The following four lines connected with each other present some interesting problems. However a careful study indicates that in that period itself Suruppak ( Sumerian ) observed that a guru perhaps more of shaman-priest could bind people and in that disallow personal freedom. Suruppak seems to be against such a state of affairs and admonishes through his NeRi that individuals should not allow themselves to be enslaved by such gurus.
Bull Fight in Sumeria
To drive in this point Suruppak brings in a metaphor and which incidentally shows that there was a game of Bull Fight but more like the Manjcu Viraddu of the Tamils than the Spanish game of the Matador who in fact kills the bull. The Tamils dont kill the bull but only defeat it by bringing it down by the horns. The relevant line is:
194.
gud.mah-e gu-bi lu a-ba-an-dab (After a man had caught a huge ox on its neck)
Here 'gud.mah' is clear, the Tamil 'koodu maa', the great bull and where 'koodu' means the horns as well and perhaps after the deletion of the final syllable exists as 'koo' (> Sanskrit goo).
Now the sacredness of the cow may follow by the fact that in Tamil 'koo' also means 'god' as well as 'king'. It may be this accidental coincidence in name where 'koo' means both the cow and god that underlies the reverence shown towards the cow among the Hindus. However it may also be possible that there are other reasons- like they appearing in dreams and in that always signifying the coming of good times as opposed to crows etc that signify otherwise.
Now the word 'gu' in Sumerian has two senses: that of the neck (throat?) and the speech act of calling out. The latter meaning exists in Tamil as kuuvu and here it may be possible that in Sumerian times it was applied also to the neck (throat) the place where the cooing takes place. Please note that while Tamil 'kuRaL' means voice Tamil 'kuRaL vaLai' means the throat or the vocal chords.
So it is possible to go along with the translation and see it as: He who subdues a bull by its neck. . . . .
However this presents a problem in relation to the line that follows as its completion:
195.
lu id-de ba-ra-an-bal-e ( That man could not transgress the river)
We can take this line as a metaphorical way of saying that 'he cannot cross over the rive of life' i.e. something like 'piRavip peruGkadal niintal' of KuRaL (crossing over swimming the sea of life)
If we do that then it does not seem to make sense to say that a man, who is strong enough to subdue a bull by its neck, cannot cross over the turbulent river of life.
Perhaps we have to take here 'ba-ra-an' as the arche form of puRan, the realms or area outside the akam, the inhabited and familiar. With this we will have the meaning: Whoever is strong enough to subdue a bull by its neck, is also brave enough to cross the lands across the river.
This interpretation seems to make also immense sense in connection with lines that follow:
196.
lu.gu.la uru-za-ka sag-ba u-ba-e-zal ( After you have dwelt side by side with the mighty men of your city)
197.
dumu-mu za-a ur-re he-em-me-re-a-e-de ( My son, may you at once get rid of them(?)
Tamil uLu kula uurusaaka caanba(>cemma) uL baayee cel ( After sojourning with the great men of city in good relationship)
Tamu.moo jaayee uRee im maaree aayidee ( My son, you should seek to become like them
Here I believe my interpretations are closer to the actual meanings as it does not make sense to say that one should kill the great ones after mixing with them amicably.
The lu.gu.la are the lu.gu.ra (guru, kuravar etc.) i.e. the individuals who probably were like shaman-priests of primitive societies where they would get into a trance and spill out words that are taken as utterances of the gods themselves, the 'teyva vaakku' This practice pervades the whole gamut of Sumerian society and is still extent in the villages of India.
Here we are taking gu.la> ku.la> kurai: to bark, to speak out loudly etc.
The advice seems to be: after mixing with such kuravars amicably, one should not be bound to them but FREE oneself and seek to become like them.
It may also be possible that it requires an inner courage to free oneself from the hold of such shaman-priests/ gurus and perhaps it is for this reason that Suruppak brings in the metaphor of defeating the bull. The 'ulugula' is like a bull and only one who defeats his hold and thus frees oneself from the spells of his words can in fact succeed crossing the river of life.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>194.
gud.mah-e gu-bi lu a-ba-an-dab (After a man had caught a huge ox on its neck)
195. lu id-de ba-ra-an-bal-e ( That man could not transgress the river)
Ta. koo maahvee kuuvbi uLu yaaban tabu ( The man who is caught by the neck( or bellow) of a great bull )
uLu iiddee para aan paallee ( That man cannot cross over the river)
gud.mah Ta. koodu, 'koo' cow , bull
gu.bi Ta. kuuv: to call out and hence derivatively as here the neck or the throat.
a-ba-an, a-ba Ta. yaaban: who, whoever
dab Ta. tabu, tavam� to arrest, imprison, control etc
196.
lu.gu.la uru-za-ka sag-ba u-ba-e-zal ( After you have dwelt side by side with the mighty men of your city)
197.
dumu-mu za-a ur-re he-em-me-re-a-e-de ( My son, may you at once get rid of them(?)
Ta. uLu kula uurusaaka caanba(>cemma) uL baayee cel ( After sojourning with the great men of city in good relationship)
Tamu.moo jaayee uRee im maaree aayidee ( My son, you should seek to become like them )
lu.gu.la Ta. kula: the great; kura, kurvar: great teachers. Also kulam: the higher people of society.
sag.ba Ta. caan.ba > cemma : good excellent noble etc
zal,jal Ta. sal, cel : to go along, move etc. Also Ta. cari: to slide, cariyai: bodily actions. Also Ta. caar: to join, be together etc.
ur-re Ta. uRu, uru: to be, to attain
he-em Ta. im : this , these
me-re : Ta. maar : they ; a suffix indicating personal plural , as in kuru.maar etc.
a-e-de Ta. aay idee : aa, aay : to become
ULLAGANAR
Note : The above lines are taken from the Sumerian 'Instructions of Shurupak' which Ullaganar has given a Tamil name as Surupak's Neri' )
( Editing and re-paragraphing by his student )
No comments:
Post a Comment