வேத இலக்கியத்தில் சூரியனின் ஏழு குதிரைகளும் சப்த சந்த மரபும்: த்ருஷ்டுப் 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 Trishtubh Metr

Abstract

Centred on hymn 164 of the first mandala of the Rigveda (RV 1.164), this article examines together the mythic symbol of the Sun’s seven horses found in Vedic literature and the seven Vedic measures known as the Sapta Chanda tradition. RV 1.164.23 states that the three metres Gayatri, Trishtubh and Jagati are founded upon one another; the same hymn also repeatedly features symbols such as the chariot, horse and wheel that are associated with the number seven. The primary basis of this study is that in the Shatapatha Brahmana (5.21.16) the seven horses yoked to the Sun’s chariot are given exactly seven metre names — Gayatri, Brihati, Ushnih, Jagati, Trishtubh, Anushtubh and Pankti. Among these, the Trishtubh metre has four feet of eleven syllables each (4 × 11 = 44 syllables) and, as Western Vedic linguistic studies also record, is the most common metre in the Rigveda. This article examines the syllabic structure of the Trishtubh metre in detail and compares it with the syllable (asai) and foot (cir) reckoning of the Tamil prosodic tradition, seeking to bring out the linguistic structures shared by Chandas, the Vedanga, and Tamil prosody. It also examines the cultural-symbolic significance that the number seven holds in the Indian knowledge tradition (seven sages, seven notes, seven worlds).Employing a comparative textual method and a descriptive-analytical approach, this study establishes that the Vedic Chandas tradition has functioned not merely as a single-language structure but as a common scientific-cultural language system spread across the Indian subcontinent. Identifying its echoes in Tamil grammar will offer a new perspective for the comparative prosodic study of Indian languages.