In their great trek to India the colonizing groups of Aryans encountered races who professed a firm belief in the doctrine of transmigration. It has indeed been suggested that this doctrine of metempsychosis itself, the cult of serpent worship, the worship of Ganesa, of Uma or Durga, of Skanda or Subrahmanya (the hunter-god) were all adopted by the Aryans from earlier settlers in India. Even the incarnation of Krisna, it has been said, was an adaptation from an aboriginal deity; his life is an instance of the mingling of the Aryans and the Yadavas. In any case, it seems clear that there was a good measure of synthesis of the thoughts and beliefs of the Aryan and pre-Aryan races.
There are widespread traditions of the southern migration of the Vedic sage, Agastya, the reputed author of several hymns of the Rig-Veda. His ashrama was located south of the Vindhyas; and he is said to have introduced the Vedic religion and literature in the South in his capacity as a unifying factor between the Sanskrit and Dravidian tongues and ideals. When the Aryan colonizers in the wake of Agastya penetrated to the South, they found an advanced civilization. The Ramayana describes Madurai as adorned with golden jewels. The grammarian Katyayana mentions the Pandyas and the Cholas. Asoka's Buddhist missions were sent to the Pandya and Chola countries as far as Tamraparni River in the Tirunelveli District. An extensive commercial and cultural inter course grew up between the Aryans and the Dravidians, as also between the Dravidians and countries to the east and west of India.
The close contact between the Aryan and Dravidian elements continued all through history and manifested itself in every aspect of life. There is strong ground for the supposition that the importance of Siva, Sakti and Skanda was due largely to Dravidian influence, since the cult of An (Siva), Amma (Sakti) and Anil (Muruga or Skanda) was a cardinal belief from the beginning of Dravidian history.
These facts illustrate the composite character of Hindu civilization. The Sama Veda spoke at length of the Vratyastoma (a particular sacrifice or ritual) by which non-Aryan Vratyas were admitted into Aryan society. The equalization of castes and communities was, of course, brought to a head by Gautama Buddha, though he was no opponent of the Brahminical civilization. Both he and Mahavira, the expounder of Jainism, while admitting that the Brahmin ideal is the right one, led a crusade against certain aspects of Brahmin culture. Hindu civilization itself adapted for its use many ideals and precepts of Buddhism and Jainism. For instance, among many communities, offerings of rice and ghee took the place of animal sacrifice - a compromise with the Vedic ritualism. The early Aryans had, of course, been meat-eaters, but probably under the influence of Buddhist and Jain ideas many groups of Brahmins as well as non-Brahmins became vegetarian.
Vaisnavism in the South
At a later period arose the fully organized Bhakti movement leading to Vaishnavism and Saivism. The ancient Vaishnava mystics and saints in the South were known as Alvars, and the Vaishnavism teachers as Acharyas. They had a powerful exponent of these views in Ramanuja, who attacked the Advaita interpretation of the Upanishads and gave recognition to three ultimate realities, God, Soul and Matter, the last two being dependent on the first.
As early as the 2nd century B. C. the renowned Besnagar Column (Vidisha or Besnagar is a city in Madhya Pradesh) had been erected by a Greek named Heliodorous, who had been converted to the Bhagavata or Vaishnava faith of which the Pancharatra doctrines then formed an integral part; its scriptures were Satvata Samhita, the Mahabharata, and the Bhagavata and Vishnu Puranas. The origin of the Pancharatra doctrines which form the basis of Srivaishnava culture has been traced further back to the well known Purushasukta of the Rig-Veda. The Satapatha Brahmana refers to the Pancharatra sacrifices performed by the primeval Narayana, the idea of Nara and Narayana (Primordial man and the deity Vishnu) being an integral part of ancient Indian thought. There are more than a dozen Vaishnava Upanishads. It was in the period from the 10th century up to the 17th that many Vaishnava works were produced. The Vaishnavas regard the Pancharatra literature as almost equal to the Vedas.
The Vaishnava Samhitas and other works insist on knowledge of and devotion to, the supreme Godhead rather than on Vedic studies or sacrifices. It is worthy of note that in the Bhagavata Purana (11th Skhanda) the Alvars were prefigured or adverted to; several great devotees of Vishnu, the Purana states, would appear on the banks of the Tamraparni, Krutamala (Vaigai), Payasvin ( Palar), Kaveri (Cauvery), and Mahanadi (Periyar).
The Alvars lived between the 5th and the 12th centuries. The first group included Saroyogin or Poygaiyalvar, Bhatayogin or Bhutattalvar, Mahadyogin or Peyalvar and Bhaktisara or Tirumalisai-Piran. Nammalvar or Satagopa, who came in the next group, was perhaps the greatest of the Alvars. Others in this group included Madhurakaviyalvar, Kulasekhara Perumal, Vishnuchitta (or Periyalvar) and Andal, his adopted daughter. In the last of the groups were Bhaktanghrirenu (Tondaradippodiyal-var), Yogivahana (Tiruppanalvar) and Parakala (Tirumangaiyalvar). The Divya Prabhandha constitutes the collection of the Alvars compositions in the Tamil language.
There are widespread traditions of the southern migration of the Vedic sage, Agastya, the reputed author of several hymns of the Rig-Veda. His ashrama was located south of the Vindhyas; and he is said to have introduced the Vedic religion and literature in the South in his capacity as a unifying factor between the Sanskrit and Dravidian tongues and ideals. When the Aryan colonizers in the wake of Agastya penetrated to the South, they found an advanced civilization. The Ramayana describes Madurai as adorned with golden jewels. The grammarian Katyayana mentions the Pandyas and the Cholas. Asoka's Buddhist missions were sent to the Pandya and Chola countries as far as Tamraparni River in the Tirunelveli District. An extensive commercial and cultural inter course grew up between the Aryans and the Dravidians, as also between the Dravidians and countries to the east and west of India.
The close contact between the Aryan and Dravidian elements continued all through history and manifested itself in every aspect of life. There is strong ground for the supposition that the importance of Siva, Sakti and Skanda was due largely to Dravidian influence, since the cult of An (Siva), Amma (Sakti) and Anil (Muruga or Skanda) was a cardinal belief from the beginning of Dravidian history.
These facts illustrate the composite character of Hindu civilization. The Sama Veda spoke at length of the Vratyastoma (a particular sacrifice or ritual) by which non-Aryan Vratyas were admitted into Aryan society. The equalization of castes and communities was, of course, brought to a head by Gautama Buddha, though he was no opponent of the Brahminical civilization. Both he and Mahavira, the expounder of Jainism, while admitting that the Brahmin ideal is the right one, led a crusade against certain aspects of Brahmin culture. Hindu civilization itself adapted for its use many ideals and precepts of Buddhism and Jainism. For instance, among many communities, offerings of rice and ghee took the place of animal sacrifice - a compromise with the Vedic ritualism. The early Aryans had, of course, been meat-eaters, but probably under the influence of Buddhist and Jain ideas many groups of Brahmins as well as non-Brahmins became vegetarian.
Vaisnavism in the South
At a later period arose the fully organized Bhakti movement leading to Vaishnavism and Saivism. The ancient Vaishnava mystics and saints in the South were known as Alvars, and the Vaishnavism teachers as Acharyas. They had a powerful exponent of these views in Ramanuja, who attacked the Advaita interpretation of the Upanishads and gave recognition to three ultimate realities, God, Soul and Matter, the last two being dependent on the first.
As early as the 2nd century B. C. the renowned Besnagar Column (Vidisha or Besnagar is a city in Madhya Pradesh) had been erected by a Greek named Heliodorous, who had been converted to the Bhagavata or Vaishnava faith of which the Pancharatra doctrines then formed an integral part; its scriptures were Satvata Samhita, the Mahabharata, and the Bhagavata and Vishnu Puranas. The origin of the Pancharatra doctrines which form the basis of Srivaishnava culture has been traced further back to the well known Purushasukta of the Rig-Veda. The Satapatha Brahmana refers to the Pancharatra sacrifices performed by the primeval Narayana, the idea of Nara and Narayana (Primordial man and the deity Vishnu) being an integral part of ancient Indian thought. There are more than a dozen Vaishnava Upanishads. It was in the period from the 10th century up to the 17th that many Vaishnava works were produced. The Vaishnavas regard the Pancharatra literature as almost equal to the Vedas.
The Vaishnava Samhitas and other works insist on knowledge of and devotion to, the supreme Godhead rather than on Vedic studies or sacrifices. It is worthy of note that in the Bhagavata Purana (11th Skhanda) the Alvars were prefigured or adverted to; several great devotees of Vishnu, the Purana states, would appear on the banks of the Tamraparni, Krutamala (Vaigai), Payasvin ( Palar), Kaveri (Cauvery), and Mahanadi (Periyar).
The Alvars lived between the 5th and the 12th centuries. The first group included Saroyogin or Poygaiyalvar, Bhatayogin or Bhutattalvar, Mahadyogin or Peyalvar and Bhaktisara or Tirumalisai-Piran. Nammalvar or Satagopa, who came in the next group, was perhaps the greatest of the Alvars. Others in this group included Madhurakaviyalvar, Kulasekhara Perumal, Vishnuchitta (or Periyalvar) and Andal, his adopted daughter. In the last of the groups were Bhaktanghrirenu (Tondaradippodiyal-var), Yogivahana (Tiruppanalvar) and Parakala (Tirumangaiyalvar). The Divya Prabhandha constitutes the collection of the Alvars compositions in the Tamil language.
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