Hoe symbol shows the ‘seed sowing’ ritual of the Smasana-cayana ceremony.

Abstract:

‘Seed sowing’ was part of the Hindu funeral ceremony. The next day after the cremation of a corpse, the remaining embers are quenched by pouring milk and water by the eldest son. Later, he collects the left-over bone pieces in an urn. And this ritual is followed by the seed sowing ceremony. Indus seal inscriptions show this ceremony by drawing a ‘Hoe’ symbol.

Seal picture courtesy – (1)

The above given Indus seal shows a ploughing ceremony conducted in the Indus valley period. This is the only seal, which shows the plough symbol; other seal inscriptions only show the hoe.

There are two possibilities, and one ploughing ceremony is related to the beginning of the sowing season, inaugurated by Kings (2). The second ploughing ceremony relates to being part of the Smasana-cayana ritual (or) Agnicayana ceremony.

Seal pictures courtesy- Book of Sue Sullivan – (1)

The above-given seal picture shows a ‘hoe’ like instrument, which may relate to the ploughing ceremony discussed here. The ‘Hoe symbol’ was first identified by Iravatham Mahadevan. (3)

Smasana –cayana ceremony

The article maintained by the website Sanathana Dharma.com explains that the funeral party goes to the field site early in the morning selected for the purpose. The spot must be cleared and surrounded by a rope supported by wood stakes. Its surface should be covered with small stones. On the ground, furrows are opened with a plough drawn by six or more oxen and various seeds are cast into the soil. (4)

Picture courtesy -Jithesh -Athirathram (5)

The above-said ritual of ploughing the Smasana-cayana site is also supported by the narrations and photograph given on the website –Athirathram (5). See the above-given picture; people are ploughing the ritual site manually without using the bulls.

In the above-given seal inscription, the ‘hoe’ symbol is followed by a seedling symbol. The hoe symbol occurs 35 times as per the database maintained by Mahadevan and Sundar. (3) (6)

Symbol pair	Frequency of occurrence
	29 times

One important finding is that the above-given symbol pair occurs 29 times, and this is the only pairing of the hoe symbol; it does not pair with any other logo. This combination shows that the hoe ritual is associated with the growing seedling ceremony.

Gillian Evison

Gillian Evison of oxford university had given a detailed account in his doctoral thesis on various ceremonies associated with death in India. This doctoral thesis was submitted in the year 1989. (7) Gillian states the Yadava community and Vaishnavaite brahmin community of South India follow the seed sowing ceremony.

Gillian explains that the chief mourner makes a miniature plough and ploughs the spot where the body is cremated, planting nine different seeds. Then they regularly water the seeds to encourage germination.

No explanation for the ploughing of the cremation site and the planting of seeds is available in the ritual books of Hinduism. In Vedic ritual, the mantra accompanying the cooling of the cemetery states that the plants burnt by Agni are sown anew by the chief mourner, and the South Indian practice of planting seeds may represent a survival of an element of the Vedic ritual. (7)

The biggest fear of any Hindu is that his beloved becomes a ghost after death. All the funeral ceremonies are oriented towards preventing this tragedy—the planting of seeds is one such tradition to avoid the Atma (soul) from becoming a ghost. The germination of seeds assures the mourner that the dead person is born again as a seeding. Otherwise, also, It could have indicated the growth of an embryo in a new womb.

Another critical point to note here is that I have already said that Indus seals and scripts revolve around funeral ceremonies. This hoe symbol further strengthens my earlier observation.

Acknowledgements

1. All pictures of Indus seals are taken from the book of sue Sullivan. (8)

2. All logos are taken from the research papers of Iravatham Mahadevan, Asko Parpola. (9)

3. All the data is extracted from the research papers of Mahadevan and Sundar. (3) (6) (10)

Bibliography

1. Sullivan, Sue. The Indus script dictionary. s.l. : Suzanne Redalia (Publisher), 2011.

2. wikipedia(Ploughing_Ceremony). Royal_Ploughing_Ceremony. wikipedia.org. [Online] 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Ploughing_Ceremony.

3. Mahadevan, Iravatham. Research papers of I.Mahadevan. http://203.124.120.60/wordpress/. [Online] 2015. http://203.124.120.60/wordpress/?page_id=1044.

4. salagram.net. antyesti-ceremonies-functions. www.salagram.net. [Online] 2016. http://www.salagram.net/antyesti-ceremonies-functions.htm.

5. Jithesh. photos/athirathram/. www.flickr.com. [Online] 2016. https://www.flickr.com/photos/athirathram/.

6. 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.

7. Evison, Gillian. Indian death rituals: enactment of ambivalence. Oxford University : D.Phil thesis, 1989.

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

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

10. 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.