The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna- Part
2
By Dr K.Loganathan, 2004
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The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna-11
In-Anna as the Very Source of Life
We have seen that In-Anna with her fiery eyes can, not only strike terror in the hearts of people, but as Kaaamatci, she can also be the source of human productivity and barrenness. When people are wicked and deny homage to Her, she will withdraw her Feet from the Byre, the nation as the cattle-shed and make the women become disinterested in sex and thereby cause the decline and death of the community itself.
The Geneology of Sakties
Such and numerous other powers wielded by In-Anna, makes her the True Power ( me zi-de) and in fact En Hudu Anna fully aware of this begins to declare this openly by way of pleasing In-Anna, whom she has described earlier as Nin me-sar-ra ( The lady of all me’s)
60. me-zi-de nin-gal-nin-e-ne
You of the appropriate me's great
queen of queens
¦Áö ºò§¾ ¿¢ý¸û ¿¢ý¢§É
Here we have the occurrence of jid-e and which has entered Indian Philosophy as Cattu (Sk. Sat) ( jid-e> citte> cattu), the forever abiding in contrast to acattu, the non-abiding. The un-translated ‘me’ is Ta. mey, moy meaning power ( mey as Mey-kiirtti, moy as in moymbu: power)
61. sa-ku-ta-e-a ama-ugu-ni-ir diri-ga
Issued from the holy womb supreme over the
mother who bore you
º¡ö §¸¡òÐ ²Â¢Â «õÁ¡ ¯Ì ¿£Â¢÷ ¾¢Ã¢ÌÅ
And by way of exaggeration, In-Anna, the ruling Power is said to be even greater than the Great Mother who gave birth to her in the first place. Here we have certainly the beginnings of the later Saivite/ Sakta cosmological notions of AtiParaSakti giving birth to ParaSakti who in turn gives birth to various other Sakties - Saraswati, VaishNavi, Uma, Parvati and so forth. In connection with this it is useful to recall the recent statement of Dr Rajaram which is related to this issue. We have from his recent “Hibernation and Incarnation” the following:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
An incarnation is cosmic, formless, featureless 'embodimentation' of a soul segregation, segregated with a 'functional significance'. The cosmic dimension of Divine Mother is total 'stoic silence'. We would call this state as 'pre-primordium'. From that situation, she becomes the 'primordium' Omkaram, the cosmic reverberation. From the Omkaram, which is her vague, abstract form, she comes to a stage of Brahmam, still a 'totality' abstract. From the formless Brahmam, there is a vague recognition of a Poornabrahmam, where there is something, like one can know the confines. Earlier, there is nothing like confines. In Poornabrahmam the 'poornam' is a completeness. From Poornabrahmam she comes into the 'configuration' of a Poornbrahmaswaroopini, giving some features of recognition. From the stage of Poornabrahmaswaroopini, she comes to an 'energy formlessness', fairly recognisable as the Aadiparashakthi. The next step down from this state of Aadiparashakthi is the Parashakthi. Now in this Parashakthi configuration, (still we are using the word 'configuration' for a formlessness) we are able to recognise her vague energy form, indicating that at this stage there is something happening or being created. This organised energy of Parashakthi now segregates into three functional organisations as for 'creation', as for 'sustenance / maintenance', and for 'culmination'. At this stage polarity is created, whereby the energies segregated for creation, sustenance / maintenance, and culmination, are provided a counterpart. The counterpart energy which is 'self generated', becomes the 'consort' of the creating energy, the 'consort' of the maintenance energy, and the 'consort' of the culminating energy. It is at this stage the 'entire bolus' of Parashakthi, shows a 'cleavage' into three divisions. That is her 'Sarvashakthyaikyaroopam'. Once the 'cleavage is complete', a transformation occurs into 'concrete consolidativeness' followed by 'encapsulation'. It is at this stage that the 'creator', the 'maintainer' and the 'culminatior' come into existence.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The notions of Ama-ugu, In-Anna Nin-gal and Nin-ene and so forth which outline a genealogy of Saktis is paralleled here; Poornabrahmaswaroopini > Adiparashakti> Parasakthi > sakties etc.
By way of a philological note, we may note in the phrase ‘ama-ugu-ni-ir diri-ka”, the case marker ‘-ir’, the particle of comparison and which exists in Classical Tamil as ‘in’. We may also note that the ‘sa’ the womb might have had the shape ‘saay’ and which has given us the word ’taay’: mother. The ‘ku’ is certainly a variant of ‘su’ and exists now as Ta. koo: divine.
The Third Eye Again
But the most fascinating description is the following:
62. gal-zu igi-gal nin-kur-kur-ra
Omniscient sage lady of all the lands
¸û-ƒ¤ þí¹¢¸û ¿¢ý ÌýÈÌýÈ
The ‘ju’ is root Ta. cuu, to know, understand as in cuuttiram - that which encapsulates an understanding. Thus gal-ju is Ta. kaL.cuu : great understanding, omniscience, the all knowing. Against this we have to interpret igi.gal as Ta. imai.kaL. lit. large eyes but actually the eye that SEES ALL - the eye that does not wink or close i.e. the Nutal Vizi, the Third Eye , the EYE on the forehead of Siva
Thus we see here the birth of the notion of the Third Eye, earlier as the fiery eyes but now as that which sees all and all the time, the eyes that as Meykandar would put, nookkaatu nookuvatu - that which sees without really seeing and which the Civayogies seek to realize by yoga exercises in which they keep their fleshy eyes half-closed and focused on the tip of the nose so that the Third Eye will be open and active.
This certainly has given the deep insight that is sustained to this day in Saiva Siddhanta - BEING sees all , there is NO escaping His Glance and awareness; no one can hide and conceal anything from Him etc.
It appears that this very important metaphysical insight was worked out first in connection with Mother Goddess worship and only later transferred to Siva worship where Siva is also Uma.
Now this is related to another important notion in the neuroscience of the Tamil Siddhas:
63. zi-gal-uku-lu-a sir-ku-zu ga-am-du
Sustenance of the multitudes, I have
verily recited your sacred song!
ƒ£Å¸¨Ä µì¸ÖÅ º£÷§¸¡ ƒ¢-¯(ý) ¹¡õ àì.¯
The ‘ji-gal’ as applied to people ( uku-lu> Ta. okkal: people) should be taken as the arche form Ta. jiivakalai, that which establishes (kalai< kaal: to establish) the life principle (jiiva, ciiva), a technical term in the neuroscience of the Siddhas and which we can translate as ‘elan vitale’.
Thus as the Most Powerful of all and who SEES all, In-Anna is also the Power of the Life Principle itself, the Power that allows continuous living and in good health and vigor.
In-Anna as Love Itself
But why In-Anna should grant the jiivakalai etc? As the one who is the most Powerful, what can She derive from being the sustenance of the multitudes etc? Nothing at all. But why then Her presence as such?
En Hudu Anna provides the answer: She does all these out of Mercy or Love and nothing else
64.dingir-zi me-a tum-ma gal-bi-du-ga-zu mah-a
True goddess fit for the me's, it is exalting to
acclaim you
¾¢í¸¢÷ƒ£ ¦Áö ¾ÌõÁ ¸ûÀ¢ àì¸ ƒ¤-¯(ý) Á¡‹-«
65. sa-su-ra mi-zi zalzale-ga me-zu ga-mu-ra-ab-
du
Merciful one, brilliantly righteous woman, I have verily
recited your me's for you!
º¡ý Íà ¨Áƒ£ ¦º¡ø¦º¡Ä¢ìÌÅ ¦Áö ƒ¢¯(ý) ¹¡(ý) §Á¡ýÈ «ù àìÌ
The word ‘su-ra” can also be taken as Ta. curar, the celestial beings, but here the most appropriate appears to be Ta. cura: to ooze out like milk from the breast. This meaning is now rendered by the term Ta. aruL, to bless, grace etc.
In-Anna does everything as described above and all not because she lacks anything but because she is ‘saan-cura’ the One who blesses spontaneously and unconditionally and which also means that She is LOVE itself , a notion that was rendered as ‘anbee sivam’ by Tirumular ( and only because Sivan stands as the same as Sakti, the Woman)
The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna-12
The Bakti of En Hudu Anna
The Icon Thinking is inseparable with Bakti and we see this amazingly enough in this metaphysical poetry that I have named Sirbiyam. What En Hudu Anna has done so far is only a preliminary, a kind of reminiscence of the Greatness of In-Anna only to pour out now her personal grievances and seek out Her Grace to overcome them. She laments at herself, how great she was then and how pathetic and miserable she is now. In this description she also gives a picture of various kinds of practices a head priestess indulged in those days and within the temple, which had the KaruvaRai, the giparu as it is even now:
66. gi-par-ku-ga hu-mu-e-si-in-ku-re
Verily I had entered my holy giparu
at your behest
¨ÁÀ¡÷ §¸¡¸ ¯õӧŠº£Â¢ý ܧÃ
67. en-me-en en-he-du-an-na-me-en
I, the high priestess I, Enhuduanna!
²ñÁ¡ý ²ñ ¯Î «ýÉ¡ Á¡ý
68. ma-sa-ab i-gur-ru asila i-du
I carried the ritual basket, I intoned the
acclaim
Á¡¦ºôÒ ® §¸¡Õ ¬º£Äõ ® àìÌ
The “gi-par-ku-ga’ is Ta. kar-pur-kooka where the kar-pur has become perhaps the KaruvaRai, the dark chamber of the God, the sanctum sanctorum. The symbolic significance is the same as now: BEING is invisible, in the dark, concealed, hidden and visible only during those precious moments the inner light flashes and which is imitated by light of camphor and so forth lighted up as part of the ritual. And as the Head Priestess she had the rights to enter this very chamber, as is the case even to this day in the Temples in Tamil Nadu where only the chief priests can enjoy the access to the inner chambers.
Here we should also note that the word ‘en-me-en” has become “ veeNmaaN’ and from that VeeLmaaL but meaning the queen in CaGkam Tamil. Perhaps it shows that, as I have mentioned in several places, during the Sumerian times what we had was Priest-King and the two wedded together and only later separated.
The “ma-sa-ab” may actually be a water pot if we take ‘ab’ as the arche form Ta. appu, water. The word ‘asila' exists as Ta. ciilam, ciir etc with the prefix ‘a-‘ indicating perhaps excellence. Thus perhaps there was sprinkling of waters and intoning some mantras or hymns in front of the deity as it is even today.
He following lines describe how she lost all these rights for excellent life in the vicinity of Divine Presence in the temple because of personal disaster where because of some political changes in the city, she was thrown into the prison, dark unventilated and so forth and which also destroyed her good health.
69. ki-si-ga bi-in-gar ga-e nu-mu-un-de-ti-le
(But now) I am placed in the leper's ward
I, even, I can no longer live with you!
¸£ú º¢ì¸õ À£Â¢ý ¸¡÷, ¹¡§É ¿¡ Óó¾¢ ¾¢ø§Ä
70. u-de ba-te u mu-da-pil
They approach the light of day the light
is obscured about me
´û(¢ò)§¾ À¡ §¾ö ´û ±õÁ¢¼ À¡ú
71. gizzu u-de ba-te u-lu-da im-mi-dul
The shadows approach the light of
day it is covered with a (sand) storm
¨¸îÍ ´û(¢ò)§¾ À¡ §¾ö ¯Ä(¨Å)¢¼ §¾¡Ä¢õÁ¢
72. ka-lal-mu su-uh-a ba-ab-tum
My mellifluous mouth is cast into confusion
¸¡ö «Æø§Á¡ §º¡¸õ À¡ «ù à¯õ
73. ni-ur-sa-sa-mu sahar-ta ba-e-de-gi.
My choicest features are turned to
dust
¿¢¸ ¯Õ º¡øº¡ø§Á¡ º¸üÈò¾ À¡ þÎ Á£
The most important point over and above the graphic picture she paints of the prison of the times, the kiiz ciikam, the place of arrest, is the insertion of PERSONAL sufferings as part of exordium towards In-Anna.
En Hudu Anna is NOT singing an impersonal poetry, where the existential anguish never gets mentioned at all and the hymn is simply a lavish exordium, a Namavali where glorious epithets after epithets are piled up and ascribed by way of a eulogy. For En Hudu Anna, certainly In-Anna is great and the most Powerful. However she also believes that In-Anna is NOT distant and is a Power that can INTERFERE in her personal life and grace her in such a way that her problems are destroyed and she is freed f them.
This is the essence of Bakti and in the following verse of Punitavati (c. 4th-5th cent AD) we see the same sentiments:
1.
piRantu mozipayinra pinnelaaG kaatal
ciRantu nin ceevadiyee ceernteen - niRantikazum
mainjaanaRa kaNdattu vaanoor perumaanee
enjnjaanRu tiirppa tidar.
Meaning:
Though an anma roaming in the metaphysical space, I assumed a bodily form
by coming to have a birth and biological nature. And since the days I mastered
the language and became capable of effective communication, I have been deeply
in Love with you O Lord not knowing the reasons for it all and have sought your
Radiant Feet as my resort. O Lord who appears in so many colors and guises and
especially as the Blue-throated Niila KaNdan and who is the Lord of all the
celestial beings, tell me now when will you relieve me of the troubles that I
have to endure by continuing with this biological endowments by engracing
me with the Absolute Releasement
The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna-13
Seeking the Grace of the Gods
Bakti involves praising the deity and as a device for seeking the Grace of
BEING, whatever presentational form one may choose. In the lines below, this
element emerges clearly and for which the earlier lines of praise are just a
preamble. The praise or eulogy is the speech act that would induce the Flow of
Grace, as it is the case even with the human beings. It breaks through the
psychic distance and bring into an intimacy with BEING making the soul fit for receiving the Grace
of the gods, here In-Anna, Soma (Su’en) An and so forth. It is Divine Grace
that would release one from the predicaments of life. And En Hudu Anna, because of the intimacy she enjoys with these
gods, is so confident that should her
personal troubles reach the ears of An,
the BEING through the communicative act of someone like In-Anna, she would be
relieved of the pains immediately.
74. nam-mu su-en lugal-an-ne
What is he to me, oh Suen! this Lugalanne!
(±ý)¿§Á¡ §º¡Áý (þó¾) ¯Ù¸Çñ§½
75. an-ra du-mu-na-ab an-e ha-ba-du-e
Say thus to An: "May An release
me!"
¬ñÈ àì.¯ÓÉ ¬ô "¬ñ§½ «À(û) ŢΧÅ!"
76. a-da-lam an-ra du-mu-na-ab an-e mu-e-du-e
Say but to An"Now!" and An will release me.
«¾Äõ ¬ñÈ à°ÓÉ ¬ô ¬ñ§½ §Á¡ ŢΧÅ
This Lugal Anne is the person who desired to marry En Hudu Anna but when she refused, deprived her of the Head Priestess stature and threw her into the prison where she starting losing all her beauties in the darkness and dirt of the prison cells. This hymn was composed while in the prison as a way of getting released from the miseries of such a life. These lines indicate that even the politically powerful individuals are NOTHING against the powers wielded by these gods- the human beings are just playthings in the hands of the gods who hold the powers that enact the dramas in life.
But how would they disclose their powers?
The following lines how En Hudu Anna understood the matter.
77 nam-lugal-an-ne mi-e ba-ab-kar-re
This woman will carry off the
manhood of Lugalanne
¿¡«õ ¯Ù¸ûÇñ§½ ¨Á§Â À¡«ù ¸¨Ã§Â
78. kur-a-ma-ru giri-ni-se i-na
Mountain (and?) flood lie at her
feet
ÌýÚ «ÁÕ ¸¢Ã¢¿£§ºö ®«¨½
In-Anna clearly here can castrate the King, Lugal Anne. The ‘nam’ should be read as ‘nam ba-ab” i.e. Ta. nalam ba av. In CaGkam Tamil this word is use as the sexual essence though more for the feminine essence. “Nalam uNNal’ normally means a man ‘enjoying the feminine essence”. Here the masculine essence of Lugal Anne is said to be reduced (kar-re> Ta. karai: to dissolve, reduce). Thus if need be In-Anna can castrate a man and make him impotent and hence lacking in energy to effect anything great.
The SivaliGkam
But what is the connection of this with the kunRu and Amaru, the Mountain and river that lies at Her feet (and also Civa). We have here an allusion to the Kailash and Ganges of perhaps later times but actually symbolic of POWERS In-Anna wields and with which She can deprive a male person of his masculinity, virility and so forth.
The Kailash is Natam, the Pillar-like structure while the amaru, the Ganges the floodwaters is the Bindu, that which meanders like a snake and encircles the Hill. Thus we have an indirect description of SivaliGkam, the union of Natam and Bindu in terms of KunRu and Amaru. This also indicates that In-Anna as the Power who controls this SivaliGkam can cause it to be ABSENT in man and with that deprive that person the masculine virility that he enjoys.
Historiography: World Events as Divine Grace
Not only that, In-Anna as the power that regulates even historical events can act in such a way that the evildoer can be deprived of even the political powers he enjoys. This kind of historiography, so widely prevalent in those ancient days is described very briefly in the following line:
79. mi-bi in-ga-mah uru mu-ta-ab-tag-e
That woman is exalted (as he) -- she will make the city
divorce him
¨ÁÀ£ þÅý¸ Á¡‹ °Õ §Á¡ò¾ «ù ¾¨¸§Â
The phrase “mi-bi in-ga mah” should be taken ‘maibii ivanka maah” meaning: This woman is more powerful than him. She is more powerful than any man and can even act in such a way that the city he rules can be snatched away from him.
The Power of Prayers
But why should In-Anna act in such a preferential manner where should they become true, En Hudu Anna will be pleased but not her enemy Lugal Anne?
She sees that her prayers are powerful and she as one who prays will be favored compared to Lugal Anne who does not pray as she does. The following lines are to this effect.
80. gub-ba-sa-ga-na ha-me-se-de
Surely she will assuage her
heartfelt rage for me
§¸¡Àõ º¡í¸É ±õÁ ¦ºò§¾
81. en-he-du-an-na-me-en a-ra-zu ga-mu-ra-ab-du
Let me, Enhuduanna recite a prayer
to her
²ñ ¯Î «ýÉ Á¡ý þ¨ÃïÍ ¹¡ý §Á¡ýÈ «ô àì.¯
82. ir-ga kas-du-ga-gim
Let me give free vent to my tears like sweet drink for the
holy Inanna!
83. ku-inanna-ra su ga-mu-un-re-bar silim-ma ga-mu-na-ab-du
Let me say "Hail" to her!
®÷¸¡ ¸º¢Ð츹¢õ
§¸¡ ®Éý¨ÉýÈ ¦º¡ø ; ¹¡ý §Á¡ýÈ À¨È! º£ÄõÁ ¹¡ý §Á¡ýÈ àì.¯!
Praising crying telling complaining reciting mantras and so forth are seen by her as actions that would please In-Anna and who out of Love would grace her in such a way that her miseries will be over and she would return to her former glories.
Here we may have the transportation of the social acts through language and body into the divine world as a kind of imitation. Now on the contrary, these social acts may themselves be the social realizations of structures that primordially exist in the divine world. These are not inventions of man but rather divinely instituted spiritual sadhanas, the Cariyai and Kriyai of later times.
The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna-14
As we pursue the study of the Sumerian literature, not only we see the beginnings of Hindu culture but also the earliest emergence of the spiritual in man and which has been appropriated with various kinds of distortions by the Semitic Akkadians and others. Prof Antonio T. de Nicholas sees this distortion as denying the right hemispherical functions and replacing it with the left hemispherical. This may even apply to some developments in Indian thinking such as the positivistic Buddhists and Jains and from which the Tamils recovered themselves o the wholesome initial during the Bakti revolt.
However it appears to me the Temple Culture of the Dravidian folks has continued the Sumerian and in that also enshrining the AESTHETICS as an important component of religious life. To be religious is to aspire to be BEAUTIFUL spiritually and this through the worship of BEAUTY, and which was part of Temple Culture in Sumerian times itself.
That BEAUTY was the ordaining principle of temple architecture is clear from the following lines:
88. e-bi la-la-bi ba-ra-mu-un-gi hi-li-bi ba-ra-mu-un-til
That sanctuary whose attractions are irresistible, whose
beauty is endless
Ta. ilbi lalibi paramun.mii ezilbi paramuntiir
þøÀ¢ ÄÄ¢À¢ ÀÃÓýÁ£ ±Æ¢øÀ¢ Àà Óý ¾£÷
The ‘la-la” may the ‘lalitam’ still retained in SK where we have also Lalita, a female deity who is beauty itself. The hi-li is the arche form of Ta. ezil, beauty. This word might also have given us ‘hirim, hrim’ etc, the mantra syllable of Sakti. The temple of AN, was the most beautiful, the source of endless beauties: paramuntiir.
But there were already enemies to this culture of BEAUTY even in those days
itself:
86. an-da e-an-na ha-ba-an-kar
He stripped An of (his temple)
Eanna
Ta. aaNda ilannaa avankaru
¬ñ¼ þø«ýÉ¡ «Åý ¸Õ
89. e-bi hul-a hu-mu-di-ni-in-ku
That sanctuary he has verily brought to destruction
Ta. ilbi kulla ummoo idinin kul
þøÀ¢ ¦¸¡øÄ ¯õ§Á¡ þÊÉ¢ý Ìø
The words ‘kar, karu” which means to darken stands in contrast ‘hi-li’ the bright and beautiful. The whole temple is a sanctuary of the beautiful and it has been destroyed and and made to decay by one Lugal ANNe
This Lugal ANNee appears to have a been a politically cunning individual who
tried to become the king through marrying En Hudu Anna, the daughter of the
Sargon the Great.
Ta. tambu moo iinkurani marumaanee ummu teey90. tab mu-si-in-ku-ra-ni
muru-ma-ne hu-mu-un-te
Having entered before you as a partner, he has even
approached his sister-in-law
¾Ò §Á¡ º£Â¢ý ÜÃÉ¢ ÁÕÁ¡§É ¯õÓý §¾ö
91. sun-zi-mu lu he-mi-sar-re lu he-im-mi-in-dab-be
Oh my divine impetuous wild cow, drive out this man, capture
this man!
Ýý ƒ£§Á¡ ¯Ù þõ§Á ¦ºü§È, þõÁ¢É¢ý «¼ô§À
Ta. suunjiimoo uLu immee ceRRee immininin adaippee
We have already drawn attention to these lines earlier and to the immensely interesting kinship terms that occur here : tab ( tambu) maru-ma ( marumaan) etc.
However what we should note here is that En Hudu Anna appeals to Inanna to come to her rescue as if She is a living presence, a reality sufficiently close to her and who would respond to the pleadings. This , we must note, is also a constant theme of the Bakti literature that burst among the Tamils during 5th- 9th cent AD.
Agnim Ille of Rig and Asimbabbar
Now against all these we should review the meaning of the following line that also occurs at the beginning of this song:
84. as-im-babbar na-an-kus-u-de
I cannot appease Asimbabbar
Ta. aasimpaappar nAan kuucittee
¬¾¢õÀ¡ôÀ¡÷ ¿¡«ý ÜÍò§¾
85. su-luh-an-ku-ga-ke ni-nam-ma-ni in-kur
(Lugalanne) has altered the lustrations of holy An and all
his (other rites)
Ta. suuloohan kookakkee nanam kuRaimanin
ͧġ¸õ ¬ñ §¸¡¸ì§¸ ¿Éõ ̨ÈÁÉ¢ý
The lustrations of Holy An was perhaps the same as the theme of Rig Veda where the suluh (Ta. suulai) was taken over and made the Yajna, where the words iji, eji in Sumerian means fire and ejen means festival. Here Asimbabbar may be the Atipaarppar, the Primordial Brilliance (Su. babbar: silver, bright etc) where it was described as agnim illee (Ta. ugnim ellu Or agnim hili? ). While in Sumerian it remains part of the temple ritual, the Rig Veda and tradition it established, it becomes isolated and made important in itself.
We should also note the relationship between Su. babbar and Ta. paarppaar, the term for Brahmins in Tamil. It would follow that Tamil paarppars were simply a group among the Sumerians population but who were given over to the worship of the BEAUTIFUL through the worship of Radiance and for which purpose they kindled the fire in the suulai and recited appropriate Slokas.
The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna-15
The Dance of Destruction of AN(Siva)
One of the most important historiography that has come down from the SumeroDravidian past to the present day and implicit in the metaphors of the dance of Siva is that the world events are various plays of BEING who dances including the Dance of Destruction in accordance with Niyati, the tatvam that regulates human praxis so that there is Divine Justice in everything. In the following lines we find plenty of evidences to substantiate this notion of Historiography.
It is also interesting to note the occurrence of many technical concepts,
which survive to this day. One of them is Ki-za-sa-ga-la-ka’ and which is
translated as “the place of sustenance” the Tamil form of which is “ kiiz
(place) jia (to live) saal (well) ga-la
(kaalla (to establish) akam (inside). This is metaphysical concept that
was later rendered as Tillai ManRu (Su. Till Mun)
92. ki-za-sa-ga-la-ka ga-e a-na-me-en
In the place of sustenance what am I, even I?
Ta. kiiz.jiia saalkaallaka Gaayee enna maan?
¸£úƒ£Å º¡ø¸¡Ä¸õ ¹¡§É ±ýÉÁý?
En Hudu Anna laments that she is POWERLESS against the decrees of this ManRu ( Gnaayee enna maan), that she is wholly dependent upon its dictates without power to influence its decisions.
Death and Destruction
While mortal individuals and even the lesser gods may be at this place, the following lines indicate that it is the domain of AN, the highest God of the Sumerians and which among the Tamils during CaGkam times was also known as aaN, a common term for both Siva and VishNu.
93 ki-bala-hul-gig-nanna-za-a-kam an-ne
ha-ba-ab-si-mu
(Uruk) is a malevolent rebel against your Nanna - may An
make it surrender
keevala ol kaik.u Nanna jiia.akam aaNNee aba aab ciivu
§¸ÅÄ ´ø¸¢ì¸ ¿ýÉ¡ ƒ¡«¸õ ¬ñ§½ «À ¬ô º£×
94. uru-bi an-ne ha-ba-ra-an-si-il-le
This city -- may it be sundered by An!
Ta. uurubi ANNee avanRaan cillee
°ÕÀ¢ ¬ñ§½ «ÅýÈ¡ý º¢ø§Ä
In these lines we also see aaN as the Destroyer - si-mu (Ta.ciivu), si-il-le ( Ta. cillee) meaning to chop off the head and destroy. But what brings about this wrath of aaN ( Siva)?
It is keevalam ( Su. ki-ba-la) i.e. insults and ridicule and evil and bitter words ( ol kaikku) against the Moon God, Nanna as line 93 would show. Nanna also know as Su’en, the later Soman of Hinduism, is the Father of In-anna. It appears that there were some individuals ( Lugal Annee type) ) who ridiculed the Female Goddess In-anna and along with that also En Hudu Anna, the women priestess of the Temple of the city.
Here we can see that En Hudu Anna believes that the divine powers can interfere in the historical events and PUNISH those who go the wrong way by destroying the cities and even beheading the individuals.
We can see the notion of Karma at work here.
The Curse of the Gods
Now while aaN as Siva was the destroyer, Enlil, the arche form of VishNu, appears to be the God of Praise and Curse and here Curse by way of punishing those who err.
95 en-lil-le nam ha-ba-da-ku-de
May it be cursed by Enlil
Ta. Enliillee naam aba(n)da kuuyidee
²ñÄ£ø§Ä ¿¡«õ «Åý¼ Ü¢§¼
Here the word ‘naam” appears to have the meaning of ‘fate’ and by itself ‘evil fate’ and appears to be root of Ta. naman: the God of Death
But what are historical manifestations of such curses, ill fates pronounced upon the nations?
There will be lamentations of all kinds and where even the natural love a mother shows towards a child becomes absent. In other words LOVE as such cease to be there among the people and HATRED and ENMITY ruling the hearts of all.
96. dumu-ir-pa-da-bi ama-ne na-an-sed-de
May its plaintive child not be palacated
by his mother!
Ta. tamu iirpadubi ammaanee nAan cettee
¾Ó ®÷ÀÎÀ¢ «õÁ¡§É ¿¡«ý ¦ºò§¾
97. nin a-nir ki-gar-ra
Oh , lady the (harp) of mourning is
placed on the ground
Ta. Nin anniir kiizkaaru
¿¢ý «ó¿£÷ ¸£ú ¸¡Õ
98. ma-a-nir-ra-zu ki-kur-ra he-bi-in-tag
One has verily beached your ship of mourning on a hostile
shore
Ta. maa-anniiraju kiizkuuRRa eebiyin taGku
Á¡« «ó¿£Ã ƒ¤Å ¸£ú ÜüÈ ² À£Â¢ý ¾íÌ
The line 98 contains an interesting metaphor where EXISTENCE is compared to sailing in a ship and the evil actions that elicit the curse of Enlil taking the whole ship towards hostile shores, kiizkuuRRa where the Tamil form of it also means the shores of Death ( Ta. kuuRRu: the God of death)
This may be the beginnings of the notions of Paradise and Hell that later
played an important role in the development of the Semitic religions ( but
divorced from the notion of Karma)
The Magical Powers of Hymns
The following line is historically very important for it discloses that Sumerians understood quite well that the Sacred Hymns have magical powers and which can even kill people, that they function like the divine curses, the cepittal that later became associated with the Rishies.
99. sir-ku-ga-ke-es i-ug-ge-de-es
At (the sound of ) my sacred song
they are ready to die
Ta. ciirkuugakkeeisu ii ukkideeiusu
º£÷ §¸¡¸ì§¸Â¢Í ® ¯ì¸¢Î¢Í
This line can pass as something that is quite intelligible even now for those who are familiar with Classical Tamil as the key words ciir koo ( Su. sir-ku) and ukku ( Su, ug-ge) are still in use. The Ciir Koo, the Divine Hymns sung by such saintly persons as En Hudu Anna are words of Enlil Himself and hence can make people flourish if a praise, decay and die if a curse.
Incidentally we may note that this function of Enlil may underlie the later understanding that it is out of the belly of VishNu that Brahma was born.
The Icon Thinking of En Hudu Anna-16
The Lamentations of En Hudu Anna
When BEING is approached as personal, the sentiments that develop and shape the mode of discourse is Bakti and this is what is seen in the following lines. BEING is NOT meditated upon as impersonal abstract and distant LIGHT though light is a form of presentation of BEING as En Hudu Anna herself has noted (1. u dalla-e-a) . Thus BEING is a friend, a father, a mother and so forth - forms of human relationships that are transported into these metaphysical dimensions more as metaphors but to indicate the PERSONAL dimensions of such relationships.
Here this Bakti takes the form of complaining about the neglect of the gods and depriving her various good things that she has been enjoying just as if complaining to person quite close to oneself.
She complains that Dinger Nanna Su’en, the Soma of later times, has grown indifferent to her and with that had thrown her into the evil places where death lurks and which may the hell of later times.
100. ga-e nanna-mu en-mu ba-ra-bi-in-tar
As for me, my
Nanna takes no heed of me
¹¡§Â ¿ýÉ¡§Á¡ ²ñ§Á¡ À¢ÈÀ£Â¢ý§¾Ú
101 ki-lul-la he-gul-gul-e
He has verily given me over to
destruction in murderous straits
¸£ú ´øÄ Å£ ¦¸¡ø¦¸¡ø§Ä
We should note here the use of ‘mu’ as the pronoun meaning “I” or ‘you” in such phrase as ‘nanna-mu” (my Nanna) en-mu (my Lord) etc showing the immensely personal kind of relationship that is forged and which the later Saiva texts enumerate as “sakamaarkkam’ (the way of friends) ‘caR putra maarkkam (the way as a true son) etc.
Nanna Su’en as Soma is the provider of KuNdalini Sakti, the Energy that emerges first as Sexual Libido and his neglect means En Hudu Anna is energy-less, and hence unable to resist the approach of the death bringing forces. The word “gul-gul” is retained even now in Tamil with the same meaning - Ta. kol, kul meaning to kill, destroy, dismantle and so forth. The Ki-lul-la, Ta. kiiz uuzalla may be the beginning of the concept of Hell that has taken deep roots in the Semitic religions and which are adaptations of the Sumerian religion, the Agamic or Tantric Hinduism.
The following lines indicate another attribute of Asimbabbar, who, we have already seen is the Atipaarppaan, the primordial Brahma, named thus perhaps it is this deity that configures the human paarppaans, the brahmanahs. Here it is also noted as the deity that pronounces the Fate, the ‘di” (Ta. ti, til, viti) or the way of being-in-the word, the ‘titi’, sustenance and which is now attributed to Vishnu.
102 as-im-babbar-re di-mu ba-ra-bi-du
Ashimbabbar has not pronounced my judgment
¬¾¢õÀ¡÷ôÀ¡§Ã Å¢¾¢§Á¡ À¢È àì¯À¢
103. bi-in-du nam-mu li-bi-in-du nam-mu
Had he pronounced it: what is it to? Had he not pronounced
it: what is it to me?
À£Â¢ý àì¯ ¿õ§Á¡! þÄ¢ À£Â¢óàì¯ ¿õ§Á¡!
The word ‘dug’ occurs here as simply ‘du’ and elsewhere as “tu’ and so forth and which are the arche forms of Ta. too, tutu, tuti and exist in Arabic as “do’a” and so forth. It is an announcement, a saying that however fixes the way of life of an anma. Thus this is related to the aaNai of Saiva Siddhanta, the decree. The word of Asimbabbar serves to fix the way of life one leads in the world and En Hudu Anna laments that this Asimbabbar has not pronounced the good life that she rightly deserves as for her.
But this good that she expects Asimbabbar to pronounce and restore is simply the recovery what she has lost.
107 aga-zi-nam-en-na mu-da-an-kar
He stripped me of the crown
appropriate for the high priesthood
«½¢ƒ£ ²ñ½¿õ §Á¡Â¢¼ ¬ý ¸¡÷
It is noteworthy that En Hudu Anna was the crowned Head Priestess of a temple and which shows the fusion of priesthood with the royalty. The ‘eeN-nam’ is Lordship (Ta. eeN> veeN > veeL (deity)> VeeLir: kings) and there was the crown aga-zi (Ta. aGka jii > aNi cii) showing that the institution of the priesthood was also the same that of the royalty. To this day the crowning remains with the political institution of the Monarchy but not so much with the priesthood (except perhaps among the Catholics)
This deprivation is described in metaphors of desert life and which is retained to this day - it is being thrown into the wilderness of the desert, the vanaantiram - a theme that also appears in the Gilgamesh Epic as well as in Ramayana
104. u- ma-gub-gub-ba e-ta ba-ra-e
(Me) who once sat triumphant he has
driven out of the sanctuary
¯û Á¡« ÌôÌôÀ þøÐ ÒÈý ²
105 sin-gim ab-ta ba-ra-an-dal-e zi-mu um-mi-ku
Like a swallow he made me fly from the window, my life is
consumed
º¢ý¹¢õ ¬ôÒòÐ ÒÈý ¾û§Ç ƒ£§Á¡ ¯õÁ¢ý Üú
106. ki-seg-kur-ra-ke bi-in-ga-e
He made me walk in the bramble of
the mountain
¸£ú¦º(ì)Ì ÌýÈ째 À£Â¢ý ¹¡ý ²
But against thses the following line is very interesting.
108 giri ba-da-ra ma-an-si a-ra-ab-du ma-ab-du
He gave me dagger and sword --- "it becomes
you" he said to me
¸£Ã¢ Àò¾¢Ãõ ±õÁ¡ý º£, ¬ýÈ ¬ô à ±õÁ «ô àì¯
Asimbabbar equips her with weapons of war, dagger and sword and which carries the implication that she HAS TO FIGHT BACK against the evil forces that have thrown her into the desert!