LITERATURE- LIGHT AND DELIGHT
BRAHMINS IN SANGAM LITERATURE-17
Purananooru
Purananooru thus reveals to us in great detail the exalted position of Brahmins in the Sangam age. The references to Brahmins and their Vedic dharma are unmistakable. In poem 122, speaking of Malaiyamaan Thirumudikkari of Thirukoyiloor (Chola emperor Raja Raja1 belongs to this line on his mother's side), poet Kapilar sings:
Azhal puram tharoom andhanar adhuvey
The whole of this country belongs to Brahmins performing yajnas.
The implication is that the king had gifted so much as if the whole land had been given to the Brahmins.Or, his country was so full of Brahmins performing their yajnas.
In poem 397, poet Erukkaattoor Thayam Kannanaar says about Chola king Killivalavan:
Aru thozhil andhanar aram purindhu edutha
Theeyodu vilangum naadan.
This king's country is bright with the Brahmins engaged in their six duties, intent on dharma, performing the Yajna with the agni.
In poem 400,Kovoor Kizhaar sings of Cholan Nalangkilli:
Kaelvi malindha vaelvith thoonatthu
Erecting the yoobasthamba in the yajnashala, full of Brahmins learned in the Veda.
The Purananooru is thus full of references to Brahmins. I provide below a rough list of the subjects covered in the different songs.
Subject Song No. 1. Reciting the Veda 1
2. Offering Ahuti 2,15
3. Way of the 4 Vedas 2
4. Fostering 3 kinds of Agni 2,367
5. King bowing his head when Brahmins
blessed him with Vedic mantra 6
6. Conducting and facilitating yajnas 9, 15,166
7. Brahmins are timid, are easily frightened 9
8. Erecting the yoobam 15,224,400 9. Kings will not do things which cause
pain to or displease Brahmins 43
10. Yajna performed by Pandyan Nedunchezhiyan 26
11. The rite performed by Brahmins for the kings
who did not die on the battlefield 93
12. Kings performing yajna 95,125,224
13. Unmarried girls left in the care of
Brahmins 113
14.The exalted position of Brahmins 122
15.Six duties of Brahmins 162,166,397
16. Brahmins as messengers from kings 307
17. Four Varnas 183
18.Offering daana with water 361,362,367
19.Paarppana vaagai 166,305
These are just the direct references. Indirect references are scattered throughout. The Brahminical order is based on Purana and itihasa too, besides Veda. There are numerous references to Puranic, itihasic incidents in Purananooru.
Mahabharata War 2,366
From the Himalayas, including Podhigai
it was one country 2,6,17,132
Belief in heaven and hell 5,93
Patala, Goloka,etc 6
Uttarayana, Dakshinayana, Sun changing
Raasi 8
Pitrulokam, rites for Pitrus 9
Amritam, Dandaneeti 10
The world after death 18
Birth in exalted kula/vamsa 27
Rebirth,chandraloka, 27,62,71,214,236,50,134,141
Four Purusharthas, primacy of dharma 28,31
Papa,punya 29,174
Jyotisha, astronomy 30,383
King's mistakes will affect people 35
Cholas come in the line of Sibi 37,46,39,43
Good and bad effects of previous karma 38
Tripura Dahanam,meru as bow 55
Worship of Shiva, Vishnu, Murugan, Balarama,
Indra, Varuna 56,58
Uttaragamanam, mahaprasthanam 65
Blue throat of Shiva 1,55,56,91
Adverse effect of some planets 117,229
Showing Arundati 122
Praying to Deity for rain 143
Vishnu rescuing the sun 174
Mauryas as chakravarthi 175
Amritam 182
Ritam 185,192
Renunciation (Isavasyopanishad) 189
Ramayanam 378
Yama with his paasa 195
King Irungkovael comes in the tradition of
one who originated in Yajnakunda of a muni
in the North 201
World of Devas 228,229,240
Offering pinda on the darba grass 234
Indra 241
Planet Venus may cause adverse effects 383,386
These are just the few prominent Brahminical ideas that one may notice even at a first glance. Close study will reveal many more.
We thus come to the close of our peek into Purananooru. It is a vast treasure house of information. It clearly reveals the unity of our culture from Himalayas to Kumari and beyond. There is absolutely no hint of any racial element any where. There is not even a single reference to any migration or invasion by any race.
I have transliterated the Tamil poems- I am only too aware of the shortcomings. I have tried to give the gist of the poems in English, without any embellishment or literary merit. I have focused on only one aspect of Purananooru- how the life of Brahmins of those days is reflected in an ancient Tamil work.I have pointed out just a few bare facts.
This has arisen in a specific context: the need to make Brahmins themselves aware of their position in the Sangam age. After the Dravidian elements came to power in Tamil Nad, they have distorted history and teach unproved theories as Gospel truth through the educational system. Brahmins are not given admission to Tamil language courses; nor are the Brahmins interested in the study, given their current economic compulsions. Few Brahmin youngsters know our classical literature. What they study in the school is a version in which most references to Brahmins are filtered out. But a knowledge of what is actually there in that literature will only strengthen our hands. I have just tried to give a sample here.
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