Dear Bhgavathas -
My brother working here in San Jose has been doing some study on bhkti tradition in ancient Tamilnadu. He believes that there is a lot of evidence to show that Vishnu bhakti has been part of our ancient culture against what history teaches us. Ofcourse, he did not want to publish any thing in these mailing lists as he feels that what he hs done is not qualified enough for presenting to scholarly bhagavathas.
However, I would like to present the excerpts from his mails so that some comments and guidance may be received.
Rajaram V.
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Often, people, even Tamils, are given to believe that
the vedic religion was brought by Aryans. Never mind that Aryan invasion theory itself is baseless. And many also think that the worship of Vishnu started with Bhakti era. That is around 5th centuryCE. That is incorrect
from an unbiased study of anciet literature. The most ancient records of Tamilnadu are the Sangam literature. Dating them is difficult, but they belong to the pre-Christian era. If you read the poetry of those ages, it becomes evident that the roots of Bhakti tradition were deeply established then.Let us see the first Paripadal from the Sangam times, in praise of Vishnu. The references and concepts are non-different from what we find in the outpourings of the Azhwars:
"Aayiram virittha vanangudai arum thalai
Theeyumizh thiranodu mudimisai yanavara
Maayudai malar maarbin maiyilvaal valai meni
Seiyuyar panaimisai ezhil vezham yendhiya
Vaai vaangum valai naanchil oru kuzhai oruvanai"
Translation(Based on Parimelazhagar): You have [Adiseshan] with a
thousand heads, resting over your head. It is in your bosom that Lakshmi resides. [Baladeva], who has the complexion of conch shell, carrying the elephant flag, a great army and a thick shock of hair is none but your expansion.Then the same Paripadal goes on:
"Sevalan kodiyoi nin valavayinirutthu
Mevalut panindhamai koorum
Naavalandhanararu maraipporule"
Translation(Based on Parimelazhagar): O, the one who has Garuda in
his flag, you are the One that the vedas hail. Now compare this with what Thirumazhisai Azhwar wrote a few centuries later:"Sollinaal thodarcchi nee solappadum porulum nee
Sollinaal solappadaathu thondrugindra sodhi nee
Sollinaal padaikka nee padaikka vandhu thondrinaar
Sollinaal surunga nin gunangalai solla vallare"
Translation: You are the continuation of the vedas and you are the
meaning of the vedas. You are the effulgent Brahman that the the
vedas reveal, not explicitly though. How can Brahma, who came of the
vedas that you created, express your glories in mere words?
Of course, you might have also enjoyed this great poet's play of the word "sol", to mean both "vedas" and "spoken word". Anyways, that shows that there is a continuity of bhakti tradition from the Sangam age until the days of azhwars.
Let me quote from the work of Thirumazhisai Azhwar, who lived in the 6th century CE [dates guesswork - not accepted by the Sri Vaishnavites]:
"Poonilaaya aindhumaai punar kanindra naangumaai
"Mundhi yaam kooriya vaindhanullum
Ondranir pottriya visumbu neeye Irandi nunarum valiyu neeye Moondri nunarum theeyum neeye Naangi nunarum neerum neeye Aindhudan muttriya nilanu neeye"END**************************************************************************************************************
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