Shāka Dwīpa was a pre-historic location in SE Asia where the early Tamils thrived and the archaic Vedic society emerged (Part 3 of Gunung Padang series)

 Part 1: ‘Gunung Padang’ megalithic structure an observation platform for Mt. Pushpitaka described in Vālmīki Rāmāyana

Part 2: Was the week-day concept conceived in Gunung Padang Structure (GPS) located on Mt. Suryavān?

 

Gunung Padang Megalithic structure (GPM) that appears to be Mt. Suryavān described in the Vālmīki Rāmāyana was part of a larger landmass known as Shāka Dwīpa that is currently named as Sundaland. GPM is likely to be the place where Sun-worship known as ‘Saura’ of the Vedic society evolved. 

The Vedic religion (known as Dharma or Sanātana Dharma which refers to eternal concepts that are  applicable to all places, to all people and at all times) has six types of worship methods (Shanmata) of which Saura or sun-worship is one. Though there are sun temples in India where the Sun is worshiped, the exact Saura worship method is not followed now as it used to be, if we go by the description given in Bhaviṣya Purāna. This text describes how the sun worship was done and where it originated. It didn’t originate in present day India! But since it is part of Vedic Dharma, it is understood that those ancestral to the Vedic people had conceived and spread this worship. Its location of origin was Shāka Dwīpa.

The time of emergence of Saura and the worship methods gleaned from Indic texts remarkably match with the time of fresh additions in the GPM – the 2^nd layer dated around 11,000 years ago. That was the time the earth started receiving a steady increase in solar light and energy – after the end of Ice age.    

 Location of Shaka Dwīpa not in Central Asia

There is a tendency among researchers to identify Shāka Dwīpa with Shakasthan (Sistan) and Persia. But the locational description on Shāka Dwīpa given in the Mahābhārata does not fit with Central Asia. There are two major reasons for Shāka Dwīpa to be elsewhere and not in Central Asia.

One is that the very name Shāka in Shāka Dwīpa was derived from the tree Shāka that was abundantly found there. It was like how Jambhu Dwīpa  (housing India) was called by the name of Jambhu tree (Syzygium cumini) found in abundance there.

Shāka tree is native to South Asia and South East Asia and not to central Asia or Europe. Its botanical name is Acacia sirissa or Albizia lebbeck. This was known as Uzhinjil (உழிஞ்சில்) or Unna (உன்ன மரம்) or Pālai (பாலை மரம்) in Tamil. Its flower was held in high esteem and worn as a mark of victory in war. In Sanskrit it is known as Shirīsha and in Tamil it is known as Vāgai (வாகை).  

Shāka flower that was worn as a symbol of victory.

The second reason why Shāka Dwīpa could not be located in Central Asia was that as per the description found in the Mahābhārata and Vishnu Purāna, Indra gulped the waters of the seas in Shāka Dwīpa every day and gave back as rains in time to the same place. This perfectly fits with the monsoon activity in the Indian Ocean regions, thereby indicating the location of Shāka Dwīpa in that region. (The Brahmānda Purāna verse on the location of Shāka Dwīpa close to the north of Tropic of Capricorn was quoted in Part 1).

The presence of seven countries (varsha-s) in Shāka Dwīpa sounds similar to the seven divisions of the olden Tamil country of the 1^st Sangam Age located outside India, each having further seven divisions, making the overall number of 49 countries in the Tamil Pāndya kingdom having Southern Madurai as its capital.

The Mountains, countries and rivers of Shāka Dwīpa given in the Mahabharata are identifiable in South east Asia and not in Central Asia. 

I attempted to locate the seven mountains based on the description of the Mahābhārata as follows:

1.      Meru also known as Mahākāśa – Likely to be Pura Besakih in Bali https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Besakih_Temple

2.     Malaya stretching towards east – appears to be New Guinea Highlands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea_Highlands

3.     Jaladhāra - From where Indra takes water every day and showers as rainfall – Fits with Titiwangsa mountains of the Malay Peninsula. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titiwangsa_Mountains

4.     Mount Raivataka –  the star Revatī (Zeta Piscium) is placed directly above which means the mountain was on the equator. Later the region came to be known as Kaumāra after  Skanda alias Kumara who lived here. There was a crater formed by an extra-terrestrial impact some 22,000 years ago and where the first speech of the ancestral Vedic society evolved (Markandeya Purāna – Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5OoX4NHXI4 )

Now this mountain and region are under water.

5.     Shyāma – Means black. Dark complexioned people resided here. Matches with Papuans and Malenesians who continue to live in Papua New Guinea. The mountain range is  Papua New Guinea High lands https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Guinea_Highlands   

6.     Kesarī  - In Sanskrit it refers to lion, and also a tree. Lion doesn’t seem to be native to Sundaland, but a tree variety known as Ceylon Ironwood (Mesua ferrea) is found abundantly in Philippines, Sumatra, Malaysia.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesua_ferrea

7.     Durgaśaila- No specific description is available for the mountain but it was a Varsha (country) where Shāka trees were found in abundance as per the Mahābhārata.  

The countries or Varsha-s –They were seven in number named as  Meru, Malaya, Jaladhāra, Raivataka, Shyāma, Kesarī and Mahāpumān where Mt. Durgaśaila was situated.  Shāka tree was found in this country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albizia_lebbeck

Going by the presence of this tree, New Guinea and Northern Australia fit the bill as the location of Shāka Dwīpa Proper. This is exactly the same as what is given in Brahmānda Purāna. It is reproduced from Part 1. 

The names of rivers given by the Mahābhārata further reiterate that the location of Shāka Dwīpa was not in central Asia  but in South east Asia. Rivers such as Sukumāri, Kumāri, Seta, Keveraka, Mahānadī, Manijalā,  Chakshus, and  Vardhanikā were flowing in Shāka Dwīpa. There were other rivers too but these were specifically mentioned.

River Kumāri was in Southern Madurai where Skanda lived (circa 9990 BCE) and Pāndyan dynasty thrived for 4440 years. That land had gone under water. Southern Madurai was lost to the seas some 7200 years ago. (To know the chronology of the periods that followed three floods since the end of Ice Age as given in Tamil texts, check my book on kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BC48ZVDZ )

In the Vishnu Purana description of Shāka Dwīpa, a river by name Ikshu is mentioned. Ikshu means sugarcane. So, sugarcane growing region has lent the name Ikshu to the river. Sugarcane is native to Papua New Guinea and South China. We rule out South China as it is not part of Shāka Dwīpa. Historically the Papuans and Austronesians were found to have domesticated sugarcane. A river in their location was known as Ikshu. Sugarcane was later introduced to North India in the Gangetic plain (the glacier-fed River Ganges / Ganga started flowing only in Holocene).

The people of Shāka Dwīpa

The missing pre-history hidden in Sundaland is further revealed by the Indic texts. Both the Mahābhārata and the Vishnu Purāna state that there were four classes of people (varna-s) such as Brahmins (priests),  Kshatriya-s (warriors),  Vaisya-s (traders) and Shudra-s (tillers) in Shāka Dwīpa. It is also stated that Shāka Dwīpa was the only place other than Bhārata varsha (India) where this four-some classification was in existence. The Tamil connection to Shāka Dwīpa is found in this context too, as the Sangam Age Tamil Grammar book, Tolkāppiyam states the presence of these four classes in addition to  three more namely, astrologers (Arivan), ascetics (Tāpathar) and war-field singers (Porunar).  

The first four classes in that order are mentioned as Magā,  Maśakā,  Mānasā and Mandagā.

The Magā-s (Brahmins of Shāka Dwīpa) were also known as Mriga in Vishnu Purāna, but found mentioned as Magā in Bhaviṣya Purāna and inscriptions. The Magā Brahmins initiated the sun worship. Shiva- worship also was done in Shāka Dwīpa. The Mahābhārata states that Shiva was the deity of Shāka Dwīpa. This must have started only with Skanda about 12,000 years ago (during Younger Dryas). Saura (Sun) worship must have started before that when the southern hemisphere started receiving more heat from the sun (Older Dryas -14,000 years ago). The first experience with the sudden increase in solar heat was welcomed by the people of  Shāka Dwīpa, most probably by those living near the equator at GPM. Thus started the Saura worship.

(To be continued in Part 4)