| 63 Shaivaite Nayanamars & Jaina Salakapurushas |
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The Tamil Epic "Periya Purāṇam" is a work which describes the legends of the 63 Tamil Shaivaite saints. The Epic was written by Sekkizhar around 12th Century CE. The Background story for the composition of this Epic is interesting. The Chola King Kulōttuṅka was very fond of the Jaina Epic called "Sivaka-chintamani (Sanskrit: Jīvaka Cintāmaṇi)". It describes the legend of the Jaina king Jivaka and explains the Jaina philosophy along with the narration.
Sekkizhar - A staunch Shaiviate - The chief minister in the Chola King's assembly was deepy affected by the king's interest in the heretic Jaina Epic. So he started composing a Tamil Shaivaite Work which would surpass the Jaina Epic and rekindle the Chola King's interest in Shaivaite works.
So, he started collecting various legends that were in circulation in his times. and composed his work.
Now an important question arises. How did Sekkizhar come with the Magic Number 63 ?
The Answers lies in Jainism, the religion which he wanted to oppose. In the Jain Religion there existed 63 pious Jainas - who are called the triśaṣṭi śalāka puruṣas. There lives and legends are detailed in an Epic in Sanskrit called "Mahā Purāṇa". Based on this Sanskrit Work, Tamil Jainas had translated the work into Tamil as "śrī purāṇam" in Manipravala style (Admixture of Sanskrit & Tamil) . The Shri Purana is widely venerated among the Tamil Jains [who are now reduced to a micro-minority] even upto this day. Interestingly the Shri Purana is also known as "Periya Puranam".
The 63 pious persons as described in Shri Purana are:
1. 24 Tirthankaras 2. 12 Chakravartins 3. 9 Vasudevas 4. 9 Prati-Vasudevas 5. 9 Baladevas
All adding upto 63.
Probably, Sekkizhar wanted a Shaivaite version of Shri Purana which would be widely venerated among the Shaivas. Instead of Jainas, he replaced it with the 63 Shaivaite saints. At the time of Sekkizhar, though Jainism had lost significant ground, it was still dominant in the intellectual scenario. The Shaivaites wanting to imitate the Jainas and created their own list of 63 persons !
Till this day, the Shaivaites are venerating the Group of 63 persons who are modeled upon the Jaina Trishashti Salakapurushas ! Little do they realize that this number was borrowed from their historical rivals - The Jains.
Also Shaivaites had absorbed many of the attributes of Arhat Parameshvara and attributed them to Shiva !
The Shranamic Traditions had a very huge impact on the Vedic Brahmanic religion. Starting with this.. we'll see them one by one... |
The śramanic Traditions namely Buddhism & Jainism had a great following in Tamil Nadu until the Early centuries of the Common Era. The early rivalry was chiefly between Buddhism and Jainism. However, the dominance of Buddhism gradually declined [Due to various reasons which needs to be discussed seperately] and Jainism gained a upper hand in Tamil Nadu. Jainism dominated the religious scene until 7-8th Century CE, with its main rival being the Vedic Shaivaite religion. As a dominant religion of that time Jainism had a great influence on Tamil Shaivism.
In Tamil Shaivaite world, 63 nāyaṉmārs, are a set of 63 Legendary saints who are widely venerated. The 63 Nayanmars supposedly lived in a Time where the Shramanic Jaina religion was very popular. Traditionally the Nayanmars are said to be one of the reason for the downfall of the Jaina Religion and popularizing the Vedic Shaivism among the public.
Comments
Interesting article!!
In Jainism, the 63 is fixed, we could not change it or add to it :-). There will be 63 mahapurushas born in that categories in every cycle of an era.
Interestingly, the celebrations of 63 saivistic Nayanmars vizha in Mylapore is unique when compared to other parts of TN. Why so?
Any ideas?
R.Banukumar
C'mon. I can't take suspenses.
Tell nah..
V
It ws an intrsting article. U ve said tat periya puranam was a cncrted story. But i wud lik 2 say tat b4 periya purana was written, we had the written works like thevaram, thiruvacakam etc., written by arubatthu moovar (63 nayanmars). moreover, the list of arubatthu moovar was not prepared by sekkizhar peruman. It was made by one of the nayanmar, aalaala sundarar. He was said to be a great friend of lord Shiva, and he lists out great devotees in his thiruthondathog ai. So i think that ur concept needs reconsideration .
regards,
Rajakesari
I have never said Periya Puranam was made up. It has some historicity associated with it. [ But, how to seperate fact from fiction ? Every one is on their own
One of the well know fact is that the concept 63 Adiyars is a direct borrowing from the Jaina Model of Trishashti (Tri - 3 ; Shashti - 60 ; 63) Shalaka Purushas. 63 has no significance meaning in Shaivaite philosophy, and given the popularity of Jainism, the Shaivaites probably wanted to imitate the Jainas.
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