The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna- Part 3

By Dr K.Loganathan, 2004

 

 

The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna-17

Inanna as Uma or Sakti

The Tamil Saivism has the singular distinction of not only seeing BEING as the Dancer but also a Male-Female Complex who dance together in bewildering number of patterns  to generate the world and sustain it. As Tirumular says ‘Sakti Civa ViLaiyaaddu it taaraNi’ - this whole manifest universe is PLAY of Sakti and Sivam.

We find these notions in the following lines of this Sirbiyam  attesting to their ancient and Dravidian vintage

109. nin-kal-kal    an-ne ki-aga
        Most precious Lady, beloved of An

    ¿¢ý ¸ø¸ø ¬ñ§½ ¸¡í¸

110. sa-ku-zu mah-a    ki-be ha-ma-gi-gi
        Your holy heart if lofty    may it be asuaged on my behalf!

    º¡«ö §¸¡ƒ¤ Á¡‹«  ¸£ú§À ±õÁ Á£ûÁ£û

111. nita-dam-ki-aga    usumgal-an(a)-ka
        Beloved bride    of ushumgalanna

  ¿£ò¾ ¾õ ¸¡í¸ ¯„¤õ¸û «ñ½¡ì§¸

The term “an-ne ki-aga’ will be in Tamil : aaNNee kaaGka> aaNNee kaama: the beloved of AN,  terms that also occur in CaGkam  classics ( PatiRRuppattu) for the Most High. KaaGkai in Tamil means heat and perhaps originally meant the sexual heat but later came to be simply ‘love’ as in the kamattup paal of TirukkuRaL. The word ‘kaamar” also means beautiful. Another very important line is line 111 where obviously Siva is described as the Lord with the Snake and which is true even today. The ‘usumgal” means the literally the large snake  where it is the arche form of Ta. udumpu.kaL , a very large reptile or lizard or iguana. In the icon of Siva, we still have the Snake, the paampu as a garland around his neck. That In-anna is the nita-dam, the great (nita) spouse (dam, Ta.tam, taaram) of the Snake Lord makes it clear that she is Uma, the equal feminine half of Siva , the Sakti

That She is Sakti who is spread where Siva is,  taking shapes in accordance with the WILL of Siva is another basic notion of Saivism which we can find also in the following line :

112. an-ur an-pa    nin-gal-bi-me-en
        You are the senior queen  of the heavenly foundations and zenith

    Å¡ý µ÷ Å¡ý À¡ø  ¿¢ý¸ûÀ¢ Áý

Here ‘an-ur’ and ‘an-pa” are both astronomical as well as metaphysical terms.  While the former is Ta. vaan-oor(am) , the edge of the sky and the latter Ta. vaan-paal , the zenith, they can also be the ‘manifest world’ and the  ‘underground world’. That In-anna is said to be the Nin-gal ( Ta. NiingaL) and most certainly ( me-en> Ta.man) clearly shows that She is the ENERGY, the Power that permeates the whole universe assuming different shapes and all because of the differentiations willed by AN or Siva. Here it is useful to recall the words of Tirumular: cattitaan enRunj camaintu uruvaakumee (1772) : it is Sakti that becomes the various shapes of the manifest world.

It is because She is Sakti itself that all other lesser powers , the a-nun-na-ke-ne have submitted to Her and which is a metaphorical way of putting that the differentiated forms of energy are impossible without the Pure Fountain of Energy, the ParaSakti, as they say now.

113. a-nun-na-ke-ne    gu-gis ma-ra-an- gar-re-es
    The Anunna have submitted to you

    ¬Ûýɡ츣§É ܸ£îÍ Á¡ýÈ¡ý ¸¨Ã¢Í

The word ‘anun-na” exists now as ‘aan-inam” - the group of little powers ( aal> aan: power) as in the following verse of Sambantar : vaazka aNtanar vaanavar aaninam ( 3:54-1).

 

The Genesis of the Universe

Now another notion well established in Saivism is that BEING is anati, an  unconfigured Primordiality ( as are also the anmas and Paacaas) and in the following line in which we can see the beginnings of such metaphysical notions

114 u-tu-ud-da-ta    nin-ban-da-me-en
        From birth on     you were the "junior" queen

   ° ¦¾¡ð¼ò¾ ¿¢ýÀñ¼ Áý

The line is better understood as : You are certainly the most ancient( Ta. paNdu) and hence already there from the beginnings (uu toddatta) of the universe. The word Ta. todu, means giving birth to, producing something etc and we see here cosmological thinking pertaining the ORIGIN or GENESIS of the universe where it is seen as something brought into being-there by In-anna and for which reason She must pre-exists and hence the PaNdu, the  most ancient.

 

The lines below emphasize that She, the Parasakti, the anunna, is the Supreme Power  where all other little powers pay obeisance to her.

115. a-nun-na dingir-gal-gal-la-e-ne a-gim ba-e-ne-diri-ga
        How supreme you are over the great gods, the Anunna!

    ¬ÛýÉ¡ ¾¢í¸¢÷ ¸û¸ûÇ¢§É¹¢õ À¡Â¢§É ¾¢Ã¢¸

116 a-nun-na-ke-ne nundum-nundum-bi-ta ki-su-ub ma-ra-aka-ne
        The Anunna kiss the ground with their lips (in obeisance) to you

¬Ûýɡ츢¢§É Ñó¾õÑó¾õÀ¢ò¾ ¸£úÝ(õ)Ò Á¡ýÈ ¬ì¸¢Â¢§É

The Priestess as the Prophet

Now in the following lines,  she comes back to own personal problems and where she incidentally also describes some of the duties of the priestess of those times.

117. di-ni-ga nu-mu-un-til    di-kur di-mu-gim igi-ga mu-nigin
        (But) my own sentence is not concluded     a hostile judgment appears before my eyes as my judgment

       Å¢¾¢ ¿£¸ ¿¡ Óý ¾£÷  Å¢¾¢§¸¡Ã Å¢¾¢§Á¡ ­þ¹¢¹¡ý Óý ¿¢ì¸¢ý

118 gis-na-gi-rin-na    su nu-um-mi-la
        (My) hands are no longer folded     on the ritual couch

    ÌîÍ ¿¸Ã¢ýÉ Ý÷ ¿¡ ­Å¨ÄÔõÁ¢
 

119 du-du-ga nin-gal    lu-ra nu-mu-na-bur
        I may no longer  reveal     the pronouncements of Ningal to man

    àÐ ¹¡ý ¿¢ý¸û ¬ÙýÈ ¿¡ ÓÉ Òâ

These lines indicate that that was a couch in the temple where the word nagir is the arche form of Ta. nagar, the temple and derivatively also the temple-city and hence the city itself . It has also given us the word ‘naakariikam’ , culture or civilization as such. The ancient Dravidian tribe “naakar’ may actually people of the temple or city. However the most important notion that she recapitulates as something she has been deprived of is her PROPHETIC function, that of uttering to ordinary people the pronouncements of  Ningal , the Great Goddess Herself.

This notion of a priest becoming the vehicle for the words of God or Goddess is the foundation of the notion of  Teyva Vaakku and which exists to this day among the Tamils ( and perhaps also the whole of India) and for which reason the Samiyaadies, the Shaman priests are consulted. In Sumerian times the powerful incantations that cure diseases are also said to be such words, the Bagavath Gita, the revelations of gods and hence words that are apurushaya.

We  can see that this ancient priestly function of becoming the mouthpiece of the Great Goddess runs through the prophetic tradition of the Semitic religions and  the whole of gamut practical Hinduism.

The Vinai Tiirttal : Solving  Personal Problems

120 en-zalzale-ga nanna-a-me-en
        (yet) I am the brilliant    high priestess of Nanna

    ²ñ¦º¡ø¦º¡Ä¢¹¡ý ¿ýÉ-« Áý

121 nin-ki-aga-an-na-me-en    sa-zu ha-ma-sed-e
        Oh my queen beloved of An,     may your heart take pity on me!

    ¿¢ý ¸¡í¸ ¬ñ½ Áý º¡ö ƒ¤ ±õÁ ¦ºò§¾

These lines bring in the Bakti sentiments - that of seeking the Grace of Sakti for the purpose of overcoming the existential problems, a notion still survives with as the noton of ‘vinai tiirttal’ which is a very frequent theme if the whole of Divine Tamil especially the Tevaram corpus.
 

The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna-18

The Beginnings of Mantrayana

The lines of song 15 below not only show amazing continuity with Dravidian Hinduism but also its close relationship with Mantrayana and which is related to music, about which we have already talked elsewhere.  For these lines end with the phrase ‘he-ju-am” meaning “let it be known” and which  exists even now as ‘suvaaka’ but its meaning lost. This parallels the words pooRRi” (let it be praised) and Vaazka (let it live long) and so forth. The phrase can be reconstructed as “ ii suur aam” meaning ‘let this be bright(well-known) everywhere” where the root “suur/ suu” is also root of Suuttiram, the clause that declares a Deep Truth.

Another word on interest is Su. du-ga, dug-a etc and which is the arche form of Ta. tuukku and which means to sing and which occurs as such in CaGkam Tamil. Now it also occurs as a technical term in Tamil prosody the name of a kind of musical or metrical measure of ceyyuL, the verses.

The Tantrism of Moon Worship

The line 122 also indicates that such songs were sung practically to all gods and that it was a way of not only glorifying the deity but also indicating one’s own submission to its dictates. It appears that those who deny such homage towards a deity will suffer its wrath and with that encounter many sufferings in life.

 Song 15 º£÷À¢Âõ: À¡¼ø 15

122. he-su-he-za-a nanna li-bi-in-du-ga za-a-akam bi-in-du-ga
    That one has not recited as "Known! Be it Known!" of Nanna , that one has recited as a "Tis Thine!"

     ²Í ²ÍÅ ¿ýÉ¡ ­þÄ¢ À£Â¢ý àì¸,   ƒ¡«¸õ À£Â¢ý àì¸

Here Nanna is the Moon God, more fully Nanna Su’en, the Soman of later times and as captured in Rig Veda and so forth. Even in Tamil literature Su’en is known as Soman and the Soma Paanam is the KuNdalini that oozes from the Inner Moon. It is the Inner Moon, a form of Bindu that secrets the Amutu, the elixir of longevity, good health and so forth. It is this Inner Moon that is called the Nanna Su’en.

The following lines are addressed towards In-anna, the eldest daughter of Nanna Su’en and the Goddess of sexual happiness also. It is noteworthy that just like the present day Namavali that have been sung practically on all major deities, the first part of the line describes the greatness of the deity and in that also disclosing how the person has understood that deity.

123. an-gim mah-a-za             he-zu-am
        That you are lofty as Heaven--  be it known!

    Å¡ý ¹¢õ Á¡‹« ƒ¡         ® Ý ¬õ!

124 ki-gim dagal-la-za            he-zu-am
        That you are broad as the earth -- be it known!

    ¸£ú¹¢õ ¾¸øÄ ƒ¡«        ® Ý ¬õ!

The above two lines disclose the vast spread of In-anna, that She the Most High as She is described as lofty as the Sky itself. (vaan gin mahaa: great and loft as the heavens itself). But the next line includes the earth also (kiizGin tavalla) broad as the wide earth itself. Thus In-Anna as BEING is understood as Omnipresent - She is there in the Sky as well as the Earth and hence everywhere.

In-anna as KoRRavai

The lines below describe Her activities, the Universal Praxis that were later understood as the Panjcakrityas TiruviLaiyaadal, the liila and so forth. However what are highlighted here are DESTRUCTIVE activities and hence BEING-as-KoRRavai. In-anna is seen the destroyer of Evil and the disobedient and who assumes various fear-striking icon forms or avatars to do this.
 

125. ki-bala-gul-gul-lu-za        he-zu-am
        That you devastate the rebellious land- be it know !

    ¸£úÅÄ ¦¸¡ø¦¸¡øÖ ƒ¡«     ® Ý ¬õ!

Here the clause kiiz-paal-a kollu-kollu, the Tamil reconstruction parallels another clause kuRu kollu-kollu that also occurs in this exordium. In-anna is not only the destroyer of enemies (gul-gul-lu > kol-kollu) but also all nations (Su. kur > Ta. KunRu, kuuRu etc). It is interesting that all these words are still in use with ‘kul/ kol’ having the root meaning of to scatter, destroy etc. We can also see that it is from such a phrase as kol-kol-amma that we the Ta. KoRRavai, (> kolkol-avvai> kolavvai> koRRavai) the MahakaaLi or Durga who is worshipped to this day.

 

125a kur-ra gu-de-za              he-zu-am
        That you roar at the land -  be it known!

    ÌýÈ Ü¢§¼ ƒ¡«         ® Ý ¬õ!

126 sag-gis-ra-ra-za                he-zu-am
        That you smite the heads-  be it known!

     ¦ºýÉ¢Â¢Í «Ã¢«Ã¢ ƒ¡«     ® Ý ¬õ!

127 ur-gim adda ku-za              he-zu-am
        That you devour cadavers like a dog -- be it known!

    µÃ¢¹¢õ «ð¼ Üú ƒ¡«           ® Ý ¬õ!

 

These lines elaborate further how exactly She kills and destroys. She thunders (gu-de > Ta. kuuvidu) to frighten the evil people. She causes wars in which heads are cut off (sag-gis-ra-ra> senniyisu ari ari). The dead bodies are consumed by Her like dogs consuming cadavers. Here we perhaps have a reference to Burning Grounds where Siva dances the dances of destruction along with ghosts and demons that Punitavati has sung eloquently in her Muutta Tiruppatikam.

128 igi-hus- a-za                    he-zu-am
        That you glance is terrible -  be it known!

    ­þ¹¢ ¯‰½  ƒ¡«        ® Ý ¬õ!

129 igi-hus-bi il-il(i)-za             he-zu-am
        That you lift your terrible glance -- be it known!

    þ­¹¢ ¯‰½À¢ ­þÂø ­þÂÄ¢ ƒ¡«     ® Ý ¬õ!

130 igi-gun-gun-na-za              he-zu-am
        That your glance s flashing -- be it known!

    ­þ¹¢ ¸ý¸ýÉ ƒ¡«         ® Ý ¬õ!

These lines that describe Her angry eyes is a way, as En Hudu Anna herself explains, of describing her FURY, that if necessary BEING-as-Inanna can also the Furious and Immensely Angry and all to destroy the evil and with that safeguard the good innocent and weak.  It is interesting that the body language in terms of GAZE that disclose ANGER are chosen here and which serve as the iconographic features of KoRRavai to this day. The iGi ushNa (hot eyes) and iGi kan-kanal-la (the burning eyes) are gazes that show intense anger.

131. en-na-nu-se-ga-za             he-zu-am
        That you are ill-disposed towards the .....-- be it known

        ®ÉÛ ¦ºÌ ƒ¡«         ® Ý ¬õ!

 

Here “en-na-nu” that remains un-translated may the magicians who chant mantras to bring about evil upon innocent people. The Ta. en means to say, to utter and the word “en-nu-ru” means incantations in Sumerian. Thus it appears that In-anna and her worshipers were not inclined towards the magical or shamanistic magical practices. This attitude can be noted also in Suruppak’s NeRi (c. 3000BC) and perhaps there was a conflict from very ancient days between  the true baktas and the shaman priests, a conflict that exists to this day.

Gub and the Gub-tas

132. u-ma gub-gub-bu-za         he-zu-am
        That  you attain victory -- be it known!

        °õÁ ÌôÌôÒ ƒ¡«        ® Ý ¬õ!

133. nanna li-bi-in-du-ga za-a-kam bi-in-du-ga
        That one has not recited (this) of Nanna, that one has recited it as "Tis thine!"--

        ¿ýÉ¡ þ­Ä¢ À£Â¢ý à츠   ƒ¡«¸õ À£Â¢ý àì¸

134 nin-mu ib-gu-ul-en     asa mah-me-en
        (That) Oh my lady, has made you great, you alone are exalted

    ¿¢ý§Á¡ Å¢ôÒ §¸¡Äý ¬º¡ Á¡‹ Áý

In-anna as the Sakti, the Power can but be victorious in everything. The word ‘gub’ (> Ta. kuppu, kuvi) which means to place the legs on the fallen enemy might have given us the word Gub-ta, the Victorious, also a word of a dynasty in the North of India. Could it be that  these gub-tas also known as Moriyar or Mauriyar (Ta. vamba mooriyar) are actually Sumerian tribes who poured into  the North India and because they were NEW arrivals, they were called Vanba Mooriyar (the new Mooriyas?)

 

135. nin-ki-aga-an-na-me-en  mir-mir-zu ga-am-du
        Oh my lady beloved of An,  I have verily recited your fury!

     ¿¢ý ¸¡í¸ ¬ñ½ Áý Á£÷ Á£÷ƒ¤ ¹¡«õ àì

 This final line of this Namavali, recalls that In-anna is not only the daughter of Nanna Su’en but also the beloved of aaN, the Siva of later times.  The Inanna-aaN pair is the Purusha-Prakriti of the later Samkhyas as much as the Siva-Sakti of later Saivites.

 

The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna-19

The Burst of Bakti

The most characteristic feature of Bakti is the I-Thou relationship that is established between BEING and self and within which is forged a dialogue kind of metaphysical discourse that we see here amply. Somehow it was lost in the Vedic tradition, which is also an offshoot this Sumerian Tantrism that remained temple centered. It may be possible, as line 136 would indicate that Fire-worship centered Vedism, had its origins in the temple culture.

136. izi-ur mu-un-dub    su-luh si bi-in-sa
    One has heaped the coals(in the censor)    prepared the lustration

        ±ƒ¢ µ÷ Óý §¾¡ôÒ  ÝÖ º£÷ À£Â¢ý º¡÷

The ‘eji, ejen” closely parallel the Rigkrit ‘yajnam” which has become the Tamil “yaakam” by some strange phonological changes by the period of Classical Tamil (3rd Cent BC to 3rd cent AD). The ‘ iji-ur” is Ta. eji-oor: fire by the corner (?) and mu-un-dub is Ta. muntooppu: to heap up. The verbal prefix ‘mun” exists only in some residual forms like en-man-aar (<en-mun-aar) where it has also changed position, from a prefix into an infix. However ‘su-luh” still exists in a from close this viz. cuulai: the fire pit. The ‘si’ is Ta. cii: brightness.  However the following lines indicate that this lighting up and making the place bright with the Yajna fire, is ritualistic in nature.

137. e- es-dam-ke ma-ra-gal    sa-zu na-ma-se-de
    The nuptial chamber awaits you,     let your heart be appeased

`    þ­ø ®Íò¾Á째 Á¡ýȸ¡ø º¡öƒ¤ ¿õÁ ¦ºò§¾

Here though ‘e-es-dam’ is translated as “nuptial chamber” it also holds the possibility of being translated as “ the music chamber” (Ta. il icaittam) or the divine chamber, the Garbakrikam (Ta. il iisattam) both quite consistent with Inanna becoming satisfied with appeasement of her heart.

138  im-ma-si-im-ma- diri-ga-ta    nin un-gal ma-ra-tu-ud
        With "It is enough for me, it is too much for me! I have given birth, oh exalted lady, (to this song) for you

    ­þõÁ¡ º£ø ­þõÁ¡ ¾¢Ã¢¸ò¾ ¿¢ý ¯í¸û Á¡ýÈ ¦¾¡Î

139 ni gi-u-na     ma-ra-an-du-ga
        That which I recited to you     at (mid) night

    ¿¢º¢ ¨Á°ýÉ Á¡ýÈ¡ý àì¸

140 gala an-NE-ke     su hu-mu-ra-ab-gi-gi
        May the singer repeat it to you     at noon

    ¸¨Ä Å¡É째   ¦º¡ø ¯õ§Á¡ýÈ «ù Á£ûÁ£û

Before coming to the Bakti dimensions these lines, let us note that there was an institution of Hymn recital both at night and day time and that there were professional singers for this purpose. Here it is interesting that ‘gala” the singers, is the arche form Ta. kalai, the arts and sciences and which exists in Sanskrit also as ‘gala”.  To this day the kalai-njar in Tamil means the artists. This also points out that ‘ e-es-dam” is actually ‘il-icaittam” i.e. a special hall for hymn singing.

These lines are also of outstanding importance in revealing the PERSONAL dimensions of En Hudu Anna and her understanding of how such songs in fact take shape. The ‘imma-siimma” is enough of personal pains and sufferings, there is a kind of psychic exhaustion of lamenting over the ill fates that have fallen on her - deprived of her chief priestess status, thrown into dark chambers etc. Out of these torments, unbearable pain she sings the glories of In-anna so that She would interfere with the political processes and relief her of pains. This composing of the metaphysical poetry is like given birth to a child but only that “child’ is a metaphysical poetry of outstanding merits !

This is the personal dimension, the later day Sakamaarkkam of Saivism where BEING becomes an intimate FRIEND where He  does not stand simply as the Supreme Radiance - Impersonal and Distant, the Brahman.  In-anna to En Hudu Anna, in addition to being u-dalla-e-e (the Supremely Radiant) also LOVING and  who would come to her rescue like a mother would when her child suffers, as the following lines would show.

141 dam-dib-ba-za-ke-es     dumu-di-za-ke-es
        (only ) on account of your captive spouse, on account of your captive child

¾õ «¨¼ôÀƒ¡ì§¸Â¢Í     ¾Ó Å¢¾¢ ƒ¡ì§¸Â¢Í

142 ib-ba-zu ib-gu- ul    sa-zu nu-te-en-te
        Your rage is increased,     your heart un-assuaged!

    ±ùÅ ƒ¤ þôÒ ¦¸¡û º¡öƒ¤ ¿¡ ¾½¢ò§¾!

Here by ‘dam’ certainly En Hudu Anna is referring to herself as the “captive woman” and interestingly  enough also as the captive child. This clearly brings the Bakti dimensions. The Mother-ness of BEING towards creatures who become the children that is highly  reminiscent of Appar and so many Saivite saints calling BEING ‘ammaiyee!  appaa! (O Mother! O Father!).

She also notes that In-anna becomes immensely ANGRY and hence takes the various terrible forms only because of the LOVE she has towards her children. BEING is LOVE and it is out this LOVE that the terrible forms are taken, not to destroy the GOOD but only the EVIL.

The understanding that BEING is Mother-Father unto the creatures and hence the creatures as their children is a theme of spiritual life that has sustained the Dravidian Tantrism to this day and which has maintained Temple Worship to sustain it. The Yajna centered Vedic tradition that branched off from this Tantrism along with the neglect of temple worship, perhaps in the interest of cultivating the intellect, did not sustain the Bakti and along with it the understanding that BEING is LOVE (Anbee Sivam)

 

The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna-20

Gaining Heavenly Existence or Moksa

We have come to the end of this remarkable Hymn of Praise, the Sirbiyam of En Hudu Anna in which there is immense joy for her prayers are answered and In-anna has restored to her to former glory.

143. nin gu-tuku    nir-gal gu-en-na-ke
        The first lady    the reliance of the throne room

     ¿¢ý §¸¡¾Ì     ¿£÷¸û §¸¡ ²ñ½ì§¸

144. sizkur-ra-na    su ba-an-si-in-ti
        Has accepted her offerings

    º£÷Í ÜÈÉ  Ý÷ «Åý º£Â¢ý ¾¢ø

The key phrase here ‘su ba-na-si-in-ti” a complex verbal phrase that is quite archaic: cuur - aban-cin-til: has made her (supplications) live on her hands and which really means as translated here ‘receive”. In those days to receive and accept is to place on the palms which a concrete way of expressing the abstract and mental act of receiving. Her supplications are siz-kur-ra-na i.e. siir kuuRana or isai kuuRana, the hymns she has recited praying the might of In-anna.

But why In-anna was moved to receive her supplications?

The Kings and the Gods

145. sa-inanna-ke    ki-be ba-na-ab-gi
        Innana's heart     has been restored

    º¡ö ®Éýɡ째 ¸£ú§À ÀñÏ ¬ô Á£û

The hymns are not simply songs sung to please the aesthetical sensitivity of the mortals but rather a way of ACCESSING the deity sung and making it LISTEN to the person and with that grant her wishes. In-anna was angry or ill disposed towards En Hudu Anna and because of which she was to suffer the deprivation of the Enship of the temple and a life of imprisonment in the dark and dusty cells.

The praises of the hymn, the Namavali, reaches In-anna and restores her heart by pacifying Her. Thus the thinking is very anthropomorphic - the deities can be like a king or queen - can get angry and punish the individuals and when cooled and calmed will grant the requested favors and so forth. The deities were understood in terms of the kings and Queens and they in terms of the deities. The Kings were the gods-on-Earth while the deities were kings-in-the-heavens. This notion is retained in the semantics of the Tamil  “koo” where it can mean both the King ands God and ‘koo-il” both the Temple (as in Sumerian) and the Palace (called il-gaL in Sumerian).

The interplay between the understanding of God and Kingship is an interesting theme that has repercussions throughout the history of the Dravidian Metaphysics and the influence of which still persists. During CaGkam epoch we see the king being treated almost as a living deity and which was taken to its extreme during the pre-Bakti period, the destruction of which was one of the themes of the Bakti revolt the most eloquent expression being the  patikam of NamarkkuG kudiyelloom of Appar where only BEING is restored as the Real Power.

The Beginning of some Mantras

The following lines describe the state of ECSTACY of En Hudu Anna on being granted the favor she requested.

146. u ba-an-na-du  la-la ba-an-su-su hi-li-ma-az ba-an-du-du
        The day was favourable for her, she was clothed sumptuosly, she was garbed in womanly beauty

    µ÷ «ÅýÉ à;  ­±øÄ ±øÄ «Åý ÝúÝú  ±Æ¢øÁ¡û «Àý §¾¡ø§¾¡ø

147. iti-e-gim    a-gim la-la ba-an-kur
        Like light of the rising moon how she was sumptuosly attired!

    þ(ó)¾¢ ²¹¢ý ¬í¹ý ­±øıøÄ  «Åý Ü÷

Here we have ”la-la” as variation of ‘ella-ella” bright and brilliant and perhaps the root of Sk. Lalita where ‘lalitam’ means divine beauty, radiance and so forth. We have ‘hi-li’ as another variant of ‘eri, elli’ etc and which has become probably the bija mantra of Sakti ‘hrim” etc. It is also interesting that the analogy of the moon rays iti-e-gim (Ta. intu ee Gin) to describe this appearance ( the Rigkrit ‘indiraaya”). In-anna is the Moon or at least the eldest daughter of Moon God, the Nanna Su’en (the Soma of Rig Veda) and the womanly beauty has the same gentle qualities as the soft glows of the radiant moon.

The Direct vision of the Mother

As I have said in many places, the central metaphysical impulse of the Dravidian folks has been that of cultivating Transductive perception and gaining visions of BEING in some Icon form. It is really surprising to learn that this was present even in Sumerian times as the following lines would show.

148. nanna u-zi-de-es     mu-un-e-a
        When Nanna appeared     in proper view

    ¿ýÉ¡ ¯ý º¢ò§¾Â¢Í Óý ²Â

149. ama-ni nin-gal-la-ra     sud-mu-na-an-ra-as
        They( all ) blessed     her (Inanna's ) mother Ningal

    «õÁ¡-¿¢ ¿¢ý¸ûÇýÈ  ݾõ §Á¡ýÉý «¨È¢Í

The Nanna Su-en, the Moon God, the father of In-anna APPEARS for direct seeing, u-zi-de-es > Ta. un cittEisu > un cattEisu, the TRUE view, and hence a vision free of delusions aberrations and so forth. The Nanna breaks into vision, discloses himself as a reality there and which means that En Hudu Anna was not IMAGINING or fantasizing etc. It was a Yogak Kaadci, a transductive perception and hence as much a truth-experince as seeing dogs and cats in the world.

In this context now appears ama-Nin-gaL, the Mother Goddess Herself who is the Mother of In-anna, carrying the implication that the Mother is the ParaBindu who takes the icon form of the MOON and from which she differentiates into In-Anna the Feminine Power of underlying species generation and hence sexuality.

The word ‘sud” exists now as ‘cuutam’ and which has become the ‘ootam’ that means both recitation and pure sound. This may also be the root of “cuuttiram”, a cryptic statement of some deep insights.

The Heavenly Life and Moksa

What was En Hudu Anna really after? Was it her restoration into Enship of the Temple etc deprived by Lugal Anne that we have led to believe so far? What the boon In-Anna was pleased bestow on En Hudu Anna as a result of her moving and philosophically magnificent hymns?

These final lines disclose the truth, what she was really after viz. entry into Paradise

150 gis-ka-an-na-ke    silim-ma mu-na-ab-be
        The (heavenly) doorstill     called "Hail!"

    ÌŠ ¸¡ Å¡ýÉ째 º£Ä¢õÁ «¨ÅÓÉ!

151. nu-gig-ra du-ga-ni mah-a
    For that her (Enduanna's) speaking to the Hierodule was exalted

    Ñí¸¢ýÈ àì¸É¢ Á¡‹-«

Here ka-an-na” is the heavens, Ta kaa vaanna : the doors( kaa, katavu) of the heavens (vaan, vaanulaku). In-anna pleased with the personality of En Hudu Anna as evidenced by this exordium, not OPENS the gates of heaven but also make her most welcome. Thus it would appear that what En Hudu Anna was seeking was becoming FREE of the prison of earthly existence and gain the Freedom of Heavenly existence.

The dark prison of dust where she lost her bodily charms is in fact the Earthly Existence the kind of existence where men like Lugal Anne would seek to have sexual relationships.  Thus existence with sexuality and which makes men approach her with such intentions is the Dark and Dirty Prison and what she wants from In-anna is FREEDOM from this kind of existence and which in later times was called samsara, the existence with PaRRu, bondages of all kinds.

But how can In-Anna, the Goddess who is tireless fecunditive power grant her Moksa by freeing her of sexuality?

The lines below explain this adequately

KoRRavai, the Power of Destruction

152. kur-gul-gul    an-da me-ba-a
    Praise be (to) the devastatrix of the lands, endowed with me's from An

    ÌýÚ ¦¸¡ø¦¸¡ø  ¬ñ¼   ¦Áö À¡Â

153. nin-mu hi-li gu-e     inanna zami!
    (To) y lady wrapped in beauty, (to) Inanna!

    ¿¢ý§Á¡ ±Æ¢ø §¸¡§Å ®ÉýÉ¡ º¡Á£!

 

The fact is In-anna can also shape shift to Kur-gul-gul-amma, the KuRu-kolkol-avva, the KoRRavai or Durga, she who rides  the tiger or lion (ur u-a). The creatrix of all can become the Devastratrix of all for the power that serves as the libidinal force can also shape shift to the most potent destructive force, that which generates and regenerates can also destroy by causing death. It is interesting that this POWER is something that In-anna is blessed with by An, ‘an-da me-ba-a’ (aaNda mey baava) and earlier ‘an-ne me si-im-ma’  (aaNnee mey ciiyimma). The KoRRavai does not have any Power of her own, the mey (Power as in Mey Kiirtti, the moy etc), all the powers come from BEING as well as the Words (inim ku anna-ta) and hence In-anna simply executes the WILL of BEING of Siva, the Natan, the Supreme Lord.

We can see now how  the later Samkhyas developed from this the notion of eternally and self-moving Prakriti and which the  Buddhists transformed into the stream of momentary particulars and which notions developed  godless metaphysics of various kinds finally disconstructed and displaced during the Bakti movement.

 

Concluding Remarks:

Scholarship into the early History of Hinduism marred with the Aryan racialism has seen the bakti based Dravidian religions of Saivism VaishNavism and so forth as developments of the notions of these Aryans who sang the Vedas and so forth. It turns that all these are great lies perpetuated by a despicable Racialism and nazification of Indological studies. This hymn of En Hudu Anna is an eloquent testimony to the fact that long before the Vedas were sung and long before any European speaking tribes were civilized enough to think metaphysically, Dravidian folks composed beautiful hymns of outstanding metaphysical depths where Moksa was sought after, a theme that runs through the Paripaadal Hymns(c. 2nd cent AD) and the  Paacurams of Nayanmars and Alwars (3rd. cent to 9th cent AD) attesting an unbroken continuity probably sustained by literature and temple architecture the intermediate phases of which we have lost.

 

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