message from Dr. Elst

[Michael Witzel]

It is Friday evening, time to relax. And reading one's mail:

We must thank a surrogate of a surrogate of the busy decipheres of the
Indus script for another bit of information  (Rajaram writes that he is
rather busy with translating the remnant of the c. 4000 inscriptions).

>> here's one more piece of
>> decipherment by Jha/Rajaram.  Their reading of the Pashupati seal is:
>>
>> Ishadyattamara
>>
>> with different possibilities for vowel length yielding different reasonable
>> readings, most favoured one being:

>>"Mara tamed by Isha".


I am shocked to see that the most obvious reading of the famous Pashupati
seal has escaped the decipherers, Dr.s Jha/Rajaram. It reads:

rimmed vessel -  simple fish - rimmed vessel with Roman ''  on top  -
pincers (with double handles?)   -   crab   -    simple (five stroke) man

deciphered  as by them as:

'any vowel'   -      z        -          dy              -       tt       -
m    -    r

Especially in conjunction with the picture on the seal, i.e. the
three-faced, crossed-legged, ithyphallic Lord of the Animals, Shiva, and
following the Jha/Rajaram method,  *plainly* reads:

             iiza  udyatto  merau!

            "The Lord, with his [ ] up,  (residing)  on Mt. Meru"

What is up here is clearly visible on the seal.
uurdhvalinga, uurdhvamanthin.

Much better than to invoke overcoming the post-Vedic, Buddhist demon Maara
(or the equally late god Kaama):  where does the Great Yogi do that, on the
seal?  He merely sits there touching himself.

                                                        ***

On second thought, another reading, one closely following Jha's
construction of compounds,  many be more appproriate:


'any vowel'   -      z        -          dy              -       tt       -
m    -    r


           aazodyattaamara(H)

          "The [aim, resesarch, etc.]  striven after  out of hope is
immmortal"

in other, though Mleccha words:

        "Hope springs eternal!"





========================================================
Michael Witzel
Department of Sanskrit & Indian Studies, Harvard University
2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138, USA

ph. 1- 617-496 2990 (also messages)
home page:  http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm

Elect. Journ. of Vedic Studies:  http://www1.shore.net/~india/ejvs