A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c20.7

c20.7

Later tradition counted sixty-three nāyanārs, individual and collective, as the most prominent leaders of this revival on the side of the Śaivas. The individuals included a woman from Kāraikāl, and a pariah, Nandan from Ādanūr, besides a general of the Pallava forces, Śiruṭṭoṇḍar. But most prominent among them were the three great men whose hymns are collected together in the Dēvāram. First came Tirunāvukkaraśu, a Veḷḷāla from Tiruvāmūr and most probably contemporary of the Pallava ruler Mahendravarman I. Though born in an orthodox Śaiva family he was attracted to Jainism in his early years, and joined the Jaina monastery at Pāṭaliputra (Cuddalore) as a monk. His elder sister, who had watched his change of faith with untold regret, implored Śiva's help. Her prayer was answered: Dharmasena, for that was her brother's name in the monastery, became the victim of an incurable abdominal disorder. When all his fellow-Jains failed him, he was compelled to go and seek his sister's aid. She secured his cure by the grace of the God of Tiruvadigai. The news of his defection greatly upset the Jaina monks of Pāṭaliputra who trumped up many false charges against Dharmasena to poison the mind of Mahendravarman against him. He was subjected to many trials and tortures which, however, by the grace of Śiva he easily surmounted. Finally, the king himself was convinced of the superiority of Śaivism, and embraced it. Whatever element of truth there may be in the life-story of Tirunāvukkarasu or Appar which we have sketched above, a verse in the Trichinopoly inscription of Mahendravarman furnishes clear proof that the king did indeed turn to Śaivism from some other creed. It must, however, be admitted that the tradition regarding the persecution of Appar by Mahendravarman (whose name does not occur in the story narrated by Śekkilār) is hard to reconcile with the spirit of the *Mattavilāsa*. The rest of Appar's long life of 81 years was spent in pilgrimages during which he met many contemporary nāyanārs, of whom Ñānasambandar was the most notable, indeed the greatest of them all.