Jaina Literature in Tamil

Author(s): A Chakravarti, K V Ramesh
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 14

to start with; and its opponents were the champions of the Saivite and Vaişñavite faiths of the Brahmanical religion. Almost simultaneously, under the leadership of Appar and Sambandhar, the advocates of the Saivite school launched ruthless attacks against the adherents of the Jaina law and earned signal success in the Pallava and Pāņdya kingdoms. Pallava Mahendravarman I and Pāņdya Neļumāran were converted to the Saiva faith, the former by Appar and the latter by Sambandhari.
The movement aimed at curbing the popularity and further growth of Jainism in Tamilnāļu, particularly in the Pāņdyan kingdom which had been practically permeated by Jainism in the 5th-6th centuries A.D., was spearheaded by the Saivite nāyaṇārs Tirunāvukkarasu or Appar and Tirujñānasambandhar and Vaişņavite älvärs Tirumališai, Tirumangai and Toņdaradippoţi. Appar, a contemporary of Pallava Mahēndravarman I, was a Saivite by birth but was drawn towards Jainism and he actually joined the Jaina monastery at Cuddalore, the South Indian Pāțaliputra, as a monk. However, through the persistent efforts of his elder sister, he not only re-entered the fold of Saivisın but also succeeded in converting the Pallava emperor, till then a devout Jain, to the Saiva faith. His younger contemporary Tirujñānasambandhar has the reputation of having vanquished all the Jaina scholars of Madurai, the Pandyan capital, and of having converted the Pāņdyan ruler, either Māžavar
1. TASSI., 1957-58, p. 25