Post No. 13,563
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Himalayas: From Rig Veda to Tamil Poet Bharati- 1 (Post No.13,563)
The amazing thing about the Himalayas is that it was mentioned in the oldest book in the word- The Rig Veda (RV). Prof. Wilson attacked Max Muller for giving a wrong date to RV and then Max Muller went back hurriedly and said that no one can date the Rig Veda. Prof. Wilson who translated the RV gave it a date around 2000 BCE. Others ,on geological grounds, gave up to 6000 BCE. Bharati, the greatest of the Modern Tamil poets mentioned Himalayas many times. He died in 1921. He said that there is nothing greater on earth than the Himalayas.
மன்னும் இமயமலை யெங்கள் மலையே
மாநில மீதிது போற்பிறி திலையே!
இன்னறு நீர்க்கங்கை யாறெங்கள் யாறே
இங்கிதன் மாண்பிற் கெதிரெது வேறே?
பன்னரும் உபநிடநூ லெங்கள் நூலே
பார் மிசை யேதொரு நூல்இது போலே?
பொன்னொளிர் பாரதநா டெங்கள் நாடே
போற்றுவம் இஃதை எமக்கில்லை ஈடே.- Bharati
I wrote two articles in 2022 giving more details from 2000 year old Sangam Tamil Literature. Tamil poets translated mostly from Kalidasa’s Kumarasambhava. Again, Kalidas is dated from 2nd century BCE to 4th century CE. But most of the Sanskrit scholars placed him in the BCE period, latest being the Penguin Edition of Kalidasa by Chandra Rajan.
I argued that he lived before Sangam period since his 200 similes (out of 1500) are found in Tamil Sangam poems. Brahmin poets of Sangam period, who contributed more than other communities, translated Kalidasa’s lines verbatim (Please read my previous two parts for authentic references).
Rig Veda Mandala 10 Hymn 121-4
यस्येमे हिमवन्तो महित्वा यस्य समुद्रं रसया सहाहुः |
यस्येमाः परदिशो यस्य बाहू कस्मै देवाय हविषाविधेम ||
Himalayas in the Vedas
“His, through his might, are these snow covered mountains, and men call sea and Rasa his possession
His arms are these , his are these heavenly regions. What God shall we adore with our oblation” -RV.
10-121-4
From the Atharvana Veda (AV)
12-1-11 of Bhumi Sukta the poet used the word Himavanto again:-
“Pleasant be thy hills, O Earth,
Thy snow-clad mountains and thy woods
Earth – – brown, black, ruddy and multi coloured
the firm earth protected by Indra,
on this earth I stand , unvanquished, unslain, unhurt (AV 12-1-11)
We have more references to Himalayan rivers including Ganga, Sindhu and Sarasvati.
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Kalidasa’s Beautiful lines in Kumarasambhava
“There is in the northern quarter, the deity souled lord of mountains , by name Himalaya who stands like the measuring rod of the earth spanning the eastern and western oceans (Devataatma, earth’s Maanadandah)”
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This is an addition to my two parts articles.
We will see more from Tamil sources such as
Tevaram by threeSaivite saints Tirumanthiram of Tirumular, Tiruvasagam of Manikkavasagar, Periya Puranam of Sekkizar etc
Kalhana, author of Rajatarangini (River of Kings) in Sanskrit referred to the great mountain in the following places:
Himalaya was under Tethys sea millions of years ago according to modern geologists. In fact Kalhana was the first one to report this scientific fact. Because he mentioned manu period/ manvantara which takes us back to geological ages.
Once upon a time there was the lake of Sati ; and from the beginning of the
Kalpas the land in the womb of the Himalayas was filled with waters during the intervening period of six Manus 1- 25
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Describing Paravarasena’s palace, the poet said
He was seen by the people going in the direction of which Kailas is the ornament, occasioning the bright sky the rising of a second sun – 3-375
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After the wont of animals those stupid monkeys who lived on the Himalaya, when their curiosity had died down, deposited the two gods in uttara manasa – 3-448
(This is about the images of vishnu and linga worshipped by siva, later taken by Ravana to Lanka and lastly came in to the hands of Vanaras of Ramayana after the death of Ranana.)
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Aryavarta
Between the chiefs of the Darads and the Turks he, who was placed between a lion and a wild boar, was like Aryavarta (aaryaavarta) beween the Himalaya and the Vindhya; in whose city Uddabhaanda ruling princes became free from menace like the mountains in the ocean , when peril of cutting of their wings; whose mighty renown among the kings of the northern region was like the orb of the sum among the constellations in the heaven; that illustrious Lallia Saahi , the refuge of Alakhaana, did not have the privilege of serving Sankaravarman who in ager desired to oust him from sovereignty- 5–152 to 155, Rajatarangini of Kalhana
(here Kalhana uses many similes)
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MANU SMRITI ON HIMALAYA
हिमवद्विन्ध्ययोर्मध्यं यत् प्राग् विनशनादपि ।
प्रत्यगेव प्रयागाच्च मध्यदेशः प्रकीर्तितः ॥ 2-२१ ॥
himavadvindhyayormadhyaṃ yat prāg vinaśanādapi |
pratyageva prayāgācca madhyadeśaḥ prakīrtitaḥ || 21 ||
The country lying between the Himālaya and the Vindhya, to the east of Vinaśana and to the west of Prayāga, is called the ‘Madhyadeśa,’ the ‘Middle Country.’ (2-21)
Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
On the north lies the Himālaya and on the south the Vindhya. ‘Vinaśana’ is the name of the place where the Sarasvatī river has disappeared.—(20)
‘Prayāga’—is the confluence of the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā.
The region having these four as its boundaries is to be known by the name ‘Madhya-deśa.’ It is called ‘madhya’ or ‘middle,’ because it is neither very superior nor very inferior,—and not because it is located the centre of the Earth.—(21)
Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha
‘Vināśana’—This is the name given to the place where the river Sarasvatī becomes lost in the sands. Buhler says it lies in the district of Hissar, in the Punjab.
To be continued…………………..
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12 May 2022 — Tamil and Vedas. A blog exploring themes in Tamil and vedic literature. HIMALAYAS IN THE RIG VEDA AND TAMIL SANGAM …
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https://tamilandvedas.com › 2022/05/13 › Himalayas-in…
13 May 2022 — The Himalayas is described by the poet as a place “ where deer and their fawns sleep in the warmth of Brahmins Three Fires (Yaga, Yajnas) in the …
–SUBHAM—
TAGS- Himalaya, Manu Smriti, Raja Tarangini, Vedas, Sangam Tamil Literature, Aryavarta
Tamil and Vedas 