"Rigveda, collected about 1000 BCE, has at least half a dozen Dravidian loanwords"

[TatTvamAsi]

� Thus, there is no question of denial of relationship between Tamizh and Sanskrit and that Sanskrit is much earlier in time to Tamizh, and possibly the mother language of Tamizh. Even in today's Tamizh speech and writing, over 60% of the vocabulary comprises words derived from their Sanskrit counterparts.

Namaste Saidevo,

This is the first time I've heard someone say or even suggest that "Sanskrit is the mother language of Tamizh". I am not a linguist but I was always under the impression that Tamil and Sanskrit are the only two "original" languages in India. Isn't that why they were designated as "classical languages" of India?

Also, although there are many Sanskrit words in Tamil, especially when Tamil Brahmins speak, there are various words that are uniquely Tamil. For example, "arimA" means lion and so does "simhA". The latter came from Sanskrit obviously. There are many more examples.

Further, what about words like "rAthrI"? Did it come from Tamil or Sanskrit because it's the same in both.

I too believe Sanskrit is the oldest language and actually an eternal language as it is the language of the Vedas. However, as a non-Vedic language, I feel Tamil is certainly strong enough to stand on its own two feet. Perhaps I'm mistaken but that's what I've heard so far.

It would be great to see some scholarly papers on this topic.

Namaskar.

[Sahasranama]

Further, what about words like "rAthrI"? Did it come from Tamil or Sanskrit because it's the same in both.

The word ratri appears in the Rigveda. If you hold the view that the rigveda is anadi and apaurusheya, then the word ratri must come from vedic sanskrit and not from tamil.

[saidevo]

namaste TTA and others.

I am not a linguist either. Although it is only my opinion that Sanskrit is the mother of the Tamizh language, like it is with all other languages, I think that there are ample pointers to this truth, if one investigates it all without any bias or emotional attachment to either language.

Here is a quote as to the classical status of Tamizh:

A provision to confer status of classical languages in India was made by constitutional decree in the 2004. There are few criterias which should be met in order to receive this status. These generally constitute antiquity in leadership, qualities as a base for other languages, rich literature, a language theory and so on. In this context among the classical languages of India we include Tamil and Sanskrit. Classical Tamil is the language of the Sangam the Sangam literature.
(http://www.indianetzone.com/4/classical_languages.htm)

As for the words arimA and siMha which mean a lion:

• Let us note that hariH in Sanskrit also means a lion. I don't deny that arimA may be a unique Tamizh word, but the connotation between these two words is obvious.

• The word siMham has its derivative singgam in Tamizh, which means a lion. The country name Singapore (pronounced singapUr) is derived from the Tamizh word singgam.

There are several popular words in Tamizh that have their origins in Sanskrit:

• The word 'kasmAlam' is a derogatory reference meaning an impure or cowardly person. This word is often used in scolding among slum dwellers in TamizhnADu. The original word 'kashmalam' in Sanskrit has the same meaning.

• The DK and DMK people taunt the brahmins in TamizhnADu for using the Sanskrit word 'aham' to refer to a person's home. (Thus, 'ahatthukkArar' in brahminical Tamizh means a husband as the master of the house.) Yet, these people have no qualms in using the term 'aham' as 'agam' with the same meanings in daily usage: uNavagam--eating house/eatery; kuRaLagam--Chennai branch of the KhAdi Krafts cottage enterprise; muDi-tirutthagam--saloon, where your muDi--hair is corrected; ezhilagam--name of a Government office complex in Chennai, and so on.

• The name of the beverage coffee, which is a must for most Tamizhs in the morning, has its equvalent 'kAppi' in Tamizh, which is thought to be derived from the English word; yet the word is derived from the Sanskrit word 'kapizha' meaning brown or reddish color.

• As far as I know, there is no equivalent Tamizh word for the Sanskrit kAraNam--reason, which is used as such in Tamizh. Some Tamizh pandits are fond of saying that the equivalent Tamizh word is 'Ethu', but then Ethu is derived from the Sanskrit hetu--cause/motive/impulse.

Any language has its own words and sounds but do not function by them alone, even in its pristine/classical stage, because as the famous English poet of the 16th century said, "man is not an island". As I pointed out in my post no.9, the very first verse of TirukkuRaL has four Sanskrit words out of its seven or eight words: akara, Adi, bhagavan, and ulaku (from lokam). No language can grow if does not use and assimilate words from other languages.

I shall post my impressions about the possibility of Sanskrit being the mother language of Tamizh in another post.

[TatTvamAsi]

namaste TTA and others.

I am not a linguist either. Although it is only my opinion that Sanskrit is the mother of the Tamizh language, like it is with all other languages, I think that there are ample pointers to this truth, if one investigates it all without any bias or emotional attachment to either language.

Here is a quote as to the classical status of Tamizh:

A provision to confer status of classical languages in India was made by constitutional decree in the 2004. There are few criterias which should be met in order to receive this status. These generally constitute antiquity in leadership, qualities as a base for other languages, rich literature, a language theory and so on. In this context among the classical languages of India we include Tamil and Sanskrit. Classical Tamil is the language of the Sangam the Sangam literature.
(http://www.indianetzone.com/4/classical_languages.htm)

As for the words arimA and siMha which mean a lion:

� Let us note that hariH in Sanskrit also means a lion. I don't deny that arimA may be a unique Tamizh word, but the connotation between these two words is obvious.

� The word siMham has its derivative singgam in Tamizh, which means a lion. The country name Singapore (pronounced singapUr) is derived from the Tamizh word singgam.

There are several popular words in Tamizh that have their origins in Sanskrit:

� The word 'kasmAlam' is a derogatory reference meaning an impure or cowardly person. This word is often used in scolding among slum dwellers in TamizhnADu. The original word 'kashmalam' in Sanskrit has the same meaning.

� The DK and DMK people taunt the brahmins in TamizhnADu for using the Sanskrit word 'aham' to refer to a person's home. (Thus, 'ahatthukkArar' in brahminical Tamizh means a husband as the master of the house.) Yet, these people have no qualms in using the term 'aham' as 'agam' with the same meanings in daily usage: uNavagam--eating house/eatery; kuRaLagam--Chennai branch of the KhAdi Krafts cottage enterprise; muDi-tirutthagam--saloon, where your muDi--hair is corrected; ezhilagam--name of a Government office complex in Chennai, and so on.

� The name of the beverage coffee, which is a must for most Tamizhs in the morning, has its equvalent 'kAppi' in Tamizh, which is thought to be derived from the English word; yet the word is derived from the Sanskrit word 'kapizha' meaning brown or reddish color.

� As far as I know, there is no equivalent Tamizh word for the Sanskrit kAraNam--reason, which is used as such in Tamizh. Some Tamizh pandits are fond of saying that the equivalent Tamizh word is 'Ethu', but then Ethu is derived from the Sanskrit hetu--cause/motive/impulse.

Any language has its own words and sounds but do not function by them alone, even in its pristine/classical stage, because as the famous English poet of the 16th century said, "man is not an island". As I pointed out in my post no.9, the very first verse of TirukkuRaL has four Sanskrit words out of its seven or eight words: akara, Adi, bhagavan, and ulaku (from lokam). No language can grow if does not use and assimilate words from other languages.

I shall post my impressions about the possibility of Sanskrit being the mother language of Tamizh in another post.

Namaste Saidevo,

That is some really interesting stuff. I wasn't aware of such deep connection between Tamil & Sanskrit. It's funny because at home we speak in Sanskritized Tamil but it has become second nature we hardly stop to think about the etymology of the words!

I look forward to your post regarding Sanskrit being the mother language of Tamil.

Namaskar.

[TatTvamAsi]

The word ratri appears in the Rigveda. If you hold the view that the rigveda is anadi and apaurusheya, then the word ratri must come from vedic sanskrit and not from tamil.

Interesting... the funny thing is though that most of the other south Indian languages have a lot of "Tamil" words in them along with Sanskrit so I thought every language in India is a combination of those two...

Obviously, there is more than meets the... ear.. in this case!

[Sahasranama]

I am not familiar with Tamil, but I have heard from a kannadiga friend that the so called Dravidian languages have around 60 percent Sanskrit words. Western scholars like to think in term of indo-european languages which include Sanskrit and the northern Indian languages opposed to the dravidian languages. But Sanskrit has had a lot more influence on Tamil, Kannada etc than on the european classical languages, like ancient greek and latin which also have many roots in Sanskrit.

[saidevo]

namaste everyone.

It is not my intention in this compilation to say that Tamizh had no independent existence in the ancient times and evolved from SaMskRtam via its popular dialects of the PrAkrita group of languages.

All I intend to say is only that once the Tamizh language passed from its tradition of oral literacy to written proficiency, the influence of the magic wand of Sanskrit that has enriched the language to become on par with it in every respect, is unmistakable and cannot be ignored. Nor does this influence in any way diminish the classical status of the Tamizh language.

It is in this respect that I would call Sanskrit the mother of Tamizh: she has fostered and raised Tamizh to its present grandeur today, as much as she has done in the case of all other languages of the holy land of BhAratam. Thus, the Tamizh-speaking people cannot and should not view their language, culture and religion as distinct from the Hindu laguage of Sanskrit, religion and culture, which have united all the languages and country in this land under the umbrella of the Vedas.

The following are some pointers to the integral unity of Tamizh and Sanskrit and the dynamic relationship and mutual influence that has prevailed between them since the earliest times. This is the reason that SaMskRtam and Tamizh are considered to be the two original languages of the holy land of BhAratam, spoken from the earliest times until today.

01. Is Sanskrit spoken today? May be not as a language on its own, but its union with almost all the Indian languages and the percentage of Sanskrit words in other Indian languages amply establish that Sanskrit is a language used by the Indian public in their daily life, albeit in proxy.

• Sanskrit as a language is spoken today in India by the entire population of 3,000 in a village called Mathur near Shimoga, KarnATaka, in every aspect of their daily life *01.

• Because of the initiatives taken by institutions such as SaMskRta BhArati, in India and the world over, (according to their Website) hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world have acquired the elementary capability to speak and write in Sanskrit today.

• There is a TV news channel in Sanskrit in India. shrI G.V.Iyer is a popular director of Sanskrit films in India. There are over a hundred Sanskrit magazines, which include a Sanskrit version of the famous children's magazine 'ChandamAmA'.

• Contemporary Sanskrit literature comprises hundreds of articles published by various Hindu religious institutions and by others in India. Scholars like Dr.V.RAghavan, have authored short stories and plays in Sanskrit. He has also compiled a dictionary of Sanskrit in the language of Thailand. As an eminent scholar who won several awards of honour, he was the HOD of the Sanskrit department of the Madras University between 1955 and 1968, and is the author of over 120 books and 1200 articles in Sanskrit *02.

02. Sanskrit has its origins in the divine. The sounds of the language were originated by Shiva with his damaru--small two-headed drum. The Sanskrit language of the Vedas took the name Chandas, and that of the UpaniShads and other works, the name SaMskRtam, while its popular version had the name PrAkRtam.

03. PrAkrita, although originated from and was the cognate of Sanskrit, was not a single language spoken all over India in the ancient times. The name PrAkRtam was the common name for groups of languages spoken in different regions of the Bharata KaNDa, which included: MahArAShTri, Shauraseni, Magadhi, Ardhamaghadi, and PaishAchi. Besides, there were the languages PAli, of the Buddhists. *03

04. Ancient BhAratam was divided into 56 kingdoms whose names were:

KAshmIraH, Nappala, Koshala, KAmboja, PaunchAla, SiMhala, Aungga, Kalingga, KAmarUpa, KurU, Bhoja, Vithaika, VAlmIka, Kekaya, Vunga, SaurAShtra, PunnAdaga, Parpara, Kuluntha, SUrasena, Dangana, MArtha, Saindhava, Purushara, Pandhara, SAliva, KuDaka, NaishIdha, ThUrka, Durga, Marda, Paundra, Maghada, Chethiya, MahArAShtra, Gundhra, KarnATaka, DrAviDa, KukkaDa, Lada, Mahrva, Magara, Desarna, Ottiya, Bachu, Yavana, Baguvane, Konkana, KAshyva, Dungana, Latcha, Chozha, PANDya, Chera and Kerala *04.

05. Every language had a long oral tradition which prevailed for centuries--even millennia--before it was reduced to writing, adopting a script derived from a common prototype.

• The oral tradition of Sanskrit is the longest and farthest in time for any language in the world. It may not be incorrect to say that this oral tradition was in vogue during the entire period of the first three yugas--satya, treta, dvApara--until it was reduced to writing, possibly by VyAsa MaharShi, at the beginning of the Kali Yuga.

• The PrAkrita languages spoken by the public and used in administration in the 56 Kingdoms of BhAratam had their own oral traditions of different durations.

• A most distinguishing feature of the Tamizh language is that during its oral tradition, only Tamizh was used by the public and the administration--not any dialect of the PrAkrita. This was because of the political independence enjoyed by the lower South Indian kingdoms that comprised Chera, Chozha, PANDya and Kerala.

• While the entire BhAratam up to the upper South India was under the Nanda-Maurya domain (Ashoka mentions Andhra among the terrorities included in his domain, in his thirteenth rock edit), and was administrated through the medium of PrAkrita, the lower South India comprising the four Tamizh kingdoms was politically independent of the Maurian empire, so Tamizh prevailed independently as the medium of administration and in public literacy *05.

06. The tradition of writing in Tamizh began around 2nd century BCE, and a variation of the Brahmi script, called Tamizh Brahmi was used for writing. IrAvatham MahAdevan in his magnum opus titled 'Early Tamil Epigraphy. From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D' lists the special features of derivation of Tamizh Brahmi from Brahmi *06:

• Two parallel systems of Tamizh Brahmi (TB1 and TB2) with different medial vowel notations existed from the 2nd century BCE until the 5th century CE. These were merged into an improved system of TB3. called Bhattiprolu System, described in TolkAppiyam, the standard Tamizh grammar work, which is the earliest extant work in Tamizh. System TB3 prevailed from the 1st to the 6th century CE.

• All but 4 of the 26 letters in Tamizh-Brahmi are identical or nearly so with the corresponding letters of Brahmi and have the same phonetic values.

• Even the additional letters in Tamizh-Brahmi viz. l, l, r and n are adapted from letters with the nearest phonetic values in Brahmi.

• The alphabetical order of letters common to both the scripts is identical.

• It is revealing that TolkAppiyam places r, n , l and l at the end of the series of stops, nasals and liquids ( Tol Elu 19-21 ). This arrangement deviates from the order based on articulatory phonetics. This small but significant detail indicates that the four special letters were originally regarded as additions to the alphabet taken over from Brahmi. The additional letter n is also described as the last in the Tamizh alphabet.

07. Tamizh-Brahmi is formed by adapting Brahmi to the requirements of the Tamizh phonetic system in the following manner *06:

• Omission of letters for sounds not present in Tamizh.

• Addition of letters to represent sounds in Tamizh which were not in Brahmi Viz: l, l, r and n.

• Modification of letters by employment of special diactitic mark viz the pulli--dot.

...contd in the next post

[saidevo]

...contd from the last post

Influence and integral relation of Sanskrit with Tamizh

As mentioned earlier in this compilation, the language Sanskrit, the Hindu scriptures such as Vedas and UpaniShads, Dharma ShAstras, and secular writings, and the Hindu Dharma that always was a way of life, have enriched the Tamizh language and culture right from the times of its earliest oral traditions and the written tradition of the Sangham age. Some pointers:

01. Sanskrit is invariably associated with Brahmins, and vested interests in TamizhnADu unceasingly persist in their disinformation campaign that Brahmins and their language Sanskrit came to TamizhnADu from North India and were never part of the Tamizh land or culture. The following pointers should be enough to dispel such mischievous disinformation and establish that Brahmins were the original and much respected residents of TamizhnADu and that the Sanskrit language was a language used as much in TamizhnADu as in other regions:

• The term 'brAhmaNa' denotes those who perform the Veda yajnas detailed in the BrAhmaNa part of the Vedas.

• The Tamizh word for Sanskrit is VaDamozhi; Brahmins are referred to by the five terms 'AndhaNar', 'BrAhmaNar', 'Vediyar', 'MaRaiyavar' and 'PArppanar/PArppAn' in the earliest Tamizh literary works.

• 'Kalitthokai' a Sangham text, defines the term 'AndhaNar' as 'one who does-ANavu--approaches in study and life, the antam--VedAnta'. *07

• The term 'Vediyar' obviously refers to people who has studied and the Vedas and conducted the Veda yajnas.

• Since the Tamizh term for Vedas is 'MaRai'--hidden truths, Brahmins were also known as 'MaRaiyavar'.

• Similarly, the term 'PArppanar/PArppAn' used for Brahmins in the Sangham literature, refers to those who had darshan--pArvai, of the truths explained in the Vedas and UpaniShads.

• TirukkuRaL calls Brahmins 'ARu-tozhilOr'--those who perform six kinds of work: chanting Vedas, getting them chanted, performing Veda yajnas, getting them performed, charity and seeking alms. VaLLuvar says in verse 56.10, that if a king does not perform his duties of administration and security properly, the cows would stop giving milk, and the Brahmins would stop their Vedic practices.

• Poet ILango ADigaL, in his 'SilappadhikAram', refers to Brahmins as 'mangala maRaiyOr'--auspicious Vedic people, 'nAn maRai andhaNar'--Brahmins of the four Vedas.

• Brahmins were also called to perform judicial administration by the Tamizh kings. Such Brahmins were referred to as 'ARkkaLa andhaNar'--Brahmins in the field of administration of Dharma.

• There are numerous references in early Tamizh literature as to how the Vedas, Veda yajnas were held in high esteem. There are no references at all that the Vedas, Sanskrit or the Brahmins were brought to the Tamizh kingdoms from outside. In fact, when sage ParashurAma created the land of Kerala, he brought Brahmins called chozhiyas from the Chozha Tamil kingdom, to perform Veda yajnas and pujas in the temples he established there.

• There are ample examples of the place of Sanskrit in the Tamizh tradition:

‣ In an eulogy known as 'chiRappup pAyiram', TolkAppiyar, the author of 'TolkAppiyam', the earliest extant text of Tamizh, is referred to as 'one who was well-versed in Sanskrit grammar'.

‣ His disciple named AdangkoTTAsiriyar is called 'the AsAn--teacher, who was ripe in the study of the four Vedas'.

‣ ILango ADigaL in his 'SilappadhikAram' asks, "shrI RAma was one who went to the forest with his brother and destroyed the city Lanka. What for are the ears for those who would not listen to his greatness?"

‣ MaNimekalai mentions MAdhavi conversing in Sanskrit. Sanakara Vijayam texts describe common people (and even parrots!) in his native lands conversing in Sanskrit.

‣ In a verse of 'PuRanAnURu', the poet Unpodhi pasungkuDaiyAr talks about a scene from the KiShkindhA KANDam of VAlmIki RAmAyaNa.

• V.Chelliah in his great work Ten Tamizh Idylls (PatthuppATTu) has estimated percentage of Sanskrit words in some works *08:

‣ PattinapAlai - 0.9% Sanskrit words
‣ MullaipATTu - 2.6% Sanskrit words
‣ KurunjipATTu - 1.31% Sanskrit words
‣ ThirumurgatruppaDai - 30 words, less than 2%

02. Several Sanskrit works were written by Tamizhians *09.

• DaNDi, the author of the Sanskrit AlaMkAra text 'kAvyA darshaH' was a Tamizhian from KAnchipuram, TamizhnADu.

• Adi ShankarAchArya was from KAlaDi, KeraLa, were Tamizh was the language spoken at that time.

• RAmAnujAchArya was a Tamizhian from KAnchipuram.

And there were many other authors from TamizhnADu who wrote texts in Sanskrit.

03. Thousands of names of texts, persons, places, and other names in the DrAviDa desham comprising today's TamizhnADu, KarnATaka, Andhra Pradesh and KeraLa, have their Sanskrit cognates. Some examples of Tamizh names:

• Names of ancient Tamizh literary texts: Agattiyam (gramattical work by sage Agastya), TolkAppiyam (grammatical work by TolkAppiyar who was a brahmin well versed in Sanskrit; the name 'kAppiyam' cognates with 'kAvyam'), Kalitthokai (a moral text for the Kali age), AchArakkovai, and the Tamizh epics KuNDalakesi, VaLaiyApathi, MaNimekalai, JIvaka ChintAmaNi, and SillappadikAram.

• Most of the Tamizh dharma texts including the world-renowned TirukkuRaL are based on their Sanskrit counterparts such as Manu SmRti and other Dharma shAstra texts.

• The famous Tamizh purANam titled 'TiruviLaiyADal purANam' narrating the lIlAs--sports, of Shiva in Madurai is based on its Sanskrit counterpart 'HAlasya MahAtmyam'.

• Many Tamizh literary forms share their names with their Sanskrit counterparts, as the last names of these texts indicate: AbirAmi antAdi, Periya purANam, YApparungala kArikai, Madurai kalambakam, Tiruchchanda viruttam, and so on.

• Names of kings and other persons with Sanskrit names:

‣ Chera dynasty: Udiyan CheralAthan (probably from udaya), Imayavaramban, Kulasekhara varman, RAjasekhara varman, SthANu Ravi varman, GoDa Ravi varman, BhAskara Ravi varma, VIra KeraLa, RAjasiMha, RAma Varma Kulasekhara, and so on.

‣ Chozha dynasty: KarikAlan (karika--elephant), VijayAlaya, Aditya, ParAntaka, Sundara, Uttama, RAjarAja, RAjendra, RAjadhIraja, VIrarAjendra, AthirAjendra, Kulottunga (kula--lineage, tungga--chief), Vikrama, and so on.

‣ PANDya dynasty: MAravarman, Arikesari, KochaDaiyAn RaNadhIran (raNa--battle, dhIra--courageous), Arikesari ParAnkusa, VaraguNavarman, ParAntaka VIraNArAyaNa, MAravarman RAjasiMhan, Sundara, Amarabhujanga TIvrakOpa, JaTAvarma Sundara PANDya, Srivallabha Manakulachala, ParAkrama, Sundaravaramban Kulasekharan, and so on.

• Common endings of the place names in TamizhnADu have their Sanskrit cognates: (Tamizh--Sanskrit) TiruppUr--from pUr, RAmanAthapuram--puram, Dharmapuri--puri, TiruchirAppaLLi--palli (small village), KRShNagiri--giri, Virudhunagar--nagara, PudukkoTTai--koTTa (stronghold), KanyAkumari--kumAri, TUtthukuDi--kuDisha (a kind of fish), Sivagangai--ganggA, and so on.

‣ The KeraLa/Chera landmass was originated by ParashurAma, one of the ten avatars of MahAViShNu. KAnchi ParamAchArya in his lectures on the life of Shankara states that ParashurAma set up families of brahmins from KarnATaka, Andhra and Tamizh Nadu (chozhiyas) to perform worship rites in the temples he established. These brahmins mingled with the local population and evolved the MalayALam language, combining the local prakrit, Tamizh and Sanskrit words and phrases.

• Sangham literature refers to a continent called Kumari KaNDam, a sunken landmass beyond today's KanyAkumari. Both the names kumari and kaNDam are Sanskrit cognates.

• The river names in Sanskrit: AmarAvati, BhavAni, Gomukhi, Kabini/Kapila, KAveri, MayUra, PahRuLi (mentioned in Sangham literature, originates in the Mahendragiri hill), SankaraparaNi, TAmraparaNi, and VasiShtha nadi.

04. Thousands of Hindu temples with their individual sthala purANa--local historical legends, dating back to the PurANic times existed (most of which still do) in all these 56 kingdoms. Although the structures of these temples as we know them today were built only during the last 2,000 years or so, worship of the mUla-mUrti--root deity, dates back to the Veda/PurAnic times. This means that such worship must have been performed in Sanskrit by the local brAHMaNas well versed in the Vedic and Agamic scriptures and was attended to by the local rulers and public of the times.

05. References in the RAmAyaNa *10:

• shrI RAmachandra, who lived during the Treta yuga, on his way to Lanka worshipped Shiva in the southernmost seashore of TamizhnADu. This place named Rameshvaram has the famous RAmanAtha svAmi temple is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus.

• The RAmasetu bridge across the sea to Lanka that RAmA built with the help of his vAnara-sainya--army of monkeys headed by HanumAn. Whether Tamizh had or did not have an oral tradition during the times of RAmAyaNa, Sanskrit/PrAkrita should have been the language of the people and rulers in the part of the Tamizh kingdoms that existed at that time.

• When Sugriva sends his monkey warriors to search Sita in the south side, he mentions Chera, Chola and PANDya kingdoms.

06. References in the MahAbhArata *10:

• The map of India during the time of MahAbhArata mentions Chozha, Chera/Kerala, and PANDya kingdoms. References to the Tamizh kingdoms in the MahAbhArata include:

• A Chera King named Udiyan CheralAthan, who fed the armies of the PANDavas and the Kauvaras.

• When the sage VasiShtha was attacked by king VishvAmitra's army, VasiShtha's cow, KAmadehnu, spawned from her body different types of armies which included the tribals of Keralas to support VasiShtha. (1:177)

• The Kings of Chozha and PANDya brought numberless jars of gold as gifts to YudhiSThira's RAjasUya yajna. (2:51)

• The mighty SArangadhwaja, the king of the PANDyas, whose country was and his father slain by KRShNa in battle, later gave up his thoughts of revenge and fought against DroNAchArya, with his large army, in the KurukShetra war. (7.11, 7.23). A PANDya king, along with the kings of Kalinga and Vanga, participated in the svayamvaram event of the PAnchAla princess DraupadI.

Such are the intimate and integrative connections between the languages, culture and religion of the people who spoke Sanskrit and Tamizh in ancient BhAratam.

**********

In the animal farm of Old MacDonald, there were cows and ducks and chickens among other animals. Whether it was the animal farm of MacDonald or Manmohan or MAyANDi or Mustafa, the animals themselves communicated in their unique natural sounds and followed their dharma. MacDonald said that his cow spoke 'moo'; Manmohan said, "No, it was mA"; MAyANDi rebutted them both and said "You're both wrong. It was AmmA"; while Mustafa said, "It's after all a 'gAye', so why make such a fuss?" The cow itself was not bothered about it all and went about her dharma of being motherly to everyone. Such a cow is the great KAmadhenu of SaMskRtam.

References:
01. http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/03/02/...0250200800.htm
02. http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/24/stor...2454700500.htm
03. http://www.indianetzone.com/39/prakrit_language.htm

04. 'A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times' by P.Sangunni Menon
http://ia311235.us.archive.org/2/ite...00menogoog.pdf

05. 'A magnum opus on Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions' by R.Champakalakshmi
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lk...mil-brahmi.htm

06. http://ponniyinselvan.in/articles/20...pt-part-3.html

07. 'Tamizhka AndhaNar VaralARu', a Tamizh research text
by K.C.LakShmiNArAyaNan

08. http://ponniyinselvan.in/articles/20...ure-tamil.html
09. http://www.tamilhindu.com/2009/07/sa...few-questions/
10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandya_Kingdom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala_Kingdom

[kd gupta]

Namaste Saidevoji
I admire with my heart of your great efforts for referencing hindu sacred texts .
Sanskrit was developed to explain the vedic mantras starting from Ramayan by rishi Valmiki . There are many Sanskrit words which contain the possibility of variation in meaning, say ajanata mahimanam tavedam , it can very well be said as najanta mahimanam tavedam . Ajanata ..as ignorance and najanata as unknowingly , no word is incorrect with the reference here .Similarly tamodwarestribhih narah�.as tamodware by men and women and three evil doors by men , both may be correct .

Ved richas are to be recited as mantras for welfare of mankind and not for arriving to meaning , may be trayambakam�.or aum bhur bhuwah swah� etc.

Also vedmantra says to preserve brahmanatva and not Brahmins who describe in mahabharat to leave ashwatthama because he was Brahmin �huh.

[amith vikram]

Dear saidevoij,
you mentioned in one of your posts that all south indian languages originated from tamil. How do you claim this to be true? And how much sure are we about the history of our country?