பக்கம்:தமிழியல் கட்டுரைகள்.pdf/112

105 Aravana Atikal, a great sage, tells us that Căli, the mother of Āputhiran, and the wife of Abanjikān, teacher of the Vedas at Varanasi, went astray and being afraid of the consequences in the next birth for being disloyal to her husband, came down to the South to take bath in the Kumari (Kanyakumari)* t To prove that the concept of Indian unity was imbued by the Vidyadaras we have enough evidences in Cilapatikāram and Manimékalai, the twin epics. In Cilapatikāram, as mentioned earlier, a Vidyadara started from Mount Kailas in the Himalayas to attend the great festival of Indira at Käviripúmpattinam,” and Sutamathi, the friend of Manimékalai, refers to such visits of Vidyadaras in the epic of Manimékalai.” - ᏙᎥᎻ If, as a matter of fact, anything could have strengthened the concept of Indian unity among the ancient Tamils, it could not be anything other than the infiuence of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, the indigenous religions of India. In the ancient Tamil HLiterature, we find the influence of ail these religions, and it is also possible to believe that the Vedic religion had the sway over the rest. We find that the ancient Tamils were quite familiar with the stories of Śivan,” Tirumāl,” Indiran,” Akalikai,” Arunthatí” and a host of others in Puranic lore. Equally was the case with Buddhism and Jainism. This familiarity with the Puranic lore of the various gods and sages of all these religions was fully availed of by the talented artistes and poets in enriching the art and literature of their age. The truth of this statement can be established beyond any doubt from many passages in the ancient Tamil literature. Suffice it to quote here a few— Vélvis (Yagas) seem to have been the hall mark of Vedic religion. In ancient Taminad, Velvi was performed by almost all powerful kings of Cëra, Cöla and Päidiya reigns. Since space wil! not permit to quote them all, it is enough to say that the ancient Tamil kings felt that their ultimate glory on earth did not depend upon their laurels won in the battle-field, but only in the number of Velvis (Yagas) they performed. The great Pandiyan King Mutukudumi Peruvaluthi took pride in styling himself as ‘Palyākacalai Mutukutumi Peruvaluthi’ meaning ‘the old great Pandiyan King of many Yagasalas.” We find in a lyric in Puranāmāru