வேத இலக்கியத்தில் சூரியனின் ஏழு குதிரைகளும் சப்த சந்த மரபும்: ப்ருகதி சந்தத்தை மையமாகக் கொண்ட இந்திய அறிவு, மொழி மற்றும் பண்பாட்டுக் குறியீடுகளின் ஆய்வு

The Seven Horses of the Sun and the Sapta Chanda Tradition in Vedic Literature: A Study of Indian Knowledge, Language and Cultural Symbols Centred on the Brihati Metre

Abstract

The mythic metaphor of the seven horses that draw the chariot of the Sun god is explained in the later Indian tradition by linking them with the seven principal Vedic metres (Gayatri, Ushnih, Anushtubh, Brihati, Pankti, Trishtubh, Jagati). Rather than accepting this connection as a foregone conclusion, this article poses as its research question whether it is found directly in the Vedic sources or was historically constructed through the Nirukta, the science of metre (Chandas-shastra), later commentaries (bhashyas) and Puranic-temple traditions. Drawing on Rigveda hymn 1.164 (the Asya Vamasya / riddle hymn), Yaska’s Nirukta, Pingala’s Chandas-sutra, and the contributions of scholars such as Houben, af Edholm and Witzel, the symbolic system is analysed from linguistic, semiotic and Indian Knowledge Systems perspectives. The metrical structure of the Brihati metre is examined in particular, explaining how the three-dimensional relationship of sound–metre–cosmos forms a central principle of Vedic linguistics. In conclusion, the article establishes that the identification of the seven horses with the seven metres began as an implicit numerical symbol in the Rigveda, developed through the Nirukta–Chandas tradition, and was made definite in the later commentarial–Puranic tradition — a progressive semiotic construction.