Siva and Vishnu (was: Kinship systems)

[Vanbakkam Vijayaraghavan]

On Mon, 6 Nov 2000 15:55:31 GMT, N. Ganesan <naga_ganesan at HOTMAIL.COM>
wrote:

>"V.C.Vijayaraghavan" <vijay at VOSSNET.CO.UK> wrote:
><<<
>Can you tell me when do the words "Saivam"   and  "VaiNavam" occur
>in the Tamil literature. For example do they occur in the Prabhandam
>or Nayanmar works itself? or do they occur much later?
>
>As far as I can see these words are the Tamil translations of the
>English words Saivism and Vaishnavism. But the Tamil texts themselves
>were unaware  of 'ism's. But still it would be interesting to know
>when do these two words in the sense of 'isms's appear in the Tamil
>texts
>>>>
>
>Really surprised at this, because literally hundreds of attestations
>of Saivam and VaiNavam are found in Tamil literature of the
>pre-British period. I don't know whether you can read Tamil, or
>anything about your knowledge in Tamil literature. Tamil texts talk
>a lot about sectarian rivalry between different religious groups, and
>it is incorrect to claim that "Tamil texts themselves were unaware
>of" Vaishnavism and Saivism or, about the nonexistence of frequent
>skirmishes between the two. Well recorded in tamil texts and
>inscriptions from the Pallavan era.
>
>The problem may be due to incorrect usage of transliteration in
>Cologne tamil e-base.

Well, I was expecting a few from the hundreds of examples which you know
i.e. of the usage of the words Saivam and VaiNavam.

Instead of keeping upto the point, you are blaming me and the Cologne e-
base.