Page:Gleaning Of Tamil Literature.pdf/17

 17 Development of Literature philosophy. Sathanar, the author of Manimekalai - some scholars believe, was responsible to create a certain cleavage between the religions prevailing in those days in Tamil Nad. He was a Buddhist. He in his book Manimekalai, stressed the greatness of his own religion - Buddhism. Manimekalai glorifies the greatness of Buddhism at the expense of other religions while Silappathikaram is far above such conside- rations. This is a serrious flaw that we find in the great work, After the second century A. D., at the end of the Sangam age when Buddhism and Jainism of north began to spread fast in the country, Tamil literature suffered a set-back and nothing is known of the development of its literature in the succee- ding generations i. e., from third century to sixth century A. D. It is evident that Tamil Nad was under the rule of foreign kings and Tamil literature was not only hindered in its progress but also took a different turn altogether. We are not able to account for the vast changes that we find in the poems that followed this dark period of nearly four centuries (3rd to 6th). In the 7th century A.D. religious hymns and songs formed the bulk of