# The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago/Chapter 15

Religion.
As usual amongst all nations ancient or modern, the philosophic doctrines of the Tamils were far apart from the popular beliefs and ceremonies. Curiosity has in all ages led intelligent men to explore the records of the past, to speculate on the future, or to dive into the mysteries of mind and matter. Whilst the learned few with an earnest mind and deep research attempted to obtain correct notions of the causes and consequences of existence, the masses whose untutored minds could not conceive nature as a whole, took a low and sensual view of life, and worshipped a multitude of gods, who were supposed to bring about all the changes in nature, and all the misfortunes which happened to the people. These divinities partook more or less of the character of the classes who invoked them. The semi-barbarous tribes, which were most addicted to war and bloodshed, had ferocious and savage deities, whose altars reeked with the blood of slaughtered animals. Communities which were a little more civilised, and had cultivated the arts of peace, worshipped milder gods, who were content with offerings of fruits, flowers and incense. More advanced societies whose cultured mind could realise abstract ideas such as, the reign of law (dharma) and the unity of nature, endeavoured to conform their lives to moral laws and addressed their prayers to the Supreme Intelligence which rules the Universe.
The aboriginal Villavar and Minavar appear to have had no gods. The Nagas who first conquered the aboriginal races, which inhabited the Tamil country, worshipped the dread goddess Kâli and sacrificed many a buffalo at her shrines. The image of Kâli was decked in a most frightful manner. Her matted hair was tied up like crown on her head, with the shining skin of a young cobra: the curved tusk of a boar was fastened in her hair to resemble the crescent. A string of tiger’s teeth served as a necklace on her shoulders. The striped skin of a tiger was wound round her waist like a garment. A strong bow bent and ready to ​shoot was placed in her hand: and she was mounted on a tall stag with branching antlers. Drums rattled and pipes squeaked in front of her image, while fierce Nagas slaughtered buffaloes at her altar. As the victims bled the priestess got up in a frenzy, shivering and dancing wildly, possessed with the spirit of Kâli, and shouted “The cattle stalls in the villages around us are full of oxen, but the yards of the Eyinar’s cottages are empty. Mild like the peaceful villagers are the Eyinar who should live by robbery and plunder. If you do not offer the sacrifice due to the goddess, who rides the stag, she would not bless your bows with victory!” Kâli being a female deity, her votaries offered to her balls, dolls, parrots, wild fowls and peacocks with which Tamil women used to amuse themselves. Perfumed pastes and powders, fragrant sandal, boiled beans and grains and oblations of rice mixed with blood and flesh were likewise presented at her shrines. The Nagas having been largely employed as soldiers by the Tamil kings, their goddess Kâli became in course of time the patron deity of the warrior class. The soldiers, officers of the army and even the kings joined in making offerings, to obtain her favor, before undertaking any military enterprise. It is said that some of the soldiers, in a fit of excessive loyalty, offered up their own lives at her altar, to ensure the success of the king’s armies. Kâli was also called Aiyai in Tamil, and was believed to be the youngest of seven sisters. She is said to have challenged Siva to a dance, and to have torn in two pieces the powerful body of the demon Târaka. So much was this ferocious goddess dreaded by the people, that it is related that on one occasion when the doors of her temple at Madura remained closed, and could not be opened, the Pandiyan king, believing it to be a token of her displeasure, fell prostrate before her shrine, praying for her mercy, and to appease the wrath of the goddess, granted the revenue of two fertile villages, for the expenses for her worship.
Some of the lower classes, as well as the Nagas, worshipped also stones and springs which were believed to possess miraculous powers. For instance, it is mentioned that in the city of Kâvirip-paddinam there, was a long stone set up in an open ​square, which was resorted to by those who were suffering from the effects of poison, witchcraft or venomous bites. They walked round the stone reverently and worshipped it in the hope of being restored to health. There was also a spring which was reputed to possess the virtue of curing the defects of all the deaf, dumb, dwarfs, lepers and hunchbacks, who bathe in it and walk round it praying for its healing grace.
The huntsmen and hill-tribes or Kuravas worshipped the heroic god of war, Muruga. This god had six faces and twelve arms. His shrines were generally built on the tops of high hills, or in the midst of dense forests. His priest carried a lance the favorite weapon of the war-god: and was known as Velan or lancer. When sacrifices were to be offered to the god, a shed was put up, and it was adorned with strings of flowers. High over the shed was hoisted the flag of Muruga, which bore the device of a cock. The priest tied a red thread round his wrist, as a sign of his having vowed himself to the service of the god, and bowing before the altar, muttered spells and prayers, and scattered flowers and fried paddy on all sides. He then slaughtered a bull, and in its warm blood mixed boiled rice and offered it to the god, amidst the blare of trumpets, horns, bells and drums, while the perfumes of incense and flowers filled the place. The worshippers chanted hymns in praise of the god, and the priest went off into an ecstasy and danced and snorted and gave out oracles regarding the fortunes of the devotees. Many circumstances related of this god go to show that he was not entirely an imaginary being, but a warlike king who had been deified after his death. He is said to have been born in the sacred pond Saravana near the source of the Ganges, and to have been brought up by six nurses. He was the Commander-in-Chief of the celestial armies when they fought with the Asura or demons: and he invaded Lanka to kill Soora, the Asura king of that island. The Kuravas had a tradition that the god married a maiden of their tribe.
The shepherd races worshipped their national hero Krishna and his elder brother Balarâma. Shepherd classes amused themselves by acting in their houses plays representing the chief ​events of his life, such as: his childish pranks in stealing butter, and hiding the clothes of shepherd girls who were sporting in the river Yamuna: his charming play on the pipe while grazing cattle: his amour with Pinnai a shepherdess: his victory over the cunning Kansa and his embassy to Duryôdhana for the Pandavas. Krishna was popularly known as Mâyavan or “the dissembler” a title very appropriate to his character as portrayed in the great epic Mahâbhârata. His elder brother Balarâma was famous for his extraordinary physical strength.
Among the higher classes of the Tamils the favorite deity was Siva. He is represented as a man of fair colour with tangled locks of red hair. He has three eyes, wears a tiger’s skin, and armed with a battle-axe rides on a bullock. His appearance, except as regards the three eyes, corresponds exactly with that of a primitive inhabitant of the Himalayan region. The people of this region are fair in color and have red hair and ride on bullocks when travelling in the mountainous country. His abode was the snow-capped Mount Kâilas situated north of the Himalayas, near the sources of the great rivers, Ganges, Indus and Brahmaputra. His greatest feat was the destruction of Tripura or “the three castles” which were the strongholds of Asuras, who had caused much annoyance to the celestials. He married Pârvati the daughter of the king of mountains.
The Brahmins settled in the Tamil country had not yet given up the worship of the elements, and some of them still kept up in their houses the three sacred fires, as in Vedic times. They attached the greatest importance to the performance of Yâgas or religious sacrifices, which were performed on a magnificent scale, generally under royal patronage. Horses or cows were sacrificed with elaborate ceremonies, conducted with great secrecy, within spacious enclosures, which were strictly guarded, and the flesh of the victims was eaten by the Brahmins. Special priests learned in the Vedic rites performed the sacrifice, and the kings who defrayed the expenses and presided at the sacrifice were promised the reward of heavenly bliss after death. The Brahmins however kept the Veda a sealed book to the masses: and consequently the worship of the elements inculcated in the Vedas ​did not find favor with the non-Aryan races. The Brahmins found it necessary therefore to adopt the gods of the alien races, to obtain influence over them. Siva and Kâli were the most popular deities of the non-Aryans, and they were first admitted into the Brahmin pantheon. Balarâma and Krishna who were the national heroes of the shepherd races were also worshipped by the Brahmins as incarnations of Vishnu. Similarly Muruga, the patron deity of the hunting tribes was adored as the son of Siva. In all the great temples served by Brahmins, in the Tamil country, images of the four gods Siva, Krishna, Balarâma and Muruga were set up. Siva was however considered the greatest of the four gods, and his temples were the most stately and august of the public edifices. Kâli was held to be a form of Pârvati, the consort of Siva. Indra, the king of the celestials, Kâma, the god of love, and celestial bodies, such as Surya the sun and Soma the moon had temples dedicated to them. With a view to impress upon the minds of the people, the distinctions of caste, the Brahmins introduced also the worship of four Bhootas or gigantic idols, which represented the four castes. The first was fair in colour like the moon, and was dressed like the Brahmins who keep the three sacred fires, and held in his hands the implements required for performing a Vedic sacrifice. The second, of a resy hue, attired like a king and armed with a lance, was accompanied by drums, hair-fans, banners, and an umbrella. The third was of a golden colour and carried in his hands a plough and a pair of scales, representing the mercantile and agricultural classes. The fourth, of dark complexion, wore clothes of black colour and had with him many musical instruments indicating the class of bards, actors, drummers and other musicians. The religious service in the Brahminic temples consisted in bathing and dressing the idols, in the morning, adorning them with jewels and flowers, and offering then fruits, sweets and cooked rice, two or three times in a day, and putting the idols to sleep at night, and repeating the names and praises of the deity a certain number of times on each occasion. The dazzling pomp of the service and its touching appeal to the senses, especially in the large temples, might have affected the imagination of the ​illiterate classes, but they were not calculated to inspire anything like a pure and rational devotion.
The chief anti-brahminical religions, which were popular among the Tamils, were the Nigranta and the Bauddha. These two religions, considered the rites and ceremonies of the Vedas to be useless labor, and the exclusive privileges arrogated by the Brahmins to be empty pretensions. The Nigranta system was older than Buddhism and the Nigrantas called the Buddhists Pâshandas, or heretics. The Nigrantas worshipped Argha whom they considered to be the Supreme Intelligence which governs the Universe. His image was generally in the form of a naked man, seated or standing under an Asoka tree, with a triple umbrella above him. They had two principal vows, not to speak an untruth, and not to kill any living creature. They trained their minds to avoid envy, greed, anger and evil speech. Their community was divided into two sections: the srâvakas(hearers) or laymen and the religious men; and of the latter there were five classes, who were called Pancha-paira-meshtin, namely, Argha, holy men; siddha those who had acquired supernatural powers; Upâddhyâya, religious teachers; Achâraya, priests; and Sadhu, pious people. Near their temples, and in the open squares at the crossing of public roads, they erected pulpits from which their monks preached their religion. Both men and women were allowed to enter the monastery, and take vows of celebacy. Their monks and nuns carried an alms-bowl, a hoop made of twine to suspend a water-pot, and a bundle of peacock feathers with which they could sweep off insects, without injuring them, from the places where they have to sit or lie down. They created a short prayer of five letters, which they called the Pancha-mantra.
Images of Buddha had not yet come into use, but the impressions of his feet engraved on stone, and platforms built of stone representing the seat from which he preached his doctrine were objects of worship to the Buddhists. The pious Buddhist walked round them, with his right side towards them, and bowed his head in token of reverence. Standing in front of them, with joined hands, he praised. the Buddha as follows: “How shall I ​praise thee! the wise, the holy and the virtuous teacher, who excelled in the strict performance of religious vows! Thou, who conquered Mâra, who subdued anger, and all evil passions: who art supreme in knowledge, and the refuge of all mankind! Have I a thousand tongues to praise thy blessed feet, on the soles of which are a thousand auspicious lines?” In the Buddhist Vihâras or monasteries, learned monks preached their sermons, seated in a place which was entirely concealed from the view of the audience. One of the first virtues preached and practised by them was charity. “Those who give food give life indeed” was a common saying among them. A life of self-control and wisdom and universal charity was declared to be the highest happiness of man. Buddhist monks were very numerous in the Tamil country, as may be inferred from the statement that there were a thousand-monks attached to the seven Vihâras at Kâvirip-paddinam alone. The Buddhists did not observe the distinctions of caste, and invited all ranks to assemble on a footing of equality.
One of the greatest facts of ancient Tamil society was religious toleration, the spirit of free enquiry, or the liberty of the human understanding. The monarchs themselves openly encouraged religious discussion, for, they invited teachers of every sect to the public halls, and allowed them to preach their doctrines during festivals and other occasions of public gathering. They protected impartially the temples and monasteries of all sects; and although they might have personally inclined to believe in the doctrines of a particular sect, and built and endowed places of worship for that sect, they cautiously avoided interfering with the rites and ceremonies of rival faiths. This religious liberty had a great and salutary influence upon the intellectual and moral development of the Tamils. By softening feelings and manners, Buddhism also powerfully contributed to the amelioration of the social state. The Nigrantas and Buddhists aimed at a high ideal of morality. Justice, humanity, charity to all living beings and love of truth were the virtues which they taught by precept and example. These two religions necessarily exercised a very considerable influence upon moral and intellectual order, and upon public ideas and sentiments. The pure conceptions of ​morality which the Tamils had formed were the real basis of their civilization. That the sentiments of morality and religion predominated in the minds of the Tamils is evident from their ancient literature. The authors extolled piety, charity, truthfulness and tenderness to life and expressed a contempt for the perishable objects of the physical world. Their pure and elevated maxims were however mixed up with others of a peurile and imaginary character, resulting from that confusion of ideas which is natural in the early stages of civilization. They believed in the transmigration of souls, and were taught to suppress all desire, which was considered the cause of rebirths. Even the best intellects, among them had not yet learned to discern the impassable limits which divide the province of reason from that of speculation. They tried to understand nature and its mysterious author, by a subtle self-analysis, instead of by close observation and careful study of the phenomena of the outside world: and their wise men wasted their time in brilliant but barren reveries regarding the life after death. So much were they engrossed with the thoughts of a future state, that they sadly neglected the affairs of their present state. In fact, they gloried in poverty and utter renunciation of the world, as the only means of suppressing desire and securing the salvation of their souls from the stormy ocean of re-births. Herein lay the seeds of national decay, which soon laid low the Tamils and all other Hindu races, and made them an easy prey to every invading power.
* ↑ Chilapp-athikaram, xii, 22 to 39
* ↑ Ibid., xx 37-40 and xxiii, 113 to 125
* ↑ Ibid., v. 118-127
* ↑ Tiru-murak-arrup-padai
* ↑ Chilapp-athikâram, xvii.
* ↑ Ibid., xiv 7-10.
* ↑ Ibid., xxii. 16-102.
* ↑ Ibid., x. 11
* ↑ Ibid., x. 15 to 25
* ↑ Ibid., x 98 to 101
* ↑ Ibid., x. 11 to 14