THE REGIONAL KINGDOMS OF EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIAself-realisation. He contributed to the elimination of Buddhism by evolving
a Hindu philosophy which could account for everything which the
Buddhists had taught in an equally systematic way. But he also provided
some scope for popular Hinduism by allowing for a ‘lower truth’ which
embodies the manifold appearance of the world and implies the existence
of a divine creator (ishvara). In this way he reflected similar ideas of the
Upanishads and of Mahayana Buddhism and was able to combine popular
Hinduism with orthodox Brahmanism in a lofty philosophical system.
Everybody could find his own level in this magnificent synthesis of ‘lower’
and ‘higher’ truths.
The Bhakti movementWhile Shankara evolved his monist system which gave a new lease of life to
orthodox Brahmanism, a popular movement emerged outside the confines of
orthodoxy and sometimes even challenged this orthodoxy deliberately. This
Bhakti movement emphasised the love of god and childlike devotion to him.
In contrast with the Brahmin emphasis on right action (karma-marga) and
the philosopher’s insistence on right knowledge (jnana-marga) the path of
love and devotion (bhakti-marga) aimed at self-effacing submission to the
will of god. Earlier evidence of this mystical devotion can be found in the
Bhagavadgita when Krishna says to Arjuna: ‘He who loves me will not
perish...think of me, love me, give sacrifices to me, honour me, and you will
be one with me’ (IX, 31; 34). The Bhakti movement started in the sixth
century in Tamil Nadu where it had decidedly heterodox origins. It then
spread to other parts of southern India and finally also to northern India,
giving an entirely new slant to Hinduism. The protagonists of this movement
were sixty-three Shaivite and twelve Vaishnavite saints, the Nayanars and
Alwars. Among the Shaivite saints Appar is praised as one of the most
famous: he is said to have defeated many Buddhists and Jains in learned
discussions in the early seventh century and to have converted the Pallava
king, Mahendravarman, to Shaivism.
Other great saints are Appar’s contemporary, Sambandar, then
Sundaramurti and Manikkavasagar, eighth and ninth centuries AD
respectively. The writings of these saints were collected in the ‘Holy
Scriptures’ (Tirumurai) of the Tamils, which have also been called the
‘Tamil Veda’. These scriptures are the quintessence of the Shaivite religious
literature of southern India. The eighth book of this collection is
Manikkavasagar’s Tiruvasagam. The twelfth book, added much later, is
the Periya Puranam. Composed by the poet Shekkilar at the behest of the
Chola king, Kulottunga I, in the early twelfth century, it is devoted to the
lives of the Tamil saints and is still very popular in Tamil Nadu.
The nature of the Bhakti mysticism which inspired these saints can best
be explained by referring to their writings. Manikkavasagar, whose life was