Coimbatore: Today, it is no blasphemy that a woman or a man from a lower caste reading Vedas, Mantras, and other Holy Scriptures. Like any other reference material, the divine literature too is available for everyone online. And “Google†will not prohibit a dalit from reading it on a computer monitor. What’s more, with the Tamil Nadu government initiating the process of appointing persons of all castes as archakas (priests) now, the deities in Tamil Nadu have started listening to the beautiful songs of the Tamil bhakthi literary pieces Tevaram and Tiruvasagam.
But, in the past, even kings would not be allowed to read or listen to Vedas, which were considered to be divine writings and vested with members of a particular upper caste. Emperor Akbar the Great, who propagated religious harmony in his rule, is said to have expressed his wish to read all the four Vedas, which he had only heard about. But his wish did not get fulfilled.
But in ancient Tamil society comprising of Coimbatore, such discrimination was considered barbaric. In contrast, many kings, being themselves scholars, wanted even the masses to read pieces of landmark works of literature in Tamil and encouraged erudite scholars to spread the glory of the language.
Of all the works in Tamil, the most challenging to read and understand is Tolkappiyam, which widely deals with five grammars of Tamil as orthography, etymology, semantics, prosody, and rhetoric. Hence, king Seeyagangan, who ruled the Kongu region in the 13th century AD, wanted it to be simplified and made readable for the masses. He requested a well-read Jain ascetic to take up the work, which later became an immortal language book in Tamil.
The scholar writes in his prologue of the book thus:
'Being brave enough to get wounded on the breast in wars
And researching rare books being his recreation,
Seeyagangan, the scholarly king, who rules the world with unfailing sovereignty
Told me to detail the contents of five grammars in verse
And make the masses amass
The wealth of Tamil, the language, which is as vast as the sea.'
We feel a sense of pride to know that the Jain scholar was Pavananthi Munivar from Janakapuram, near Perundurai in the undivided Coimbatore.
Popular for its Athinathar Tirtankar Jain temple, the village Janakapuram, is now called Seenapuram. And, the grammar work, which Pavanandhi Munivar made, was the great Nannool.
Though the book was a simplification of all five grammars in Tamil, it later had detailed commentaries by scholars like Mayilaiman, Andipulavar, Sivagnanaswamigal, and many others. Moreover, with many of the chapters lost in time, now, Nannool survives only with the chapters Orthography and Etymology.
But, in the past, even kings would not be allowed to read or listen to Vedas, which were considered to be divine writings and vested with members of a particular upper caste. Emperor Akbar the Great, who propagated religious harmony in his rule, is said to have expressed his wish to read all the four Vedas, which he had only heard about. But his wish did not get fulfilled.
But in ancient Tamil society comprising of Coimbatore, such discrimination was considered barbaric. In contrast, many kings, being themselves scholars, wanted even the masses to read pieces of landmark works of literature in Tamil and encouraged erudite scholars to spread the glory of the language.
Of all the works in Tamil, the most challenging to read and understand is Tolkappiyam, which widely deals with five grammars of Tamil as orthography, etymology, semantics, prosody, and rhetoric. Hence, king Seeyagangan, who ruled the Kongu region in the 13th century AD, wanted it to be simplified and made readable for the masses. He requested a well-read Jain ascetic to take up the work, which later became an immortal language book in Tamil.
The scholar writes in his prologue of the book thus:
'Being brave enough to get wounded on the breast in wars
And researching rare books being his recreation,
Seeyagangan, the scholarly king, who rules the world with unfailing sovereignty
Told me to detail the contents of five grammars in verse
And make the masses amass
The wealth of Tamil, the language, which is as vast as the sea.'
We feel a sense of pride to know that the Jain scholar was Pavananthi Munivar from Janakapuram, near Perundurai in the undivided Coimbatore.
Popular for its Athinathar Tirtankar Jain temple, the village Janakapuram, is now called Seenapuram. And, the grammar work, which Pavanandhi Munivar made, was the great Nannool.
Though the book was a simplification of all five grammars in Tamil, it later had detailed commentaries by scholars like Mayilaiman, Andipulavar, Sivagnanaswamigal, and many others. Moreover, with many of the chapters lost in time, now, Nannool survives only with the chapters Orthography and Etymology.