Tolkaappiyam - An Overview

The TEXT is massive running into more than 1630 sutras and divided into THREE books, the Ezuttatikaaram Collatikaaram and PoruLatikaaram. 

While the final book Marabiyal is normally taken as part of the third but I believe that it is more ancient than Tol proper going back perhaps to the period of Second Academy consistent with the traditional account that Tol belongs to the Second Academy. I have written a separate paper on this and will post in the near future a revised version of it. While Tol proper is ascribed to a period around the 3rd Cent BC, there are also those who believe that some parts of it, especially that of Ezuttatikaaram had been revised consistent with the changes in Brahmi script that was current at that time. We may note here that it is only in Marabiyal that we find mention of jaties, communal groupings that are profession based - trade agriculture priesthood, political leadership and so forth. But this marabu -historically derived traditional groupings is NOT VarNasrama Dharma. For it is said that the Mutalvan -- the most authoritative person is a Munivan , one who has freed himself from the prejudices and shines forth in TRUE understanding that clarifies all. (Vinaiyin niiGki viLaGkiya aRivin munaivan). In order to become the metaphysically LUMINOUS, one does not need any smrities and sruties but only that of becoming FREE of prejudices of all kinds. 

Anyone who studies the History of Dravidian Philosophical Developments and how while deconstructing Buddhism Jainism and Vedanta, there were also furtherance of its own by deepening and broadening of the nuclear ideas, can see the continuous impact of Tol in all these. 

Tolkaappiyam has constituted the MODEL and take off point for the numerous grammatical treatises that have been written since that time: IRaiyanaar AkapporuL (fully available) Cempuut Cey’s KuuRRiyal (lost), Panniru Padalam (CaGkam work but lost) puRapporuL VeNba Maalai (later work fully available) Mayeeccuram (only a few sutras available), Kaakkaip Paadiniyam (fully reconstructed from various secondary references and quotations) the massive Avinayam (only partly existent), Viiracooziyam (13th cent, fully available with commentary) Nannul ( fully available with several commentaries) , YapparuGkalam ( an encyclopedic work on Tamil Prosody) the IlakkaNa viLakkam ( 17th cent AD), the Muttuviiriyam ( 19th cent) and numerous others. We should also mention that though PaNini was known from ancient times, it is only with Viracozilyam, Pirayoka Viveekam and IlakaNNak Kottu that we see the impact of it in Tamil grammarians. 

Fortunately these studies also deal with similarities and differences between Tamil and Sanskrit and where as in Pirayokao Viveekam, they note that the similarities outnumber differences and all these before the European Indologists entered the scene and Aryanized Sanskrit etc and with that also introduced a racial split among the Indian folks. 


Dr Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

Phenomenology and Pedagogic Hermeneutics - A Tamil Perspective

Phenomenology and Pedagogic Hermeneutics

A passage from ' Phenomenology and Sociology" by Thomas Luckmann (Ed) (Pp8&9)

" Phenomenology describes the constitution of our experiences by recourse to the most direct evidence available. Its criteria of verification differ, however, from those used to good purpose in social sciences. In contrast to the epistemologically naive observations and 'measurements' of more or less public events that we practice  in the social sciences when we look for 'data', the 'data' of phenomenology are of a more elementary nature. We find them by inspection of our experiences. By using the methods of phenomenological 'reduction' we proceed step by step from historically, biographically, socially and culturally concrete features of everyday experience to its elementary structures. This is a procedure that differs from the 'inductive' generalizations of empirical sciences. Evidently, the result of inspection and 'reduction' can be communicated in a further step to fellow-men. By recourse to evidence of the same kind on their part, they can be inter subjectively verified. "
  

This notion "intersubjective verification", communicating and seeking confirmation(?) from fellow-men about the phenomenologically reduced elements of MY experience,  creates problems for phenomenology as a science.  For the notion of others, fellow-men just as true and SAME in some ways as myself, exceeds phenomenological reduction unless we invoke the notion of  PARALLELISM which in turn presupposes the being-there of others just  the same as myself.

Also how does the notion of "EVIDENCE" that Husserl mentions in his writings on Phenomenology has applications or meaning in the context of the meaning of verification here?  

I see the problem in this way. The self, exercising phenomenological reduction or what Husserl called 'eidetic reduction', does not require evidence for itself for in the perception of elementary structures of its consciousness,  the 'elementariness' of them is enough for self to be certain. The evidences   are required NOT FOR SELF but in the context of communicating to OTHERS  who may disagree with them.  Here again we come across the being-there of others just like myself as a PRESUPPOSITION of phenomenology. The notion of eidetic reduction and seeking intersubjective verification, the THEY also perceiving elementary structures in THEIR own experiences remains a PRESUPPOSITION that remains irreducible.  The Other can protest, combat, disagree , ridicule , comes to blow with me etc.  I CANNOT reduce away such behaviours phenomenologically  to elementary structures of my OWN experiences without denying the OTHERNESS of others.

If I try to do that, then I become an idealist like the Indian Vedanties, where everything becomes kaRpitham, my mental construction without any substantial reality or simply REFLECTIONS of one Brahman through different contextualising factors that they call upathies.

In Pedagogic Hermeneutics( or Hermeneutic Science, in the way I have articulated) we overcome this problem by accepting as a TRUTH the plurality of individuals jointly concerned with UNDERSTANDING the  world, existence etc. and who MAY GO WRONG in their seeking.

This possibility of being wrong, making mistakes etc. is AVOIDED by seeking continuously AGREEMENT with others.  The act of communicating is actually an act of INSTRUCTING. I learn through my hermeneutic interpretative movements, and UNDERSTANDING that I have gained becomes that which I communicate to an OTHER who MAY NOT agree. But when there is LEARNING that which I communicate and because of which  there is agreement, then it becomes possible that  I am NOT MISTAKEN, that what I have understood and bold enough to communicate is a TRUTH. Between me and those who agree with  me there is SAMENESS of UNDERSTANDING.

The possibility of this SAMENESS of understanding  between individuals absolutely different and autonomous  also makes that which is communicated OBJECTIVELY true, a stuff of the world  out there and NOT a fiction of my mind.

What I am saying here is that which is available in the  notion of "otta kaadci utti" in the last sutra of Marabiyal (` 400 B.C.)  ,  one of the most important  phrases  the origins of which goes back  to the school system of the Sumerian times. ( ~ 2000 B.C.) The " utti " (> Sanskrit : ukti)  here are textual interpretations that  will bring about  SAMENESS  of SEEING and hence agreement. Thus emerges also the notion that TRUTH cannot be idiosynctratic  or even the secret  held within the closed doors of a bunch of priests or recluses. 

TRUTH allows and sustains   PUBLIC AGREEMENT and hence ASSENT by all  who are capable of raising themselves to that level of cognitive functioning.

Dr Loganathan @ Ullaganar

The Meyyocratic Hermeneutics Of The Tamils.

The Meyyocratic Hermeneutics of the Tamils 



It has been puzzling me and still puzzles as to why only among the Tamils and that too only among the Saivites the Fundamental Ontology that Pati(BEING), Pasu( the selves) and Pasam ( the binding fetters) are Anati, uncreated and eternally there- was achieved and repeatedly rediscovered by a host of brilliant philosophers. They all agree upon one thing- the method of investigation is that of Meyyocraric Hermeneutics, simply the NuuneRi where the search is for the TRUTH and nothing else. 


This Hermeneutics which is with the Tamils from the days of Tolkaappiyam at least( 300 B.C) if not earlier, though comparable in some ways to the various kinds hermeneutics in the West , the Biblical Hermeneutics, the Literary Hermeneutics, Philosophical Hermeneutics the Radical Hermeneutics and so forth, it has its own peculiarities and for which reason I call it Meyyoocratic Hermeneutics, Phenomological Hermeneutics, Pedagogical Hermeneutics and so forth. I have also called it simply Hermeneutic Science with it’s own Hermeneutic Logic( eeraNaviyal) by way of rendering the essence into English


This method of investigation is also non-reductionistic in the sense that it ventures bravely into the ontological investigations without becoming closed in visions on the way and all in a heroic struggle to encounter TRUTHS and nothing else no matter what. It appears to me that while the West seems to have built-in prejudices against accommodating in the Fundamental Ontology BEING(God) and Selves, this is not so with the Meyyocratic Hermeneutics of the Tamils where they accommodate the TRUTH of BEING(God) and innumerable psychic entities(pasus) without inventing various kinds of spurious arguments to deny their autonomous and uncreated existence from eternity remaining there always indestructible. They are admitted all because it is a TRUTH. 


What is the essence of Dravidian Meyyocratic Hermeneutics called simply NuuneRi ( the way of TEXTS) in Tolkaappiyma( 300 B.C.)? 


The following sutra explains it succinctly where it underlies also the metaphysics of kuRaL as much as the MeykaNda Sastras of later times. 



EraNaviyal- Hermeneutic Logic-2

சூத்திரம் 25. இயலிய நூலியம்


அறிவிற் படுவதனைத்தும் ஆயவருந் நூல்
பொருளை இரட்டுருவிற் காட்டி யகத்தே
இலங்கிடு மறியாமை இருளைப் பாரிடும்
ஏதமில் லுத்திகள் எழுப்பிடு திறத்தன. 



Sutra 25: Phenomenological Hermeneutics


ARiviR paduvatanaittum aaya varum nuul
PoruLai iradduruviR kaaddi yakattee
IlaGkidum aRiyaamai iruLaip paaridum
Eetamil uttikaL ezuppidum tiRattana 

Meaning:

Whatever that reaches the human understanding is a TEXT that stimulates investigations. By this it discloses something with a DUALITY of structure, the Surface Structure(SS) and Deep Structure(DS) where the DS discloses also for the individual the ignorance in his understanding. This in turn stimulates the practice of various kinds of effective utties or interpretations that would destroy the ignorance exposed.

Thus this sutra outlines the birth of inquiries among human beings in general. The presence of an object as a TEXT stimulates various kinds of interpretive moves or investigations that would remove the ignorance disclosed. Metaphysical inquiries are instituted by the presence of objects as thus.


The notion of ‘interpretation’ and with that gaining an understanding that is well informed is common to the Hermeneutics of both West and the Dravidian. However in the case of the Dravidian there is a difference with respect to what is interpreted and how that interpretations itself proceeds.



What is interpreted in Dravidian hermeneutics is a TEXT with a DUALITY of Structure and this TEXT is a product of SEEING as such. When a person SEES something he generates out of this seeing-experience a TEXT which is retained in the understanding and where the TEXT generated has a duality of structure the Surface Structure and Deep Structure. The interpretation here is actually locating the DS elements that accounts for the features of SS. In Tolkaappiyam these are termed Utties, the various cognitive moves that would furnish a TRUE and FAULTLESS understanding of the TEXT under study



Thus Meyyocratic Hermeneutics of the Tamils is not only TRUTH-Seeking but also archaeoductive, going into DS to account for the features of SS of the observed or seen but now retained as a TEXT with its duality of structure.



This methodology is that which the Tamils have applied for investigating Metaphysics as well and which is available very clearly at least from the days of TirukkuRaL where the First kuRaL established the TRUTH of BEING( Ati Bahavan) through taking the world as a whole a TEXT with a duality of structure and where the observable surface structure features is shown to disclose the presence of BEING (God) as the causal ground for the world to be what it is i.e a complex of various kinds of individuals.



It is the same methodology in the magnificent Ciivanjana Botham of MeykaNdar and host of Meykanda Sastras where gets established the Fundamental Ontology of the TRUTH of Pati, Pasu and Pasam as eternally there uncreated and indestructible and where the phenomenal world is seen a play of a kind between these fundamental entities, a DANCE of Siva-Sakti.


Dr Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

The trapped mind and pedagogic hermeneutics.

All over the world we see the human mind being trapped into various traditions, the sampradayas with some individuals assuming the position of leadership claiming and arguing that his tradition is the ONLY tradition that contains the TRUTH and hence everyone ought to follow it. . All such claims while lift up the mind in a way they also trap or seek to trap it pushing the mind into pre-existent mould and arresting further intellectual adventures.

There is a deep component of Tamil Philosophical tradition that is AGAINST such imprisoning of the mind and hence continuously combative towards such attempts. 
Tolkaappiyam ( 3rd BC ) is an expression of this and later the Bakthi revolution. 

Underlying such bold assertions is the notion of Hermeneutic Science, within which is also brought in the religious life. An individual can reach the HIGHEST state of Being only if he FREES himself from traditions and becomes PURE. The ideal state is that of DEEP SILENCE within which is enjoyed Civanjanam, that which founds Metaphysica Universalis. To enjoy this understanding and live by it,we have to ABANDON all srutis and smritis and what not after benefiting from their study . 

This movement of the mind is essentially HERMENEUTICAL , in fact the practice of Pedagogic Hermeneutics, that ANYONE can practice. without going to any authority.


Dr Loganathan @ Ullaganar

Lord Nadaraja and Newton Laws

Healing body - Body is holy sanctum

The Mantrayana Of Tirumular

திருமூலரின் மந்திராயணம் 

The Mantrayana of Tirumular




The Mantrayana may perhaps be the most distinctive contribution of Agamic Hinduism and the roots of which are traceable to Sumerian times. Temple worship Yoga Sciences and Mantrayana go together and in the Kes Temple of Hymns of Enhudu Anna( 2200 B.C.) and many other Sumerian Hymns we see already the NamavaLi and related mantra recitals.

But the most important feature of Mantrayana is that  it constitutes the THEORETICAL framework for the whole range of Hermeneutic Sciences and in this it is something like what theoretical physics is to positive sciences. 

While the West was busy in developing the positive physical sciences, the Hindus were developing a vast range of Hermeneutic Sciences that are essentially spiritual but now all buried deep down as unwanted records of the past.  

We should also note that in the age of Cyber Space, Mantrayana can be given an interpretation that is concrete and intelligible by correlating it with the various themes of artificial intelligence.


 Dr K Loganathan @ Ullaganar 2002  

Ancient Tamil Wisdom From Sumerian Times

The Magnificent Civajnaana Botham Of Meykandar

PHILOSOPHY AS METAPHYSICS AND METAPHYSICS AS HERMENEUTIC SCIENCE 

It will not be an exaggeration to say that Meykandar’s 'Civajnaana Botham', a philosophic classic that emerged as the critique of the different idealistic and positivistic schools of thought of the Buddhists and Vedanties, is the most profound philosophic treatise that has emerged not only in the Indian soil but also possibly in the whole world. 

It is genuinely a Metaphysica Universalis, a philosophical statement of the most primordial in man and because of that the most universal. It delineates and articulates what constitutes the existence of every man, no matter to what culture, religion and nation he belongs to. It is not an argument for Vedism, Buddhism, Agamism or any other cultural tradition of a narrow kind. It is not a romantic going back to a previous, presumably a glorious past and treating that as authoritative and justifying those beliefs presumed to be it’s essence. On the contrary it is a courageous venturing into the most fundamental in all men, an exercise in expounding what makes human existence what it is in fact. 

It expounds TRUTHS that all thinking men could agree upon provided they dare to tear themselves away from the cultural, cultic, religious and philosophic prejudices that condition even their philosophic quests. For anyone INCAPABLE of raising themselves to this level of universality, of reasoning without FEAR solely in the pursuit of TRUTH, this text will remain a closed book, forever incomprehensible as Meykandar himself asserts in the preface. 

The universality of aim is combined in this text with a rationality of approach. What we have in this text is Metaphysics transformed into the most universal, the most comprehensive Hermeneutic Science, i.e a science proper suited to inquire in a thoroughly rational manner the hidden and the mysterious surrounding even the ordinary human behaviour. The introduction of this magnificent philosophic classic which is simultaneously the most rigorous text in Hermeneutic Science is timely in the present world context where Hermeneutics is emerging again as a methodology most suited to the study of human behaviour. 

The vast, monolithic and towering citadels of the positive sciences are crumbling down slowly but surely under the attack of some brilliant hermeneutic philosophers - Dilthey, Husserl, Heidegger, Gadamer, Ricouer, Derrida - just to name a few. Despite many counter attacks to arrest this rebellion, new concepts of science along with their own methodologies are bursting through the limited and restrictive horizons of the positive sciences and making impressive inroads into the realms of the respectable in academic life. Many practical researchers in the social sciences, unlike the philosophers, are trying to formulate in less airy veins, the rational structure of these sciences to varying degrees of success. Deetz (1973), Gauld & Shotter (1977), Parker (1985) and many others have attempted to work out the guiding rational principles of what have begun to be called Hermeneutic Sciences or Interpretive Social Sciences. More recently Silverman (1993) and many others see this debate as between qualitative and quantitative methodologies, argue in favour of qualitative, interpretive studies of data and work out guidelines to ensure rationality. In the vein of Ricouer and many other hermeneutic philosophers, Deetz for example, argues that hermeneutic sciences are concerned with understanding a phenomena, where to understand is to literally stand-under and to do so is to explicate a particular behaviour’s implicative structure of possibilities (Deetz, 1973, p. 155, italics mine). Something similar can be found in the philosophic rumblings of many other hermeneuts as well. 

While those wedded to the positive sciences, adhere to the received models of scientific research, which have been astonishingly successful in the realms of the physical, continue with their conjectures and refutations (Popper,1963 ), there are now a variety of hermeneuts on the scene who have worked out methodologies distinct from the conjectural and constructinistic models where hypothesis testing reigns supreme. We have the ethnomethodology (Garfinkel, 1967), Conversation Analysis (Scheggloff & Sacks, 1973 etc), Discourse Analysis (Coulthard & Montgomery, 1981; Hoey 1983 etc), Hermeneutic Analysis of Discourse (K. Loganathan Mutharayan, 1993) and so forth. 

It is here that Tamil philosophic tradition from which emerged Civajnaana BOtam can meet the above new developments in the West. It appears that right from ancient times the Tamil folks were essentially hermeneuts and all their great achievements - Tolkappiyam, Tirukkural, Tirumantiram and many others that have withstood the test of time - were essentially treatizes with hermeneutics as their own methodology, the principles of which were already clearly formulated in Marapiyal, an independent text but which has come down to us as an appendix to Tolkappiyam, dated around the 3rd century B.C. 

But recent researches in Sumero-Tamil indicates that the hermeneutic orientation of the Tamil folks were very ancient and also something that took firm roots in their mind very early indeed. 



Dr Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

Meykandar - The Person Who Saw The truth.

Though Meykandar is the most profound philosopher India has known, due to accidents of circumstances, he is not well known even in India, let alone the outside world.

One of the reasons is that he wrote in Tamil and the world due to its orientations to Sanskrit in Indological studies, has overlooked him.

Meykandar lived towards the end of the 13th century during the times of Imperial Cholas, His treatise, Civajnaana Botham has given an unshakeable foundation to Saivism. 

Dr Loganathan @ Ullaganar

World Linguists Dominance With Their Constructive Linguistics

In relation to Sumerian being Archaic Tamil and Sanskrit being just a variant of this Archaic Tamil and hence belonging to the Dravidian family of languages are my views that I have already explained quite adequately (in my opinion) and are yet to be deconstructed.

The European linguists are forcing me to view the matter in terms of the constructive linguistics or protoforms and so forth that I do not approve. As I have already explained the matter, I have developed aspects of Evolutionary Linguistics as Viri Linguistics Uri Linguistics Veer Linguistics and so forth and all as Hermeneutic Sciences as is the case with the linguistics of Tolkaappiyam.

There is an academic dominance of the positivistic Europeans linguists and who in their blindness REFUSE to see that Sumerian is Archaic Tamil so obvious to any Tamil scholar.

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan, @ Ullaganar 2011

THE HERMENEUTIC SEMIOTICS OF APPAR

THE HERMENEUTIC SEMIOTICS OF APPAR

The science of Hermeneutic Semiotics constitutes the scientific component of Metaphysical Life where truth-experiences are enjoyed and with that metaphysical illuminations gained.

This constitutes the way of life of temple-centered Tantrism (even the Buddhist variety) where the mythical tales are interpreted; metaphysical truths are gained and enjoyed. Such enjoyment constitutes an essential component of genuine metaphysical life and for which reason the itikasas and puraNas are taken NOT as science fictions but rather the Language of Gods akin to dream experiences and which demand a way of approach and Logic that I call here Hermeneutic Semiotics.

There are hundreds of such Patikams that constitute the essence of Bakti Hinduism that rules the mind of the average Hindu who without any knowledge of the Vedas and so forth finds great religious meanings in the temple rituals, the icons and the various godly tales they depict. 

There were days when there was folklores sung upaniyasams conducted in the temple precincts and where ordinary folks would sit with rapt attention and absorb the metaphysical truths unfolded. In Indonesia we have the Itihasa themes mingled with local issues and presented as puppet plays by way of stimulating metaphysical thinking that are also relevant for the practical issues.

The best way to recapture this Hermeneutic Semiotics is to study a master of such a science and who can be better than Appar, who is one of foremost metaphysicians who laid the foundation for the further development of Saiva Siddhanta as such among the Tamils?

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

Too much Focus On Sanskrit

The Tevaram and Divviya Prabantam, the Divine Tamil is full of metaphysical insights all of which have not been brought out by scholars. 

Most of the Indologists are too focused on Sanskrit, almost to the total negligence of Divine Tamil containing within it metaphysical insights perhaps unique to Tamil divine literature.

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan, @ Ullaganar 2003

Tamil And Sanskrit Grammar

Tamil and Sanskrit Grammar

Questions by Rajarshi:

Is Tamil grammar itself written in Sanskrit? 
Does Tamil have its own technical grammatical terms or does it rely on Sanskrit terms?
Is there any resemblance between the grammatical analysis in Sanskrit and the same in Tamil?

Your questions require a book length reply and which is impossible right now. But let me give some pointers towards a deeper study by scholars competent both in Sanskrit and Tamil grammars.

1, Now the first thing is that ALL grammatical treatises on Tamil are written in Tamil and this at least from the days of Tolkaappiyam( c. 3rd Cent BC) if not earlier. This continues to this day. Furthermore in Tamil scholarship there is a deliberate attempt to avoid using Sanskrit ( Sk ) words and which is in some cases quite ridiculous.

2, As far as I know almost all the technical terms in Tamil grammar are native though conceptually there may be some parallels.

3. While there exists identity of topics and themes in relation to Phonology(ezuttu) and Syntax(col) but the study of Ontology or existential meanings using the spoken language ( vazakku) the composed language (ceyyuL) and body languages (meyppaadu) I,e the vast PoruLatikaram is peculiarly Tamil. As far as I am aware the study of PoruL does not exist as part of Linguistics in Sk tradition.

4. Also in Tamil grammatical tradition Hermeneutic Logic was part of Linguistics. The Marabiyal , an independent text but which comes appended to Tol proper contains the worlds earliest account of Hermeneutic Logic and which became elaborated later by Gautama in his Nyaya Sutras.

5. Another interesting difference is that of Utti Science. While the study of Utti-s (Sk ukti) remains part of Tamil linguistics (almost to this day) in Sk it is found only the medical texts like Shisruta Samhita, political treatises like Artha Sastra and so forth Here there are overlaps in technical terms used to describe the utties.

6. Now Tol and some later texts record also a kind of Linguistic Survey of ancient India by way of studying what kinds of words are admissible in literary compositions. Such terms as IyaR Col, Tiri Col, Ticaic Col , Vadacol(Sk words) and their definitions provide this survey. Here there is an awareness of Sk words and how they should be transformed in order to assimilate them into Tamil.

7. An interesting area of convergence is in the study of Compound Words called Tokac Col in Tamil and Samajam in SK. That both Tamil and Sk abound in such compound words shows that both are agglutinative and hence Dravidian. At least in the opinion of Subramaniya Dikshitar(c, 17th Cent AD), the author of Pirayoka Viveekam(Tamil), the grammatical differences between Tamil and Sk are very little and they can be overlooked. 

This implies that he viewed both languages as belonging to the same family viz, Dravidian. At that time the notion of Linguistic Family was not known to the native linguists,

Answer by Dr K Loganathan Krishnan, @ Ullaganar 12-7-2012

The True Spirit Of Hinduism In Tamil Scriptures

As I pour over the wide range of scriptures in Hinduism both in Sanskrit and Tamil, it appears to me that the true spirit of Hinduism is better available in Tamil sacred lore than in Sanskrit.

Against this it is unfortunate that the Hindu world is ignorant of these treasures that combine Bakti with profound metaphysical insights. They are also free of the obnoxious VarNasrama Dharma that runs through almost every treatise in Sanskrit.

What we have in Tamil scripture is a purity, humanity and humility that sooths the heart beyond measures. The struggle is very brave and individual and which does not seek to enslave the commoners to the Brahmans of gurus. They seek to INDIVIDUALIZE the spiritual struggle so that the question as to what religion a person belongs become quite irrelevant.

Finally man is ALONE in his encounter with BEING, torn away from traditions, political collectivities cultic affinities and such other irrationalities and the spirit of the liberated man rejoices in the visions of BEING and with that enjoy genuine redemption.

Dr Loganathan @ Ullaganar

The Meaningless Temple?

The Temple may be meaningless for those who close their mind towards its benign influence of BEING but for those who avoid that because of a well-earned mental freedom, it becomes a locale for regenerating and the enjoying again and again the flighty metaphysical and metaphorical experiences that are immensely meaningful.

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan  @ Ullaganar

Hermeneutic Science And World Unity

HERMENEUTIC SCIENCE AND HINDUISM

Hinduism as Agamism or Tantrism with Temple Worship as its most significant external manifestation, holds the KEY for world unity for it has brought even religious experiences within the fold of Scientific Investigations not the positivistic kind now dominant in the West, but the hermeneutic kind and which is now known also as the qualitative sciences.

The notion of Hermeneutic Science runs through the whole gamut of Tamil Culture and from Sumerian times and which took very rigorous shape by the time Tolkaappiyam (3rd BC), sustained since then as the essential dynamics of Tamil culture.

You can see the Hermeneutic scientific dimensions in the Meyppaaddiyal of Tolkaappiyar as much as in the Metaphysical Gynecology of Tirumular.

Since the scientific temper frees the mind from dogmas, excessive attachments to religious scriptures, gurus and messiahs, the bringing in the realms of religious experience into it, will also free the mind of human beings from beastly animosity that they show towards religions other than their own. It is infusion of the scientific temper that will put an end to the religious animosity so widespread now throughout the world.

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan Ullaganar

The Tamil Origin Of Hinduism

TAMIL ORIGIN OF HINDUISM

I consider most fortunate that I took up seriously the study of Sumerian literature, which has provided me with concrete evidences to argue in favor of Tamil origins of Hinduism and Indic Civilization in general.

I cannot help feeling that bulk of Indian scholars still continue their slave mentality induced by some European Indologists who distorted the historical documents to paint a picture of the Aryan mighty race that were the beginners of civilization as such and a branch of whom entered India and civilized the Dravidians and other natives there.

Such lies continue their influence and which is seen in the total neglect of Tamil and Dravidian in Indological studies and the tyrannical opposition to every proposition in favor of the Dravidian.

In many forums anyone speaking in favor of Tamil is booted out mercilessly and which to me is another expression of Brahmanism with its idolatry of Sanskrit language and VarNasrama Dharma.

It is unfortunate also the Tamil scholars remain unadventurous and suffer from a serious mental slavery where independent thinking is NOT cultivated.

It remains a painful puzzle to me as to why despite hundreds of my postings on SumeroTamil showing the important connections with the historical Dravidian, they still refuse to accept them even as matters that should be investigated further.

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar 2003

Moksa, just a propensity to believe?

Moksa is NOT simply a propensity to believe and which is simply a constituent of the inherited understanding, transmitted by language, metaphysical traditions and so forth.

The desire for Moksa lies at the deepest layer of human understanding and transcends language, culture, traditions and so forth. In fact there cannot be these elements without there being as an apriori the pressure for Moksa as something there with the soul.

Language, culture, religions and various other kinds of cultural expressions are different shapes this pressure for Moksa takes. In our investigations unless we analyze and go to the depths of Human INTENTIONALITY, we shall never lay bare the Fundamental Intentionality and which is the desire for Moksa and at which point a person becomes a Mumuksu, the one who desires Moksa and nothing else.

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

Arunandi and his metaphysical explanation

AruNandi, the foremost student of Meykandar, provides a metaphysical explanation of the fundamental SAMENESS of all human beings:

Quote

This SEEING within the seeings is the SAME for all creatures and transcends all differences -- cultural, linguistic, national, religious, ethnic and what not; but remains unavailable for the most part because it remains concealed , hidden and distant because of the dominance of the malas.

While seeings may not bring about absolute agreement, a convergence in perception, thinking, feeling and so forth, the SEEING on the other hand does bring about this. Whoever succeeds in installing SEEING by subduing the individualistic seeings, tend to agree among themselves absolutely by the SAMENESS of Being-in-the-World that now conditions their existence. This unassailable and unchanging, unsubvertible , indisplaceable agreement , the SAMENESS of SEEING brings about also confers apodeictic, certainty and indubitability, for long the search of the philosophers both in the East and West.

This is the LIMIT in the hermeneutic scientific struggles of human beings --- the seeking of consensus with others for an opinion, idea, understanding and so forth. While under normal circumstances agreements may be possible in some matters but not all, at this LIMITING case the agreement or consensus is TOTAL and ABSOLUTE.

Unquote.

Translated by Dr K Loganathan Krishnan @ ullaganar

Is Sanskrit Related To European Languages?

We should throw away as almost useless the lexicostatistical method of Indo-European (IE) linguists who fail to investigate the 'IlakkaNam' but only the lexicon and which can all be borrowed from one common parent language for e.g. SumeroTamil.

As far as I can see languages like Latin, Greek and so forth DO NOT share the same IlakkaNam with Rigkrit and so forth- they are NOT the agglutinating kind of languages with case suffixes, verbal prefixes, infixes and so forth.

In view of this we have to study in greater depth Tolkaappiyam that outlines Process Grammar, and which discloses the various kinds of TRANSFORMATIONAL processes that can help us to describe scientifically how one language evolves from another e.g. Rigkrit and C.Tamil from Sumero-Tamil etc.

The lexicostatistical method of IE linguistics with overemphasis of phonological processes and blindness towards others, does not have the resources for explaining how over time one kind of language can evolve from another and so forth. In that way they are also incapable of describing the COGNATENESS of languages, how a number of languages can be considered of the SAME family. In terms of Process Grammar such as that of Tol and its extension, we can see two languages with an identity of their own to be cognate if one of them is a TRANSFORMATION of the other like Rigkrit in relation to Sumero-Tamil and so forth.

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

The Base Of Sanskrit

Let me mention that the exercise of wresting out the hidden and concealed BASE structure and which shows itself as Tamil for Sanskrit are in no way transforming or distorting Sanskrit.

We leave as intact at the surface level structure but insist that it has a hidden structure and which shows the TRUTH about Sanskrit. Since this exercise is concerned with TRUTH, it is a science but a Hermeneutic Science.

I don’t think it is fair to denigrate such exercises, which are truly scientific only because it goes counter to long held, and sometimes even false views about Sanskrit. The dichotomy between Aryan and Dravidian languages is DISSOLVING and we are realizing that such a dichotomy is spurious with NO substance at all.

Furthermore if Sanskrit is Deva Bhasa then so is Tamil and Sanskrit is so, if at all, only because of Tamil.

SANSKRIT DOES NOT HAVE ITS OWN BASE BUT SITS ON TAMIL!

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

The 'Civajaana Citiyar' By Arunandi

Civanjana Citiyar, a massiva treatisewritten in Tamil by AruNandi, the foremost student of Meykandar, is the most comprehensive philosophical treatise ever written in India.

It expresses the rationality and the openness to TRUTH that has been the characteristic of the Tamils from ancient times. For what Arunandi accomplishes in this book is a comprehensive UNDERSTANDING of ALL the philosophical thoughts current in his time and after a penetrating inquiry into all of them establishing the TRUTH as against these systems of thought.

And in this he exercises what I call "disconstruction", taking a school of thought , understanding it as it is and then disconstructing the system by pointing out the inadequacies in order to allow another system of thought less inadequate compared to that which is decontructed to emerge and hold the stage only to be deconstructed again.

This process continues till a point is reached where a system of thought emerges where it is NOT further deconstructible and hence understood as the Siddhanta, the irrefutable.

DR K Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

The Universalism Of The Tamils

There is a kind of universalism that is prevalent in Tamil literature from very ancient times here including the SumeruTamil period that is the era of the First Tamil SaGkam of the Tamil historians.

I have been puzzled by such great clauses like KaNiyan PuuGkunRanaar’s famous “yaathum uuree yaavarung keeLir’ meaning ‘The whole world is my own city and all are my brethren”.

Here we have a Sociopolitical Universalism that sees no national and political boundaries as well as the tribal alienations among people. Coming as does from the land of Brahamananical Varnasrama Dharma and the tribal casteism that has led to it, this is immensely surprising.

KaNiyanaar lived probably around 200 B.C or so, But in a further development of such universalisms is the 7th Cent Tirumular declaring “OnRee kulamaum oruvaneet teevanum” meaning BEING is One and so are the whole of mankind.

This typically Saiva universalism is Metaphysical Universalism that is a product of very profound metaphysical reaches. The Saivite metaphysics even in the times of Tirumular has reached depths that no other Indian groups seems to have reached.

This may apply also to the whole world- the various kinds of universalisms in the world does not seem to match the depths of the Tamilian and stands peculiarly unique.

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

Temple Building In Sumeria

TEMPLE BUILDING IN SUMERIA.

Agamism constitutes that component of Hinduism that centres on Temple building and temple worship as its central impulse. We see that this impulse and the metaphysical understanding that underlies it, is not only NonVedic but also PreVedic.

Sumerian which is Archaic Tamil, contains many documents related to temple building. Even the earliest Sumerian historical documents now dated to around 4000 B.C. disclose the presence of Temple building activity , in which interestingly enough the womenfolk participated actively , a tradition that continues to this day.

Around 2200 B.C. we have En Hudu Anna ( The Heavenly Star) , the daughter of Sargon , the Great Emperor, writing not only a philosophically profound Exaltations to Innana ( that I have named Siirbiyam) but also many hymns to the temples of Sumer in which the Kes Temple Hymns also provide an ANALYSIS of the functions of Temple in the metaphysical journey of the human spirit.

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

The Divine Tamil

TAMIL IS DIVINE

Tamil is divine in the sense that for millenniums it has been shaped as a language of bakti, as a language of worship, as a language that has been forged to praise the gods and make them be present with man. I have culled several relevant lines from the Sumerian Temple Hymns, and show how magnificently Tamil hymns were composed long long before the Vedas and how deeply the importance of Temple worship was grasped by these ancient Tamils, the Sumero-Tamils. At other places I have also provided evidences to show that Siddha tradition has also Sumerian origins.

These and similar studies are exploding the Aryan myth fed ceaselessly by some interested parties. The historical TRUTH has been twisted and turned to make the Aryans appear superior and the Dravidians inferior. 

The Tamils have swallowed these false pills and allowed Sanskrit in their temples. Now there is an awakening, we know what the TRUTH is and are determined to give Tamil the right place in the Temples and world history. Here are the evidences:

சுமேருவே குமரி நாடு - சான்றுசுமேருவே குமரி நாடு - சான்று

சற்று ஒய்வு கிடைக்க, நான் திரட்டி வைத்திருக்கின்ற சுமேரு நூற்களில் ஒன்றாகிய "Forerunners to Udug Hul " என்னும் நூலை புரட்டிப் பார்த்தேன். இந்நூலை மிகவும் விரிவாக ஆயவேண்டும் எனற எண்ணம் எனக்கு நெடுங்காலம் உண்டு. நோய் தீர்க்கும் மந்திரங்களின் தொகுப்பாகிய இந்நூல் சித்த மருத்துவத்தை தோற்றியவர்கள் தமி ழரே என்பதற்கும் அது மிகவும் பழமையான ஓர் கலை எனபதற்கும் ஏறக்குறைய நாங்காயிர ஆண்டுகட்கு முன்பே இப்பொழுது தாந்திரிகம் எனப்படும் சமயம் இந்த சித்த பெருமக்களால் பெரிதும் வளர்க்கப்பட்டிருந்தது என்பதற்கும் சான்றாக இந்நூலும் இதனைப் போன்ற இன்னும் பலவும் இருக்கின்றன. மேலும் இந்நூலே சுமேரு எனப்பட்ட நாடு குமரி என்றும் கௌரி என்றும் அழைக்கப்பட்டது எனபதற்கு சான்றினையும் தருகின்றது.
இந்த நூலினை மூலங்களைக் கண்டு ஆஙகிலத்தில் பெயர்த்தெழுதியும் மொழிபெயர்த்தும் வெளியிட்டுள்ள ஆசிரியர் Markham J. Geller என்பார் ஆவர். (A.HA)ki எனப்படும் கோலெழுத்துக் குறியினை வாசிப்பதில் ஏற்பட்டுள்ள பிழைகளைச் சுட்டி அதனை ku-ma-ri என்று வாசிப்பதே பொருந்தும் என்பதற்கு திருத்தியதோர் மூல வரியை பின் வருமாறு தருகின்றார்.

eriduki ku"ar (A.HA)ki -se mu-un-na-ri he-me-en
sa ina eri-du ku-ma-ri re-hu-u ana-ku

இஙகு இரண்டாவது வரி முதலில் வரும் சுமேரு மொழி வாசகத்தின் அக்காடிய மொழிபெயர்ப்பாகும். இஙகு பிரச்சினைக்குரிய அந்த கோலெழுத்து மூலம் ku-ma-ri என்பதோடு ku-wa-ri என்றும் ku"ar என்றும் செமிட்டிய மொழிகளில் ஒன்றாகிய அக்காடிய மொழியில் எழுதப்பட்டிருப்பதை சுட்டுகின்றார்.

மேலும் இந்த மந்திரங்களின் தொகுப்பில் இந்த குறி வரி 217-இல் வருகின்றது.

217. ga-e ka-pirig A-HAki he- sikil-la he-ga dadag-ga me-en
I am the incantation priest of Ku"ar, who indeed cleansed, and also purified

இவ்வரிகளும் இன்னும் பலவும் சுமேரு, சுபாரு என்று வாசிக்கப்பட்ட கோலெழுத்துக் குறிகள் உண்மையில் அவர்களோடு உடன் வாழ்ந்த அக்காடிய மக்களால் குமரி என்றும் கௌரி எனறும் வாசிக்கப்பட்டதின் உண்மையை உணர்த்துகின்றன. இந்த நாட்டின் தெய்வமாக asalluhi என்றவோர் தெய்வம் இருந்ததாகவும் இத்தெய்வம் amaru-utu என்னும் சுமேரு தெய்வம் எனறும் அதுவே அக்காடியர்களால் மருது (Marduk) என்றும் அழைக்கப்பட்டதாகத் தெரிகின்றது. இன்னும் விரிவாக இவற்றை ஆய்ந்தால், மருதை (> மதுரை) குமரி நாடு என்றவாறு வரும் பாண்டி நாட்டு பழக்க வழக்கங்களோடு பெரிதும் தொடர்பு கொண்டுள்ளமை தெரிய வரும்.

Dr K Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

Lost Something Very Profound In The Sumerian Texts?

Beside the pleasant surprise that the language of the 'Epic of Gilgames' is an intelligible kind of Archaic Tamil, the Sumerian insights into the essence of the human mind in those days itself is very surprising indeed.

It appears that we have lost something very profound and deep rather than cultivated it further except perhaps in the Tamil philosophic tradition, which unfortunately remains still largely unknown to the scholarly public.

Dr Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar

The Lost Continent Of 'Kumari' and 'Sangkam' In Sumerian Literature

Kumari and SaGkam in Sumerian Literature.

This essay articulates the strongest evidence I can provide to show a continuity of culture between Sumerians and ancient Tamil Nadu where flourished the SaGkam culture. Unfortunately this idea and the evidences have not caught on with the Indologists including the Tamil scholars.

Reposting with some revisions so that the essay is read carefully by the scholars and the evidences appreciated.

I have reproduced the lines from Sumerian Incantations where there are references to both Sangkam( Su. sam-gam mah) and Kumari also called Kuâar that Dr A. Jacob has also noted in his book.

The sign A-HA is read as both Kuâar and Kumari and which makes the references to Kumari( Kauri) quite incontestable. These incantation texts may be very ancient and perhaps around 2300 BC or even earlier.

Now let me propose some ideas for further research.

Three Kumnari Nadu-s

1.The first is that I want to distinguish between THREE different Kumari Nadu-s, the first pre-deluge and hence before around 4000 -5000 BC. The Second is the Sumerian Kumari as referred in these incantation texts and which interestingly enough comes with the mention of Sam-gam mah, i.e. the SaGkam Mah which appears to be the First SanGkam of Tamil legends. Now the Third Kumari is the one South of India and where also was located the Tamil SanGkam in Madurai, also called Kuudal.

2. Now both Kumari and Kauri mean a young maiden and we have Kanya Kumari in the Deep South right at the southern tip. The Kumari Nadu(as opposed to Kumari KaNdam) was probably a country that was known by the deity Kumari Amman. This may be because it was ruled by WOMEN and possibly a matriarchal society and where matriarchy was dominant in Pandi Nad and till recently in KeraLa.

3. The location of the second Kumari in the South of Sumer and the Thiird Kumari in South of India suggests that the First Kumari was probably in the Arabian Sea linking the Indian subcontinent with Africa. In connection with this it is quite remarkable that the Ethiopians look like the Black Tamils. Some tribes there can easily pass for Tamils. The islands in the Arabian Sea may be remnants of this First Kumari that perhaps submerged because of the Deluge recorded also in Sumerian literature as much as in Tamil.

4. The Kumari mentioned in a very confused way but as the land where the First Academy flourished should actually be the Second Kumari of the Sumerians. There may be some historical confusion here. But what connects the two is the presence of very sophisticated Academic Culture and where it was only in Sumer the cuneiform script was perfected to the level where written literature was made possible and there were schools academies and so forth to cultivate the art of writing and reading on clay tablets.

5.We are suggesting the migrations of Sumerians into the South of India after 2000 BC and along the SEA route which already existed in the Third Millennium itself between Sumer and South East Asian countries. But this remains only a suggestion but once we find some archeological materials like clay tablets in cuneiform script, this suggestion will turn out to be a historical fact. Of course this does not mean many other Dravidian tribes could not have come from the land routes, from the North West of India and so forth.

The Sumerian CanGkam ?

Below some very historically interesting lines where both Kumari and CanGkam are mentioned. Here I venture to give some of my own interpretations as well.

215. ga-e gudu sag-gam-mah ju me-en ( I am the anointing (gudu)-priest , the knowledgeable sangamah)
216. ga-e lu asilal (ki) me-en ( I am the man of Asilal?)
217. ga-e ka-pirig [A-HA](ki) he-sikil-la he-ga-dadag-ga me-en ( I am the incantation priest of Ku'ar , who indeed cleansed , and also purified)
218. . gudu susbu (d)en-ki-ga me-en ( I am the anointing priest, the purification priest of Enki)

*Ta. Gaayee koodu cangkam maa: cuu maan ( I am ritual dancer ( koodu) who knows the rules established by the Great caGkam)
*Ta. Gaayee aacu-ilal maan ( I am the man from Asillal ( the place where there are no impurities)
*Ta. Gaayee kaapiri Kumari (Kauri) ey sukilla, eyka taGtaGku maan ( I am the incantation priest of Kumari (Kauri), attained purity and also attained living long)
*Ta. koodu coobu ENkiizkka maan ( I am the brilliant dancer of ENkiiz)

gudu Ta. koodu, kuudu , kudam? kuuttu

The Su. gudu which is given the meaning 'priest" may actually be a ritualhis might have originated Ta. kuudal, the coming together , assembling as an congregation and which brings us to the Kuudal, an ancient and alternative name for Mathurai, the location of the Third CaGkam or Academy which is also a meaning of Kuudal. This may have evolved from this way : kuudu-il> kuudil> kuudal. There is also a word 'kudil" which is retained in Sk in the name Kaudil-ya, the Gotra of the famous author of Artta Sastra which is said to have been written in Tamil Nadu. This Kaudil-ya has also become KauNdiya, the gotra of ThirunjaanaSambantar and so forth.

The word 'kudam" meaning 'pot' is ruled out as it appears to be a description of a professional person here though elsewhere it does occur in this sense in some Sumerian texts.
sag-gam-mah : maa caGkam : the Great Assembly?

The identity of Su. mah with Ta/Sk maa, maha in both morphology and meaning is quite obvious. The word "sag-gam" cannot be 'priest" ( sangu?sanga) as 'gudu' that precedes it, already means that. Hence it should be linked with 'sa-ga =sag-a" , to conjoin, be together , be in love etc. as in the following line:

Sir.

55. mi-be dam-a-ni-ta sa-ga na- an-da-ab-be (its woman no longer speaks of love with her husband)
*Ta. mibee tam anitta saG-a naa aanida abaiyee ( " )

The sag-a here can also be (sexually) uniting, the caGkamam. Many words such as 'caki' 'cakan' meaning loved ones may be related to this.
Thus it appears to be that 'sag-gam-mah" is the Great CaGkam , here however an Assembly of priests or ritual dancers in which many issues were discussed and perhaps also refined and standardized. The author of the incantation mentions that he KNOWS ( ju, Ta. cuu, cuuz) which also reinforces the notion that sag-gam was in fact an Academy of a kind. Perhaps the Buddhist ' caGkam" as in "CaGkam caraNam kaccaami" was an evolute of this kind of assembly and which in later times became an academic institution of scholars , the Pulavar.
Ku'ar , Kumari.

This interpretation of 'sag-gam' is further reinforced by the mention of "Kumari" ( Ku'ar) which lends support to the historical notion that the First CaGkam was established in Kumari.
Geller gives evidences to read the sign [A-HA] as " Kumari" ( Ku'ar) on page 13 of the book mentioned above. I give below the whole of the relevant passage .

" The above hypothesis contradicts a theory by van Dijk, that since Ku'ar was a city known as "non-Sumerian speaking" as well as the city of Asalluhi, "Grossexorcist von Eridu', it is tempting to identify Ku'ar as the home of the non-canonical incantation in Subarian-Elamite languages.

Van Dijk's arguments, however, are partially based upon a miscopied sign in CT 16 6:239-240 ( collated) which reads :

eridu (ki) ku'ar ( A.HA)(ki)-se mu-un-na-ri he-me-e-n
Ak. sa ina eri-du u ku-ma-ri re-hu-u ana-ku

The reading ku-ma-ri ( Kuwari? Ku'ar) is supported by ku-mar ( CT 51 105:21- 22).... "

It is interesting here that in Tamil, Kumari is also called Kauri, a parallel in meaning and morphology that is quite striking and thus pointing out also a historical continuity despite a shift in the geographical location

Dr K.Loganathan, @ Ullaganar ( revised 12-7-10 )