Sanskrit influence on the Indus script

Abstract

There are conflicting ideas on the issue of the language of the Indus script. Some linguists believe it was based on Indo European language; another group claims it was based on the Dravidian language. My finding shows that the Indus script was a composite language consisting of IE language and Egyptian hieroglyphics. The influence of hieroglyphics, I call a Dravidian component.

My decipherment effort so far reveals that many Indus symbols resemble Egyptian hieroglyphs, and there is a close connection between these two writing systems. The Egyptian priests and scribes were likely to have contributed to the development of the Indus script along with Sumerian priests and Vedic priests. The Indus symbols show a composite culture of all these three great civilizations. It was a composite culture 3500 years back, but scholars are unnecessarily quarrelling over that legacy as Aryan and Dravidian civilizations. Read my paper Egyptian hieroglyphic influence on Indus script for more information. The influence of Egyptian hieroglyphics, I call the Dravidian component of Indus script.

Research work of Mahadevan

Iravatham Mahadevan has proposed interpreting the Indus script through Vedic literary evidence in his research paper dated 2015. Mahadevan states that even though the Indus scripts belong to the Dravidian language, they could be better read through the evidence available in the Vedic literature. The Dravidian ideas had declined after the entry of Indo-European people into the Indus valley, and the ideas of the Indus script cannot be read through the present-day Tamil language. After years of interpreting Indus symbols based on Dravidian ideas; finally, Mahadevan has taken a reconciliatory approach in the year 2015.

Mahadevan states that the incoming Aryans had not entirely wiped out the Dravidian ideas because the invaders were not in large numbers. They probably entered the Indian subcontinent in small bands over many years. Not a massive invasion.

Mahadevan theorizes that the Aryan-speaking people migrated into South Asia in the second millennium BC in the wake of the decline and the eventual collapse of the Indus Civilization. By then, the Indus polity could have disintegrated into numerous smaller communities without effective central authority or leadership. The incoming Aryans were much fewer in numbers but could achieve elite dominance over the local population due to their better mobility and advanced weaponry. (1)

Mahadevan suggests that some segments of the Indus population, unwilling to be assimilated into the new social order, might have migrated eastward and southward. But the majority of the people would have stayed back in the Indus Valley itself. And with time, the local population would have switched over to the dominant Aryan speech. Thus, was born the Indo-Aryan society, speaking the Indo-Aryan language, but retaining much of the Pre-Aryan Dravidian cultural elements in religious practices, agriculture, craft traditions and social institutions. (1)

Mahadevan suggests that it is crucial to recognize that Vedic and the earliest Tamil cultures as two different parallels, which flourished in regions and in time far removed from each other with no possibility of mutual influence. Any common feature found between the Vedic and Old Tamil can only be traced to their common descent from the same source, namely, the Indus Civilization (1). I fully agree with the view suggested by Mahadevan; it is a moderate view and reasonably explains the Aryan and Dravidian conflict issue.

Cyberwar

In 2009, Rajesh Rao published a study that examined the sequential structure of the Indus script, or how likely it is that particular symbols follow or precede other signs (2). In most linguistic systems, words or symbols follow each other in a semi-predictable manner. There are specific dictating sentence structures but also a fair amount of flexibility. Researchers call this semi-predictability “conditional entropy.” Rajesh Rao and his colleagues calculated how likely one symbol followed another in an intentional order (3).

They compared the conditional entropy of the Indus script to known linguistic systems, like Vedic Sanskrit, and known non-linguistic systems, like human DNA sequences, and found that the Indus script was much more similar to the linguistic systems. Rao states that it is not proof that the symbols are encoding a language, but it is additional evidence hinting that these symbols are not just random contact and the pairing of arbitrary signs. Rao further states that the Indus script follows patterns consistent with the characters coding a language” (3).

But not everyone agrees that the script is a language. In 2004, a paper written by Steve Farmer, Richard Sproat, and Michael Witzel claimed that the Indus script was not a language (4).

Another challenge to the script’s decipherment is a classic one: money. Wells believes that until universities and funding agencies make a concerted effort to foster the study of the Indus script, little headway will be made. “It has to be a cooperative effort, it has to be funded, and it has to have a home,” says Wells (3) (5). Bryan Wells has accurately pointed out the problem with Indus script research. It is not because of intellectual deficiency on the part of Indians that the Indus script remains undeciphered. But it is because of a lack of funding for this research. If enough funds are made available to some research group, this Indus code can be easily broken.

Indus script had remained undeciphered for a long time. There are some valid reasons for that. The Indus Valley civilization flourished quite a long time back, approximately 4000 years back. The time gap is enormous, and modern-day man cannot visualize the context in which these seals were prepared and what is written over those seals. The earliest Indus archaeologists made the fundamental mistake of identifying these excavation sites as “Megapolises“, whereas, in reality, they were “Necropolises”. This fundamental mistake made it difficult to determine and recognize the role of seals and their inscriptions. (Jeyakumar(Necropolis-Theory), 2014)

The Indus seals show characteristics of the priestly way of writing. The purpose of the seals seems to be magic, mysticism and animal sacrifice. The words are written in such a way that the ordinary person will not understand, but another priest could read the inscription. This way of writing could have given priests extraordinary powers, and they could have claimed that the words were magical and had supernatural power.

Absence of Rosetta stone

There are many decipherments of Indus seal inscriptions, some are based on the Dravidian language, and others are based on the Aryan language. But, none of the decipherers can prove anything convincingly because there is no reference point. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics code was broken using the tri-lingual inscription made on ‘The Rosetta stone. But there are no such bilingual records available in the case of Indus scripts so far. After working on this issue for many years, I find that the Indus script follows the hieroglyphic way of writing, and many symbols are common to both scripts. So, the argument of the ‘absence of rosetta stone’ is no longer applicable.

The lack of a bilingual text is not an insurmountable obstacle; some scripts have been deciphered without them. Ugarit script writings were found in Syria (in 1929). Several words were only a single letter long, suggesting the Ugarit script used a consonantal alphabet written without vowels (as was the case with other early Semitic alphabets such as Hebrew). Applying letter frequency analysis to the problem, Hans Bauer tentatively assigned values to two Ugarit script letters, which were commonly used. Bauer then used the assignments to search the texts for the expected Semitic word for “king”. Proceeding along these lines, he found the words for “son” and the god “Baal” name, and so eventually determined the values of several other letters. My experience with the Indus script is also on similar lines (6).

Commonly used symbols identified

The first symbol to be recognized by me was the “fish” symbol ‘’ (Matsya), which stood for the “Ma” sound as well as the concept of the soul of a dead man (Pithru/Manes/ancestor) (7). The second symbol identified was the ‘Kavu’ symbol, which stood for the idea of ‘Sacrifice’ (8). These two symbols were the most frequently used symbols in Indus Script inscriptions. Identifying these two symbols gave me a breakthrough. The experience is much similar to that of Hans Bauer. (6)

The direction of reading the inscriptions

Another major problem in reading the Indus inscriptions is the direction from which the inscription should be read. There are many ways of writing, from Left to right, (or) right to left (or) the boustrophedon way of writing. While reading the Indus inscription, the reading should start from the side that the animal is facing. This way of writing was the primary convention used by the Egyptian hieroglyphic writers; the same had been followed meticulously by Indus scribes. This feature shows the cultural influence of ancient Egyptian civilization on the Indus civilization.

Indus inscriptions are written in an ‘Ideogram’ (Idea) way

Logograms are visual symbols representing words rather than the sounds or phonemes that make up the word. It is relatively easier to remember or guess the meaning of logograms, while it might be somewhat harder to remember or imagine the sound of alphabetically written words. Modern examples of logograms include the pictorial representation of toilets of “Ladies” and “Gents” by simply showing the picture of a “Woman” or “Man” in an AirPort or a Public place. The idea of “Gents’ Toilet” or “Lady’s Toilet” is expressed through pictures instead of written letters, which is more convenient and practical in a multilingual situation. (9)

Decipherment efforts so far show that the Indus inscriptions are written mainly in the ‘Ideogram‘ way. However, a few cases of a ‘logosyllabic way of writing also exist. The best example is the word ‘Pithru-Karma’, which is frequently used in Indus inscriptions. This word is written in an ‘ideographic way’ as well as a ‘logo-syllabic way’. Iravatham Mahadevan first advocated the ‘ideographic way’ of interpreting Indus Valley civilization symbols in 2014 (10). However, his idea that those symbols communicated trade transactions of the Dravidian people has not progressed much.

Sacrifice to satisfy souls of Pithrus (Ancestors)

Figure 1: Inscription is showing the words ‘Pithru Karma.’

Seal courtesy book of (Sullivan, 2011)

The majority of the seals are oriented towards the Pithru Karma ceremony. This finding substantiates my earlier theory that Indus excavation sites are burial grounds and not megapolises as popularly imagined so far.

Table 1: Pithru Karma

Ancestors (This symbol looks like an older man walking with a stick)	Upraised Hands–symbol with a fish symbol inside (composite symbol)	Yajna symbol. It looks similar to the modern Hindi full-stop symbol	Mountain	God with stick
Pithru	Ka+ma = Karma	Yajna	Indicates mountain god (or) Kur the nether world	Messenger God with the stick as his weapon

The Mountain symbol means the mountain god; most probably God Shiva (or) could be Enlil of Later Sumerians(or) any god of death like Varuna or Osiris. The second possibility for the mountain symbol is that it could have indicated the ‘Kur’, the nether world (11). The outcome of the analysis is that the inscription reads as ‘Pithru-Karma –mountain god(Kur)– messenger god’. It looks like that the ceremony was carried out to please the mountain god (god of death), and the sacrificial offerings were sent through the messenger god (12).

‘Pithru–Karma’ (13) means the annual death ceremony (Thithi) in which rituals are carried out with Yajna. Modern days “Fire sacrifices” are conducted with vegetarian sacrificial materials. But it looks like that in the olden days, an animal sacrifice was the main component of the “Yajna” ceremony.

It is relevant to note here that the upraised symbol indicates the ‘Ka’ (soul) of the dead person. The fish symbol inside the ‘ka’ symbol becomes a composite symbol with the syllable sound of ‘Karma’ (14). One crucial point to be noted here is that the word ‘Karma’ is written here in the Sanskrit language, not in a Dravidian language. The ‘Ma’ sound in the word ‘karma’ is given by the Sanskrit word ‘Matsya’ to the fish symbol. If it had been a Dravidian word, it would have become ‘Karmee’, which does not have any meaning. (The fish is called ‘Meen’ in the Dravidian language). This pictogram is the best example supporting my ‘Sanskrit theory’. This pictogram has been written in a logo-syllabic way.

Ritual recorded in the seal – Karkidaka Vavu

Karkida, the last month of the Malayalam calendar in July- August, has some religious significance for Hindus. Karkidaka Vavu Bali, also called Bali, is the sacrificial ritual performed in memory of the departed souls of ancestors. On the day of vavu or Amavasya (new moon day), people belonging to the Hindu religion gather on the riverbanks and beaches to offer ‘Bali’. Bali means sacrifice; in the olden days’ blood sacrifice would have been carried out, but nowadays, no blood sacrifices are performed; only vegetable materials are placed as offerings to gods. People believe that the departed souls attain `moksha (liberation) if the ritualistic homage is performed on Karkidaka vavu (15).

Men, women and children offer Bali to their ancestors. Thousands of people throng the beach on that day. Other ingredients of the Pooja are cooked rice, water, etc. All these materials will be placed on a banana leaf before commencing the ritual. Men wear only a dhoti during the ceremony, and the offerings are done on the banana leaf will be finally immersed in the waters of the sea (15).

Importance of Karkida Vavu Bali

Hindu customs give much importance to the rituals that are to be performed after death. According to the Hindu custom, if a family member dies, the younger ones in the family have to perform Bali (also called Pithru Tharpanam) to liberate the soul from the shackles of this worldly life to help the soul achieve eternal peace. The Bali carried out on Karkidaka Vavu day is called Vavu Bali, which is of great importance.

The regular custom is to perform the ritual based on the calculations on the star of the day the family member has died. However, Karkidaka Vavu Bali is performed regardless of these calculations. The rites are conducted as per the Hindu custom and performed on the beaches and waterways. Hindus in Kerala never fail to perform this ritual on the day of Karkida Vavu (15).

Pazu – Karkida – Dvikavu

The above given two seals are similar in one way. Even though the pictures depicted are different, the inscriptions are the same. These inscriptions may look different, but if it is properly analyzed, it can be seen that both inscriptions are variations of the same.

The only difference between these two inscriptions is that the logo of “Man’ appears at the end of the seal inscription(A). The same symbol of “Man” occurs at the beginning of the inscription in the seal(B). The conclusion is that the subject matter of the inscriptions is the same in both seals, and the positional change of the logo of “Man” does not alter the meaning of the inscription.

In this analysis process, more information has been obtained. The third logo in the seal (A) is not visible. But, considering the repetition of the same logos and sequence of logos, it can be assumed that the missing logo is ‘dvi-Kavu’. It looks like the logo of the “Man” indicates a person who was sacrificed. The sacrificial animal, as well as man, were called “Pazu“. If the word “Pazu” is adapted for the logo “Man”, it makes sense. Adding the word “Pazu” at the beginning of the sentence and the end does not make any difference to the sentence’s meaning.

Analysis table for the inscription in the seal (A):

1	2	3	4	5	6
Man	crab	crab	‘Kavu’ symbol with the number two symbol inserted in between	fish	Kavu-symbol
Man sacrificed	Both these crab symbols (2&3) should be read together as ‘Karkida ritual	Both these crab symbols (2&3) should be read together as ‘Karkida ritual	dvi-Kavu means it is a sacrifice for two entities, gods and Pithrus.	‘Matsya’ Means the Pithru. (7)	‘Kavu’ in the Tamil language means ’sacrifice.’

The resulting sentence is “Pazu-Karkida-Dvikavu-Pithru-sacrifice”. This word could be indicating a ceremony similar to the “Karkida Vavu” of Kerala described above. This ceremony is devoted explicitly to pleasing “Pithrus”(ancestors). The conclusion is that the ceremony mentioned in the above given Indus seal is the same as those “Pithru Ceremonies” followed all over India. However, the specific name of the ceremony, ‘Karkida-kavu,’ is still being used only in Kerala.

Analysis table for the inscription in the seal (B):

1	2	3	4	5	6
Crab	Crab symbol with a stick symbol across gives the ‘da’ sound here	Kavu- symbol	fish	Kavu	Man
Karkida ritual. Both these symbols (symbols-1&2) should be read together as Karkida	Karkida ritual. Both these symbols (symbols-1&2) should be read together as Karkida	Kavu – may be single Kavu (Or) double Kavu	The fish symbol means ‘Pithru/manes/ ancestor’ here. (7)	Kavu	Man sacrificed

It could be read as ‘Karkida –Kavu –Pithru–Kavu –Pazu’. This word Karkida could be indicating a ritual similar to ‘Karkida Vavu’ of Kerala, which is devoted to pleasing ‘Pithrus'(ancestors). The first two graphemes should be read together as ‘Karkida’, indicating ‘Karkida ritual’. Finally, the meaning is the same as in the above-given seal-A. The only difference is that the ‘Danda’ (Stick) symbol has been introduced in this inscription. The stick symbol clarifies the word as ‘Karkida’.

The word ‘Danda’ is another example of how the Sanskrit language was used in the Indus Valley period. The term ‘Karkida Kavu’ has been transformed into ‘Karkida Vavu’ in present-day Kerala. This transformation might have happened mainly after the introduction of the Buddhist concept of ‘Non-violence’ and general aversion towards animal sacrifice. It looks like those Hindu priests stopped the animal sacrifice but continued the ritual to please Pithrus (ancestors).

Mams-Astaka

The best example of the ‘Vedic ritual’ in the Indus inscription comes from the word ‘Astaka’. This term is frequently used in many Indus inscriptions and is employed in various permutations and combinations (13). The word ‘Mams’ means ‘meat’ in Sanskrit. The term ‘mAMsASTakA’ means the forenoon of the 8th day in the dark half of the month Māgha, on that day meat or flesh was offered to deceased ancestors (16).

Figure 4: Indus inscription showing the word ‘Mams – Astaka’.

Picture courtesy Sue Sullivan (Sullivan, Indus Script Dictionary)

1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Garhapatya –ceremony	Yajna symbol	crab	fish	fish	Astaka symbol	Kavu symbol
Garhapatya Yajna	Yajna	Karkida	Matsya	Matsya	Astaka –	Kavu means sacrifice in Tamil
Householder’s fire	Yajna	Karkida month ritual/sacrifice	Fish with horns indicates second-generation Pithru	Fish with a dot show first-generation Pithru	Astaka –eighth day of Magha month	The sacrifice of a bull was made

The inscription reads, “Garhapatya- Yajna – Karkida month – Astaka- Kavu“. The sentence’s meaning is,” House holder’s Yajna – Karkida month – sacrifice for two generations of Pithrus –Astaka (eighth day) –ceremony –sacrifice”. The figure of the bull in the seal shows a bull was sacrificed on that occasion.

The above-given seal inscription shows the ‘Astaka’ symbol in a better way. Read the inscription from right to left; the sixth symbol is the best example conveying the idea of ‘Astaka’. Astaka means ‘eight’, i.e. the eighth day of the month of ‘Magha’ (dark side). The Pipal leaf indicates the god of the Pipal tree ‘Karkinos’, the present-day God ‘Muneeswaran’ of Tamil people.

Note that there are eight squares and eight dots within the Pipal leaf symbol. The number of squares and dots is not precisely ‘eight’; two squares with dots are missing; it is an error in the pictogram drawing. We must assume that the priest intends to depict eight squares, indicating the word ‘eight’ and the eighth day of the month. Two consecutive symbols of ‘fish’ stand for two generations of Pithrus (The spear symbol is omitted here). There is a second possibility that the ‘Astaka’ symbol could be a variant of the ‘leaf-messenger’ symbol, which is discussed in the following paragraph. This ritual is a ‘Vedic ritual’ which shows the influence of ‘Vedic culture in the Indus Valley civilization itself.

Leaf-messenger symbolism

The above-given figure indicates a god or man carrying a stick and in a walking-style position. He is also in Pipal (or Betel ) leaf shape. It could be a god or an ordinary man. All the Indus seal inscription symbols can be easily interpreted with Vedic rituals mentioned in Grihya-Sutra. Reading Grihya-Sutra indicates that the Vedic people used such a messenger to convey their sacrifice to gods or Pithrus (Manes). The above-given leaf-messenger symbolism re-enforces the idea of the ‘Astaka symbol’. The Astaka symbol is a Pipal leaf with eight dots, and the leaf messenger logo is also a Pipal leaf with a stick symbol. Both these symbols could be conveying the same idea.

Figure 1: IVC symbol is showing God Tammuz.

At this stage, it is relevant to introduce another symbol that is similar to the ‘Messenger God’ here. The above given ‘water-carrier’ symbol could be indicating the Sumerian god Tammuz. I have given a detailed presentation that the symbol designated the act of Tammuz supplying milk to all the participants in the marriage ceremony of Inanna (17). However, there is a possibility that the symbol could have merely indicated a messenger god. Who had carried the sacrificed material (Meat) to the gods in the netherworld in his ‘Kavadi’? It looks like that the role of carrying the sacrifice has been taken by the ‘god Agni’ in the Vedic period. The water carrier symbol seems to belong to the old layer of the Indus civilization.

‘Agni-stoma / Jyotir-stoma Yajna’ — for uplifting the dead man’s soul to heaven

The above given two graphemes are very peculiar and difficult to explain. At least the symbol of the ladder is elementary to identify. However, the second symbol is tough to ascertain. Fortunately, the more challenging is a grapheme to interpret the best and most precise information that comes out of such a grapheme. Both these graphemes indicate the idea of ‘raising the dead man’s soul to heaven.’ The ‘ladder’ symbolizes the ascending pathway to heaven. Where ever such ‘ideogram’ appears in Indus inscriptions, such ideogram gives the meaning of ‘Jyoti stoma Yajna’ (18). This Yajna performed for the uplifting of the soul is typical of ‘Vedic civilization.

These Vedic ideas expressed in ‘The Indus seal inscriptions support my ‘Sanskrit language theory.’

Bibliography

1. Mahadevan, Iravatham. Dravidian Proof of the Indus script Via the Rig Veda: A case study. http://45.113.136.87/wp-content/uploads/2014/Bulletin4%20IRC-RMRL.pdf. [Online] 2015. http://45.113.136.87/wp-content/uploads/2014/Bulletin4%20IRC-RMRL.pdf.

2. Rajesh.P.N.Rao, et al. /~rao/ScienceIndus.pdf. //homes.cs.washington.edu/. [Online] 2009. https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~rao/ScienceIndus.pdf.

3. Locklear, Mallory. indus-valley-civilization-ancient-seals-symbols-language-algorithms-. www.theverge.com/. [Online] 2017. http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/25/14371450/indus-valley-civilization-ancient-seals-symbols-language-algorithms-ai.

4. Farmer, Steve, Witzel, Michael and Richard, Sproat. The collapse of the Indus script thesis: The myth of a literary Harappan civilization. /www.safarmer.com/ Electronic journal of Vedic studies. [Online] 2009. http://www.safarmer.com/fsw2.pdf.

5. Bryan. K.Wells. Archaeology: A different take on Indus evidence. www.nature.com/nature/journal/. [Online] 2016. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v532/n7599/full/532313e.html.

6. Straightdope.com. how-come-we-cant- decipher-the-indus-script. straightdope.com. [Online] 2014. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2206/how-come-we-cant- decipher-the-indus-script.

7. Jeyakumar(Fish-symbolism). Fish_symbolism_in_Indus_Valley_Civilization. academia.edu. [Online] December 2015. https://www.academia.edu/19550772/Fish_symbolism_in_Indus_Valley_Civilization.

8. Jeyakumar(Kavu-symbol). Kavu_grapheme_indicates_sacrifice_in_Indus_inscriptions. academia.edu. [Online] 2014. https://www.academia.edu/8612715/Kavu_grapheme_indicates_sacrifice_in_Indus_inscriptions.

9. Wikipedia(Logogram). Logogram. Wikipedia. [Online] 2014. Logo-gram: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logogram.

10. Mahadevan, Iravatham. Dravidian Proof of the Indus Script. http://45.113.136.87/wp-content/uploads/. [Online] November 2014. http://45.113.136.87/wp-content/uploads/2014/Bulletin4%20IRC-RMRL.pdf.

11. jeyakumar(mountain-symbol). Mountain_symbol_indicates_Death_God. academia.edu. [Online] 2015. https://www.academia.edu/19142411/Mountain_symbol_indicates_Death_God.

12. jeyakumar(Gate-keeper-god). Karuppa_Swami_was_the_gate_keeper_god. academia.edu. [Online] 2015. https://www.academia.edu/10950376/Karuppa_Swami_was_the_gate_keeper_god.

13. spokensanskrit.de. spokensanskrit.de. [Online] 2014. spokensanskrit.de.

14. Jeyakumar(up-raised-hands-symbol). Upraised_hands_symbol_means_ka_soul_. academia.edu. [Online] 2015. https://www.academia.edu/11419216/Upraised_hands_symbol_means_ka_soul_.

15. keralatourism.org. karkidaka-vavu. keralatourism.org. [Online] 2014. http://www.keralatourism.org/varkala/karkidaka-vavu-papanasam-beach.php.

16. Jeyakumar(Mamsastaka). Mams_means_Mamsastaka_ceremony. academia.edu. [Online] 2014. https://www.academia.edu/8319850/Mams_means_Mamsastaka_ceremony.

17. Jeyakumar(Tammuz-water-carrier). Tammuz_as_water_carrier_in_Indus_Valley_civilization. www.academia.edu/. [Online] 2014. https://www.academia.edu/13607680/Tammuz_as_water_carrier_in_Indus_Valley_civilization.

18. Jeyakumar(Agni-stoma). Agnistoma_and_Jyotistoma_Yajna. academia.edu. [Online] 2015. https://www.academia.edu/10969959/Agnistoma_and_Jyotistoma_Yajna_for_uplifting_the_dead_mans_soul_to_heaven.