THE SANSKRIT CONNECTION - MT. NEMRUT, TURKEY

The 7000-ft high Mt. Nemrut in Turkey is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Historically, it was the location of King Antiochus's temple sanctuary, which he constructed in 62 BC. The temple sanctuary once housed deities, but at some point, the idols were broken, their heads intentionally sliced off, which now lie strewn all over the site. It is perhaps for this reason that the site may have acquired the name Nemrut, which may be explained by the Sanskrit 'nimridh' (निमृद्),  'crusher' or 'destroyer'.

Traditionally, it is believed that the mountain is named after the Biblical king Nimrod, the great hunter. He was the son of Cush, grandson of Ham and the great-grandson of Noah. He is known to have established fire worship and idol worship in the region. Cush, Ham and Noah have often been associated with the Indic Kush, Rama and Manu.

Ancient Indian texts trace predecessors of Lord Rama, who ruled India from the city of Ayodhya, back to Manu, the first man. Lord Rama had two sons, Kusha (Cush) and Lava. Kusha had a great-great-grandson called Nabhas. It is said that Kusha is the same as Cush. 

The Backdrop:

King Antiochus's name, before he became king, was Mithridate, named after the Vedic god Mitra, also called Mithira in its distorted form. The Vedic god Mitra's was extensively worshipped by Mithridate's ancestors, the successors of the Mitanni kings who ruled Mesopotamia from 1500 BC onwards. This information is attested by the fact that the Vedic gods Mitra as well as Varuna, Indra, and Nasatya (Ashvins) are all invoked in two treaties found in Hattusa, between the kings Sattiwaza of Mitanni and Supiluliuma of the Hittites. However, over time the names were distorted and took a different form.

The distorted names have no meaning in any language, while the original Sanskrit names have clear meanings. Mitra means (friend). Mitra became Mithira and appears as Mazda in the Zoroastrian tradition. Varuna became Tarruza. In Hindu tradition, the theonym Váruṇa (वरुण) is described as a derivation from the verbal root 'vṛ' (to surround, cover or restrain. Indra means 'excellent' in Sanskrit but appears in Hittite texts as Innara, even though it had earlier appeared in their treaties as Indra.

Though Aryan Invasion Theory describes the Mittani as Indo-Iranians who went to India sometime after 1500 BC, the truth is that the Mittani worshipped the Vedic gods of India. The cultural invasion was in the opposite direction. With the decline of the Mittani, in Mesopotamia the Vedic god names took on different forms such as Mazda, Taruzza and Innara, while they still continue to be worshipped in India as Mitra, Varuna and Indra.

One of the most important cities of the Mittani Empire in 1500 BC was known as Nagar (नगर), Sanskrit for city.

One of the major cities of the Mittani Empire
was Nagar- Sanskrit for 'city'.

The religious sanctuary established on Mount Nemrut was part of King Antioch's political program to revive the traditions of his ancestors. He stressed his descent from the Achaemenids, who in the ancient Persian tradition were known as the Xsacas, a distortion of the word Sakas as mentioned in the Mahabharata; and the Greek Seleucids, the descendants of Seleucus. As for India, King Antioch's name was well known and mentioned in the edicts of Emperor Ashoka.

The Xsacas empire, known as the 1st Iranian Empire, was established by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. But Cyrus was the Hellenized name of the founder of the Xsacas Empire. His name was originally variously spelt as Kurus or Kuras or Kuruas.

Various Iranian etymologies have been proposed for this name, varying from Kuru being derived from the Indo-Aryan root *s(kau), meaning 'to humiliate', which is the same as Sanskrit 'skanda' (स्कन्द ) meaning 'attacker ', or skann (स्कन्न) fallen, or 'skandh' ( स्कन्ध ) battle. Other Iranian etymologies include linking the name Kurus to root 'kr' meaning to accomplish or do, and the derivation of Sanskrit root 'kr' (कृ) meaning 'to do'. Though the etymology of the name Kurus is possible through Indo-European languages, only Sanskrit can provide a cultural context.

The most likely etymology with scriptural support to back the claim lies in the Sanskrit name Kuru. The name first appears in the Aitareya Brahmana (VIII/14) of the Rig Veda. The Rig Veda clearly states that Kuru, as a country, was situated beyond the most northern range of the Himālaya; it is hence also known as Uttarakuru (North Kuru), often described as a country of everlasting happiness.

The Rig Veda also states that Uttarakuru along with Krivis (Panchala) together form the land of Vaikarana. This is the same as the Iranian region of Varkana and appears in the Behistun Inscription (522 BC). Varkana is s a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian Sea in modern-day Iran and Turkmenistan. Verkā means "wolf" in Old Iranian, cf. Avestan vəhrkō, Gilaki and Mazandarani verk/verg, Modern Persian gorg, and Sanskrit vŗka (वृक).

Subhash Kak states, "Indians are generally unaware that Uttara Kuru beyond the Himalayas (it also included Iran) was one of the provinces of the Vedic Age (see the Aitareya Brahmana for details of kings). Atharvan texts were from this region."

Mount Nemrut lies south of Malatya (ancient name, Milidia), and 40 km north of Kahta and Adiyaman in Turkey. Malatya has been identified as 'Melid', an ancient city on the Tohma River, a tributary of the upper Euphrates rising in the Taurus Mountains. The name Melid and Milidia is described in Hittite texts, which mention that etymologically this area was named 'melid', meaning 'honey' in the Hittite language. That 'melid' is the same as Sanskrit 'madhul' (मधूल), also meaning 'honey' is of course obvious. But it is more than likely that this meaning of 'honey' was given to the word later and does not carry much weight.

It is perhaps prudent to look for the origins of the name Malatya in the ancient texts of India. And the name that crops up here is Mt. Malaya, of which Malatya may be a variation. We know the Hittites were aware of the Vedic god Indra. According to the ancient Puranic texts of India, Mt. Malaya was the mountain of Indra. There is also a bit of a connection here with King Nimrod. He was the great-grandson of Noah, the Vedic equivalent of Noah is Manu. According to the Matsya Purana, during the Great Flood, the giant boat of King Manu was perched after the deluge on the top of the Malaya Mountains. 

Malaya (माल्य) means garland, in this case a chain of mountains or a range.

Mt. Nemrud is located in the Taurus mountain range. This chain is a predominant feature of this land and terrain and has had a significant impact on its history. The Taurus chain is composed of several parallel ranges rimming and reaching the Mediterranean, for about 1,500 km, from Muğla in the west to Lake Van in the east. The summits often exceed 10,000 feet, the highest nonvolcanic peak being 12,323 feet, the Aladağ—north of Adana. The average width of the range is 150 km, and it forms a barrier to the Anatolian plateau. To the northeast is the extension of the range, called the Anti-Taurus.

Nearby was the town of Adiyaman. Mainstream historians believe that the city was earlier known as Hisn-Mansur and derives from the name of the Umayyad Emir Mansur ibn Jawana, who was killed by the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mansur in this region in 758 AD. Both were named Mansurs, but one must look at the name of Emir Mansur's father, which was Jawana. Jawana is a variation of Yamana and Yavana. And therefore, one can conclude that the name Adiyaman precedes Hisn-Mansur. The city named after Emir Mansur's father Jawana. Second, Yavana is Sanskrit for Greek - more precisely, for Ionian -one of the major tribes of the Greeks, and therefore one must look at a Greek connection to the antecedents of Yawana. As for Sanskrit, Adi (आदि) translates as 'the beginning' or 'commencement'. 'Yaman' (यामन्) translates as 'the approach to God'.

King Antiochus wanted to see his name and that of his dynasty preserved. His tomb was built in order for his vassals to worship him after his death. A Greek inscription reveals that he was buried at Nemrut in the temple sanctuary surrounded by colossal statues of Gods, as a sign of his parity with the Gods. The fact that the mountain is named Nemrut (नमृत), which means 'not dead' or 'alive' in Sanskrit, is therefore not surprising.

King Antiochus' original name was Mithridate; he assumed the name Antiochus when he ascended the throne. The word Mitra (मित्र) means 'friend' or 'ally'. 'Datta' (दत्त), meaning 'giver' or 'the honoured one', and often kings in India would add 'datta' to their names as an achievement epithet.

There are interesting references to King Antiochus in the Sanskrit inscriptions of ancient sites in India. The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany, Volume 27, 1838, in the chapter named 'Important Historical Discoveries in the Inscriptions of India', page 208, mentions Sanskrit shlokas (verses) about King Antiochus. The shlokas were found in the ancient rock inscriptions of Girnar in Gujarat and, in the rock inscriptions of Dhauli, in Cuttack, in Orissa (now Odisha) state of India.

Here is a translation from an ancient edict of Emperor Ashoka of India which makes a passing reference to King Antiochus. Of course the verse is about the glory of Emperor Ashoka and his fame around the world and the knowledge emanating from India being passed around to other civilisations, but it mentions King Antiochus nevertheless. Here it is:

"Everywhere withing the conquered provinces of Raja Priyadarshi (Ashoka), the beloved of the Gods, as well as in parts occupied by the faithful, such as the Cholas, ....the Ketalputras, or even as far as Tambapanni (Sri Lanka) ..... and moreover, the dominion of Antiochus the Greek, everywhere, the Heaven-Beloved, Raja Priyadarshi's double system of Medical Aid is established....".

Check King Antiochus in Emperor Ashoka's Edicts for the original verses.

Suggested Readings:

1. Iranica in the Achaemenid Period (ca. 550-330 B.C.). Lexicon of Old Iranian Proper Names and Loanwords, Attested in Non-Iranian Texts: Tavernier, Jan : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

1. The Vishnu Purana: Book II: Chapter III (sacred-texts.com)
2. The Hittites, Mysterious People Of A Thousand Gods - Collapse Of The Hittite Empire - Ancient Pages
3. Past Remembering: What happened to Hattusas and the Hittites? (betterthanufos.blogspot.com)
4. hittite capital Nagar - Search (bing.com)
5. Hittite new empire (1430 – 1200 BC) | Short history website
6. El Imperio hitita, un pueblo legendario que hizo frente a Egipto (khronoshistoria.com)
7. Hittite new empire (1430 – 1200 BC) | Short history website
8. Old Hittite Kingdom 1650-1460 BC | Short history website
9. The Hittite Empire – Brewminate: A Bold Blend of News and Ideas
10. HITTITE MYTHOLOGY: THE MOUNTAIN GOD AND THE DEER | Balladeer's Blog (glitternight.com)
11. Malaya Mountains - Wikipedia

THE 'TEPUIS' OF VENEZUELA - THE SANSKRIT CONNECTION

The Global Footprint of Sanskrit: From the Himalayas to the Amazonian Tepuis

The Tepuis are the majestic, table-top mountains that dominate the landscape of the Guiana Highlands in Venezuela, South America. In the ancient tongue of the Pemon—the indigenous people who have inhabited the Gran Sabana region for millennia—the word tepui directly translates to "house of the gods." This choice of words reflects a profound spiritual reverence for these towering, cloud-shrouded plateaus. Intriguingly, this concept echoes an ancient linguistic and cultural framework born thousands of miles away in the Indian subcontinent, pointing toward the all-pervasive historical reach of the Sanskrit language.

In Sanskrit, the root word tap (तप्) signifies austerity, penance, and intense spiritual meditation. This root is famously immortalised in Tapovan (तपोवन)—a sacred compound uniting tap with vana (वन), meaning "forest." Historically, a tapovan refers to the remote, pristine sanctuaries nestled deep within the Himalayan mountain range. In ancient times, much as it remains true in India today, sages, mystics, and rishis regularly retired to these high, isolated hills and mountains to perform tap (meditation). To these ascetics, just as to the Pemon people, these grand elevations were the literal dwellings of divine energy.

The Transcontinental Legacy of Tap and Tepe

Cognates of the Sanskrit tap and its variants appear consistently across the names of numerous ancient, sacred hills and mountains throughout the Americas, particularly in Mexico. Notable examples include historical sites and regions such as Tepatitlán, Tuxtepec, Tepec, Tepic, Mazatepec, Tepetatas, Tepantita, Tepetzintla, Tepuste, Tepetlix, and Tepetlalco. This global linguistic thread is not restricted to the Americas; even in Turkey, at the site of Göbekli Tepe—widely regarded as one of the oldest temple complexes in human history—the word Tepe makes a defining appearance.

In classical Sanskrit, any sacred place, including holy hills, is known as Tapoda (तपोद). For millennia, the peaks of the Himalayas served as the premier global centres for tap or tapasya. Linguists and researchers, including the independent scholar Gene Matlock, have linked the global architectural and geographic suffix tepe or tepui to the Sanskrit word stupa (स्तूप)—which originally meant a "heap," "pile," or "mound" long before it became strictly associated with Buddhist architectural monuments. Over centuries of linguistic evolution and regional shifts across continents, phonetic distortions frequently caused the dropping of the initial "s" syllable, transforming stupa into tupa, tepe, and tepui.

Decoding the Toponyms of Venezuela

When we look closer at the specific names of individual Tepuis in Venezuela, the phonetic and semantic alignments with Sanskrit become even more startling:

• Auyán-tepui: Standing as one of the largest plateaus in Venezuela, covering an immense area of roughly 700 square kilometres, its prefix mirrors the Sanskrit word Aunnatya (औन्नत्य), which precisely translates to "height," "elevation," or "eminence."
• Sari-Sariñama: This famous tepui is globally renowned for its colossal, water-filled sinkholes and massive underground water cascades. In Sanskrit, the root word sara (सर) denotes a "spring," "fluid," "waterfall," or a "cascade of water." Interestingly, this exact root reappears across the world in places like Saratoga, a famous water-spring town in New York, USA.
• Tepui Neblina & Tepui Autana: The linguistic trail deepens with Neblina, which closely aligns with the Sanskrit Nabha (नभ), meaning "sky" or "mist." Similarly, Autana mirrors the Sanskrit word Audana (ओदन), which carries traditional connotations linked to moisture, clouds, and sustenance.

An Untapped Historical Frontier

Whether the ancient inhabitants of Venezuela’s Gran Sabana maintained direct, ancient maritime or cultural links with the Indic civilisation of Asia remains a subject for deeper empirical study. However, the sheer density of these geographical and conceptual matches suggests that the footprint of Sanskrit is far more global than modern history standardly acknowledges. These striking toponyms point to a shared ancient heritage—one that contemporary researchers and historians may find remarkably fertile ground to explore.

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______________________________________________________--Original DRAFT: 

The tepuis are the table-top mountains of the Guiana Highlands of Venezuela in South America. In the ancient Native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabited the Grana Sabana region of Venezuela, the word 'tepui' means 'house of the gods'.

In Sanskrit, the root word 'tap' (तप्) means austerity, penance and is often used in reference to the sacred sites, such as the many 'Tapovans' (तपोवन) in the Himalayan mountain range. Tapovan is a combination of the Sanskrit root word 'tap' (तप्) meaning 'sacred, penance, meditation, etc.' and 'vana' (वन) meaning 'forest'. In ancient times, and this is true of India even today, sages and rishis retire to the hills and mountains for 'tap' (meditation).

Cognates of the Sanskrit 'tap' appear in names of many ancient holy hills and mountain names in South America, especially in Mexico. Some of these are Tepatit·n, Tuxtepec, Tepec, Tepic, Mazatepec, Tepetatas, Tepantita, Tepetzintla, Tepuste, Tepetlix and Tepetlalco. (These names are from the research done by Gene Matlock. Even in Turkey, in the name Göbekli Tepe, one of the most ancient sites in the world, the word Tepe makes an appearance.

In Sanskrit, any sacred place, including hills, is known as Tapod (तपोद). In ancient India, the hills of the Himalayas were the centres of 'tap' or 'tapasya', that is, sacred meditation. Scholars such as Gene Matlock have linked the word 'tepe' to the Sanskrit 'stupa' (स्तूप), which means a 'heap' or a 'pile' or a 'mound'. It was later that the word 'stupa' came to be associated with Buddhist 'stupa' structures. In some Sanskrit-derived languages, distortions caused the dropping of the initial 's' syllable.

One of the largest known Tepuis in Venezuela is the 'Auyantepuis'. It has an area of about 700 square kms. In Sanskrit, the word Aunantaya (औन्नत्य) means 'height' or 'elevation'.

There is another tepuis by the name of 'Sari-sarinama', famous for its water cascades and water sinkholes. In Sanskrit, the word 'sara' (सर) means a 'spring', it also means 'fluid', 'waterfall', and 'cascade of water'. Incidentally, the word 'sara' also makes an appearance in the name of the water-springs town of 'Saratoga' in New York, USA.

Whether the ancient inhabitants of the Gran Sabana area in Venezuela had any links to Asia and Sanskrit is difficult to say, but there are many more ancient place names such as Tepuis Neblina, {Sanskrit Nabha (नभ) - meaning 'sky'} or Tepuis Autana, {Sanskrit Audana (ओदन) meaning 'cloud'} which points to the fact that maybe there was a link between the ancient peoples of India and Venezuela which researchers today may find worth exploring.

THE VEDIC CONNECTION - MAYAN HANUMAN?

"Across five oceans the vanaras journeyed, their memory etched in stone and mask. From Udaya Giri to Copan’s ruins, the Andes rise as sunrise mountains, guarded by yakshas, whispered by rivers, testimonies of epic memory carried across the world."

Artefacts unearthed from the ancient Mayan ruins suggest that even distant Latin America bore traces of Indian Vedic influence. In Honduras lies Copán, a once-majestic temple site now in ruins. Yet, within its weathered stones and hidden carvings remain subtle clues—echoes that resonate with verses of the Ramayana, offering a striking testimony to cultural currents that spanned continents.  

In the Valmiki Ramayana, a remarkable description unfolds: a route beginning from India’s eastern coast, crossing five vast oceans, and culminating at Udaya Adri. There, the epic situates a settlement of vanara-s. This distant city is known to Sugreeva, commander of the vanara hosts, who assures Rama that in their worldwide search for the abducted Sita, he would enlist vanaras dwelling in that far-off land, scouring the mountains of Udaya Giri for her trace.

The Mayan Howler Monkey God
Copan, Honduras, South America. His stance and the mace in his hand are remarkably close to the Hindu Monkey God Hanuman.

Whether Copan is the site where the vanaras resided in Ramayanic times is, of course, unknown. That they did reside somewhere close to the Andes is known from the Ramayana. The name Copan is a cognate of the Sanskrit 'kapi' (कपि), which means vanara or 'monkey', and perhaps derives its name from the Sanskrit 'kapi'. However, the name Copan has been in use in current times only since 1576. Perhaps the name is much more ancient and has been present in the native folklore, and was brought back into prominence in the 1570s.

There is also another site in Honduras that fits the description of the existence of a city of vanaras. It now goes by the name 'La Ciudad Blanca' and is located in eastern Honduras in the La Moskitia or La Mosquitia area. Its exact location has been kept a secret, though it is known that it is near the Twas and Sikre rivers. The site is known to the Honduran Army and also to a team of National Geographic explorers.  As for Indians who have read the Valmiki Ramayana, no information about any of these Mayan sites comes as a surprise. More about this site in a later post.

Another interesting fact that adds to the vanara lore is the existence of the 'Kaiapo' - a powerful and well-known Brazilian tribe - who live in villages along the Xingu River across the Central Brazilian Plateau. The Kaiapo call themselves Mebengokre, meaning 'the men from the water place'. The name Kaiapo was given to them by the neighbouring native tribes, and means 'resembling apes' and was given to them because their men used to dance with monkey masks on festivals and special occasions in honour of their gods and ancestors. It is interesting that 'kaipo' is a cognate of the Sanskrit kapi (कपि), which means 'monkey' - in fact, the etymological source of the English 'ape' is unknown and is sometimes attributed to the Sanskrit kapi.  This is another clue that supports the information contained in Ramayana about settlements of vanaras stationed around Udaya Adri, which is an obvious reference to the Andes.

Kaiapo Tribesmen from the Brazilian Plateau

Hanuman - The Vedic Monkey God.
India

Another name by which this site was known is Oxwitik, where the meaning of the word 'witik' is unknown. 'Ox' is said to mean three. However, since there is another Mayan site by the name Yaxachilan, it may be assumed that perhaps the word that has been decoded as Oxwitik should read Yakshhavitik (यक्षवित्त).  That makes Copan a site, not only of vanaras but also of Yakhshas. Yakshas are guardians of property and do not make use of the property themselves. Various Sanskrit texts mention the kinship between the vanaras and the yakshas, the rakshasas and the kinnaras. Perhaps the Mayan sites were the residence of these exotic tribes of the ancient Hindu texts. Kubera was the lord of the Yaskshas, and in the Ramayanic times, Kubera is said to have brought many yakshas and rakshas to Meso-America.

Ramayana Anchor	Geographic/Archaeological Site	Name/Etymology Link	Interpretive Resonance
Sugreeva’s assurance to Rama: vanaras dwell near Udaya Adri after crossing five oceans	Copan (Oxwitik), Honduras	Copan ~ Sanskrit kapi (monkey); Oxwitik possibly Yakshhavitik (यक्षवित्त)	Vanara settlement; Yaksha guardianship under Kubera
Udaya Giri (mountains of sunrise, Andes)	La Ciudad Blanca, La Mosquitia, Honduras	Hidden “White City” near the Twas & Sikre rivers	Concealed vanara city, echoing Ramayanic lore of distant tribes
Vanaras as global allies in Rama’s search for Sita	Kaiapo Tribe, Brazil (Xingu River)	Kaiapo ~ kapi; tribe dances with monkey masks	Ritual memory of vanara kinship: “men from the water place”
Kinship of vanaras, yakshas, rakshasas, kinnaras	Mayan sites across Honduras & Guatemala	Oxwitik reframed as a Yaksha settlement	Kubera’s dispatch of yakshas and rakshasas to Meso-America
Five oceans crossed from India’s eastern coast	Transoceanic journey to Latin America	Epic metaphor for global reach	Ramayana as a mytho-geographic map spanning continents

THE SANSKRIT ALPHABET SEQUENCE - MAHESHWARA SUTRAS

Maheshvara Sutra

The sound of the ancient most Sanskrit alphabet sequence. 

It belongs to the pre-Panini era. 

This Sanskrit alphabet sequence is also a 'healing mantra.' 

Starts at 00.40

Encyclopedia Britannica states that the Sanskrit language (from Sanskrit saṃskṛta, 'adorned, cultivated, purified') is an Old Indo-Aryan language in which the most ancient texts are the Vedas, more prominently, the Rig Veda, and the Upanishads, which came into existence on the banks of the Sapta Sindu rivers. It also states that scholars generally ascribe the Vedas to 1500 BCE. There is much room for debate about the Aryan invasion and the dating of the Vedas, but that is not the subject of the post here.

In the Indic tradition, it is said that Sanskrit was introduced to human civilisation by the sages of Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana Dharma entails a universal code of conduct, a description of the duties applicable to all humanity. Santana Dharma, later came to be known as Hinduism, which is its exonym; it is what the outsiders called Sanatana Dharma, which was the philosophy, the way of life, the code of conduct and path to god, practised in India. There are many theories why the name Hindu emerged, but none of those is relevant to the origin of Sanatana Dharma. India, like Hindustan, is an exonym; the endonym is Bharatavarsha or Jambhudwipa. 

A famous verse in Sage Panini’s Ashtadhyayi says that Panini's grammar, which is in current use, in its original form, was graced by Lord Shiva himself. 

Rig Vedic literature states that it is Shiva himself who created language and passed on its 'sounds' to humankind. Hence, the first known organised sounds of Sanskrit are known and presented as the Maheshvara Sutra - Maheshvara being another name of Lord Shiva. Here is the verse from Panini's Ashta-Dhyayi which states the same:

"At the end of His Cosmic Dance,
Shiva, the Lord of Dance,
with a view to bless the sages Sanaka and so on,
played on His Damaru fourteen times,
from which emerged the following fourteen Sutras,

popularly known as Shiva Sutras or Maheshvara Sutras"

The fourteen sounds of the Maheshwara Sutra, also known as the 'akshara-samamnaya', or the 'recitation of phonemes', is also the most ancient known Sanskrit alphabet sequence. Interestingly, this sutra is at the same time a powerful Mantra; the vibrations of its sound are known to have healing powers, and hence this sutra has also been used by sages for healing. It was used in Kashmir Tantric practices for curing diseases, waking up the unconscious and is known to have sometimes revived the dead. Here is the sequence of the 14-sounds:

1. अ इ उ ण् |
2. ऋ ऌ क् |
3. ए ओ ङ् |
4. ऐ औ च् |
5. ह य व र ट् |
6. ल ण् |
7. ञ म ङ ण न म् |
8. झ भ ञ् |
9. घ ढ ध ष् |
10. ज ब ग ड द श् |
11. ख फ छ ठ थ च ट त व् |
12. क प य् |
13.श ष स र् |
14. ह ल् |

Interestingly, modern astrophysics has revealed a parallel cosmic rhythm. NASA has converted the periodic signals of pulsars—rapidly rotating neutron stars—into audible frequencies. These stellar vibrations, though astrophysical in origin, strikingly resemble the cadence of Śiva’s ḍamaru. Just as the Sanskrit varṇamālā is said to emanate from the damru’s beat, the pulsar’s rhythm can be envisioned as a celestial echo of this primordial sound, linking the alphabet’s sacred vibration with the universe’s own pulse.”

The fourteen sutras contain all the letters of the Sanskrit varnamala- the svaras (vowels) and all the vyanjanas (consonants). The sounds of the alphabet originated from Lord Shiva's 'damru', which in this context appears to be a sophisticated sound device.

The Sanskrit alphabet sequence is known as the 'Varna-mala'. The word 'varna' (वर्ण) means a 'syllable' and all the energies related to that syllable - colour, presiding force, the mouth part used to pronounce each syllable, the related body part, etc. 

Sanskrit is known as the language of the gods. Its fundamentals are scientific, and most of its theory is way beyond the cognition of an average learner. In his paper 'Mantra & Initiation', Pandit Rajmani Tignuit states, "....on a more subtle level, the Sanskrit phonemes relate to the energy currents which lie deep within the interior of the human body. Each of the 72,000 currents has a distinct sound, although they are too diffuse and vague to be enunciated distinctly. Moreover, the yogis have identified places in the body where two or more energy currents cross. In mantra shastra, the point where two energy currents intersect is called a sandhi, the point where three energy currents cross is called marma shthana, and the point where more than three energy currents converge is called a chakra. Here at the chakras, the vibratory patterns of energy are strong and vibrant. At the centre of each chakra, a distinct sound predominates, and other distinct sounds are centred around it. That is why, in kundalini yoga, each chakra is represented as having a particular letter at its centre, as well as a letter on each petal........ ".

It is for this reason alone that Sanskrit cannot be regarded as a derived language. Its source is cosmic, like that of mathematics. Each alphabet is generated in the form of sound energy, conjunct with its meaning. If the sound shifts, the meaning dissolves. In other words, any distortion renders both the meaning of the word and the vibration generated out of sync and therefore erroneous.

In kundalini yoga, each chakra is represented
as having a particular letter at its centre.

In a mantra, a different part of the body is invoked and healed by reciting a different alphabet of the 'varnamala'. The power lies in the vibration caused by the mantra. Hence, the sound has to be perfect, for it is also in tandem with its meaning.  If the vibration changes, it is no longer effective. The Maheshwara Sutra is a healing mantra too, as mentioned above, its sounds are arranged in a sequence, designed to create vibrations which it is said have the power to revive the sick or dying. 

No script is known to have ever been formulated for the Vedic mantras or alphabets in the earliest times. The requirement for a script, in the context of Sanatana Dharma, was considered irrelevant. The scriptures were passed on through smriti (memory) and shruti (hearing). The emphasis was on 'uccharana' or correct pronunciation. The belief was that the script could emerge or dissolve at any time. 

In the context of Hindu philosophy, therefore, where the emphasis was on the study of the power of sound, on the primordial sound of the omnipresent Om, on meditation, on the unity of supreme consciousness, on sutras, on mantras and on telepathy, a script was considered redundant for it did not serve any function.

Suggested Links:

1. The Origin of Sanskrit

THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER AND THE SANSKRIT ROOT WORD 'VAH'!

The Susquehanna River that flows through New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, was called the 'Ga-wa-no-wa-neh Gehunda' by the Onondaga Tribe of Native Americans. It has been translated as the 'Great Island River'. The Lenape called it the Siskewahane,  which in the Lenape language means 'Oyster River'.

In his book, 'The Composition of Indian Geographical Names, ' the author Hammond Trumbull states, "... many Indian (Native American) geographical names, after their adoption by Anglo-American colonists, became meaningless sounds. Their original character was lost by their transfer to a foreign tongue. Nearly all have suffered some mutilation or change of form. In many instances, hardly a trace of the true original can be detected in the modern name. Some have been separated from the localities to which they belonged and assigned to others to which they are etymologically inappropriate. A mountain receives the name of a river; a bay, that of a cape or a peninsula; a tract of land, that of a rock or a waterfall".

Of the Native American names, he says, "Every name described the locality to which it was affixed. The description was sometimes topographical; sometimes historical, preserving the memory of a battle, a feast, the dwelling-place of a great sachem, or the like; sometimes it indicated one of the natural products of the place, or the animals which resorted to it; occasionally, its position or direction from a place previously known, or from the territory of the nation by which the name was given,—as for example, 'the land on the other side of the river,' 'behind the mountain,' 'the east land,' 'the half-way place,' etc.".

Native American river names have very often one of the following three suffixes: -hanne, tuk or sepy. Examples include the original native names of the rivers Susquehanna, Connecticut and the Mississippi River. Their original names were Siskewahana, Quinni-tuk-ut and Missi Sipi. A blog post on the name Mississippi is coming up next. This post is about the Susquehanna and the suffix -hanne.

The name Susquehanna, or the Siskewahana as it was called by the Natives, translates as Oyster River. In its Native name, we see an example of the 'hanne' suffix as mentioned above. But what is the source of this Lenape word 'hanne'?

In the 'Lenape Talking Dictionary', at a site run by the 'Delaware Tribe of Indians', Susquehanna is written as Siskewahane and split as Siskew-a-hane with the meaning 'muddy river'. Click here for the Lenape Dictionary.

Photo by Nicholas A. Tonelli from Northeast Pennsylvania, USA - https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicholas_t/3594274494/, CC BY 2.0
 Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

However, if one were to split Siskewahane as Siske + Wahane, we have the suffix 'wahana' or the Sanskrit 'vahana' (वहन), which means 'to flow'. Hanne may be the Sanskrit 'vahana' with the first syllable dropped. The root word 'vah' has two meanings: 'to flow' and 'to go'.

There are other examples. The English word “swing” translates into Mohawk (Kanien’kéha) as ahserí:yo when referring to a playground swing, and as ionkwahón:tsi when used in the sense of “to swing/move back and forth. Here too, we see the appendage -hanne in the form wahon. Linguists translate the root verb ahón:tsi as meaning “to move back and forth, to rock, to swing.”

Says Trumbull," It would be surprising if some of the translations which have been hazarded in this paper do not prove to be wide off their mark. Even English etymology is not reckoned among the exact sciences yet, and in Algonkin, there is the additional disadvantage of having no Sanskrit verbs 'to go', to fall back on as a last resort." That may not be entirely true! For in this very instance, we discern the Sanskrit root vah-, “to carry, to flow,” operating as a structural analogue to the Algonquian forms, suggesting that the supposed absence of such verbs is less a deficiency than a missed recognition of deeper Indo‑Algonquian resonances.

Suggested Links:

1. The Old New York Frontier by Francis Whiting Halsey

2. Indian Geographical Names by Hammond Trumbull

3. Native American Place Names of the United States

4. American Indian Languages

5. The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Composition of Indian Geographical Names, by J. Hammond Trumbull

THE SANSKRIT CONNECTION - RIVER MINNESOTA

The unexpected linguistic parallels between the Dakota and Lakota languages and Sanskrit are both fascinating and thought-provoking. Despite the geographical distance separating India and North America, these connections invite us to explore shared cultural heritage and ancient migrations. Rather than allowing scepticism to prevail, a thorough investigation reveals hidden threads that bind languages across continents. As we delve deeper, we uncover echoes of Sanskrit in Native American names, river designations, and everyday expressions. These linguistic bridges remind us that language transcends borders, connecting humanity through time and space.

The state of Minnesota is named after the Minnesota River. In the Dakota language, spoken by the Native Americans of the Sioux tribe, 'mni' is the word for 'water'. Minnesota translates as 'clouded Water'. It is said that the Native Americans demonstrated the meaning of Minnesota to the European Immigrants by adding milk to water. One may therefore equate the word 'sota' with 'cloudiness'. The Dakota online dictionary translates 'sota' as 'smoke'. We may now turn towards Sanskrit to discover any likenesses.

A cognate of 'mni' in the Sanskrit language is 'mih' (मिह्), which has the meaning of 'downpour of water, fog or mist'. One of the words for 'smoke' in Sanskrit is 'stari' (स्तरी), which is cognate of 'sota'. Hence, we find that Minnesota may be explained by Sanskrit 'mih' and 'stari', and we arrive at the meaning 'foggy downpour of water', or 'cloudy mist' or 'misty water', which is pretty much the meaning of this Native American name in Dakota. There are other examples, such as the Dakota 'magazu' for 'rain'. which is similar to 'megha', Sanskrit for 'cloud'. The Dakota word for cloud is 'mahpiya', which has the Sanskrit 'mih' or rain in its prefix.

The connectedness of Native American names to Sanskrit is affirmed by certain other observations. For example, one of the Dakota words for river is 'wakpa'. This word appears to be a distortion of the Sanskrit 'vahana', meaning 'flowing'. We see an example of that in the Dakota name for River Poplar of Minnesota, which is Wahcinca, where 'vahana' appears in its truncated form as the prefix 'wah'.

At this point, one may justifiably dismiss all of this as a coincidence. However, a variation of the Sanskrit 'vahana' appears in many river names attributed to other Native American Languages. For example, the Lenape name of the River Schuylkill of Pennsylvania is Ganshowahane, which means 'falling or roaring waters' in Lenape. Schuylkill is also known as Tulpehane (Turtle River), in Lenape. In both of these names, the suffixes 'wahane' and 'ehane' are probable variations of 'vahane', i.e, the Sanskrit 'vahana'.

If one may, for a minute, make an assumption that Native American languages have a source in Sanskrit, some interesting observations come up. It is believed that the Native Americans crossed over into America from Asia via the Bering Strait. One of the languages spoken in the Asian end of the Bering Strait is Russian. One would logically arrive at the conclusion that if a Sanskritic people migrated from Asia via Russia and the Bering Strait into the Americas, they would carry with them traces of all these languages.

So, let us take the example of the Russian word for 'water spring'. Its Russian translation will be 'vodny istocnik'. In Dakota, 'water spring' translates as 'mni ohdoka'. Let's examine these words, their meanings at the time of their origin, and the shift of meaning from one language to the other, in this example from Russian to Dakota. In the word 'vodny istocnik', 'vodny' is Russian for water. In Dakota, the word changes from 'vodny' to 'ohdoka', and from 'water' takes on the meaning of 'source of water' or 'water hole', hence 'mnk ohdoka'.

At the root of all of these names, however, is Sanskrit, the mother of all languages. 'Odaka' (ओदक) means 'watery' and takes a different form in Russian. Another Sanskrit words that come into play here is 'srota' (स्रोत), which means 'source'. In Russian, 'srota' becomes 'stocknik', in Dakota it becomes 'sota'.

With this in mind, one may revisit the name Minnesota at this point. The second syllable in the name Minnesota 'Sota' could be a distortion of Srota (स्रोत), which means 'ocean' or 'stream'. 'Srota' also refers to the 'source of a water body'. Another cognate of ' Sota' in the context of water is Sarit (सरित्). Sarit or Sarita is a versatile word which means,' stream, ocean or river'. The root word 'mi' (मी) means 'flowing' or 'moving'. The Sanskrit root 'mIm' (मीम्) also has the meaning of move and expands into the 'mimati' (मीमति), which means 'moving. We see the name Sarita as the name of a river in British Columbia.

River Sarita, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

We see other glaring similarities in words such as 'jyoyanpa', the Dakota word for light, similar to Sanskrit 'jyoti' (ज्योत्). The word for 'union' is 'yuwitaya', which is the same as the Sanskrit 'yukta' (युक्त). The word for box is 'koka'. The source of 'koka' seems to be Sanskrit 'kosha' (कोष), which distorts in Hindi to 'khoka', similar to the Dalota 'koka'.

In the Lakota language, 'wowicake' is honesty, truthfulness, sincerity, etc. This is exactly the same as 'viveka' (विवेक ) in Sanskrit. In Lakota, 'cante' is 'heart'; in Sanskrit, kanta (कान्त) means 'beloved' or 'beautiful'. Yet the source of the Lakota word 'cante' seems to lie in the Sanskrit hridya with the same meaning. Lakota 'cante ' is pronounced as 'chahn-day' and seems to be a cognate of hriday. 

These similarities are not easily explainable. In ancient times, people embarked on migrations and emigrations across the globe in search of better lives—much as they do today. These movements formed waves that flowed not only in one direction but in all directions. Theories that assume a unidirectional flow of people from one land to another often lead to erroneous conclusions. Instead, recognising the multidirectional nature of historical migrations provides a more accurate understanding of our shared human journey.

THE SANSKRIT & TAMIL CONNECTION - THE TEMPLE OF PETRA, JORDAN

Jordan gets its name from the River Jordan. The origin of the name 'Jordan' is generally traced to the ancient Semitic word 'Arda'. 'Arda' in turn comes from the Hebrew 'Yorad', which is derived from the Aramaic 'Yarden' or 'Jarden' meaning 'down-flowing' or 'that which descends'. 

Let's go a step further and check out the Sanskrit connection. In Sanskrit, the verb in the context of 'flowing down' is 'jharat' (झरत्), and the root word is 'jhara' (झर), which means 'sprinkling' or 'waterfall' and is used to describe water bodies or rivers etc. There are rivers all over the world which have names close to the 'jhara' sound, such as the 'Jari' which is the northern tributary of the River Amazon; River Jara in Melbourne; the Jara River - a tributary of the Susita River in Romania; or Lake Jara in New Mexico - not to mention many more in India and Nepal.

Now let's look at the Temple of Petra in Jordan. Petra in Ma’an, is the home of Jordan's most ancient race - the Nabateans. Petra is a complete city carved in a mountain - its rocks are mostly red or pink in hue. Many have put forth the view that the Temple of Petra is a Temple of Shiva owing to the carved Shiva Linga in the mountain. 

The Shiva-Linga of Petra Temple, Jordan.

Lord Shiva is a Vedic God

It is said that the name Petra derives from the Greek word 'pietra' which means 'stone' a reference to the rocky landscape of the area. But it is highly likely that the Greek 'pietra' is a distorted form of the Sanskrit 'prastar' (प्रस्तर) which means 'rock'. In her blog Jayshree Saranathan states that there is a Tamil link too - 'paarai' is the Tamil word for stone, and that might itself be linked in some way to the Sanskrit 'prastar'.

The Bible, the Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna Tablets refer to Petra with names such as 'Sela', 'Seir' and 'Pel'.

Shila' (शिला), a close cognate of 'Sela' too means 'rock', 'mountain' or 'rocky-mountain' in Sanskrit. Even the word 'pal' (पल) is linked to 'stone' and occurs in Sanskrit as 'upala' (उपल) or as 'shonapal' (शोणोपल), which means 'red-stone' - thus explaining the name 'Pel' from the ancient texts.

The Biblical Manuscript or the 'Dead Sea Scrolls' say that the original name of Petra was 'Rekim' or 'Rekem'. The Semitic name 'Rekem', translated as colourful',  was inscribed on the Petra temple passage wall - the passage was called the Siq or Sic. This inscription 'Rekem' was visible until a couple of decades ago, when a bridge was built over the passage wall such that, sadly, the inscription is no longer visible.

In any case, it is interesting to note that a close Sanskrit cognate of 'Rekim', the Sanskrit 'Recin', pronounced Rechin (रेचिन्), means red powder and describes the hue and colour of the temple.

It is known that the original Aramaic texts say that the oldest known name of Petra is Rekem-Geya which is very interesting. It translates as 'Red-Gaya' from Sanskrit. Gaya is an ancient Vedic-Hindu pilgrimage site in Bihar in India. Ancient Indian tribes that migrated West from Bihar (then called Magadh) right up to Greece are known to have built temples en-route and given them Vedic names. To read more about the link of Gaya to Greece click here.

Temple of  Petra
Also called Rekem-Geya
or Rekem-Gaya

The Petra Temple area was full of water springs. Several springs still exist in the Petra area today. The Siq or Sic* is a complex geological feature that has many places where water could enter the Petra Temple. In Sanskrit 'Sic' (सिच्) means to soak or irrigate.

It is Moses who is credited with extracting water from below the red rocky arid area that is called Petra today. Until then, say the Aramaic texts, the site of Rekem-Geya was known as 'kadesh'. 'Kadesh' or 'Ku-desh' (कुदेश) in Sanskrit means 'Bad-Land' or 'Inhospitable Land', though from Hebrew it translates as 'sacred land'. It is possible that only when Moses provided water did 'kudesh' acquire the meaning of 'sacred land'.

In some texts the region is also known as Barnia-Kudesh. 'Bhurni' (भूर्णि) in Sanskrit means 'desert' or 'distant'. 'Kudesh' as mentioned above means 'inhospitable'.

Now let's look at the most ancient known settlers of Petra. The name of the tribe was 'Nabha' and they are referred to as the Nabateans. In Sanskrit, the word 'Nabha' (नभ) means the 'Sky'. A cognate of 'Petra' is 'patra' (पतर) - [the 't' here is pronounced as in 'path'] and means 'flying'. Finally, there is another cognate of 'Petra' which is the Sanskrit 'PaTra' (पटर) - [the 't' pronounced as in the English 'pet'], which means 'ray of light'. The 'sky', 'ray' and 'flying' connection to the word 'Nabha' and 'Petra' may be of interest to those who have explained ancient world history by linking it to the 'gods who visited the world from the sky'.

It is also interesting that the Hindu scripture Ramayana mentions a multi-storied temple, built by celestial architect Vishwakarma, far away from India, in the western direction. It is difficult to pinpoint where this multi-storied building might be located, but the fact that one of the highest mountain peaks in Jordon, which is a few kilometres away from Petra, is known as 'Jabal Ram' does make one wonder.

Jabal Ram Peak at the centre,
the second highest point in Jordan
The area around is called Wadi-Rum. Rum is also
pronounced as Ram

Suggested Links:
1. "Is Petra an Ancient Shiva Temple"?: Click Here
2. 'Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams' of India: Click Here
3. From Bharata to India: Chrysee the Golden by M.K. Aggarwal