chap1 preface.html chapter_01.html chapter_02.html Tamil Nadu, The Land of the Vedas R. Nagaswamy 1. INTRODUCTION - GENERAL
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This is essentially a book based on extensive research on four fields, namely, literature, inscriptions, monuments, and philosophy that ran through the extreme southern part of India, arranged chronologically. The lifestyle of the people focuses on factual data with the goal of correcting distorted history.

1.1. Vedic Life

 From the very beginning of historical times, Tamiḻnāḍu was a land of Vedic traditions in every field of life. The Vedic concepts, gods, customs, and manners governed Tamiḻ life, whether it was kings, merchants, cultivators, Brāhmins, hunters, hill tribes, fishermen, chiefs, soldiers, cowherds, artists, musicians, or dancers. The people of Tamiḻnāḍu followed the Vedic ideology, worshipped Vedic gods, and propitiated their ancestors, as seen abundantly in the available data. They followed the Vedic rites in their marriage customs and rites, even if they followed a non-Vedic religion, as seen in the marriage of Kaṇṇaki, the central character of the Tamiḻ epic Cilappatikāram (her father was leaning toward the Ājīvaka religion). In naming the child, in their education, in married life, and in death rites, they followed Vedic codes. In the organization of the state, the administration, the judiciary, and the religious life, it was the Vedic system that guided them, as in the case of village assemblies like Sabhā, Nagara, Nallūr, etc. They established Vedic colleges, teaching Vedic texts, the six aṅgas, the Dharma Śāstras, Tarka, Kāvya, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata, and other regional texts. In addition, they had the two great epics translated into classical Tamiḻ. In the field of music and dance, including the “paṇ” system of music, they followed the northern convention1. They produced a masterly nāṭaka kāvya, the Cilappatikāram, based on Bharata’s Nāṭya Śāstra. In the earliest grammatical works like Tolkāppaiyam, the classifications and rules were adopted from the Vedic Prātiśākhyas2 and Pāṇini’s grammar, as conclusively proved by P.S. Subrahmaṇya Śastri. They had a vibrant democratic system of election to Village assemblies. They, no doubt, kept the astronomical science within the reach of rural people. When they spoke of Brāhmaṇas, they always meant the Vedic Brāhmaṇas. The Tamiḻ kings invited several thousand Vedic Brāhmaṇas and provided them with houses, sites, and land for living. These Brāhmaṇas were brought from neighbouring regions as honoured guests. The kings laid out four basic criteria for inviting the Brāhmaṇas:
  1. They should have studied the Vedas and the Dharma Śāstras.
  2. They should be poor men.
  3. They should have big families to support.
  4. They should be honest righteous men - śuddha3, śīla4, sadācāra5.
 The kings had specific purposes for inviting these Brāhmaṇas. First, giving gifts to such men brought spiritual merit to the king, his family, his ancestors, and the people of his kingdom. Second, they were primarily expected to maintain judicial availability at the rural level and assist in administering legal discipline. Their honesty and righteousness would inspire everyone to rise to their level.

1.2. Endnotes and References

 1. भणति, भाण - bhaṇati, bhāṇa: to recite, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary. 2. प्रातिशाख्य - Prātiśākhyas: a treatise on the peculiar euphonic combination and pronunciation of letters which prevails in different Śākhās of the Vedas, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary. 3. शुध्द - śuddha: upright, genuine, true, faultless, blameless, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary. 4. शील - śīla: moral conduct, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary. 5. सदाचार - sadācāra: virtuous conduct, Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries: Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
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