The Bhikṣuṇī Maṇimēkhalai

67 - How Far Historical in Character?
of that culture equally free. It is not the characteristic of Tamil works
of this class alone; but even works of a more severely Tamil character
exhibit that contact no less decisively.
Notwithstanding this free infusion of Sanskrit culture these classics as
well as others, still could maintain their distinct character as Tamil
works in their method and in their spirit. The infusion of Sanskrit
culture seems to have been generally taken to be of such benefit that
undoubtedly later inscriptions [33] could place the translation of the
Mahābhārata into Tamil on a footing of equal importance with the
establishment of the institution, the Tamil Śangam, in Madura.
A detailed examination of these borrowed elements in Tamil
literature would lead to conclusions of the first importance both in
regard to Tamil literature itself and in regard to Sanskrit culture
generally. A chronological datum by itself is of no importance
whatsoever. But it is of the first importance in its bearing upon the
development of Indian culture generally both in its Dravidian and in
its Aryan aspects. If we should succeed in arriving at a tolerably
certain age for the Śangam and the Tamil works associated with it, it
would give us a chronological starting point for the forward
movement of the two cultures as a result of this fruitful contact. It
would enable us to determine what exactly the state of Dravidian
culture at the time was and what important results flowed from its
coming into contact with Sanskrit at that particular stage of its
development. We would be enabled to throw light, and undoubtedly
important light, upon the stage of development of Sanskrit culture
itself.