Indus Culture, Durga, and CilappatikAram

[Dominique.Thillaud]

At 2:20 +0200 21/06/97, Palaniappa at aol.com wrote:
>Earlier, under the heading, "What animal does Durga ride?", I said the
>following.
> .....
>I would appreciate any comments from archaelogists, art historians,
>numismatists, tantrists, etc.

	I'm in the 'etc.'.
	From my point of view, that's not a problem. mRga and vyAghra (or
simha) are strongly linked as the couple prey/predator (MBh III,11,24;
III,200,14 and tens of others) and the hunter can be identified with both
(see the greek myth of Akteon): obviously mRgahan = vyAghra, but, all over
the world, the hunting ideology contains an identification with the prey
(magical ?). I believe that explain the verb mRgayati (te).
	The two animals of the greek Huntress Artemis are the deer and the
bear.

	Even if it is etymologically (stricto sensu) wrong, we can't
neglect the rapport between mRga | mR + gA and dur-gA.

	This don't presume DurgA to be an eurindian Goddess because the
Wild Beast's Lady (correct ? Greek: PotniA ThErOn, French: Dame des Fauves)
is well known in many civilizations. But that can explain why, linked with
DurgA, stags and lions are structurally the same.

	Hoping to help, namaste!
Dominique

Dominique THILLAUD
Universite' de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France