The impalement of the Jains is a South Indian legend,[1][2] first mentioned in an 11th-century hagiographic Tamil language text of Nambiyandar Nambi.[3][4] According to the legend, Sambandar, who lived in the 7th century CE, defeated the Tamil Jain monks in a series of debates and contests on philosophy, thereby converted a Jain Pandyan king to Shaivism. The episode ended with the (voluntary)[5][6][7][8] impalement of 8,000 Tamil Jains or Samanars as they were called.[9]
Tamil literature and Tevaram songs like III.345 portray Jain monks as conspiring and persecuting Sambandar. However, there is no reference to any impalement of Jainas in Sambandar’s own poems or Tamil writings for about 400 years after him.
According to the early version of the legend, the Jains voluntarily impaled themselves in order to fulfill their vow after losing the debate. According to a much later version of the legend found in Takkayakapparani – a war poem, the newly converted king ordered the Jains to be impaled at Sambandar's instigation. The Pandyan king, variously called "Koon Pandiyan" or "Sundara Pandyan" in the legend is identified with the 7th century ruler Arikesari Maravarman.
- ^ Lorenzen, David (2023-11-15). The Kapalikas and Kalamukhas: Two Lost Saivite Sects. Univ of California Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-520-32494-7.
- ^ Truschke, Audrey (2021-01-18). The Language Of History: Sanskrit Narratives Of A Muslim Past. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. p. 334. ISBN 978-93-5305-000-9.
- ^ William P. Harman (1992). The Sacred Marriage of a Hindu Goddess. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 42–. ISBN 9788120808102.
- ^ Klaus K. Klostermaier (5 July 2007). A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition. SUNY Press. pp. 255–. ISBN 978-0-7914-7082-4.
- ^ Callewaert, Winand M.; Snell, Rupert (1994). According to Tradition: Hagiographical Writing in India. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 201. ISBN 978-3-447-03524-8.
- ^ Hiltebeitel, Alf (1988). The Cult of Draupadi, Volume 2: On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess. University of Chicago Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-226-34048-7.
- ^ Raman, Srilata (2022-04-26). The Transformation of Tamil Religion: Ramalinga Swamigal (1823–1874) and Modern Dravidian Sainthood. Routledge. p. 234. ISBN 978-1-317-74473-3.
- ^ Olson, Carl (2015). Indian Asceticism: Power, Violence, and Play. Oxford University Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-19-022531-5.
- ^ Roy C. Amore (30 October 2010). Developments in Buddhist Thought: Canadian Contributions to Buddhist Studies. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. pp. 69–. ISBN 978-0-88920-701-1.