Ardhangini in Indus Seals

The Pipal: Ardhāňgini in Indus Seals K. Chandra Hari

I. Introduction Literature on Indus Valley civilization has many discussions on the Pipal motifs seen.

Interpretations have been many and given the present Dravidian line of thinking, Pipal casts itself into our minds with its famous south Indian name Ara-yāl where in Ara is a homonym meaning ‘half’, ‘kingship’, ‘waist’ etc. Ara leads to terms like ‘Ara-mana’ = a royal house, Ara-chan or Ara-san = King etc. Originally, it is possible that Arayan and Arayāl signified the royal couple. Given such a natural hunch, the works of Mahadevan and Fairservis offers inspiration to pursue the line of thinking further. Fairservis1 had pointed out the significance of ara to mean ‘head or high superior as in Chief or God’ and the arrow at times shown side by side to mean amb so that the compound gains meaning such as we see in ambara, ambala etc. Mahadevan2 also has used similar interpretation in his latest works to suggest that the arrow sign is the non-masculine singular suffix relying on the gender suffixes in Old Telugu. Rebus for arrow may be ampu or ambu and it can be seen in common use in Malayalam with such words as ampalam = temple, amb-ara = sky, amp-oti = god, amp-ili = moon etc. It may be trivial but one cannot miss the fact that the ampu reminds one of the buds of āmp-al, the water Lilly and the Tamil use of ampal for the Mother Goddess.

Mahadevan has also identified the jar sign as indicative of masculine singular suffix as in – (a)ṇr(u) and the four strokes modified as in – (a)r. Given the very limited exposure, present author is not competent to make any decipherment of the Indus script which is a domain of the specialists. As such the effort here in is only to express some thoughts which may have 1

some relevance and use for the experts in deciphering the scripts with the possible astronomical connotations.

II. Astronomical Content of the Symbols It is a well known fact that all the ancient civilizations had an obsession with astronomy and the art of divination. Sky and its portent phenomena had been the cynosure of all eyes of wisdom as containing the cryptic codes of the gods and most of the deities had a celestial origin either by observation or some rationale or myths shaped out of the sky. Indus Valley civilization has yielded many evidences that suggests the prevalence of Tantra vis-a-vis Yoga, a development that point towards the simultaneous existence of astronomy. Yoga and Indian Astronomy are noted for their synonymous terminology owing to the symbolic equivalence of microcosm (Yoga) and macrocosm (Astronomy, Jyotihśāstra). In fact, the aim of Yoga had been to kindle the inner light or Jyoti known as Kundalini seeking its harmonious integration to the outer lights or Jyotis to experience the ultimate oneness which the ancient world described as ‘Advaita’ or ‘Uni-verse’. Indus antiquity well rooted in Yoga as such cannot be properly understood unless the symbols are examined and interpreted in the light of ancient astronomy.

1. Pipal as the symbol of Virgin – zodiacal sign Kanyā or Virgo The Banyan tree and the Pipal occur in Indus seals and interpretations such as ‘Tree worship’ exists. But given the spiritual and scientific depths of ancient Indian tradition and its Dravidian wisdom, it is quite likely that the siddhas must have had in their mind some reasoning for instituting such worship in the society. Especially so when we make interpretations that make us see the great sage Agastya in the Indus Valley. We see in that antiquity a metropolis that defeats even the 21st century living conditions of the common Indian populace. But when we are looking at the Pipal motifs, the interpretation that comes to our mind is of the primitive tree worship – we indeed make the Pipal laugh at us....!

If we are to look at the ancient astronomical notions, it dawns instantly that the Banyan and Pipal motifs must be interpreted together if we are to get the right rationale underlying such logos. The astronomical interpretation is straight forward: (a) The Banyan tree (Vaṭa) had been the symbol of North Pole or Dhruva both of which have been connected to the constellation of Draco which contained the Ecliptic North Pole representing the Sun and other solar deities like Āditya and Viṣṇu. The DracoNorth Pole, ENP connections to Banyan tree is visible even today in the serpent worship beneath the tree. In Kerala, many of the ancient temples have a Āl-tara where in the Citra-kūtams representing the snake gods are installed.

2

Two words used above needs a closer look: 

Āl is the Dravidian name for the Banyan tree and can be seen as the non-masculine suffix in words like aval, ammāl, āṇḍāl etc



Citra-kūtams are used in snake worship and the literal translation means ‘stellar secret’ owing to the root Cit in Citra which means a shining object. Kūtam means secret, hill etc

(b) During the mature Harappan phase of 2600 BC, the summer solstice had been in the Maghā nakshatra (Makam of Tamil) in the zodiacal sign Leo and hence it is likely that the Banyan tree represented the particular zodiacal sign also. Astrological notions credit the Banyan tree (Per-āl) to the Makam nakshatra. (c) In contrast to Banyan, Pipal is treated as more sacred in the Dravidian temples. Taking a clue from words such as ara-mana, aracan etc ara-āl can be interpreted to be the equivalent of the later Sanskrit adaption ‘ardhāňgi’ meaning the one who wields the half limbs or Pārvati, the Mother Goddess. Ara-āl had been the symbol of Mother Goddess itself owing to the Dravidian use of Arayan and Arayal (or Ara-yathi) for Siva and Parvati. (d) Ara-yāl also represented the zodiacal sign Virgo, Kanyā with which the New Year began during the rainy season. Kanni meaning virgin also meant ‘the first’ in Dravidian use and Kanni had been the beloved of Skanda as she opened the New Year in rains – a practice that gave the name ‘Varṣa’ for the year. (e) It is perfectly logical to think that the Banyan tree (Vaṭa) had been the symbol of the whole year which ended with the sign of Leo while the Pipal represented the sign Kanyā or Kanni and the half year or half of the God of time, Siva or Pasupati. (f) The Tāntrik Zodiac had its beginning with sidereal Aries 0 with the fiducial star Mūlā (Lambda Scorpii) at Scorpio 300 or ecliptic longitude of 2400. Mūla or Mūlādhāram had been the source of Kuṇḍalini – the grace that emanates in Yoga by transformation of the libido – and it marked the common origin for both Yoga and Jyotisha, to receive personification as Mahāyogi and Mahākala. This duality of Yoga and Jyotisha is critical to understand and interpret the Indus antiquity. (g) Genital worship had its beginning in the aforesaid doublet aspect of Yoga and Jyotisha to the star Mūla which represented the Cosmic Phallus and the Urdhva-retas condition of the Yogi seen in the Pasupati seal. Dravidian term for Phallus had been Aṇḍi and thus Mūla which got personified as Mahāyogi and Mahākāla received names like Āṇḍavan and his spouse received the name Āṇḍāl. The significance attached to the worship of Aṇḍi can be noted from the names like Muni-yāndi, Aṇḍi-yappan etc

3

(h) The whole of Dravida country is strewn all around with the abodes of Śiśna-deva and Śiśna-devi which is an inheritance from the Indus Valley days. Astronomical and Tantrik rationale of Great Penis or Cosmic Phallus is essential to understand the Indus Valley paradigm of human thought and spiritual elevation. In no way they were primitive people as evidenced by their most advanced settlements which their posterity could not even mimic despite the so-called big advancements.

It may also be noted that the word Kund-alini owes its origin to the Dravidian root Kund which means buttocks. Buttocks symbolized earth – the root of the Meru from which the Kundalini arose. Kund+alam meant the cavity from which the Meru and the coiled serpent sprung up coincident with the root of the penis. Alam meant a cave or cavity.

The name Agastyan may be Sanskritized Akateeyan, meaning one who has internalized the fire (Tee) or Agni. (i) Dravidian Penis and Calendar - Aṇḍi, Āṇḍu & Āṇḍavan Astronomical aspect of the Dravidian penis and its role in reckoning calendar can be understood from the term Āṇḍu for the Year and Āṇḍavan for the God of Time. Āndu also received the name Varṣam because the year began with the rainy season. (j) Evidence of Durgāṣṭami Given the Kanyā 00 New Year with amāvāsya, it is easy to realize that the moon transited over the Āṇḍavan at 2400 for 960 elongation to make the tithi for the same Aṣṭami. This astronomical aspect led to the celebration of Durgāṣṭami.

Perhaps many such evidences that explain Dravidian celebrations can be found out with a detailed study. (k) Legends of Mahiṣa and Mahiṣi Kanni as feminine of Dravidian ‘Kannu’ meaning buffalo also symbolized the Water Buffalo and hence received the symbolism of Pasu. Dhanu or Mūla star thus became Pasupati as indicated in the seal with buffalo horns as head dress.

Kannu as buffalo is well known with the saying ‘Kannine kayam kānikkarutu’ which originated from the refusal of the Kannu to leave the water.

The word Kanni as such got Sanskritized as Bhadra meaning Mahishi. Kāla or God of time or death had the Buffalo as his vehicle and thus too Mrga-Mahiṣa symbolized time and the God of time as reflected in the Pasupati seal.

Kanni is daughter of the Mountain because the Simha rāsi is a Mountain, Kunnu, so she became Knnin-Makal. Makam pirakkunna Manka as explained in my earlier work Indus4

Sarasvati Astronomy: More Light on the Dravidian Solution to the Indus Problem. Simha rasi also represented the Meru when solstice fell over it.

To conclude the discussion that began with the Pipal = Ara-yāl connotation, the Pipal leaves are treated by the tradition as representing the Yoni. Traditionally, the earth’s rotation axis or Meru had been the mythical Hill or Naga upon which the Kuṇḍalini had her abode. She thus received appellations like Nāga and those worshipped her became Nāgas.

Given the artefacts which suggest the worship of snake and genitals, the inhabitants of Indus Valley could have been only the Dravidian Nāgas.

2. Sumerian Evidence for Ara and Astronomical Implications The Pipal connection to Ara-yan and Ara-yal can be further established by taking cognizance to the Sumerian meaning of Ara. Waddell gives the meaning for Ara as:3 Plough, encase, bond, shackle, uplift, Pictured by a plough, essentially identical with the Egyptian hieroglyph of Ar, a plough...

In Tamil and Telugu too araka stands for ‘plough complete with bullocks’ and this in turn leads to the possible meaning of ‘Plough Man’ for Arayan. Also, in Malayalam granary is called Ara. In 26th century BC, the summer solstice had been very close to the Plough Star or Regulus and the New Year (Kanni) got heralded by the Siva-ratri observation when Moon heliacally rose with Regulus i.e. Makam piranna Manka.

B Bulls

B Plough star B Equator

Plough could be seen in the sky yoked with bullocks – the stars in Kataka are famous as the northern (-Aselli) and southern (-Aselli) Ass – but they may have been the bulls for the plough man of Harappa. In antiquity, Plough star had been the name credited to the Great 5

Bear as well but such descriptions may be the result of changes happening during the sharing and adaptation of myths in a different location.

There are also myths which conceived Sun itself as the Plough Man who tilled the sky and such myths may have originated from the word Ara-kan which in later times became Arkan. The Plough star of Makam is at 90 degree to Alcyone and thus the epoch indicated by Plough star is the same as that of the meridian transit of Alcyone i.e. Skanda epoch.

3. Dwaraka Evidence for the Kanni (Kanyā) New Year Mahadevan has discussed the migration of certain clan from Dwaraka to the south in later times and given the Krishna legends and the fame of Dwaraka, one may think of Dwaraka as forming a part of or a major centre of the Dravidian settlement. Latitude of Dwaraka is 22015 and longitude 69000. The Vāmana Jayanti (birth anniversary of the dwarf incarnation of Vishnu or Sūrya) is getting celebrated in Kerala today for the Sukla (12) of the solar month of Leo. Interpretation of the astronomical allegory and the history of Onam in Kerala suggest that the celebration was marked by the sunrise on prime vertical i.e. the day when the mid-day shadow will be nil. The declination of sun equals the latitude for two days 23rd June (-2600 CE considered) and 5-6th August. Latter date marked the solar transit into Kanyā for the sidereal Phallic Zodiac.

There is no reason for the Kanyā transit of sun to coincide with the zero amplitude (Agra) at Dwaraka for -2600 CE epoch. Such a coincidence is possible only if the sidereal fixed zodiac existed in antiquity and came into existence out of astronomical observations.

4. Moon and Sun and the Calendar Terms The arrow for a first look has nothing to do with Calendar. Mahadevan has interpreted the fish signs to mean the water nymphs discarding his own earlier connotations to mean the planets and stars. The masculine –feminine suffix helped to interpret the signs as shown below (taken from Mahadevan)2 as referring to male and female water nymphs.

6

Given the astronomical obsession of the ancient cultures, it is quite unlikely to be so and the seals must be of astronomical content as evident from the earlier works of Parpola4. (a) Motif for Moon The Ampu probably stood for the moon and hence the Water Lilly received the name Āmpal. Ampili is a well-known epithet of moon. Moon shall satisfy the non-masculine suffix rule as well. (b) Motif for Sun The so called Jar sign may be a symbol for sun meaning Ara-kan which subsequently became Arkkan in Sanskrit.

Given the above understanding, the two different kinds of notation involving 1 to 7 numerals and these signs may be calendar terms for the two halves of the year. 

Ampu thus indicated the half-year owned by moon, the later day Dakshiṇāyana or Pitryāna.



Arakan indicated the half-year of sun or the Uttarāyana, the half owned by the Devas.

The word Arakkan to mean Rakshasas may be a later adoption under the influence of Sanskrit. (c) Arrow and Evidence of the 10 Skies Ambu  Amba  Ambalam Ambaram and the last meaning the sky as in Chidambaram, Ekāmbaram etc is a pointer to the genesis of the term. The Roman Calendar months September to December reflects the words like Saptā, Ashta, Nava, Dasa ambaram and suggests that the word ambaram may have originated from the Dravidian motif Ampu.

(3) Apsaras are in the Sky Given the fact that the Indus Valley has given evidence for a paradigm rooted in Yoga, scope certainly arises for the conventional myths on Apsaras. But the concept of earthy Apsaras does not look to be Dravidian. The Dravidian concept of nymphs must have been celestial and in fact that is what one sees in ancient literature. The few seals depicting the dancing girls are quite normal and not special as to confirm the Great Bath as one of the prime location to seek the meaning of the seals. When the Indus Valley had so many rivers and water pools for all kinds water games, no society would have attached any ritualistic importance to an artificial pool. So the rituals of the kind Mahadevan inferred may not be a realistic picture even though the terms like Maṇavālan, Gandharvan etc are great insights.

His approach in fact casts light to lead the inquiry further to a more satisfying position.

7

The Great Bath or the Great Sea for the Indus, in fact, had been the sky above enriched by the glittering waters of the Milky Way or Ākāśa-Gaňgā. Jyotisha and Yoga know two kinds of fishes – stars and planets in the sky for Jyotisha and the two breaths flowing in the internal Ganga and Jamuna of the Yogis.

Apsaras: The water nymphs or dancing girls of heaven born out of the Milky Way during the churning undertaken for the elixir of immortality. Celestial Deva-dasis, sporting with the Gandharvas and sometimes put on special missions of the art like distracting the great yogis...

The waters spoken of are celestial and there is no ritualistic tradition of describing the partners of a ritualistic copulation as Gandharvas and Apsaras. The spirit of being Apsara and Gandharva, the wanton instability of their bonding is in contradiction to the spirit of Yoga that seeks bonds eternal and the roots of Kulam. In section III of his work, Mahadevan has alluded to West Asian Parallels of sexual worship as substantiative of the fish swarm in the Great Bath.

The principal religious rite was hieros gamos „sacred marriage‟, when the goddess of love represented by the High Priestess was married to the god represented by the reigning king acting as the god‟s surrogate.

The god was the consort of the goddess, husband-lover-son at the same time, and was subordinate to her. The sex act was considered sacred and “there was no separation between sexuality and spirituality” (p.28) In the Indian context, no such parallels are needed to suggest ritualistic sex. The so called Siva-Linga that one finds installed all over from Kashmir to Kanyākumāri depics the penis placed inside the vulva i.e. Siva and Sakti in eternal sex or leela by which she is called Lalitha. The panca-makāra (māmsa, matsya, madya, mudra and maithuna) is a living tradition even today in the tantrik centres and the Indian school is founded on great spiritual doctrines, attested by the siddhas. Despite sanskritization, the Tāntrik religion has sustained the tradition that begun in Indus Valley for the last 5000 years despite many an odds.

Present author is unable to discuss the astronomical implications of the seal as only a few could be seen on the web and in the papers available. Further, such interpretations may need expertise in ancient planetary symbolism. The controversy of Harappan script being logographic cannot be set aside altogether.

III. Dravidian Signatures of the Later Indian Astronomy One of the most remarkable differences between the Dravidian and the Aryan application of astronomy had been in the use of tithi and nakṣatras. The North Indian or Aryan convention mentioned the dates and festivals using the lunar month and tithi while the Dravidian notation specified the solar month and naksatra – the latter well defined 8

mathematically as an arc of 800 on the ecliptic to describe it in terms of 27 nakṣatras. It may be noted that in the Vedic literature, there is no mention at all of the 12 rāśis with which the solar months are defined. Calendar methods sought the intercalation only to reconcile the lunar months with the equinoctial phenomena or the cardinal points understood in terms of day-light variation. When we look at the history of Indian astronomy, it is a bundle of contradiction – 1. Vedic Calendar is seasonal and subject to precession of the equinoxes. The equinox based rasi or solar month is in conflict with the fixed nakṣatras of 800.

2. The Dravidian term for nakṣatra i.e. nāl is homonym for 4 as well and it can be inferred that the each nakṣatra of 800 was divided into 4 parts known as kāl i.e. four footed. Kāl also is a synonym of time. Thus the nakṣatras were four footed like cattle but fixed – like a turf of 108 slots known as kāl. 2 divisions were ara-kal and 3 divisions were mu-kāl and thus the fixed ecliptic had 108 legs fixed.

3. 108 positions as above were fixed and known by moon-light and hence moon-light received the name ‘nila-vu’ and each fixed feet meant ‘nila’ which means ground.

4. Dravidians named the day after the solar month and nakṣatra or nāl of the day while the Vedic practice that has come down gives the tithi and lunar month. No fixed zodiac is needed for the Vedic method.

5. 27 nakṣatras demand a fixed zero point called Aśvinyādi i.e. 00 and this was accomplished by fixing the ādhāram at the end of 72 feet (2400) which is named as Mūla or Nila-min. Nila of Nilas or kāl of 108 kal thus became Kālakāla or Mahākāl.

Without such a definition of the fixed divisions, the nakṣatra zodiac could not have come in existence. Other than foot, kāl also means the posts erected for some purpose.

6. Vedic astronomy as seen in Rk-jyotiṣa had the zero defined by the luni-solar conjunction at the beginning of Dhanishthā. This adaptation of later times like 1400 BC had no calibration as we see in Harappan times of 2500 BC when the Sivarātri festival marked an occasion to have the Calendar calibrated using observations.

7. Also Rk-jyotiṣa presents a predicament where the ancient people had the 13020 divisions of the ecliptic and not the 300 signs or rāsis. This is quite unlikely considering the 300 signs seen in Babylon.

8. The Dravidian term ‘pakkam’ meaning the dark or bright half of the month may be the root from which the sukla and krishna paksha evolved – a conjecture that may be examined for further light on what may be described as Dravidian in Indian astronomy.

9

IV. 19-year Yuga and Phallic Zodiac The following data is illustrative that the Dwaraka settlement may have been utilizing a calendar with Kanni beginning with the observational aid of the heliacal rise of Regulus (Makam) along with moon for the Sivaratri i.e. 14th tithi of the dark half of Leo. Sun

Moon

Tithi

5 5

Time LMT 6:00 6:00

149.72 149.48

153.50 275.13

1 11

Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00

149.24 149.98 149.75 149.50 149.26 150.01 149.77 149.54 149.29

45.21 198.88 323.87 85.08 217.46 9.22 134.01 254.76 29.84

22 5 15 25 6 19 29 9 21

Idvatsara

Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug Aug

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00 6:00

150.04 149.81 149.57 149.33 150.08 149.84 149.60 149.35 150.10

179.57 304.42 64.98 201.64 349.55 114.44 235.48 13.76 159.99

3 13 23 5 17 28 8 19 1

Samvatsara Parivatsara Idvatsara

Year

Month

Date

-2639 -2638

Aug Aug

-2637 -2636 -2635 -2634 -2633 -2632 -2631 -2630 -2629 -2628 -2627 -2626 -2625 -2624 -2623 -2622 -2621 -2620

Pancasamvatsara Samvatsara Anuvatsara Samvatsara Parivatsara Idaavatsara Samvatsara Idvatsara Idaavatsara Anuvatsara Idvatsara

Samvatsara Parivatsara Idaavatsara Anuvatsara Idvatsara Samvatsara

Without fail, the Panca-samvatsara-maya Yugam5 is happening. Longitudes given are of the phallic zodiac with an additive ayanāmsa of 39035. Year beginning, Kanni 1 (Onnām Pakkam) got fixed based on the samkrama time with a solar calendar or else from the heliacal rising of moon for Sivaratri.

Heliacal rise of Regulus (Plough-Man or Ara-kan) On 3rd August -2639 CE, the 14th tithi of dark half prevailed without the touch of new moon – a critical requirement for celebrating Sivarātri on 14th. Such a requirement ensured an elongation exceeding 12 degree in the morning so that the moon’s digit is observable. At 2 10

ghatis before sunrise, the Brāhma-muhūrta, Dwaraka had a splendid sky with the Krittikas in upper transit, Aurigae (Citra-rath), Rohiṇi, Orion, Great Bear, Draco etc above Regulus.

Draco Moon &Regulus 

Equator

Dwaraka had an ideal location for astronomical observations against the sea horizon. The 19-year cycle with the Pancha-samvatsara yuga excellently unfolds even when the true longitude of Moon is used.

Panca-samvatsara-mayam Yuga 1 Samvatsara 4 Samvatsara 7 Samvatsara 12 Samvatsara 15 Samvatsara 2 Anuvatsara 5 Parivatsara 8 Parivatsara 13 Idaavatsara 16 Parivatsara 3 Idvatsara

6 Idaavatsara 9 Idaavatsara 14 Idvatsara

17 Idaavatsara

10 Anuvatsara

18 Anuvatsara

11 Idvatsara

19 Idvatsara

The five-fold nomenclature for the years could be done with either the tithis or the nakṣatra position of moon at the beginning of the year.

Year-name Samvatsara Anuvatsara Parivatsara Idvatsara Idaavatsara

New Year Tithi Range Moon Longitude 1 6 150 222 7 12 222 294 13 18 294 6 19 24 6 78 25 30 78 150 11

In the example data given, the 5 Samvatsara cycles appear without fault even when the modern longitude of moon is considered.

V. Interpretation Hassles Many of the seals present interpretation hassles when approached with a modern mind-set.

Animal with three heads, howsoever it may be named –Unicorn3 or Trikākūt – it will always remain a mystery.

Motifs as above can be explained metaphysically only given the fact that the Indus Civilization had been the source of later Indian wisdom seen among the Dravidian Siddhas.

Dravidian Siddhas have parallels only with the Nāga Siddhas of north India and both the sects may have their legacy traceable to the Indus Valley. Metaphysical foundations of the worship of the Great Mother stems from a 3-fold conception of the human being in terms of the senses of action, knowledge and thought - Karma, Jnāna and the Citta. These are the faculties for which the Siddhas prescribe Yoga for a graceful living.

1. All the Indriyas together strive for the livelihood and the process is Karma yoga when the path is graceful.

2. At the intellectual level, life is a conflict between the rational and the irrational.

Intelligence biased by mind seeks purpose and with the limited horizon of Jnāna feels anguished. Yoga is therefore prescribed for Buddhi, Jnana yoga. It is not simple knowledge, it is knowledge that integrates the rational and irrational to transcend the duality and not easily attainable. The real Jnana yoga manifests only with the blessings and Tantra alone prescribe such Yoga.

3. Third is the faculty of mind, the flux of thoughts making everyone own up all the current that the breaths generate. Yoga is prescribed to make the flux subordinate to intelligence by breaking the breath through Prānāyāma and it is called Rājayoga.

12

Above 3-fold Yoga find apt description in the triad of Unicorns integrated to be a very complex creature that the human being is.

Rationale of the Proto-Siva

Aforesaid, 3-fold yoga, may be symbolized by the Triśūl, is not the figments of imagination of the author. It is attested by the so called Pasupati seal interpreted to depict the Ūrdhvaretas posture – the perfect Siddha, Lord Siva indeed. Siddha is then in yoga with the mind deleted (nirvikalpa) and the seed withdrawn, prāṇa in control and what we see in later tradition as prānāyāma is a relic of the Indus antiquity only. It may be noted here that the myth of Skanda is a byproduct of the concepts, Pr ānāyāma and Ūrdhva-retas.

1. Yoga and Jyotihsastra are homonyms in the sense that the former deals with observations on microcosm and the latter is concerned with the outer macrocosm.

2. Yoga speaks of the inner sun and the inner eye and seeks the experience of sun and moon in his breath, termed Prānasūrya, with a concurring projection to the outer cosmos. Such tāntrik experience of time with the Prāṇa-chakṣu is the source of conceptions like phallic zodiac, named after the nodes of moon.

3. Without astronomy, Yoga and Tantra cannot be understood and vice versa when we take astronomy as a holistic discipline involving the study of both micro and macrocosm, the Universe as a single wholesome Being.

4. We may have to dive deeper into Dravidian wisdom, myths and symbolism, with the aid of astronomy, if we are to gain a realistic sense of the Unicorn and other strange pictures in Indus seals.

5. Each seal needs special attention of a group of scholars well versed in Dravidian and Sanskrit linguistics, astronomy as well as Yoga and Tantra precepts.

13

Tantra alone speaks with clarity in prescribing a path for realization. It is humanly impossible to invent reality given the subtle game of mind unless the mind is made to deceive itself and kill itself. And mind can be made to kill itself only by sustaining and enhancing the irrational – apparently ludicrous metaphysical notions like god, soul, re-birth, karma and all such accompaniments which do not stand the reasoning and apparent reality of existence. The rational mind can destroy the faith in nick of time given the hard facts of life….

But the Siddha tradition speaks of the graceful as the essence of time, the Great Mother, and she had been the object of veneration for millions since the days of Harappa. She had been the loving, ferocious mother of the warrior clans (martial tribes) who offered them access to the feet of the supreme One in sacrifice. The duo in their sport is the phenomena of life and the Indus Valley attests their earthy presence in the Siddhas. Siddhas sought her within and found her inside and out and they modeled her presence in the phallic zodiac1 and in the later times we see her as Mahākāli and the Mahāvidyas worshipped all over from Kashmir to Kanyākumāri. Tradition says that she had become Sati to have the 51 Pīṭḥas created.

May be the tradition is bogus but it is simple intelligence to realize that such conceptions had their origin in Tantra where men sought reality unaffected by the vagaries of mind. Life is more mysterious than the Indus Script because the Indus Script is the creation of men and women who explored the deeper mystery of existence. Metaphysics and astronomy may play a greater role in the decipherment of seal – present author is not averse to the idea of

VI. Conclusions The Indus script may not be understood or deciphered if we are looking into it for primitive conceptions. A creative appreciation of the paradigm dominated by Yoga is a pre-requisite for making inroads into the minds which have bequeathed to us the great treasure that has challenged our intelligence, exposure and skill during the last 120 years. The most basic precept of Yoga/Tantra is the equivalence of micro and macrocosm and the target of all Yoga is to experience such equivalence professed by the Siddhas. As such the symbols and the pictographs can be understood only if we employ the rationales underlying Tantra.

Given the great achievements we see in town planning and other aspects of science, it is likely that the contents of many seals may be astronomical and metaphysical myths.

1

Sidereal zodiac called Rā-Śi chakra with Mūla at 2400 where Rā and Śi stand for Rāhu and

Śikhi, the nodes of moon, popular in the myths as Kālasarpa.

14

Likelihood of a sidereal solar calendar as we see later in south India and its relation to the Phallic Zodiac which in turn reflects the myth of Skanda is discussed.

With the Skanda epoch apparent in the sky, Ardhāngini in the sacred fig or the Nāga originating in Meru, Kanni as the opening of New Year etc can be naturally expected. New Year at Dwaraka coinciding the zero mid-day shadow, Kanni 1, heliacal rise of Makam (Regulus), and the possibility of a 19-year Calendar etc offers new directions for studies on Indus Valley astronomy and science.

Siddha traditions sought the ‘advaitic’ integration of the micro and macrocosm, and they sought the sky upon the earth in their conceptions. As such the ancient wisdom of the seals can be better understood and interpreted with the help of astronomy.

Discussion above was aimed at presenting few conjectures involving astronomical notions inspired by the works of Mr Asko Purpola and Mr I. Mahadevan.

Dedication Present work is dedicated to the Great Mother who is ever victorious and the Siddha tradition. Also, I take this opportunity to remember my mother Smt. Meenakshi Amma with gratitude for opening up my mind to the world of reading and Jyotisha. Also, I take this opportunity to remember Dr KV Sarma, Mrs Lakshmi Sharma and those who have been inspiring my works on the Siddha tradition, especially the Phallic Zodiac and the Time Structure of Breathing.

VI. References 1

Frederick J Simoons, Plants of Life, Plants of Death, Google Books, p.49, (Secondary reference)

2

Mahadevan, I., The Indus Fish Swam in the Great Bath:A New Solution to an Old Riddle, Bulletin of the Indus Research Centre, No.2, August 2011

3

Waddell, L.Austine, A Sumer Aryan Dictionary, p.14

4

Parpola, A., A Dravidian Solution to the Indus Script Problem, World Classical Tamil Conference, 25.06.2010, Coimbatore

5

Chandra Hari, K., PV Holay’s Interpretation of the Rk-Jyotisha verses on 19-Year Yuga, Indian Journal of History of Science, 39.2 (2004), 157-175

chandra_hari18@yahoo.com 09 July 2012 15