Kevalaodhi Buddhist And Jaina History Of Deccan Vol 2

Author(s): Aloka Parasher Sen, B Subrahmanyam, E Siva Nagi Reddy
Publisher: Bharatiya Kala Prakashan

Page 108

Kevala-Bodhi-Buddhist and Jaina History of the Deccan
not reach the masses even though the royal houses of the Pallavas and the Pandyas had adopted it". The bhakti saints understood this dichotomy and thus their efforts towards integrating the various forms of worship.
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Digressing a bit from the main point it would be worthwhile to examine the socio-economic and politico-religious context during the early Cola period and their compulsions that led to the patronage of the orthodox sects, especially the institution of the temple. The early Colas were faced with two problems, the need to restructure the production process and secondly, to reorganize the society on the lines of the brahmanical social order while at the same time co-opting the rising social groups. Large-scale agrarian expansion took place under the institutional aegis of the temple in the early Cola period and vast tracts of the Kaveri delta were colonized. Interrelated to this process was the peasantisation of a number of castes and thus the need to reorganize the society on the lines of the brahmanical pattern.
The main function of bhakti was to bring in changes in the religious sphere in consonance with the necessities of social adjustments and at the same time asserting the supremacy of the Vedas. Thus the temple cult was the answer to it for it broke Brāhmaṇa exclusivity in religion and gave it a popular appeal." This was a necessity, because in an agrarian society there was a plurality of castes, each with its distinct culture that would stand in the way of integration. Thus the synthesis was achieved through the institution of the temple. Resentment among some sections of the orthodoxy to the temple cult is clear from the ascription of low caste status to the Adi, Saiva Brahmanas (who were priests of the Saiva temples) by the more orthodox Smärta Brähmaņas.
The superiority of the bhakri religion is clearly alluded to many times in the literature and the texts and the earliest Nayanars, and Appar preaches the superiority of the Saiva faith in no unambiguous Worship in any form was acceptable and earned divine grace. An examination of the mode of worship by the various Nayanmars would illustrate this point more clearly. The story of Kannappar who worshipped Siva with flowers and washed the idol with water from his mouth and finally offered his own eye to the bleeding Śivalinga is one of the oft-quoted examples". A few devotees also adopted socially prohibited ways like gambling, robbery and used that wealth to propitiate Siva". This shows that all forms of worship get sanction if they pay obeisance to Śiva. This then was one of the major hallmarks of the bhakti movement.
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The multifaceted character of bhakti can be understood in detail when one sees the two major features of the Saiva religion of this period, the grace of god and the ecstatic mode of worship. The Jaina religion held the view that women were responsible for the degeneration of moral values and thus they advocated celibacy, which was practiced by ascetics. But the bhakti movement stood this theory on its head. On the other hand, they did not advocate restraint but were in favor of harnessing several forms of worship, mainly in the form of dance and singing that was considered a release. This led to the view of salvation as a mystic union with god that could be achieved within the confines of human reality as worship was given a sensual character wherein the bhakta describes in characteristic detail the attributes of Parvati and gives a sensual tinge when he talks of her breasts." Goddess Umadevi is portrayed as wearing the mekalai around her hip. The Tēvāram describes in detail about the worship of Siva by dance and song where the women also joined in the singing along with the men. Tiruvaiyāru was famous as a center of dance and there is a graphic description of this city with its arangams or stages where dance masters taught them Küttu". The practice of dancing was prevalent in temples also where
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