- B. Malayandi

Historicity Of The Telugu Land
           I, "Thomas Huxley, an associate of Darwin who investigated the origin of man, assumed that Home sapiens, that is, man, regarded as an organic species, arose on the now sunken continent of Lemuria" (p. 128 of the book 'The Riddles of Three Oceans' by Alexander Kodratov). This view was shared by Frederick Engels who has stated in his book "Thr Role played by Labour in the Transition from Ape into Man', that, "Many hundreds of thousands of years ago, during an epoch, not yet definitely determinable, of that period of earth's history known to geologists as the tertiary period, most likely towards the end of it, a particularly highly developed race of anthropoid apes lived somewhere in the tropical zone-probably on a great continent (Gondwanaland/Lemuria) that has now sunk to the bottom of the Indian Ocean". Sir T. W. Holderness, K.C.S. (in his book 'Peoples and Problems of India', Chapter 1, p. 23) confirmed that

           "Peninsular India of the Deccan is geologically distinct from the Indo-Gangetic Plain and Himlayas. It is the remains of a former continent (Gondwanaland/Lemuria) which stretched continuously to Africa in the space now occupied by the Indian Ocean. The rocks of which it is formed are among the oldest in the world and show no traces of having ever been submerged. In many parts, they are overlaid by a sheet of black trap rock or basalt which once flowed over them as molten lava. In the Deccan, we are therefore in the first days of the world, we see land substantially as it existed before the beginnings of life."

           2. According to Prof. H. D. Sankalia, the earliest evidence of man is documented from excavations at Athirampakkam from Rallakalava near Renigunta in Chittoor District and from several sites in Kurnool District. He says,

           "The most important sites from my point of view are the caves around Madras and in Kurnool District, where some sixty years ago, Robert Bruce Foot found not only such fine tools but even artistic work in bone which he then compared with similar work discovered at the time in the caves of France and called upper Palaeolithic by archaeologists. Unfortunately, all the collections made by Foot have been lost but I am quite sure that if we make a genuine attempt with all the knowledge we have got excavations today, then the caves in Kurnool District and possibly in Chittoor District and in Madras will give us important evidence of this advanced hunting stage of man."

Tungabhadra Valley Civilisation
           3. This clue was successfully pursued by one sadhu from Kerala living in Kurnool and he has recently discovered some of the most ancient rock paintings ever found anywhere in the world in the caves of Kurnool District. These caves are all named after the Siddhas, namely, Siddhulaguha in Kethavaram of Kurnool Taluk, Chinna Siddhulu and Peddasiddhulu of Nandyal taluk and Siddhulagutta of Dhone Taluk. The Siddhas were the earliest Dravidian saints. Siddhanta was the most ancient Saivite philosophy. It was the exclusive contribution of the Telugu land, though pushed to the south, subsequently. The Telugu land was earlier known as "Trilinga Desa". The word, "Telugu" is derived from the word "Trilinga". These three lingas are still flourishing in Draksharama, Kaleswaram and Srisailam.

           4. The rock paintings found in Kurnool District are in caves which are situated near some of the oldest Saivite shrines like Kalvabukka, Bogeshwaram, etc. The only painting of any religious significance is that of a saint in a yogic posture which is also found in the Indus Valley sites. There are some scripts found in these caves which are again similar to the Indus valley scripts. According to Alexander Kondratov, in his book referred to. "Linguistic dtat indicate that the Dravidian Languages spread from south to north rather than fromn north to south". Today, the Dravidian languages are spoken in Southern India upto 18 – 20 degrees S, but they once covered Central and Northern India as well. Moreover, facts show that several thousand years ago, the Dravidian languages were also spoken in Baluchistan and Southern Iran."

Indus Valley Civilisation
           5. Some of the Indian anthropologists attempt to see in the Indus Valley scripts bones of fishes and animals which their forefathers ate and sacrificed. This is apparently their pious assumption because it is not supported by objective scientific data. Scholars all over the world are unanimous that the hieroglyphics found in Mohenjadaro and Harappa are a form of ancient script. The difference is only about deciphering the same. A team of soviet researchers have therefore used computers to make a statistical analysis of the texts in order to get a picture of the abstract grammar of "Language X" as they called the language of the proto-Indian texts. This means they ascertained whether the language used suffixes, prefixes and infixes, what its main grammatical structures were and so on. Alexander Kondratov continues, "Next they compared 'Language X" with other languages". Following the discovery of the hieroglyphic texts, scholars had advanced a multitude of hypotheses claiming that the proto Indian language was related to the most diverse languages of the world, including many languages of India, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, the Himalayas and even the language of the Kets, a people who live along the upper reaches of the river Yenisei in Siberia and the language of the inhabitants of Easter Island in the Pacific. One by one, Sanskrit, Hittite, Rapanul and many other languages were weeded out of the list of candidates for the honour of being the language spoken by the people who had created India's oldest civilization. Finally, only one claimant was left—the Dravidian languages, whose structure turned out to be the closest to that "Language X". This furnished proof of the hypothesis, advanced by many scholars, that the proto Indian civilization was built up by people speaking Dravidian languages. Indeed a Dravidian "Island", the Brahul language, has been preserved to this day among the sea of Indo-European languages spoken in North-Eastern India. It is quite possible that in hoary antiquity, the whole of this region was inhabited by peoples who spoke Dravidian languages".

           Referreing to the legend of the sunken land Lemuria, being the cradle of human civilization, Alexander Kondratov exclaims, "The surprising thing is that at least two out of three of the world's earliest civilizations turn out to be connected with people who spoke Dravidian languages".

Comparison Between The Two Civilisations
           7.The hieroglyphics of the Tungabhadra Valley Civilisation found in the caves of Kurnool District go to confirm that the most ancient Telugu scripts that hgave been discovered are the same as those found in Mohenjadaro and Harappa. The comparative evidence is furnished at Appendix 1.

           8. The period of each text may have to be assessed after further detailed research by experts like the soviet team above referred to. But there is morethan adequate evidence to prove that ancient. Telugu scripts along with Tamil scripts constituted the bulk of the Indus Valley scripts. Ancient Telugu like Tamil is undoubtedly very much older than Sanskrit. "There is little doubt that the Dravidian languages are incomparably older in point of time than the Sanskrit. It is not an unreasonable supposition that they once occupied the whole of Hindustthan."

(Manual of Administration of the Madras Presidency VO. 1., p. 43).
           The eminent Indian linguist, S. K. Chatterjee acknowledges that "The Andhra or Satavahana emperors of the centuries round about Christ appear to have spoken a kind of Ancient Telugu as also the kings of the Ceti dynasty in Orissa of the 2nd century B. C. King Kharavela's name, as in his famous inscription, appears to be in what may be called "Ancient Telugu" – it is a compound made up to two Dravidian words, possibly, ancient Telugu meaning. He of the Kar or Black, Vel or Lance. For aught we know, that Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa people of Sindh and South Punjab were ancestors of, or related to the Telugus as much as to the Tamils and other Dravidians of South India." (pp. 271-272 of his book 'Languages and Literatures of Modern India').

The Enigmatic Gap And How It Is Explained

          There were pre-Aryan languages and pre-Aryan religions. Telugu's Siddhanta Saivism, Tamil's Vaishnavism known as "Maliyam", Prakrit's Jainism and Pali's "Hinayana Buddhism" were all pre-Aryan or non-Aryan. In fact, Prakrit and Pali are but the off-shoots of Ancient Telugu. According to A. A. Macdonell, "Even at the time when Vedic hymns were composed, there must have existed a popular language which already differed widely ion its phonetic aspects from the literary dialect. For the Vedic Hymns contain several words of a phonetic type which can only be explained by borrowings on the part of their composers from popular speech. The particular form of the popular language which became the sacred idiom of southern Buddhism is known by the name of Pali……The testimony of the inscriptions is instructive in showing the gradual encroachment of Sanskrit on the popular dialects used by the Non-brahminical religions. The non-Aryan languages of the Deccan, the Dravidian group including Telugu, Canarese, Malayalam and Tamil have not indeed been ousted by Aryan tongues". There is a striking similarity even today between Prakrit and Pali on the one hand and Telugu, Canarese and Singhalese (Ceylon) on the other. Sinchalese is derived from Pali. Speaking about the pre-Aryan civilization and religions, Alexander Kondratov observes: "Decimal numeration was invented in India not by the Aryans but by the proto-Indians, whose merchants and mathematicians were using it several dozen centuries before the Aryan invasion. The first period in the history of Aryan India was marked by the undivided rule of Brahman priests who called themselves living gods and stood above the rulers including the most powerful kings. The conquered peoples continued to adhere to their religious beliefs in secret. But a far-reaching spiritual crises in the sixth century B. C. brought these beliefs out into the open and they lay at the foundation of three new religions, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism which replaced Brahmanism."

           10. The linguist-historian S. K. Chatterjee has affirmed that "Asokas Prakrit and the Prakrit of the Iksavaku Kings of the Telugu land were used as official languages in Dravidian India". (p. 47 of his book "Languages and Literatures of Modern India"). The Prakrit of the Iksavaku kings was a developed frorm of ancient Telugu. It is related to the language as found in the inscriptions in two places in Alur taluk of Kurnool District which have been acknowledged by all scholars as the earliest inscriptions that are available in India today besides the T. V. C. scripts and I. V. C. scripts. If the Iksavaku kings of the Telugu land had their own official language, was there not some literature in that language? The Telugu people who were so advanced as to write such an elaborate inscription must have spoken and written a very developed language. In this brilliant canvas of the hory history of the Telugu land and language, is it not an insult to the intelligence of any inquirer after truth to be told to presume that when the Vedas were being poured out in the north and when the sancham literature was flourishing in the Tamil land in the south, in between, the Telugu mind was in deep slumber for centuries together, from the time of Harappa-Mohenjadaro upto 10th century A. D. not knowing what to do with their Paisachi (Devilish) language, avidly awaiting the arrival on the scene of Nannayyabatta in the 11th century A. D. to introduce them to the Devabhasha, namely, Sanskrit?

           11. To get a glimpse from S. K. Chatterjee again, "The Brahman Nannayyabatta is the first Telugu poet whose works have been preserved. It is believed that there was a pre-11th century literature of jaina in Telugu but there is no evidence for it, as we have for Tamil and Kannada. Nannayya is credited with bringing in a purposeful reform of Telugu (hence his title Vaganusasana for literary employ in emulation of Sanskrit and this might have gone hand in hand with a brahminical revival" (p. 273 of his book "Languages & Literatures of Modern India"). Was it not a fact that there was subsequently (or consequently) a movement in favour of Atcha Telugu or pure Telugu which moment was not as much a verse to the use of Prakrit words as that of Sanskrit ? Did it not coincide with a similar movement in Kannada literature ? What was the purpose behind the reform of Telugu undertaken by Vaganusasana and his like and why was the movement against it such a feeble attempt which eventually failed ? Did not the same fate which overtook Prakrit and Pali overtake Ancient Telugu also for the same reason ? The surest way of doing away with a culture or tradition is to do away with its language. How was this done ? The world famous philosopher-historian Will Durrant has referred to the ability of the self-appointed scholars of India : "As educators of the young and oral transmitters of the race's history, literature and laws, they were able to recreate the past and forfm the future in their own image, moulding each generation into greater reverence for the priests and building for their caste a prestige which would, in later centuries, give them the supreme place in Hindu Society

           12. The Sanskritization of India's languages and religions had assumed different garbs in different generations. For instance, there were nine Nanda Kings who ruled for 91 years. The Sanskrit pundits changed the calendar to exclude the period of 91 years covered by the rule of these kings "who were considered to be unholy persons unworthy of inclusion in orthodox Hindu annals" according to the well-known historian Vincent Smith. Sanskrit Itihasas and Puranas would ascribe Aryan fathers to non-Aryan lumaniries like Vasista, Agasthya. Thiruvalluvar etc. According to A. K. Mazumdar, "instances abound to show where Brahmin authors have fabricated parallel history to glorify the Aryan way of life as opposed to the non-Aryan. All non-Aryan luminaries have been depicted as Aryan."

           Another form of Sanskritization was plagiariazation from the earlier non-Aryan literatures. The original Sanskrit literatures like the Brahmana literature or Manudharmasastra were clearly aimed at cultural propagation. Speaking of the Brahmana literature or Manudharmasastra were clearly aimed at cultural propagation. Speaking of the Brahmana literature, no less a scholar than Prof. Max Muller who is known for his love of Sanskrit language has observed :

           "The general character of these works is marked by shallow and insipid gradilouquence, by priestly conceit and antiquarian pedantry. It is most important to the historian that he should know how soon the fresh and healthy growth of a nation can be blighted by priestcraft and superstition. It is most important that we should know that nations are liable to these epidemics in their youth as ell as in their dotage."

           Chandragupta Maurya of old and Mahatma Gandhi of our own generation happened to fall a prey to this epidemic. But this epidemic cannot so easily be diagnosed because it very often puts on the cover of Trojan horse of the Great Tradition", to borrow a phrase from the eminent Indian Sociologist M. N. Srinivas, the author of the famous thesis of Sanskritization". According to him, Sanskritization is "a process of cultural propagation."

The Two Traditions
           13. In every civilization and every society, two distinct traditions are usually manifest namely, the priestly tradition and the people's tradition. The priestly tradition believes in a select group of people being God's chosen few whereas the people's tradition believes in the equality of human souls. The Purushasukta of the Vedas and the "Mein Kamp" of Hitler fall into the first category for the same reason though one is atheistic. Christ's opposition to the Pharisees and Buddha's opposition to the priesthood bring them into the second category though one is theistic and the other is agnostic. While the priestly tradition attempts "to divide, specialize and hierarchize", the people's tradition seeks "to unify, mobilize and level". Hence the former is called the Authoritarian Tradition and the latter, the Egalitarian Tradition.

           14. One of the inscriptions in the Kurnool caves reads as which is interpreted to mean "Siddantamu" . Who was the author of this Siddhanta philosophy? There is ample evidence to show that it was taught by Lord Dakshinamurthy. Madam, Blavotsky, the mystic and scholar refers to him as "Mauna Murthy" or "Silent Watcher". He was the author of yoga: he was the Great Teacher. Where did he teach and who were his disciples? Saint Manickavasagar in his work "Thiruvasagam" which was written in the third century A.D. has referred to the Great Teacher. Dakshinamurthy having given his first ever Sermon on the Mount in Mahendragiri much earlier than the inception of the Vedas. This Mahendragiri has been identified as the border about 4500 feet high overlooking the sea. Even today, the hill tribes in the area consider it as the most ancient. Siva temple and all of them usually gather there on Mahasivarathri day to celebrate the festival. Amongst his famous disciples were Agasthiya and Nandeeswara. The people of Visakhapatnam District know the Siva Temple in the Burrah caves as having been sanctified by Agasthiya. Agasthiya went south to teach Siddanta and Siddha Vaidya owes its existence to him. The Mahanandi temple in Nandyal Taluk of Kurnool District is believed to have been founded by Nandeeswara. It is not a mere coincidence that all the caves of Kurnool District are named after the famous Siddha Bogeswar of Bogar. That Siddhanta Philosophy was taught in Ancient Telugu could be inferred from the texts found in the caves of Kurnool District. The Pasa vimosana padalam in the Sanskrit Kaurava Agama and the Sivagnana botham of Meikanda devar in Tamil are in all probability the reproductions of Dakshinamurthi's Siddhanta Teachings in Ancient Telugu. Because of the onslaught of Sanskritization on Ancient siddhanta Pholosophy was pushed further south and found refuge in Tamil literature. This is confirmed by the traditional belief in Tamil Nadu that Agasthiya was sent to Tamil Nadu by Dakshinamurthy from a northern hillock which is Mahendragiri.

           15. The essential difference between Siddhanta and Vedanta is the same as between the Egalitarian Tradition and tha Authoritarian Tradition. Siddhanta believes in soul-pluralism which concept is accepted by Jainism. Hinayana Buddhism and Tengalai Vaishnavism. Vedanta believes in soul-absolutism which concept is common to Mahayana Buddhism and Vadagalai Vaishnavism. Nagarjuna's Void and Sanskara's 'illusion' are not dissimilar. Vedanta considers man and world as illusion whereas Siddhanta treats them as reality. The sum and substance of Vedanta is the ' tat tvam Asi' (That art thou) of the Vedas and Nishkamyakarama of Gita. When the Vedas advocate 'That are thou', it will be subtly supplemented by the Pursushasukta that the priest is more of that then thou. When Gita preaches Nishkamyakarma, it will take care to mention that observance of varnasharamadharma is the best form of Nishkamyakarma. Siddhanta on the other hand pleads for equality of souls. Its keynote is on God's grace and man's love. It teaches 'control of self' (Yoga) and preaches 'know thyself' (mysticism). Its ennobling effect and electric character have earned for it the esteem of foreign scholars. To quote but only two: "Saiva Siddhanta philosophy is the choicest product of Dravidian intellect. Saiva Siddhanta is most elaborate, influential, and undoubtedly the most intrinsically valuable of all the religions of India" – Dr. G. U. Pope: and "Saiva Siddhanta may be ranked among the perfect and clearest systems of human thought"—Dr. Kamil Zvelebil.

16.The following table summarizers the position:

           Sl. Religion Philosophy Tradition Chief exponent Language Man and

           World-view

           1. Jainism Soul-Plura Egalitarian Mahavira Prakrit Reality

           lism

           2. Hinayana Soul-Plura Egalitarian Buddha Pali Reality

           Buddhism lism

           2a. Mahavira Soul-Absolu Authoritarian Nagarjuna Sanskrit Illusion

           Buddhism tism

           3. Siddhanta Soul-Plura Egalitarian Dashina Ancient Reality

           Saivism lism Murthy Telugu and tamil

           3a.Vedanta Soul-Absolu Authoritarian Sankara Sanskrit Illusion

           Saivam tism

           4. Tengalai Soul- Plura          Egalitarian          Alwars          Tamil          Reality

           Vishnavism          lism

4a. Vadagalai          Soul-Absolu          Authoritarian Vedanta- Sanskrit          Illusion

           Vaishnavism          lism          Desika

           17. 2a, 3a and 4a represent the gradual encroachment of Brahminism on Buddhism and Hinduism and its fatalistic preaching sought to ensure that the people were contended with their given status in society. M.N. Srinivas rightly claims that Sanskritization is the best anti-dote to revolution.

Conclusion
           18. Throughout the history of Indian philosophical thought, whether the contrast is between Siddhanta Saivism and Vedanta Saivism or between Hinayana Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism or between Tengalai Vaishnavism and vadagalai Vaishnavism, the conflict is essentially between the Egalitarian Tradition and the Authoritarian Tradition. The Original works in Sanskrit invariably belong to the Authoritarian Tradition whether it is Nagarjuna's thesis of Mahayana Buddhism, or Sankara's thesis of Vedanta Saivism or Vedantadesika's thesis of Vadagalai Vaishnavism. The original teachings of Dakshinamurthy, Mahavira Buddha. Nayannars, Alwars and host of poets the Bhakthi Movement belonging to the Egalitarian Tradition were mostly in Ancient Telugu, Prakrit, Pali, Tamil and later on in the other regional languages. For innumerable centuries, Since the Authoritarian Tradition has been dominating the field of scholarship and learning. Communication and Publicity media, there is an illusion created that Sanskrit stands for the 'Great Tradition' and other ancient and modern regional languages represent the 'Little Tradition' as M.N. Srinivas puts it. Mahayana or the great vehicle was so called because it used the pedantic priestly language 'Sanskrit' where as Hinayana or the little vehicle was so called because it used the language of the common people 'Pali'. In the same way, Ancient Telugu was described as the Paisachi language. A similar attempt was made on Tamil by coaxing it to use more and more of Sanskritic pearls. That is why the introduction of Sanskrit into Tamil was called 'Manipravalanadai' or style studded with pearls. But the then Tamil poets awoke to the danger and arrested the encroachment within a century. M.N. Srinivas given expression to his apprehension that "The non Brahmanical castes are generally less Sanskritized than tha Brahmans and where there they dominate, non-Sanskritic customs may get circulated among the people. It is not inconceivable that, occasionally. They may even mean the de-Sanskritization of the imitation castes".(p.62 of his book "Caste in Modern India and other Essays").

           19. Still imagining that the Devabhasha has got a superior claim over the paisachi bhasha, how many would today concede the right of Telugu to be the language of prayer in the temples of Andhra Pradesh? Is not Devanagiri slowly attempting to stake the same imperial claim? But how far these claims are objectively justified? The eminent linguistic historian S.K. Chaterjee has given his considered conclusion: "The North contributed ritualism without any profound spiritual and mystic approach, but the deeper and more universal things like yoga and bhakti came from the pre-Aryan background".

           20. The Telugu Talli through her elegant smile appears to urge her sons to pause and ponder "whence Telugu?" and "Whither Telugus?" To answer these questions fully and satisfactorily, youngsters and experts may have to undertake further detailed research on the Tungabhadra Valley Civilization, Which is undoubtedly one of our proudest possessions.