ut 300 B.C. The
authenticity of this tradition has been much criticized but it can
hardly be disputed that Jainism came to southern India about the same
time as Buddhism and had there an equally vigorous and even longer
existence.

Most Tamil scholars are agreed in referring the oldest Tamil
literature to the first three centuries of our era and I see nothing
improbable in this. We know that Asoka introduced Buddhism into south
India. About the time of the Christian era there are many indications
that it was a civilized country[528] which maintained commercial
relations with Rome and it is reasonable to suppose that it had a
literature. According to native tradition there were three successive
Sanghams, or Academies, at Madura. The two earlier appear to be
mythical, but the third has some historical basis, although it is
probable that poems belonging to several centuries have been
associated with it. Among those which have been plausibly referred to
the second century A.D. are the two narrative poems Silappadhikaram
and Manimekhalai as well as the celebrated collection of didactic
verses known as the Kural. The first two poems, especially the
Manimekhalai, are Buddhist in tone. The Kural is ethical rather than
religious, it hardly mentions the deity,[529] shows no interest in
Brahmanic philosophy or ritual and extols a householder's life above
an ascetic's. The Naladiyar is an anthology of somewhat similar Jain
poems which as a collection is said to date from the eighth century,
though verses in it may be older. This Jain and Buddhist literature
does not appear to have attained any religious importance or to have
been regarded as even quasi-canonical, but the Dravidian Hindus
produced two large collections of sacred works, one Sivaite the other
Vishnuite, which in popular esteem rival the sanctity of the Vedas.
Both consist of hymns, attributed to a succession of saints and still
sung in the temple worship, and in both sects the saints are followed
by a series of teachers and philosophers. We will take the Sivaites
first.

3

Their collection of hymns is known as Tirumurai, and was compiled by
Nambi-Andar-Nambi said to have lived under King Rajaraja (_c._ 1000
A.D.). The first portion of it, known as Devaram, contains the hymns
of Sambandha, Appar and Sundara. These persons are the most eminent of
the sixty-three saints[530] of the southern Sivaites and are credited
with many miracles. Tamil scholars[531] consi