ThirujnAnasampandar and JainAs

[nanda chandran]

In South Indian history, there's an instance where the great Saivite
saint ThirujnAnasampandar is supposed to have converted a king from
Jainism to Saivism. Local tradition uses a word (which I don't remember)
which seems to indicate that many JainA monks were killed following the
conversion.

Being from Tamil Nadu myself and also familiar with the local customs
and practices, I cannot bring myself to believe that such a thing -
JainA monks being killed - actually happened. Ofcourse, Saiva and
Vaishnava followers can be quite sectarian. But to kill people for
the religious beliefs is not something I would associate with their
fanaticism.

Even KA Neelakanda ShAstri in his, "History of South India", rejects
the possiblity of something like that having actually happened and
suggests that the word must mean something else. In normal Tamizh
usage, when somebody in a contest gains an upperhand against his
opponent(s), the word "konnuttAn" or "he killed" is used. This doesn't
in anyway mean that there was an actual killing, but only that the
opposition was subdued. In the same way, does the word used by the
locals to indicate the conversion incident, only indicate that the
opposition (JainA) was subdued, and not any actual killing.

Can Tamizh scholars shed light on this issue?


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