Philosophy of symbolic forms in Meluhha cipher
S. Kalyanaraman
Sarasvati Research Center, Herndon
978-0991104826 774 pages April 8, 2014
Rs. 420
The thesis reports re-discovery of lexical repertoire of Meluhha language. Meluhha language was in vogue during the Bronze Age from ca. 5th millennium BCE. Meluhha hieroglyphs of symbolic forms relate to Meluhha life-experiences as sphoṭā‘burst forth’ expressions in Meluhha language. The function of Meluhha writing system deploying Meluhha cipher as mudrā is to catalog wheelwright-lapidary artifacts of stone, shell, metal traded by maritime seafaring merchants and artisan-merchant caravans along the famed, extensively documented Tin Road. The cipher key here is artha translated as composite of entities and also ‘meaning’. In the Indian tradition, the word artha is a gloss which signifies both ‘meaning’ and also ‘wealth’ as seem in the compound Arthaśāstra used as a title for Kauṭilya’s treatise on wealth-creation and polity. This meaning is consistent with the word used for a polity Rāṣṭram (lit. ‘the firm, lighted path’) personified as divinity, vāk.
sphoṭāvāda elaborates on philosophical foundations of symbolic forms as media for ‘meanings’. In Indian rhetoric tradition mudra refers to ‘the natural expression of things by words , calling things by their right names’ (Kuvalayānanda). It is an energetic seal of authenticity. The gloss mudrā also signifies a seal, stamp, or impression made by a seal. Thus, by definition, the process of ‘sealing’ to create a ‘seal impression’ is an expression of words deploying symbolic forms. To call things by their right names, a rebus cipher with glosses of underlying glosses and related sounds of Meluhha language are used. The semantics get expanded to evolve mudra as a particular branch of education (e.g., reckoning by the fingers). In Tantra 108 mudrā are used; in Yoga, mudrā are used together with praanaayaama (breathing exercises) and āsana-s ("seated postures"). Nāṭyaśāstra lists 24 asamyuta ("separated", meaning "one-hand and fingers") and 13 samyuta("joined", meaning "two-hand and fingers") mudrā-s. A commentary on Hevajra Tantra refers to symbolic bone ornaments as seals or mudrā -s. (Sanskrit: aṣṭhiamudrā).
In the entire corpora of Meluhha hieroglyphs there are only two significant symbolic forms which may relate to ‘veneration’ or ‘worship’. Even these two symbolic forms are read rebus and are consistent with the archaeological context of working with ores, minerals, metals and alloys as life-activities. One form is of a person seated in a penance and is read rebus: kamaḍha‘penance’ Rebus: kammaṭa‘coiner, mint’. The second form is of a pair of persons flanking a person seated in persons; the pair of persons are shown using a mudrā‘with folded hands – as salutation’; this is called in Indian tradition añci- ‘to reverence’ read rebus: añjana’antimony’ (Chemical symbol: Sb).
This is a sequel to Meluhha – tree of life which evaluated hieroglyphs as sacred carvings incised, to convey rebus substantive messages in Meluhha as we traverse, in a pilgrim’s progress, through mists of time into the Bronze Age. Language glosses tag to symbolic forms and get associated with divinities and tree of life are Meluhha sacred carvings; they connote -- rebus -- metal artifacts of a kole.l'smithy/forge' which is, kole.l'temple'.
Archaeological evidences from Ancient Near East point to the practice of worship in temples of divinities associated with these hieroglyphs. Kabbalah of the Ancient Near East tradition is a synonym of aagama of Indian tradition with the roots found in Meluhha as a visible language. Both traditions venerate altars as models of temples. Many metal artifacts are shown as aayudha ‘weapons’ in the hands of Pratimā in Indian iconographic tradition with an intimation of memories of smithy traditions of ancestors. In Indian tradition. Pratimā lakṣaṇa, bimba reflections in a tranquil pool of consciousness transform into stone or metal or wood hieroglyphs in a temple. Pratimā or mudrā -s are not mere abstractions but firmly premised on language sememes.
Table of Contents
Re-discovery of Meluhha language Indian linguistic area: pre-aryan, pre-Munda and pre-dravidian in India Intimations of casting, soldering, riveting work, working with zinc (pewter), ivory Evidence from Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa Evidence from Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa for mleccha Vācas Evidence related to proto-Indian or proto-Indic or Indus language Proto-Munda continuity and Language X Reconstructing mleccha of 5th millennium BCE Tin road caravan documentationHistorical background Mleccha as bhāratam janamHarappan control over the Oman SeaMeluhha, Mleccha areas: Sarasvati River Basin and Coastal Regions of Gujarat, Baluchistan, Ancient Near EastSphōṭavāda, theory of bursting forth Three Samarra bowls: morakkhaka loha, pisācī loha morakkhaka loha 'a kind of copper' pisācī loha, ‘a kind of copper’ Tin Road: Ashur-Kultepe and Meluhha hieroglyphs Function served by the ‘standard device’ in Meluhha cultural, life-activities Shahdad standard Hieroglyphs on Warka vase read rebus as epigraphs Tabernae montana as a hieroglyph Seafaring metal merchants One Meluhhan village in Akkad (3rd millennium BCE) Forge: stone, minerals, gemstones Meluhhans had travelled, traded and settled in Ancient Near East Meluhha artisans had blazed the trail of lost-wax metallurgy Dhokra as a Meluhha hieroglyph Reduplication and homonyms with rebus readings as ‘areal universals’ Starting with verbs depicted as hieroglyphs Structural characteristics of hieroglyphs Indus script “fish-eyes” traded with Ur ‘Fish’ hieroglyph on Susa pot connotes alloy metal Functions of tablets and seals: an archeological context Appendix A: tagar symbolic forms Appendix B: krəm‘neck’ symbolic forms Appendix C:काण kāṇa‘one-eyed’, āra‘six’, ‘six rings of hair’ symbolic forms Appendix D: kol ‘tiger’ symbolic forms Appendix E: eṟaka'upraised arm' Appendix F: dhokra kamar‘lost-wax metal caster’ Appendix G: Processions of stone-/metal-ware competence Appendix H: Interpretation of Māyā's dream in Bauddham Appendix I: Sphōṭavāda Appendix J: Meluhha glosses related to symbolic form: helmsman, cargo kārṇī account Appendix K: Metals trade catalog on a seal Appendix L: Seal number 198 from Legrain 1921 Appendix M: Rebus as dream, as literacy Appendix N: Bronze Age Linguistic Doctrine Appendix O: Eagle and snake hieroglyphs Appendix P: Meluhha hieroglyphs on a Proto-Cuneiform tablet Appendix Q: Archaeological context is a cultural context for symbolic forms of ‘meanings’ Appendix R: ran:ga‘pewter or alloy of tin (ran:ku), lead (nāga) and antimony (añjana)’ Bibliography Index End Notes | 5 22 25 32 38 45 54 61 73 79 86 89 95 130 132 144 153 163 165 182 184 186 201 208 210 220 259 263 271 274 285 288 304 313 317 327 328 351 362 368 392 484 538 578 585 639 655 689 693 717 723 729 735 739 750 |