shown by him may have appealed to the hardy Tamil warrior. The old soldier, who might have grown world-weary of the endless number of battles he was called upon to fight, may have found a calm rufuge in the seclusion of monasteries. Those who suffered great bereavements, such as the fathers of Kovalan and Kannaki, entered the monasteries to pass the last days of their lives. Princes of the royal blood, such as Ilankoadikal, embraced a life of poverty to follow the example of the noble ascetic, the scion of the Sakya clan. Along with Buddhism and Jainisam, the Nyaya and Vaiseshika Philosophies were introduced into Tamilakam. In those remote times, the Mimamsa system does not appear to have been divided into the Purva and the Uttara Mimamsa, Lokayata(materialism), Buddhism, the Sankhya, the Nyaya, the Vaisehika and the Mimamsa systems are known as the six systems of philosophy in the time of the Manimekhalai,4 A great impetus was given to the cultivation of learning and some of the Tamilian Buddhist scholars went to China, Tibet and the island of Java carrying with them the torch of knowledge. Mention is made in the Manimekhalai of the famous Buddhist teacher, Ara-vana-adikal. The name may be translated into Sankrit as Dharmaswarupa. He is the hero of the epic, as much as his disciple, the Byikshuni Manimekhalai, is the heroine. The fact that he was extremely aged is mentioned in several places in the poem. The force of his personality appears to have gained may adherents to the path of Buddhism. Later on Buddhism and Jainisam gained ground to such an extent that they gave up the spirit of toleration which characterized them at the beginning and became aggresive religions. They aimed at the conversion fot he whole of Tamilakam and attempted to do this by winning over the exclusive patronage of princes and scholars. After the destruction of Pukar (Kavirippumpattinam), which event took place somewhere about the end of the second century, the Chola capital is transferred to Uraiyur. Madura suffers from a severe drought and famine for twelve years. The poets of the Sangam disperse and the glories of the good old days become a mere memory of the past. Several Northern dynasties that cast covetous eyes upon the wealth of Tamilakam, find an opportune moment to gain a foothold int he South; an Aryan expeditionary force from the North appears to have invaded Tamilakam as early as the time of the Pandaya king mentioned in the Chilappadikaram. This invasion was successfully resisted and the king is, therefore, known to history as Arya-padai-kadantha Neduncheliyan. Subsequently, the Aryan hordes make a clean sweep of the country and in the next century we see Pallava kings well-established in Kanchi. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4Manimekhalai XXVII. |