Origin and evolution of Tamil and Sanskrit

There is textual reference that Tamil existed side by side with Sanskrit.[4] This reference substantiates that Sanskrit was known to Skanda at that time (to facilitate the performance of Vedic Homa). The idea of simultaneous existence of Sanskrit and Tamil is very old - something found in old texts and also coming by tradition. The text ‘Tiruvilayadal Puranam’ states that Lord Shiva simultaneously preached Sanskrit grammar to Panini and Tamil grammar to Agastya in the Pandyan country. (Though Panini lived later than Agastya, the poet used his name for our understanding, to imply that he gave us Sanskrit grammar) This idea is a very old one, found in old texts, and has been told generationally.  There was even a certain period when this happened.

The Time of the preaching of the two languages simultaneously by Lord Shiva is mentioned in Thirumanthiram composed by a Siddha named ’Thirumoolar’. His verse says, “There was a time when rainy season and summer season ceased to exist. There was snow everywhere that made the lakes to shrink. At that time Lord Siva taught Sanskrit and Tamil to his consort.”[5]

The time corresponds to the Ice age or pre-Holocene when two languages were formed by a people owing allegiance to Siva or Sakti or both. The very purpose of the Tamil Sangam being promotion of grammatical Tamil, it goes without saying that the language was newly formed and was sought to be popularised among the masses. Simultaneously the ‘well-perfected’ Sanskrit was used for Vedic Homa.

Thus, we find the birth two languages - both formed with efforts and were not naturally existing and perhaps drawn from a pre-existing proto language. The name of just only one person is associated with both the languages at the time of their formation. That person was Skanda, who initiated the Tamil Assembly for the promotion of Tamil and Vedic Homa in which Sanskrit found an everlasting utility.

His time as per Tamil literary evidence was around 10,000 BCE (12,000 years before present). That was the time of the first ever Vedic Homa!

His life events as given in Tamil texts more or less match the description given by Marka??eya. The comparison with the Tamil texts is necessary to establish the authenticity of the events involving Skanda.

? The first ever event in Skanda’s life as per the Mahabharata was breaking the Kraunca mountain. The same is found in Tamil literature too. That perhaps marks the time people invented means to break the mountain slopes for stone works.

? Skanda was described as seated on a hill top in the narration by Marka??eya. That is also the same in Tamil tradition, and temples of Skanda are found on hill tops.

? The next event was the fight with Indra in which Indra attacked with Vajrayudha ‘piercing’ Skanda, leading to the birth of Visakha. The parallel in Tamil texts speaks about the first sea flood that was controlled by Skanda by throwing the spear he got from his mother, Sakti.

? This event might sound as a myth, but a similar kind of event is reported in Rama’s life too when he was asked to direct his Brahmastra at a location so that the sea at the place he was standing could recede, giving way for him to cross the sea. From the available scientific knowledge, we can say that a tectonic disturbance at a place on the sea- floor can cause the waves to move in a different direction. Both Skanda and Rama directed their weapons at a region in the sea in such a way that water in these places receded and sea floods moved in a different direction.

? The name ‘Visakha’ is not associated with this legend in Tamil.

? The ‘Fall’ of Abhijit appearing after this incident in Mahabharata is not found in the texts.

? The marriage of Svaha and Agni mentioned in the Mahabharata has a different kind of presence in Tamil texts. Skanda has taught the Veda-s to sages. The foremost teaching was giving the Pra?ava mantra (AUM) to his own father Siva, say Tamil texts like Tiruvilaiyadal Purana. Skanda teaching Pra?ava to Siva is found in all legends of Skanda in Tamil. The temple of Skanda at Swamimalai is hailed as the place where he taught the Pra?ava. Pra?ava being the initial utterance at any Vedic chant, it appears now - after realising the role of Skanda in the marriage of Svaha and Agni - that Skanda as initiator of Vedic Homa had been remembered by the Tamils by the story of teaching Pra?ava to Siva himself. In reality it was the occasion of Skanda conceiving the concept of ‘Aupasana’ (AUM-Upasana) and conducting the Homa every day after his marriage with Devasena.

Early evidence of rice in Tiruchendur supports genesis of Vedic Homa around that region

In Aupasana homa, rice is offered into the agni. Since Skanda initiated the Aupasana for the first time, it goes without saying that rice was available during the time of Skanda. So far, we have proved that Skanda lived 12,000 years ago. Only if we prove that rice was produced during the same period, can we say that our research is going in the right direction. Our focus is now on the region where Skanda was supposed to have lived.  Though there are six places mentioned in Tamil literature as associated with Skanda, Tiruchendur scores above all as the place where Skanda spent his time in a cave. Skanda was a cave-dweller and he was called Guha. (His followers were called ‘Guhyaka-s’).

The Skanda temple in Tiruchendur was originally a cave, and even the sanctum sanctorum of the presiding deity, Shanmukha (another name for Skanda with six faces) is part of a cave converted into a room-like structure. The history of the temple says that Lord Shiva was housed there, worshiped by Skanda himself. Today Shiva is replaced with Shanmukha in the main shrine. Cave structures, both inside and outside the temple, still exist, and it is said that the cave was broken down a few hundred years ago and built into a temple. Accordingly, the temple appears very low in what seems to be a huge dug-out pit.

The sea adjacent to the temple has a rocky bottom, and it is said that the mouth of the cave was facing the sea. In the past, access to the temple (in the cave) was from the seaside. People had to go into the sea to reach the entrance of the cave temple. The difficulty in entering the cave made the people of ancient times create access from land-side by altering the original shape of the cave. 

It is seen that Thiruparamkundram, where Skanda is said to have married Devasena, was also carved out of a mountain cave. These places reveal that twelve thousand years ago, before the end of the Ice Age, people stayed in caves in the coastal areas. At that time there was not much population in Bharat, particularly in the north of the Vindhyas, which was cold, with no rivers flowing. Events of that time were recorded as metaphorical legends such as Indra throwing his vajrayudha, indicative of the arrival of rains. Southeast Asia was the region of this early rainfall coming at the end of Ice Age. At that time, climate enabled people to live only in the coastal areas of South India. The sea level was also at a depth of 120 metres below the present level.

Many places in the Tiruchendur region and the region between Bharat and Sri Lanka were above the water level at that time. Southern Madurai was somewhere in the south. The original inhabitants lived in the lands around the Bay of Bengal. These include Thailand (Indra Dveepa) and Indonesia (Saka Dveepa).

Most of the areas were above sea level 12,000 years ago. Indra Dveepa, associated with the Parijatha flower, is identified as the abode of Indra, based on the story of Satyabhama, wife of K???a, desiring to possess the Parijatha tree. Today apart from Bharat, Thailand is the only other place where Parijatha grows. From Thailand (Indra Dveepa), the tree must have been brought to Bharat. Skanda married Devasena, the daughter of Indra who must have belonged to Indra Dveepa.

Rice is an important grain used as oblations in the Aupasana fire – the primary fire that was initiated by Skanda. This requires cultivation of rice or availability of wild rice in the region around Tiruchendur. Research shows that of all the places in Bharat, wild rice occurred naturally for 20,000 years Before Present (BP) in the region of Tiruchendur! Some 20,000 years ago, when many parts of the world were glaciated and sea levels were low (Glacial Maxima), there was not much vegetation in most parts of the world. However, there is evidence of natural growth of wild rice in the areas around Tiruchendur and in the landlocked region between Bharat and Sri Lanka.

Rice was growing in parts of Eastern India as an extension of Southeast Asian influence. In contrast the rest of India, particularly the Sarasvati region, did not grow rice until 9000 years BP. Rice is imperative for Vedic Homa. Its growth evidenced only 9000 years ago in the Sarasvati region and in the west coast of Peninsular India shows the late arrival of Vedic culture in these regions. However, the Southeast part of Bharat where Skanda lived in the cave regions of Tiruchendur had the presence of rice plant long before. The combined evidence of early rice cultivation and Skanda’s presence in Tiruchendur region makes Southeast Tamilnadu the home of the First Vedic Homa. 

The time Manu entered Bharat

Having established that Skanda started the Vedic Homa and Manu came into existence only after Skanda, we can trace the path of migration from southeast India (Tiruchendur) to Dwaraka through the coastal line. During Skanda’s period 12,000 years ago, Visakha’s children (Manu and his clan who came up after the Visakha-legend of Skanda’s time) might have moved through the coastal route around Peninsular Bharat. With increase in solar heat at the end of the Ice Age some 12,000 years ago, the melting icebergs that fell into the Antarctic sea caused sudden flash floods.

There is scientific evidence of such floods that caused sudden sea-level rise. In one of the earliest floods around 12,000 years ago, Manu and others who were settled on the west coast of Peninsular Bharat must have been pushed into river Sarasvati and reached the Himalayan foothills. They could have also entered through Narmada valley. Those who entered Sarasvati River by a flash flood began a new life in the regions of Sarasvati. Through them, rice cultivation must have spread inside Bharat.

The rishis who accompanied Manu and who came after that time created the Rig Veda. This is how the history of the Vedic tradition of Bharat is told, but there is no Indic text saying that they came from Europe and West Asia through the Khyber Pass. Europe was freezing when Skanda was developing the Vedic Homa. Rice-genetics completely rules out Aryan migration from Europe where the climate was not conducive for growing rice. On reaching interior Bharat, Vaivasvata Manu built Ayodhya on the banks of river Sarayu and made his son Ikshvaku a king there. Rice is found in the areas adjoining Sarayu in the early days. The evidence of rice as early as 9000 years ago in the trans-Sarayu region establishes that the Sarayu culture was formed even before the emergence of settlements in the Saraswati-Sindhu region.

Time-period of Ramayana

Sri Lanka was connected with Bharat 9,000 years ago. So there is no possibility of the Ramayana having taken place before that date. Bharat and Sri Lanka were land-locked such that the land extension between them was visible above the sea level until 7,000 years ago. Around 7,000 years ago, for the first time the sea level suddenly rose and closed the land link, necessitating the construction of a bund. This was built by Rama, which came to be known as Ram-Setu. The feasibility of building a bund having risen only 7000 years ago, it can be said that the Ramayana occurred only 7000 years ago.

Skanda’s influence spread everywhere

The story of Skanda’s marriage with Devasena was preceded by a war with Surapadma. The location of Skanda after his victory in the war was a cave on the seashore of Tiruchendur, hence Tiruchendur is known as Srijayantipuram. The name Tiruchendur is a corrupted form of the Sanskrit word Sindhu - a name Adi Sankara used to denote this place near the ocean, in his composition, Subrahmanya Bhujangam. The word Sindhu joined with the Tamil word ‘ur’ had become Chendur. The prefix ‘Tiru’ was added for auspiciousness.

As per local tradition, Skanda stayed in the cave at Tiruchendur. His marriage took place at Tiruparamkundram. He taught the Pra?ava mantra to Lord Siva at Swamimalai. That is likely to be the place where the first Vedic Homa was done. All three places are in the Southeastern tip of Bharat, closer to the seashore. His capital at Southern Madurai surrounded by the sea was somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Evidence exists in Southeast Asia, in Bali, on the formation of Visakha in that region.

The oldest pilgrim place, Pura Besakih, on the slopes of the volcano Mount Agung, also known as Meru, dates back to pre-historic times. The entrance of the temple is a split-opening of a volcano. The name Besakih related to Besaka / Vaisakha matches with the description of the story of the fissure formed in Skanda’s fight with Indra. The story of Skanda becoming Visakha by spewing fire from the fissure, matches with the eruption of volcanic lava from a vent on the slopes causing a fissure. The story shifted to Bharat in due course of time; the region continues to be revered by the Balinese.

Skanda’s escapades centred around the regions in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia bring out a scenario that the Vedic origins were not in mainland Bharat, but spread throughout Bharat a little later once climatic conditions became hospitable, starting from the current period of Holocene. This spread was initiated by the entry of Vaivasvata Manu into the mainland during the early floods at the beginning of Holocene. He entered through the river Sarasvati while a probability exists that another group of the same clan were pushed into the Persian Gulf by the same flood in the Arabian Sea.

Those who entered through the Persian Gulf could have been pushed into the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. The records of the Kish Dynasty in the upper regions of Mesopotamia referring to the line of rulers starting from the Holocene, could as well have been about sister clans of Manu. The similarities in practices of the Kish people could not have been a coincidence. The presence of Skanda’s clan is detected in Europe by a genetic marker, red hair. Skanda was a redhead; he had a red body. In Tamil he is known by names that signify reddishness - Sendhil, Chevve? etc. The name Skanda, coming from the root word ‘Skanna’ referring to falling off or shearing off of the upper layers of the skin giving rise to red colour, is caused by a genetic mutant. 

This mutant found in Ireland and Scandinavia is traced to the mutation that occurred 10,000 years ago in the Indian sub-continent, matching with Skanda’s time; this makes a case for movement of those genetically connected with Skanda to Europe. The early Scythians, known for their reddish colour, carried javelins and symbols resembling goats and cocks that had always been associated with Skanda.

The Scythians were also known for erecting ‘Baba’ stones that strikingly resemble Siva linga. According to Skanda Purana, Skanda created the Siva linga image for his father, Siva. It is surprising to see the face, the hand, etc., carved on Lingam look-alikes in Europe, outside India. These Baba stones are discovered only in regions where the Scythians lived. 

After the rise of Christianity, many of these stones were destroyed and no one knows what their use was, but it is clear that they are found in the places inhabited by the Scythians who were red in colour, used spear as their weapon, and exhibited symbols of sheep and roosters.

Baba Stone in Ukraine

Today these stones found outside Bharat are forbidden archaeology. The information about the red-headed Scythians and the Baba stones establishes the spread of Tamil and Sanskrit along with Vedic practices all over Europe much earlier, say, from the beginning of Holocene.

References:

[4] Tiruvilaiyadal Puranam: Tirupati cirappu - 56

[5] Tirumandiram – verse 65

(Concluded)