The Linguistic Philosophy of Tolkaapiyar - Introduction Part 1

Introduction. 






Tolkaapiyam is perhaps the greatest treatise not only for Tamil philosophy but also for Indian philosophy as a whole, overlooked only because of the persistent projection of Vedanta tradition as that which is Indian and the best. It is hardly noticed that Nyaya Sutras is essentially a summary of Tolkaapiyam where the Hermeneutic Logic is transformed into Epistemological Logic and which in turn led to the various kinds of logical traditions of other philosophies.

This story has to be recalled and the important insights Tolkaapiyam brings into the analysis of human behavior must be retold . 

The purpose of this series in precisely that up to a point 



The Text as a Whole 


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 Tamil Philosophical Developments and how while deconstructing other philosophies prevalent at that time, 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. 

Tolkaapiyam 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. 



The Organizational Principles. 


Tol differs not only from PaNini but also from some recent developments in Linguistics in the West. And this emerges from the fact that among the THREE books, the primordial is the Third Book, the PoruLatikaaraam and it is only to make sense of the studies in PoruL that the semantic, morphological and syntactical studies are taken up in Collatikaaram. And further it is only to understand the grammatical intricacies as in Col that phonemic, phonological, phonetics, morphophonemic and so forth are taken up in the Ezuttatikaaram. 

Now PoruL means MEANING but here the MEAINGS people LIVE with in the world. Thus PoruLatikaaraam turns out to be Existential Analytics where the MEANING that agitate people in their life are accessed through the Speech Acts viz. KuuRRu. It must also be mentioned that the concept of LANGUAGE itself is also very broad. Not only it includes the VERBAL both the oral and written forms (vazakku and CeyyuL) but also the KuRippu Mozi (the body language, the symbolic gestures etc) and so forth. The MEANINGS emerge in all kinds of communicative acts and unless we capture them and analyze them scientifically we cannot ACCESS the truths about the world and people. 


Loganathan @ Ullaganar

( editing and re-paragraphing by his student )

The Metaphysical Gynecology of Tirumular - Part 19

The KuNdalini Yoga and Enjoying the Golden Body

There are many kinds of Yoga and KuNdalini Yoga is that which is being described here by Tirumular. 

In the Third Tantra it is called PariyaGka Yoga, Yoga of body clasping and by which is meant the eliciting of KuNadalini with sexual union with a female in deep love. This kind of union is intermediate between the normal that results in getting progeny and that in which there is no physical union but only social love.

The most important aspect of this kind of union is that it leads to a way of Being without any PaRRu, i.e. any worldly bondages and which is also the state of Cuttam, Absolute Purity.

We see here as part of Tantrism not the avoidance or suppression or repression of the libido but rather the channeling of it in the direction of Absolute Purity and which also results in gaining a Golden Body, a body which retains youthful virility so that coitus is possible even past the normal ages of the youth.  One remains what they call enRum patinaaRu, the ever youthful sixteen provided one has seen the condition of Being without any time consciousness.

32.

1955.

கலக்குநாள் முன்னாள் தன்னிடைக் காதல்

நலத்தக வேண்டில் அந்நாரி யுதரக்

கலத்தின் மலத்தைத் தண் சீதத்தைப் பித்தை

விலக்குவன செய்து மேல் அணைவீரே

உரை:

காலவுணர்வின் சூக்குமங் கண்டு அதனை கடந்து அதனால் விந்துசெற்றவன் தொடர்ந்து அமுதமாகக் குண்டலினி ஈட்டுவான் வேண்டி ஓர் பெண்ணொடு கலந்து மகிழ வேண்டின், அதற்கு முன்பு வெற்று காமவேட்கை அல்லாது அன்பினாலே கலவி இன்பம் வேண்டின், அப்படி அன்பினால் அணைகின்ற பெண்ணின் உதிரக் கலமாகிய ஊன் உடம்பிலிருந்து மலம் குளிர்ந்த சீதம் கசப்பின் பித்தம் போன்ற நோயின் மூலங்களை விலக்கிவிட்டு அதன் பிறகே அணைக்க வேண்டும்.

32,

1955.

kalakkunaaL munnaaL tannidaik kaatal

nalattaka veeNdil annaari yutarak

kalattin malattai taN ciitattaip pittai 

villakkuvana ceytu meel aNaiviiree

Meaning:

Now those rare individuals who have transcended TIME Consciousness and with that the desire for self-propagation, may still need to elicit KuNdalini through sexual union. Such people should seek a woman of great and true love (and not one who is overcome just with sexual passions). And before sexual union is enjoyed with such a female, her body of blood and flesh must be cleansed of excreta, phlegm, bile and so forth.

33.

1956.

மேலா நிலத்தெழு விந்துவும் நாதமும்

கோலால் நடத்திக் குறிவழியே சென்று

பாலாம் அமிர்துண்டு பற்றறப் பற்றினால்

மாலானது மாள மாளும் அவ்விந்துவே

உரை:

ஆண்குறியாகிய விரைத்து நிற்கும் கோலாகக் கொண்டு பக்குவ முதிர்ச்சி உதவும் மேலை நிலத்து பரவிந்தும் பரநாதமும் அகத்தே பதியுமாறு சுழிமுனை நாடிச் செலவின் குறிவழியே சென்று, குண்டலினி சத்தியை அமுதப்பாலாக உண்டு அதன்வழி இன்னும் மேலேறி பற்றற்ற நிலையை பற்றினால், எஞ்சி இருக்கின்ற ஆணவ மலத் தொடக்கும் மாள, விந்து அபரவிந்துவாக நின்று பிறவித் தொந்தனையில் வீழ்த்தும் மாய்ந்து இல்லாது போகும்.

33.

1956.

meelaa nilattezu  vintuvum naatamum

koolaal nadattik kuRivaziyee cenRu

paalam amirtuNdu paRRaRap paRrinaal

maalaannatu maaLa maaLum avintuvee

Meaning:

Having attained an erect penis like a stiff rod (kool) and traveling through the Cuzi Munai Nadi (where both and Para Natam and Para Bindu are co-present) one sholud travel higher in the spiritual world and in the direction of Para Natam and Para Bindu and drinking the flow of KuNdalini as the Nectar (of longevity) if one tries to cut asunder all worldly bondages, then all the dark and dirt will die off and with that also the hold of Apara Bindu that binds one to the phenomenal world of endless births and death.

Comments:

Sexuality, the cause of which in the Apara Bindu, the Universal Seed, the Potu Vittu, is that which throws a person into Samsara, the phenomenal way of life where there is the assumption of bodily presence and evolving into higher and higher kinds of species. It is within the human form of existence that we have an UNDERSTANDING of this evolutionary entanglement as well as the way to escape from it. The way is to KILL or dry up the presence of this Apara Vintu, the Universal Seed of the reproductive instincts and pressures for biological replications of self with getting an endless chain of progeny.

Now when the state of TIMELESSNESS is understood, the WAY of Being free of this cycle of births and deaths is also understood. It is a condition of having rooted out or dry up the Para Bindu, the Seed of reproductive self-replications.

Now Tirumular explains in these two verses that there is an intermediate stage of sexuality where sexual union is enjoyed but without desire for progeny. Such unions are entirely out of LOVE and where KuNdalini elicited with such unions is in fact the invigorating NECTAR and which taken in direction of Para Natam and para Bindu will in fact take one into a state of Absolute PURITY, finally FREE of any sexual desire at all, or at least the need to elicit KuNdalini with sexual unions.

Loganathan @ Ullaganar

( editing and re-paragraphing by his student )

( photo taken from https://pixabay.com/en with thanks)

Sumerian 'ere' and Rigkrit's 'ir'

Sumerian ‘ere’( <ene) Rigkirt ‘-ir” and Tamil ‘-ir, -ar, -aar” the Plural Person Marker

Evidences that Rigkrit is a transform of SumeroTamil are aplenty and I am providing one by one so that after sufficient number of such studies the whole lot of them can be brought into a scholarly finale where the various of utties ( tools ) at work will be explicitly spelt out.

In this posting I want to point out the presence of person plural marker  “-ir “ as a suffix in Rigkrit  and in that agreeing with both SumeroTamil and Classical Tamil. The word  is viirair  ( also starir < sitar-ir 122-2 ) that occur in the sloka I:122- 1&2. The viira-ir is retained in Tamil as viirar: the warriors, the valiant ones as also noted here.

My discussions will be brief as most of the words have been discussed earlier and in some details.

Pra vah pantam raghumanyavo ‘andho yaajnam rudraya miilhushe bharadvam/

Divo astoshy asurasya viirair ishudhyeva maruto rodhasyoh //

The  meaning as given by Swami Satyah Prakash et al is as follows :

O earnestly eager priests, may you dedicate the protective sacrificial offerings to the reward-showing cosmic powers. Let us praise him who, with his heroic followers, as with shafts from a quiver, has expelled the evil spirits from heaven, and may we praise vital principles who reside between heaven and earth.

Recovering  the BASE form by de-transformations Uri Linguisitics) we get the form:

Pura paal paantam raku-manya-u anta yaajnam urudraaya miiL ucci-yee paratuvam/

Tiivu-u a-si-ta-u-shi na-suurasya viirair ishu tiiyava marittu-u rodashya-u//

The original meaning can be recovered as follows:

In the sky above ( anta= vaanatta) the sun ( puru) spreads out ( paantam= paaytam) pure light ( vah< paal ) so that there is brightness staying firmly (raku manya-u) . In the same way  in the fire festival for Rudra ( yajnam rudraaya) , He causes to arise above ( miiL-ucciyee ) brightness all over the world ( parattuvam ) . This is fire (divo= tiivoo) establishing light there ( a-si-ta-ushi) is like the warriors ( viira-ir) throwing spears of fire ( ishu tiiyava) killing ( marittu-u )  with brilliance ( rodhahya) those who are not the celestial beings ( na-surasya> asurasya)

I shall consider here only the viira-ir the Tamil equivalent of which is viirar (< viira-ir)

First of all we notice that ‘ir’ ( and Tamil -ir, -ar-, aar , the third  person plural markers) are derivatives of Su. ere and which itself is a variant Su. ene  and which exists in Tamil as inam, a collectivity, a tribe etc. We have many instances of this: dingir-e-ne, anunnakene ( <anununna-si-ene ) and  in such occurrences  ‘ ba-e-re’ we have the meaning  of “they’. I have also already pointed out that it is this Su. ba-ere that has become Rig bhir ( as in rishibhir etc) and Ta. peer: people.

The word ‘viira’ is a metathesis of rib-ba , the radiant as in the following occurrence:

Kes Temple Hymn

18. kes-gin  rib-ba lu si-in-ga-tum-mu  (One great as Kes ---- has any man been  (this) worthy?

*Ta.  keeci-ngin iribba aaLu  icingka toommu? ( One as great as Kes,  has anyone  grown up?)

( tum Ta. tuppu : strength;  Ta. tuppu : to spit out ;Ta. toonRu : to appear See Malay : tumboh: to grow)

19. ur-sag-bi as-sir-gin rib-ba ama si-in-ga-u-tu ( One as great as its hero Assir -- has any mother ever borne him?)

*Ta. oorsaangki-bi aciir-ngin iribba ammaa icingka utu ( One as great as its hero Aciir, has any mother given birth to?)

(ur-sag Ta. Or saan ; oru: imconparable' utu Ta. utu: to emerge ; Ta. uti: to drop or cause to drop)

here Kes( keeci) the long-haired is Siva as Sadaiyan.  Here rib-ba> ba-rib> biira .  It can also be taken as ‘ ba-iri-a” , the radiant one .

Regarding this plural suffix Tol says as follows:

691:

ar, aar ba ena varUum muunRum

palloor maruGkil padarkaic collee

The three suffixes ‘ar, aar and ba/pa’ are

Third person plural indicating words.

The Grammatical features of Viira-ir

We notice that in the generative processes there is an underlying SAMENESS in all these three languages. The word viira-ir has the grammatical particle of ‘ir’ as the SUFFIX of the word and by a process of gluing a distinct word ( ene> ere> ir) to the stem viira, the warrior. Such a process of gluing and forming what is called the Odduppeyar ( the glued words) is available a s general feature in all these three languages  ( Su,. dingir-ene, ba-ere Ta. viRaliar, uzavar , koodiyar etc)

This sameness in the roots and grammatical processes of agglutinating to form glued words runs through all these three languages and hence furnish further evidences for my claim that SumeroTamil is the base language of Rigkrit and Rigkrit is agglutinative just like SumeroTamil and Classical Tamil.

DR Loganathan @ Ullaganar

( Editing and re-paragraphing by his student )