Hinduism - 17.

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17. Cultural fusions in the South

 

Early Indian history cannot be viewed in its true perspective unless the

institutions of the South receive adequate treatment. The unity of India

transcends the diversities of blood, fusions in colour, language, dress,

manners and sects. It is seen in the fusion of Brahminical ideas and

institutions with Dravidian cults. This unity, however, has been limited

by the later developments of the caste system in a manner different from

the original conception which was functional in character and elastic in

scope.

 

A typical South Indian village almost invariably has a temple dedicated

to Ayyanar or Hariharaputra or Hanuman or Anjaneya, or Ganesa. On many

hill-tops there are shrines dedicated to the Devi (Chandi) or Kartikeya

also named Subrahmanya. These exemplify the tolerant and assimilative

outlook of the Aryans. In the context mention has already been made of

the Vratyastoma (a particular sacrifice or ritual) by means of which

masses of non-Aryans (Vratyas) were admitted into the Aryan society.

 

According to South Indian tradition, Tamil was first developed by the

sage Agastya, to whom a grammar, a treatise on philosophy and many other

works are ascribed. The oldest Tamil grammar now extant, the

Tolkappiynm, is said to have been the work of one of his disciples. The

Saivite and Vaishnavite revival due to the Brahmins in Southern India,

since the 8th century, brought about a counter- movement among the

Jains. Early Buddhism in Northern India adopted the Prakruti or

vernacular speech for its religious treatises. On the same analogy,

Buddhism and Jainism in the South created works in the dialects of the

people. The Dravidian Buddhists and Jains created a Tamil literature

which was anti-Brahmanical in sentiment; and covered the period between

the 9th and 13th centuries.

 

The Kural of Tiruvalluvar, dating not later than the 10th century A.D.

is said to have been the work of a poet belonging to one of the

depressed classes. It enforces the Samkhya philosophy in 1,330 poetical

aphorisms based on three subjects: wealth, pleasure and virtue. To the

sister of its author, the poetess Avvaiyar, are ascribed many

compositions of the highest moral tone, and they have enjoyed perennial

popularity in Southern India. The Jain period of Tamil literature

includes works on ethics. In the same period a celebrated adaptation of

the Ramayana was composed in Tamil by Kambar. This is a Tamil paraphrase

rather than a literal translation of the ancient Sanskrit Epic.

 

Taking it as granted that Tirukural should have been written before

100B.C, it is difficult to understand how come tiruvalluvar and kambar

could be contemporary thinkers. There is no mention of valluvar's

life around 500 to 1200 A.D.

 

Between this period and the 16th century, two encyclopedic collections

of Tamil hymns, deeply religious in spirit, were gradually formed. One

collection was the work of Saivite devotees and their disciples who

sought to uproot Jainism. Vaisnavite apostles of the same period were

equally prolific in Tamil religious songs. Their Book of Four Thousand

Psalms, Nalayira Prabandham, constitutes a hymnology dating from the

12th century.

 

The development of Vaishnavism saw a parallel development of the Saiva

theism. A distinctive philosophy of Saiva Siddhanta was evolved about

the 11th century. The Saiva Agamas were based on the Vedic concept of

Rudra. A large number of inspired writers in the Tamil country were

headed by Manikkavasagar. All their works have been collected and are

venerated by the South Indian Saivites. The first part of this

collection, Tevaram, contains the hymns of Appar, Sambandar and

Sundarar. The second part mainly comprises Manikkavasagars Tiruvasakam.

Sixty three Saiva saints are recognized and their lives are recounted in

the Periya Puranam Sekkilar.

 

Dr. Pope, the well known Tamil grammarian, has stated that Saiva

Siddhanta is one of the most influential and intrinsically valuable of

the religious writings in India. The Saiva Siddhanta recognizes three

entities: God, the Soul or the aggregate of souls, and Bondage (Pati,

Pasu and Pasa). The expression Bondage denotes the aggregate of the

elements which fetter the soul and hold it back from union with God. In

one of its aspects it is Malam, the taint clinging to the soul. In

another aspect it is Maya, the material cause of the world. The

peculiarity of the Saiva Siddhanta doctrine which calls itself

Suddhadvaita is its difference from the Vedanta Monism. God pervades and

energizes all souls and, nevertheless, stands apart. This concept of the

absolute is clear from the Tamil word for God, Kadavul, meaning that

which transcends (kada) all things and is yet the heart (ul) of all

things. When the absolute becomes manifest, it is as Force (Sakti) of

which the universe is the product. The Dvaita system, on the other hand,

insists on a radical pluralism, and at the same time on the complete

dependence of the souls and the world on God.

 

One of the important Saivite sects known as Virasaiva was founded by a

Brahmin named Basava, who was for some time the minister of a ruler in

Kalyan. The Basava Purana outlines Basava's life. This as also

Basava's own writings in Kannada describes the fundamentals of a

doctrine based on rigid monotheism, Siva being regarded as the supreme,

limitless and transcendent entity. Brahman is the identity of 'being',

'bliss' and consciousness, and devoid of any form of differentiation. It

is limitless and beyond all ways of knowledge. It is self-luminous and

absolutely without any barrier of knowledge, passion or power. It is in

Him that the whole world of the conscious and the unconscious remains,

in a potential form untraceable by our senses, and it is from Him that

the whole world becomes expressed or manifest of itself, without the

operation of any other instrument.

 

The Virasaivas, often called Lingayats, are distinguished by the

Sivalinga and rudraksha on their person and they smear their bodies with

ashes. They are strict vegetarians and abstain from drink. The Virasaiva

doctrine has four schools, but the differences are of a minor kind. All

believe in the efficacy of a Guru or preceptor. All assert the reality

of the Universe and unity with Siva, the only ultimate reality. The

Virasaiva doctrine is prevalent in Mysore and in the southern regions of

Maharashtra. People in Andhra Pradesh mostly consider that there is no

difference in between Siva and Vishnu.