Kamban's Aryan

[Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan]

In a message dated 12/26/98 11:02:30 AM Central Standard Time,
naga_ganesan at HOTMAIL.COM writes:

> I think Hindu bhakti, which as a mass movement gets going
>  from KaraikkAl Amma (5th cent.), Tevaram saints, Srivaishnava Alvars,
>  draws its inspiration from earlier Mahayana traditions of
>  Bodhisattva bhakti (cf. Avalokitezvara, ch. XXIV, Lotus sutra etc.,
>  GaNDavyUha is a Southern text, ..). Similar bhakti-like
>  phenomenon can be detected in Jain rituals, texts, especially from the
>  South, 1-5 ceturies AD. Hinduism absorbs
>  these popular longigs and expresses them as Bhagavad Giithaa,
>  Tevaram, Divya prabandham, etc.,
>
>  I do not think Sufism is the cause of bhakti origins. But,
>  later than 8th or 9th century AD, Sufism could be a factor.
>  Inversely, Sufism could have been influenzed by Muslim
>  contacts with India too. It could be an ubhaya mArga
>  between bhakti and sufi cults.
>

Friedhelm Hardy in his "viraha bhakti" shows the linkage between Classical
Tamil traditions and the bhakti movements.

Regards
S. Palaniappan