சமயம் / 9
malpractice has been in existence from time immemorial. I began to enquire into the cause for such animosity between the two classes from the time I could think myself. On one occasion while I was travelling in the Coimbatore district I came across a bundle of Tamil Palm-leaf manuscripts. Among those, I found a collection of 570 stanzas styled Naradia Purana Sangai Thelivoo. They relate to the interpretation of one of the stanzas given out by a sage named Aswakosa to whom it was referred by two other sages Kakkaipadiar and Nallurandar and the following is briefly the reply given by the above named sage Aswakosa.
There was once a great battle between the people of Puruseka, the worshippers of Agni and those of Vanga country in which the former being completely vanquished and put to flight, took refuge on the banks of the Sindhural river, and gradually made their way into the Dravidian country, where they began to spend their lives at the outset as mendicants. Seeing the good manners, customs and civilizations of the Dravidians, these new settlers mingled with them.
Although the original Dravidians were divided into different dynasties such as the Andhra, Karnatic, Maharashtra and Dravidian dynasties, they contracted marriages and ate together without any distinction.
Monasteries were erected over the graves of philosophers and great men, which were termed Mahtam such as Thenkasi Mahtam, Poothoor Mahtam, Tirupuli Mahtam, etc. In these sacred houses, the Dravidian yogees lived and preached Buddhism. These yogees who were working for salvation wore threads to distinguish themselves from other social classes, namely, warriors, Merchants, cultivators, etc. The latter used to prostrate themselves before the wearers of such threads as a mark of respect.
These new settlers, who were day by day minutely observing the civilization and unanimity of the Dravidians, thought it impossible to conquer them either by war or by any other means than stratagems. They began to forget even the language (Savagam) they were speaking and began to learn the vernacular languages (Andhra and Dravida) spoken by the Dravidians. They disguised themselves as sages, wearing the sacred thread of the Dravidians and said to the illiterate people and petty rajahs, "We are Brahmins. We are priests. You should all obey us and give us whatever we require, so do the Shastras command". Then they taught the illiterate and most ignorant people some of the slokas they had picked up from the very language of the Dravidians.
Seeing the tricks and disguises of these purusegas (fire-worshippers), the Dravidian sages and their followers had the curiosity to enquire into their origin and ultimately learnt that they were only masquerading as sages to deceive the people. As a punishment for their roguery, they (Purusegas) were beaten and driven out wherever encountered and therefore, wherever the Purusegas saw two or three Dravidians going together, they for fear, they (Dravidians) would carry news to the Dravidian monks at the Mahtams, used to cry out Parayappogurargal. Parayavarugurargal which literally mean the tale-bearers are going, the tale-bearers are coming and this word, by frequent application and usage to their rivals became contracted into “Paraiah" and hence it has come to mean a low born man.
These cunning Purusagas however with the help of the illiterate people and petty rajahs, whose passion they had played upon, became
