Who are the Tamil saints of the Bhakti Movement?

Tamil saints in a broad sense refer to Hindu saints and saints living in Tamil Kamm, a geographical area where ancient Tamils lived, covering the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent.

Tamil saints are closely related to Bhakti (Sanskrit, meaning "piety"), a devout movement of Hinduism, which is generally believed to have originated in Tamil areas in southern India.

These Tamil saints were divided into two groups, Nayana and Alva.

The former is a believer of Shiva, and the latter is an admirer of Vishnu. In order to understand Tamil saints, we must first understand Bhakti.

As mentioned earlier, this is a devout movement of Hinduism, which began in Tamil land.

A key principle of this movement is the devotee's strong emotional attachment to his/her God and God's devotion to his/her devotee.

Bhakti is also considered to be superior to the other two religious methods in Hinduism, namely, the road of knowledge and the road of rites, music and good deeds, which are called jnana and karma respectively in Sanskrit, and the field of Bhakti movement is called Tamilakam.

(copper chloride /CC BY-SA 3.

0), the Bhakti movement began around the 6th century A.D. and spread all over India in the following centuries.

For example, the Bhakti Movement took root in neighboring Canada (southwest India, corresponding to modern Karnataka) in the12nd century, while Maharashtra (central and western India) and northern India witnessed its arrival in the13rd century.

The popularity of this movement may be partly due to the impossibility of worshipping a series of complicated rituals in mainstream Hinduism.

The Bhakti movement is not only a religious movement, but also a social one.

From this perspective, it can be said that people who join this movement hope to get rid of the rigid caste system embedded in mainstream Hinduism.

Therefore, the followers of this movement come from all walks of life.

For example, Baswana, who initiated the Bhakti Movement in Canada, was the minister of King Bigara II.

Tukalan is a famous Bhakti supporter in Maharashtra, belonging to the Shudra caste (the fourth and lowest caste system), while Lavidas, who lived in 15 to 16 centuries, was born in a leather worker's family in varanasi, belonging to the Dapu Rongsu caste.

Basarwana of the Bhakti Movement.

(Opoorna/CC BY-SA 3。

0), because the Bhakti movement ignores the caste system, it particularly attracts those who occupy the lower classes of Indian society.

In addition, wherever the movement goes, its followers challenge and threaten the existing social strata with their own abilities.

For example, Basava Na used her power as a minister to launch a social reform plan and conveyed her message to the public through her works.

On the other hand, like Lavidas, Guru nanak, who lived in 15 and 16 centuries, put his words and beliefs into practice by establishing a new religion (Sikhism). Needless to say, the Bhakti movement is regarded as a threat by those who want to maintain the status quo, and these people tend to be in power.

Therefore, supporters of this movement are often severely treated.

For example, Tukaran was forced by the authorities to throw his works into the river, and he decided to starve to death. According to legend, the manuscript miraculously floated on the river of 13 without damage.

Even Basarwana, who occupies an important position, was finally defeated by his opponent.

Nevertheless, the views put forward by members of the Bhakti movement still exist.

For example, the legend of Tukaran may be fictional, but it may also be regarded as a fable, indicating that the survival of his mind transcends his own death.

As for Basarwana, his thoughts continue to this day. Even today, he is a respected figure in Karnataka, Tukaram of Bhakti Movement.

Supporters of the lemon jam/Bhakti movement are free to choose the gods they wish to worship.

Shiva and Vishnu are two main gods, who accepted the dedication of Tamil saints.

The Tamil saint who worships Shiva is called Nayana, and the follower of Vishnu is called Alva. There are 63 Nayana, and only 12 Alva.

This is not entirely strange, because Shiva is the more popular of the two gods in that part of India. The name Nayana can be literally translated as "Shiva's hound", and later it means "Shiva's teacher".

Like followers of the Bhakti movement in other parts of India, 63 Nayana people come from different backgrounds.

The egalitarian nature of this movement can be seen from the fact that there are men and women from different life stages, different castes, different economic backgrounds and occupations. For example, Murti and Maipo Ruhr are kings (the former belongs to the caste of Vahia and later gained the throne), while Kun Ghiglia Karayar and Apsy Adigard belong to the Brahmin class, while Tirunalai Poval is a pariah.

A poem named Periya Puranam describes the lives of 63 Nayana people, which was compiled by Sai Kizar, a poet and chief minister of Kurotenga Jorah II, in the12nd century.

The three most important saints among Nayana people are Sang Bandal (also known as Nanachang Pintard) and Zhuo Yifeng (also known as Chuntara Muti), collectively known as the "Three Saints". Sang Bandal is the son of devout Brahmin Shiva Pada Dahri Dyer and his virtuous wife Bhagava Vatire.

Sivapada and his wife lived in an era when Jainism was the main religion of the elite.

Nevertheless, Sambanda's parents remained loyal to Seville and refused to be jailers.

It is said that Sivapada prayed to Shiva for a favor, and a son who would rebuild Saivism in the region was awarded in the form of three Bandas.

According to legend, Sambanda's real parents are actually Shiva and his wife parvati, so they are sacred.

There are many stories about Sambanda's childhood.

For example, in a story, Sambanda made a pilgrimage to chidambaram, where he heard that Bhakti's Brahman and Sanbanda movements were great.

(Joe Bierava /CC BY-SA 2.

0), when he saw the Brahmins, he realized that they were actually Shiva Ganas (Shiva's celestial guardian) and revealed this to his companion Yael Pannal, a musician and a saint of Nayanar.

Brahman recognized Sambanda and prepared to fall off his foot, but before he could, the child had already fallen off their foot.

There are many legends about Sambanda, some of which are to show the superiority of Seville to hostile religions, especially Jainism. In one example, Buddhism, Apa (meaning "father") is recorded as living in the 7th century.

He is the son of Pu Calanna and Marty Neal. His birthplace is Thiruvanomor in Thirumunaipadi.

Ghosts were originally called Marunikia (meaning "dark/ignorant disperser").

As a young man, Apate is keen to find the best religion and follow it. He heard about Jainism and was attracted by its practice of not killing animals, so he accepted this belief.

The ghost's sister has been taking care of him. She was disappointed with her brother's transformation and sincerely prayed to Shiva to save him.

One day, God appeared in her dream and told her that he would give her brother a serious hernia and take him back to Seville.

The ghost suffered unbearable pain, and the jailer could not cure him.

So the ghost lost confidence in Jainism, threw away his Jainism clothes and went back to his sister's house without telling anyone.

With the help of her sister, Apa returned to Seville and swore allegiance to Shiva again, and the pain disappeared.

It was at this time that he got a new name, Thirunavukkarasar, which means "King of Speech".

Like Sambanda, there are many magical stories about ghosts.

For example, in this story, the king tried to kill him, but Shiva protected and saved his followers.

Parra lived to be 865,438+0 years old. According to records, Sandra lived in the 8th century and was the son of Sadaiyar and Issa Janani Amayar, both of whom were Nayana.

He was born in Tiruna Valu and was originally named Nabi Arula in memory of his grandfather.

However, it is believed that in his previous life, the sage was alala Sandra, a follower of Shiva, who was also present when stirring the sea of milk.

When this process released a deadly poison called halahala Hala, it was Sandra who brought it into his hands.

According to a story, Sandra fell in love with two followers of parvati, Anidi and Kamalini, who were killing time in the garden.

Seeing this, Shiva called Sandra and told him that he and his two attendants would become human beings, so that they could get married and enjoy physical happiness.

According to another version of the story, Shiva herself caused Sandra to have this desire, which made him reborn as a human being.

This is so that Shiva can use his third song to benefit mankind.

This is a song of praise. As the Prokaryote of the Plain by Sekhhar, unlike ghosts, Sandra only lived 18 years old.

Nevertheless, there are many stories about his deeds, the most important of which is the scene of his pilgrimage to various important Shiva temples in India, and the scene of the boy resurrecting from the crocodile mouth after Santa Dara sang the hymn.

(Balajijagadesh/CC BY-SA 4。

0), unlike Nayana people, Alva people only have 12.

It is said that the name Alva means "one who is immersed in meditation". These saints are devout followers of Vishnu.

They believe that through Vishnu, or one of his incarnations, devotees can obtain the necessary grace to make them completely submit to their God.

Just like the Nayana people, the Alva people sing hymns and worship their god, the Alva god of Vishnu.

(redtigerxyz/public domain) In the10th century, Natamuni, the leader of Shiva Sect, compiled a hymn of the Battle of Alva.

This hymn is called Naleyla Prabandam (meaning "the * * * of four thousand songs"), and its regular singing in the Vashnawa Temple in southern India was initiated by Natamuni himself.

12 Abala songs are: Pog, Butat, Pei Jabal, Bhaktisara (Tiruma Risai), Curras Hara, Vip Ranara Yana (Tongda Radibodi), Tirupaan, Tirumange, Vishnu Hita (Perry Jabal) and Goda.

Among the Alva people, there is only one female saint, Goda Devi. All Alva people lived between the 7th century and10th century, and everyone was regarded as a Hamsam of Vishnu.

For example, Bogai is Hamsam of Panchagania (the conch of Vishnu), Buta is Hamsam of Kondaki (the scepter of Vishnu), and Pei Jabal is Hamsam of Nandaka (the sword of Vishnu).

Finally, it can be mentioned that Bogay, Butat and Pei Yabar are considered as the first three Alva wars.

There is an interesting story about them, which is to emphasize the sacred origin of Narala Prabandam.

In this story, Pogai, Butat and Pei Jabal go to various Indian Nawa temples in Weiss to worship their gods.

At some time during their respective pilgrimages, three people happened to meet in Thirukollur. It rained heavily that day, so every saint sought refuge in the front room of a house.

The first one to arrive was bogey, who lay down and meditated.

After a while, Butat came.

As the room was small, the two saints sat down to mediate.

However, after a while, Yabar delivered it, and three people stood there repeating Vishnu's name.

When they did this, the saints felt as if a fourth person had pressed them together.

Needless to say, this mysterious existence is Vishnu. Because of this and God, these three people immediately realized it.

Pogue, Butat and Pei Jabal each sang 65,438+000 hymns, which became the starting point of Narala Prabandam. Above: Bakti Sports Statue in Nayana.

Source: Lightofchairat/Adobe Stock.

Author: Wu Mingren, I am a college student with a bachelor's degree in archaeology.

My interests range from "traditional" to "radical" interpretation of archaeological/text/picture data sets.

I believe that the knowledge input from two extreme advocates will help to read Mor.