Aryan invasion debate

[nanda chandran]

Samar Abbas writes :
>Your theory of a Brahmanic origin of South Indian civilization is
>interesting. Yes, all the disciples of Mahavir were Brahmins, as were >many
>Mahayana Buddhists. But what about the Dravidian temple architecture,
>which is so different from Nagari temples in the North ? Could you
>elaborate on this theory ?

No, I never said that the origin of dravidian civilization lies in brahmanic
origins. No, IF they're indeed a seperate race, they definitely had a
seperate culture. But what is now presented as the 'cultural achievements'
of the dravidian culture - literature, music etc undeniably show Arya
influence. Eg - SilapathikAram, Thirukural are JainA works. Manimekalai is a
Bauddha work. Both religions and especially their founders have infact taken
pride in being 'Arya'.

Even the astika traditions - the nAyanmars and the Azlwars - have brAhmanas
in their ranks. The great philosophy of Vishitadvaitam, a brAhmanical
contribution, which represents the highest point of the Azlwar school in
terms of systematic philosophy is itself the base for the Saiva SiddhAnta
philosophy.

What I'm trying to say is that though the Tamils might have had original
ideas in the fields of philosophy, literature and music, it was the 'Arya'
or brAhmanic influence which systematized, refined and perfected it. Even
the highest points of the Southern Saiva school in terms of  systematic
philosophy is a brAhmanic contribution - the works of Appaya Dikshita and
Nilakanda.

This can also be seen even in the case of Carnatic music - which as Vidhya
pointed out before might have non-brAhmana origins - for it was
PurandaradhAsa, ThyagarAja and Muthuswami Dikshitar who have systematized
and refined it to its current form (or atleast so have I been told).

And even in terms of language - brAhmanas have shown as much loyalty to
Tamil - Tamizh Pattru - as 'dravidians' themselves. And their contribution
in terms of literature - both ancient and modern - can match dravidian
contribution in terms of quality, if not quantity.

Inshort, it seems to me that dravidian culture has no identity of its own
apart from its brAhmanic counterpart.

>I'll admit the Brahmins showed considerable courage in not >retaliating
>with violence.

That's where we differ in world view. For us it is not a question of courage
- it's the way of life itself - the collective wisdom of the race passed
down down the ages.

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