The Sumerian ur-sag(ur-san) and Tamil SaanRoon
Dr K.Loganathan, Jan 2003
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The
four lines below from Suruppak’s NeRi that dates back to 3000 B.C or even
earlier, are historically some of the most important lines that would serve to
explain not only the Dravidian metaphysical adventures but also the Indian in
general where Buddhism and Jainism are taken as integral to what goes on as
Indian. The importance also exceeds these historical aspects for it may contain
the nuclear ideas underlying the birth of Civilization itself and how despite
catastrophic upheavals, the Dravidian civilization including the Tamil language
survives to this day and continues to thrive young and productive and as a
living language.
The
key term is Su. ur-san (Ta.oor saan> saan.oor> saanRoor) and which exists
in the Malay language as ‘orang’ (Su. ur.san> oor.ang) with the meaning
‘person’ but “orang besar” meaning ‘great men’ particularly the political
leaders. I am not sure how this term occurs in Japanese Finnish Ural-Altaic and
African languages like Wolof and so forth, which are linked with the Dravidian.
But it is clear that it is a very ancient term as it occurs in Suruppak’s NeRi
probably composed around 3000 B.C. and still available in Malay.
Below
I give the relevant lines along with the Tamil versions:
74.ur.sag dili na-nam dili-ni lu sar-ra-am ( The “hero” he alone, is
absolutely unique, but men are many)
*Ta. oor saan tani nanam tanini uLu sarva
aam
75. (d)
u-tu dili na-nam dili-ni lu sar-ra-am ( The Sun god, he alone, is
absolutely unique, but men are many)
*Ta.
(teyvam) utu tani nanam tanini uLu sarva aam
76.
ur.sag-da gub-bu-de ji-ju
he-en-da-gal ( When you stay with the ‘hero’ , your life will last)
*Ta. oor-saannodu kupputtee jiiv.su iiNdu kaal
77.
(d) utu-da gub-bu-de ji-ju he-en-da-gal ( When you stay with Sun god,
your life will last)
*Ta.
(d) utuvodu kupputtee jiiv.su iiNdu kaal
The ur.san, saanRoon is compared with the sun
in many ways and its these comparisons that are relevant here. The Sun remains
the metaphor in terms of which a certain psychological nature of man was
intuited and made the subject of reflections throughout the history of the Dravidian
people. The fascination with sun and its metaphorical relevance for
understanding the human essence still remains. In Sumerian times we have the
name of a great King as ‘utu he-gal”,
the Great (he-gal) Rising Sun (utu). The Japanese, distantly related to ancient
Dravidians have the Rising Sun as their national symbol as do also the DMK
political party. Suriya Namaskaaram is
a common ritual in Saivism and VaishNavism though Sivat tiyaanam in Saivism is
essentially Suuriyat tiyaanam, contemplation on the sun where the notion of
‘sun’ itself is very elaborate and where we have recognition of the outer
physical sun, the inner sun and so forth (Tirumular: aNdaatittan, PiNdaatittan,
Njaanattitan Civaattitaan etc)
There
are other comparable terms in Sumerian itself: a-toku (Ta.aal toku) the
powerful, lu-gal (Ta. kaL-Lu> kaLLar: the king, the great person), patesi
(Ta. pati) the governor or lord and so forth. However from Suruppak’s
elucidation of the meaning of ur-san as above, it is clear that it is a concept
altogether different in that it does allow for the formation of a caste or a
collectivity but rather something that transcends that. For the ur.san, saanRoor, is a UNIQUE individual, someone
who stands ALONE and hence someone who does not allow the formation of caste
groupings like the term “brahmanah’ ‘ksatriya’ and so forth.
It
is this aspect of ur.san (saanRoon) that makes it immensely interesting and
allows us to capture the real essence of Indian Culture, which is more alive in
the Tamil tradition than elsewhere. Before we go into the details and the
different historical expressions of this important notion, let us note the
essences:1
1.
The ur.san (saanRoon) remains a possibility for anyone to be and hence
constitutes a psychological universal.
2.
He stands ABOVE all others and hence one who rises above the multitude as
somebody who is outstanding in his achievements.
3.
In rising thus he remains a UNIQUE individual and hence who would NOTallow the
formation of a collectivity but rather only a group of admires or disciples.
4.
He stands, metaphorically like the SUN, not only in outshining all others but
also as the SOURCE of safety and security, someone who can grant longevity.
Thus
there is an instinctual pressure within everyone to ascent and rise above, to
attain an excellence and shine forth like a sun, unique and immensely
beneficial to humanity in general. This is NOT to be equated with desire of a
warrior to defeat others and be the undefeated hero or a scholar who would
outshine others in scholarly accomplishments and intellectual talents, the
emperor who would bring the whole world under his umbrella and thereby become
the Cakravarthy and so forth. These human desires that constitutes the fabric
of sociopolitical life though not the same as saanRoon but certainly not unrelated.
As
I have already noted in several places, Tolkaappiyam constitutes a magnificent
outcome of Tamil scholarship and which is a continuation of the kind of
analytic trends that we see in Suruppak’s NeRi, that concerns itself with
Mutumozi -- Articulations of TRUTHS supported with REASONS (eetu nutaliya
mutumozi), the kind of thinking that launched Hermeneutic Science and the
growth of Hermeneutic Logic as found in Marabiyal and which later went all
india in the form of Naiyayika, suffering a degeneration as well in the
process.
It
is interesting that Tol. recognizes this instinctual sociopsychological
pressure among so many others and places it under Vaakai TiNai, the
socio-political expression of the psychological Paalait TiNai, that which is
instituted by burning sun within that installs the desert landscape that
prompts severance of existing ties and make one depart and move away.
The
relevant sutra is as follows: 75.
kuutir veenil enRiru paasaRaik kaatalin onRik kaNNiya vakaiyinum; eeroor kaLavazi anRik kalavazi teeroor
tooRriya venRiyum; teeroor venra munteerk kuravaiyum, onRiya marabiR pinteer
kuravaiyum; perumpakai taaGkum veelinaanum; arumpakai taaGkum aaRralaanum;
pullaa vaazkkai valaaN pakkamum; ollaar naaNap periyavark kaNNic colliya
vakaiyin onRodu puNarttut tolluyir vazaGkiya avippali yaanum; ollaar idavayiR
pulliya paaGkinum; pakaddinaanum maalinaanum, tukaddabu cirappin caanRoor
pakkamum; kadimanai niitta paalin kaNNum; eddu vakai nutaliya avaiayakattaanum;
kaddamai ozukkattuk kaNNumaiyaanum; idaiyil vaNpukaz kodiyinaanum; pizaithhtoor
thaangkum kaavalaanum; poruLoduy puNarnta pakkattaanum; aruLodu puNarnta
aKarciyaanum; kaamam niitta paalinaanum enRu, irupaaRpadda onapatin tuRaitee.
These
18 departments of socio-political behaviour have as their underlying
motivations that of vanquishing the opponents and rise as the victorious.
It
is interesting that the term ‘saanRoor’ occurs as those who have vanquished the inner defects ( tukaL tabu)
and have become PURE by freeing themselves from arrogance (pakadu)_ and desires
( aa)
Let
us recall the four essential features of what can be called ‘sanRonism” or Su.
ur-sangkism and which constitutes a psychological universal in the sense that
these aspects are there in the soul of everybody showing itself in various ways
in which there is an attempt to combat others and emerge victorious and thereby
rise up as a HERO, admired and obeyed by others.
1.
The ur.san (saanRoon) remains a possibility for anyone to be and hence
constitutes a psychological universal.
2.
He stands ABOVE all others and hence one who rises above the multitude as
somebody who is outstanding in his achievements.
3.
In rising thus he remains a UNIQUE individual and hence who would NOTallow the
formation of a collectivity but rather only a group of admires or disciples.
4.
He stands, metaphorically like the SUN, not only in outshining all others but
also as the SOURCE of safety and security, someone who can grant longevity.
The
importance of this sanronism is that it appears to explain not only the desire
of man to become an extraordinary
emperor who would rule the world but also the emergence of Messiahs who would
tower against the multitudes and convert them into his disciples. Thus while at
the political level it is the
instinctual pressure within that
underlies the imposition of
political structure of Kinship - Citizenship, at the metaphysical level it underlies the formation of
lordship-discipleship and hence the formation of religion as such. We can see
that Christianity with Jesus taken as the Son-of -God and the ONLY Saviour of
Mankind, Prophet Mohamed (Sal) taken as the FINAL prophet and the ONE most dear
to Allah, Jainism with its Tirtangkarar among whom Mahaviira is the Greatest
and Buddhism with its claim that Gautama the Buddha is the Most Authoritative
in matters pertaining to True Dharma are all related to ursangkism. To this
category of religions we can also add the Advaitism where Sankara is the taken
the Hero who vanquished other combatants with his DigVijaya and so forth and
the Brahmanahs as adviaitins glowing in the borrowed glories of Sankara
In
all such religions there is a person who is claimed to stand UNIQUE and
toweringly ABOVE the multitudes and with a special claim to be authoritative.
We can also see that while they serve to lift up the spirits of the individuals
but by unconsciously imposing the social structure of lordship-discipleship and
in which the Lordship is DENIED to the average they also foster a homo
hierarchicus in which those who are cast into discipleship are forever thrown
into a mental slavery in which they can only ADULATE and Eulogize their LORD
and willing even to become a martyr to defend the honour and name of his Lord
Ursangkism
in Sumerian.
I
shall provide only some evidences in this direction in this brief study;, there
are plenty of materials to substantiate this.
The
following three lines occur as a refrain in Sulgi’s MutarIbiyam (Hymn B, dated
around 2000 B.C)
Nig-ag-ga ni-bi ga-il ( I want to extol the awe of all
my achievements)
Kala-ga-ga mu- bi a bi-su-ud (To let go far the fame of
my power)
Gestu-mu
nig-galam-ma su-ga-am (My intelligence being full of perfect accomplishments
The
Tamil rendering would be as follows without substantial changes in meaning
Nika
aakkam niibi ngaan iyal
KaaLaGkam
moobi aa cuudubi
Kestu
moo nika kalamma suuzka aam
We
must note here that Sulgi also claims that the Radiant Sun, the Sul Utu was his
companion right from his youth meaning that from his youth he has recognised
the presence of the Sun deep within him guiding him all along and which is
quite revealing.
24. ses-ku-li-mu
sul-Utu-am
Tamil.
Sisu kuli
moo suul utu aam (Since my childhood (sisu) my friend (kuli) was the radiant
son (suur utu))
While
still in this we should note that perhaps it is as the continuation of a
practice of self praise that Sulgi initiated that we have the CaGkam songs of
praise of the Kings and the notion that the best of kings is the one who gets
to be sung by the poets rather lavishly (paadal caanRa veentan). Certainly it
also underlies the writing of Meykiirtti in the post SaGkam epoch where the
kingly achievements of a king are listed along with lavish praise of his
prowess in battles and other accomplishments.
Yet another set of lines very interesting for
the study of ursangkism are the following lines from the inscriptions of Gudea
and which may have initiated the
deification of Kings or gifted individuals and the origins of Hero-Lords such as in Christianity Islam
Jainism and Buddhism with its attendant imposition of Lordship - Discipleship
into the society and hence transmutingof the whole of the society into an Umma,
a collectivity of disciples with unquestioning obedience to a Ursang, the Hero
(Taken
from C.J. Gadd pages 75)
While
he claims that he built a massive temple for Ningirsu (Lord (Nin) of divine (su) feet (gir Ta, kiir: feet); Ningirsu:
Vishnu? Note the similarity with suu-kirii-van), he also seems to have
fashioned a statue of himself and placed it within the temple and along with
the idols of the deities.
18
alan-na-e (a statue) mu-tu (he fashioned) gu-de-a (Unto Gudea)
19.
lu-e-du-a – ka (who built the temple) nam-ti-il (life )mu-na-si (he has
given)
20.
mu-su ((this) for a name ) mu-na-sa (
he called it) e-a ( and into the
temple) mu-na-ni-tu ( brought it in)
The
Tamil version would sounds as follows:
18.
alan . aanna. yee mutu(a) kuddan.nee
19.
uLu il edu-akam til.nam munna sii
20.
moo-su moonna sol il-a munnanee idu
While
this practice of placing the images of kings was still present in medieval
times in Tamil Nadu where mighty temples were built, we can see that earlier it
could have led to the developments where the deities were pushed into the
background as in Christianity and Islam where Jesus as the Son of God and the
Prophet Mohamed (sal) as the Final Prophet were fore-grounded. In Jainism and
Buddhism something more drastic seems to have taken place. The deities are
completely eliminated with Jainism replacing them with Tirtangkaras and
Buddhism with Bothisatva or Gautama Buddha thus becoming non-theistic
religions.
The
Sumerian ur-sag(ur-san) and Tamil. SaanRoon
Ursangkism
in Sumerian and CaGkam literature (continued)
Let
us recall that ursangkism is an understanding of a psychological universal, the
presence of an inner instinctual pressure in a person that compels him towards
not just an excellence but towering over other and rising as unique individual
very much like the sun in the sky which has been used both an analogy and
metaphor. We shall see now the presence of this in Tamil literature of the
historical period as well as an interpretive understanding of the psychology of
such individuals. These developments in Tamil literature also appear to be a
continuation of trends of thinking already available in SumeroTamil literature.
First
we shall see examples of this pressure showing itself in the poetry pertaining
some mighty kings. Secondly we shall see a philosophical or interpretive
understanding of this where along with sun the moon is also recognised as being
present in the mind as well as in the world and which gave rise to the notions
of Natam and Bindu, the Siva Tatvas that configure everything by being brought
into a Play by BEING understood metaphorically as the DANCE of Siva
The
Ursangkism of Sulgi
Sulgi,
the most famous King of the Third Ur dynasty (c. 2000 B.C) and after whom the
Sumerian political control over Ur was lost to the Semitic people has composed
about 20 hymns in praise of himself of which MutarIbiyam (Hymn B) is the
foremost. In this there is a refrain that occurs as follows and which is worth
repeating:
52.
nig-ag-a-ga ni-bi ga-il ( I want to extol the awe of all my accomplishments)
53.
kala-ga-ga mu-bi a bi-su-ud ( To let go far the fame of my power)
54.
gestu-mu nig-galam-ma su-ga-am ( My intelligence being full of perfect
accomplishments)
55.
a-na-mu nig-dug-ge dab-ba-nu ( What (can matter with) me? Nothing is hidden to
me
Tamil
52.
nika aakka Gaan niibi Gaan iyal
( “)
53.
kaaLaGka Gaan moobi aal cuudubi (“)
54.
kestu moo nika kalamma suuzka aam ( My
understanding is filled with very precious insights)
55.
enna moo nika tuGkee naa tabbu ( Whatever that is most excellent never escaped
me)
Thus
Sulgi claims that he is a Hero who has not been paralleled by anybody else and
in that he is UNIQUE, someone who was not denied anything that is excellent
(nika tuGkee> mika tunGkee). What is interesting also is that he UNDERSTOOD
all these as the GIFT of Sul Utu, the radiant Sun as the following lines would
indicate:
40.
ses-ku-li-mu sul (d) Utu am ( My ‘comrade-at-armas” was the (young) hero Utu)
41.
ki ji-sa-gal-la-ka igi u-mu-na-ni-du ( (and) in the “Place of the living”
having gazed upon him)
42.
Sul-gi-me-en dalla-e-bi-a inim
mu-un-da-bal-e-en ( I, Sulgi, when he went forth in glory, conversed with him)
43.
dingir igi-sag me-ga-a-kam ( The god with encouraging looks was (present) at my
engagement)
Tamil.
40.
sisukuli moo suur Utu aam ( My friend from days of my youth was the radiant
sun)
41.
kiiz jii-saay kaallakam imi uL munnanidu ( I gazed the place where life and
death are established)
42.
Sulgi maan taLLu eebiya enam munnidu baalyiyen ( I. Sulgi, when he (the sun)
moved in glory, exchanged words with him)
43.
TinGir imisaaGka mey gaan akam ( The god with encouraging looks was present in
the battles I fought)
Here
Sulgi understands that the Sun is that Power that regulates existence and death
( ji-saay kaallakam) and that unless one is graced by the sun, there cannot be
victory overcoming death in the battlefield.
The notion that the sun is the power over the living and death is a
notion that has become central in Saiva
Siddhanta where BEING is understood as Sangkaara KaaraNan,
the Cause over the total annihilation of the whole universe (and hence
also that regenerates it.)
Ursangkism
in PuRa NaanuuRu
Similar
notions are also available in CaGkam literature especially the PuRam variety
that deals with the socio-political life. Some examples are given below.
PuRam
4: lines (14- 18)
Niiyee,
alaGkulaip parIi ivuLip
Polanteer
micaip polivutoonRi
Maakkadal
nivantezu tarum
CenjnjaayiRRuk
kavinai maatoo
Anaiya
aakan maaRee
(You
, in travelling on the golden chariot fitted with horses that move their heads
gracefully, resemble the sun that rises over the vast seas. You must strive to
become one like that (sun)
PuRam
6 (lines 25-30)
AaGka,
venri yellaam venRakattu adakiya
TaNdaa
viikait takaimaaN kudumi
TaNkatir
matiyam poolavun theRusudar
ONkatir
njaayiRu poolavum
Manniya
peruma nii nilamicai yaanee
O Kudumi who has within your accomplishments
all the victories and noted for the boundless love and compassion, may you live
long in this world like the moon of the soft rays and the sun of brilliant
light!
Here
we have both the sun and moon brought in as metaphors or analogies with the moon being related to the gentle
qualities of love and compassion and sun to the political might and bravery
that endows victory of all kinds.
PuRam
19 (lines 23-28)
Cellum
ulakattu celvam veeNdinum
NjaalaG
kaavalar tooLvali murukki
Orunii
yaakal veendinunj ciRanta
Nallicai
niRuttal veendinum maRRatan
Takuti
keeLini mikuti yaaL
Even
if you desire the wealth of metaphysical wisdom about the realms after death,
vanquish all the kings of the world and emerge victorious over all of them and
thereby a uniqueness, and establish
everlasting and good fame , listen to ways in which you can accomplish all of
them to your satisfaction !
Throughout
the history of Tamil literature where there kings, such expressions are met
with and hence an abundance of such citations are possible. However the themes
are the same:
1.
An innate desire to emerge victorious in all battles
and thereby become the UNIQUE individual as well as one unmatched in bravery
i.e. the Makaviiran
2.
This competence or immense courage and bravery is the
gift of the Sun that exists in the sky as well as within
3.
Along with it a desire to be full of COMPASSION to all
so that people at large also benefit and live happily
4.
This element of compassionate disposition is the gift
of Moon within.
Thus
it is understood that what configures the personality of Makaviira, one great
in bravery as well as in compassion are the sun and moon within that creates
the necessary instinctual pressures as well POWER to accomplish them all.
Let
us recall the following elements noted as present in the lines of Suruppak’s
NeRi with which we started:
1.
The ur.san (saanRoon) remains a possibility for anyone to be and hence
constitutes a psychological universal.
2.
He stands ABOVE all others and hence one who rises above the multitude as
somebody who is outstanding in his achievements.
3.
In rising thus he remains a UNIQUE individual and hence who would NOT allow the
formation of a collectivity but rather only a group of admires or disciples.
4.
He stands, metaphorically like the SUN, not only in outshining all others but
also as the SOURCE of safety and security, someone who can grant longevity.
The
Mahaviira being also the source of safety and security and so forth, is
understood here as the qualities which are gifts of the inner moon, also a notion available in Sumerian literature
where the moon was called ‘iti’ ( > Ta. intu: moon)
The continuity in the underlying ideas
are quite mistakable showing that despite many catastrophic events in the
history of the Tamils from Sumerian times, there was an unbroken continuity in
the cultural ethos.