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The part of Vaishnava Alvars.
NAYANARS AND ALVARS.
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dried ginger and the leaves of marutha tree (Terminalia Arjuna) and besmeared their body with gallnät powder. They were well versed in black magic and chanted mantras, the efficacy of which they ever praised.
3
Such is the account of the Jains as preserved for us in 'the immortal hymns of Tirujñānasambandar and Appar. At the same time, it must be noted that it is the description by avowed enemies. The main object of Sambandar was to rouse the prejudices of the people against the Jains, and to depict their practices in the blackest colour possible. Abuse, as is well known, is no argument and as the hymns contain nothing but terrible invectives, we are forced to conclude that the methods employed by Appar and Sambandar to defeat the Jains were not only crude but also cruel. On the other hand, it must be admitted that the Jains took unfair advantage of their friendship with, and influence over, ruling sovereigns by having recourse to forcible
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conversion.
Thus during the middle half of the seventh century A.D.. the Jains sustained a series of reverses, both in the Pallava and the Pandya
1 46
இலைமருதே யடகாக ஊளு மிடுதுவர்க்காயொடு சுக்குத்தின் னும், நிலைய மண்டேரரை
"
தே.தி.660,ஞா.சம்.,மருகல், "அங்கமும்," 10.
2 " கடுப்பொடி யட்டிமெய்யிற் கருதியோர் தவமேன்றெண்ணி வடுக்களோடிசைந்த நெஞ்சே.'
தே.தி.288,அப்பர், ஐயாறு, குண்டனாய்,"5. 3 "பிச்சச் சிறுபீலிச் சமண் குண்டர் முதலாயோர்
விச்சைக் கிறையென்னு மவ்விறையைப் பணியாதே." "தூய்மையில்லாச் சமணர்க்கும்''.
திருமங்கை ஆழ்வார், பெரிய திருமொழி.
C
