Branch_symbol_indicates_the_word_Sastha. academia.edu. [Online] 2016. https://www.academia.edu/31658123/Branch_symbol_indicates_the_word_Sastha..
5. Shinde, V and Willis, R.J. Ancient-asia-journal.com/article/view. Ancient Asia journal.com. [Online] 8 October 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/aa.12317.
6. Jeyakumar(Book). New interpretations on Indus Valley civilization. Chennai : Alright Publications, 2009.