Fire Stick Symbol

Firestick symbol indicates ‘Arani sticks’ of Vedic Yajna.

The above-given symbol indicates the ‘fire sticks’ (Arani sticks) used to ignite the fire in Vedic Yajna. This fire stick symbol always occurs in conjunction with the ‘Grihapathya Yajna’ symbol, and the ‘Smasana-cayana Yajna’symbol, which indicates that this combination yields some meaning, which is very specific and common in usage. This symbol is made of two sticks, one long stick and another short one. It gives the idea of ‘Arani sticks’ (fire sticks) used in ‘Vedic fire ritual’, which are used to ignite the first fire of a Vedic Yajna. The word ‘Yajna’ precisely suits this symbol. All these symbols in combination or on individual basis convey the idea of a Yajna.

Variants of Firesticks

The above-given picture shows the variants of fire stick symbol. These graphemes are taken from the ‘book of concordance’ by Iravatham Mahadevan. In addition to that, the quotation mark also stands for the word ‘Yajna’. The quotation mark is the most widely used variant of the yajna symbol; it occurs 649 times as per the data provided by Mahadevan (1) and Sundar. (2)

In addition to that single stroke also indicates the word ‘Yajna’ as shown in the above-given seal.

The above-given seal shows the word ‘Grihapathya’ sacrifice (Chakra-symbol) followed by Yajna symbol (Quotation mark).

The above-given seal shows the Smasana-cayana symbol (Diamond shape) followed by yajna symbol. This combination is the most prolific pair of symbols used in Indus seal inscription, 291 times, as per the database of Mahadevan and Sundar.

Frequency analysis of Indus symbols

Indus symbol

Frequency of

occurrence

649

193

The data shown above is from the research papers of Mahadevan and Sundar. This quotation mark is the second most prolifically used symbol, used 649 times. The logo, which had been used most prolifically is the ‘Kau’ symbol which had been used 1395 times. (1) (2)

Symbols pair

frequency

Reading of the inscription

Frequency of the pair in the initial position of inscription. All the pairs are occurring in the initial position, exceptions those pairs which are specifically mentioned below.

291

Smasana -cayana Yajna

254

83

Grihapatya Yajna

73

54

Kedaga Yajna

54

44

Yama Yajna

37

24

Grihapatya yajna

22

23

Karkida Yajna

19

18

Sastha Yajna

18 – occurring in the middle position. This reading of ‘Sastha yajna’ is incomplete because some god’s name will precede this symbol pair.

18

Ammit (crocodile) -Yajna

16 – occurring in the middle position

16

Honeycomb Yajna

16 -occurring in the middle position

14

Grihapatya Yajna

12 – occurring in the middle position

13

Pithru Yajna

11 – occurring in the middle position

10

Grihapatya Yajna

10 – all occurring in the initial position

10

Samidha Yajna

10 – all occurring in the middle position

This above-given data is extracted out from the research work of Iravatham Mahadevan and Sundar (1) (2)

This above-given data shows that the Yajna symbol combines very well with various types of Yajna. Another important finding is that all these Yajna mentions are at the beginning of the seal inscription. It is a meaningful correlation.

Acknowledgements

1. All pictures of Indus seals are taken from the book of sue Sullivan (3)

2. All logos are taken from the research papers of Iravatham Mahadevan, Asko Parpola (4) and Sundar

Bibliography

1. Mahadevan.I. The Indus script -Text, Concordance and Tables. http://www.rmrl.in. [Online] http://www.rmrl.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/papers/5a.pdf.

2. Sundar. -The-Indus-Script-Text-and-Context.pdf. http://45.113.136.87/wp-content/uploads/. [Online] http://45.113.136.87/wp-content/uploads/43-The-Indus-Script-Text-and-Context.pdf.

3. Sullivan, Sue,. Indus script dictionary. 2011.

4. Parpola, Asko. Deciphering the Indus Script. New Delhi : Cambridge University Press, 2000.