Jaina Literature in Tamil

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

Page 26

JAINA LITERATURE IN TAMIL
A casual perusal of Tamil Literature will reveal the fact that, from the earliest times, it was influenced by Jaina culture and religion. It is a well-known fact that Jainism was a religion originated in Northern India and thus must be associated with Aryan culture. When the Jainas migrated to the South and how they came in contact with the original Tamilians are problems which still remain obscure. But some light may be thrown on these problems if we turn our attention to the fact that even from the earliest times of Aryan settlement in the Indus valley, there was a section among the Aryans which was opposed to the religion of sacrifice and which was standing by the doctrine of ahimsa. Even in the Ṛgvēda Hymns we have evidence to substantiate this proposition. The story of Sunaḥsepha, a Brahmin youth, who was released by Viśvāmitra from being sacrificed is an important fact. The conflict between the Rajarşi Viśvāmitra and Vasistha' probably represents the start
1 Ṛgvēda Samhita, I-24-12/13, V-2-7; For an English rendering, see R.T.H. Griffith: The Hymns of the Rigveda, Vol. I (1920), pp. 31-32, 467; See also, Vedic Index, Vol. II (1912), pp. 311, 385-86; Winternitz: A History of Indian Literature, Vol. I (1927), pp. 213-16; P.V. Kane: History of Dharmasastra, Vol. II (1941), p. 35; The Vedic Age (1951), p. 285.
2 Muir: Original Sanskrit Texts, part 1, pp. 75 ff.; Vedic Index, Vol. II, pp. 274-77; Weber: The History of Indian Literature (1914), pp. 37-38; The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, Ancient
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