Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s15: 4.13 Jaina contribution to Tamil
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s15
- Language
- English
4.13 Jaina contribution to Tamil
c23.s15.1
No survey of Jainism in the Tamil country, however brief, can be complete without mentioning the enormous contribution made by the Jainas to the growth of Tamil literature from the earliest times up to about the 16th century a.d. While justice cannot be done to this vast subject within the scope of the present study, mention must be made at least of such outstanding works by Jaina authors like *Tolkāppiyam* and *Naṉṉūl* among the grammatical works, *Cilappatikāram*, *Cīvakacintāmaṇi* and *Peruṅkatai* among the epics, the immortal *Kuraḷ* and *Nālaṭiyār* among the ethical works and *Tivākaram*, *Piṅkalantai* and *Cūṭāmaṇi* among the lexicons. To this already formidable record may be added what is surely the most basic and fundamental contribution by the Jainas to Tamil viz., the development of a script for the language leading to literacy and the later efflorescence of Caṅkam literature in the early centuries a.d.²
c23.s15.2
² On Jainism in South India, the following works, listed here in chronological order, may be consulted: (i) M.S. Ramaswamy Aiyangar and B. Seshagiri Rao 1922. (ii) A. Chakravarti 1941 (revised edn. by K.V. Ramesh 1974). (iii) P.B. Desai 1957. (iv) A. Ghosh (ed.) 1974: 3 vols. (v) A.K. Chatterjee 1978. (vi) *Jaina Inscriptions in Tamil Nadu: A Topographical List*, A. Ekambaranathan and C.K. Sivaprakasam (eds.) 1987. (vii) *Jainism in South India* (ed.) P.M. Joseph 1997. The following Tamil works may also be consulted: (a) Mayilai Seeni Venkataswamy 1954 (1980 reprint). (b) A. Ekambaranathan 1998. (c) V. Vedachalam 2000. While (a) deals with Jaina contribution to Tamil, the other two are regional studies dealing with Jainism in the Cōḻa and Pāṇṭiya countries respectively.