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JĪVAKACINTĀMAŅI, A CHANNEL OF
MAHĀVĪRA'S TEACHNIGS
Dr. Miss. V. Muthuccumaru The literary endeavours of the Jainas in Tamil date back to the post Cankam period.' It cannot be denied that the Jainas have had a greater share than others in Tamil cultural and literary evolution. Their close association with the common mass and the approach they adopted for introducing their religion to them attracted people towards Jainism and led to the acquisition of royal support and patronage. The unstable political situation which caused chaos in the society induced the Jainas to write many ethical works in Tamil. Through these works they tried to teach the ethical and moral codes of Jainism to the laymen. The period which followed the post Cankam period was the time when the Pallavas reigned in the Tamil country. During this period Jainism had to suffer defeat in the hands of Saiva and Vaisņava saints. Though the influence of the Jainas waned considerably due to the success of the Bhakti movement which was propagated by these saints, their ardent zeal for religious propaganda could not be extinguished. The unfavourable conditions they faced during this period forced a reconsideration of the methods they used for spreading Jainism. As a result of this, the literary techniques also took a new turn. The Jaina monks borrowed the best of Sanskrit literature and blended it with the best of Tamil literary traditions. One such pioneer was Tiruttakkatēvar who wrote the Jivakacintāmaņi. This work seems to have been written in the
Cankam works, the earliest extant Tamil literary works extend from the 3rd century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D. The period following this period upto the reign of the Pallava kings is called the post-Cankam period.
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