Sambandar and Appar emerged with an optimistic, cheerful celebration of Shiva, soul and life with music and songs. This may have represented a change to the earlier ethos of Tamil society. This evolution is embedded in the mythohistory of Shaiva legends, which accuse Jain monks of scheming and torturing Sambandar, Appar and others, followed by a reversal. These legends, states Richard Davis, are better studied as symbolic conflict of ideas, a competition for patronage and transformation of Tamil social ethos through a Brahmin-peasant alliance. The Shaiva literature and songs characterize Jain monks and their ascetic lifestyle as false doctrines with no emotional or spiritual value in this or the next life. They offer a new vision to the Tamil society and culture where devotion to Shiva temple, community and loving engagement to life is the path to liberation. Translation of Sambandar hymns Francis Kingsbury and Godfrey Phillips selected and translated 24 out of 383 of Sambandar's hymns into English in 1921. These were published with a small collection of Appar and Sundarar hymns in a book titled Hymns of the Tamil Śaivite Saints, released by the Oxford University Press. They stated that these were some of the hymns from Devaram (Tevaram) that they could hear being chanted in South Indian Shiva temples of their times. Indira Peterson has published a more recent translation of many of Sambandar's hymns. Notes References External links Festivals of Mylapore By Sambandar Sambandar's Thiruvenkattu pathigam 644 births 660 deaths Nayanars