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STUDIES AND
Philosophical
SIR PONNAMBALA
 

=+ے====F
-H,
TRANSLATIONS
and Religious
AM ARUNA CHALAM

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STUDIES AND TRANSLATIONS, PHILOSOPHICAL AND RELIGIOUS

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SIR PONNAMBALAM AIRUNACHALAM
 

STUDIES AND TRANSLATIONS,
Philosophical and Religious
by
SIR PONNAMBALAM AIR UNACHALAM
DEPARTMENT OF HINDU AFFAIRS
MINISTRY OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
COLOMBO.

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First published in 1937
This edition, containing a memoir of the author and commemorating Fifty Years of Universal Adult Franchise
(1931-1981) in Sri Lanka, published in 1981
Printed in Colombo by The State Printing Corporation of Sri Lanka.

PREFACE
Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam was a pioneer in the struggle for the political, social and cultural advancement of his countrymen at a time when the country was held firmly in the grip of British rule.
Arunachalam was the first Ceylonese to join the Civil Service by open competitive examination; he was the first President of the Ceylon University Association, which campaigned for the establishment of a University in Ceylon, and the first President of the Ceylon National Congress, which for the first time brought together all communities in the Island to make a united demand from the British Government for swaraj or self rule. As the first President of the Social Service League and the Ceylon Workers’ Welfare League he led the movement for social justice to underprivileged sections of the community. The author of many scholarly writings on law, history, religion and philosophy, he was also the first Ceylonese President of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch).
It is not surprising that a leader with such a record of service in diverse fields should have been the first to be commemorated by a statue erected in the grounds of the Parliament Building in 1930. When the Arunachalam Birth Centenary Celebrations took place in 1953, he was described in The Times of London as "Maker of Modern Ceylon'.
Since Arunachalam was the first Ceylonese leader to advocate manhood suffrage for elections to the legislature, I thought it appropriate for my Ministry to commemorate the celebration of Fifty Years of Universal Adult Franchise in Sri Lanka this year by the republication of his 'Speeches and Writings' or his "Studies and translations, Philosophical and Religious', both of which had long been out of print. The final choice of the latter book was determined by the fact that my Ministry has organised a World Hindu Conference to be held in Colombo on 21st April 1982. I have much pleasure in presenting to the public this new edition of a book by a distinguished scholar-statesman of Sri Lanka, to which a Memoir of the author and a Select Bibliography of his writings have been added.
C. Rajadurai,
Minister of Regional Development, Hindu Culture and Tamil Affairs.

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SR PON NAMBALAM AIRUNACHALAM (1853 - 1924)
BY
W. Thalgodapitiya"
The Tamils have made a distinctive contribution to the history of Lanka, and foremost among them are the two remarkable brothers Ponnambalam Ramanathan and Ponnambalam Arunachalam. The energies of the former were concentrated in the political, educational and legal spheres; the latter's genius embraced every phase of our official, educational, social and political life. And in every one of them, his efforts have left the country higher and richer than before.
Those who scoff at birth in frustrated envy have yet to learn the lessons of heredity. Men like the Ponnambalam brothers do not spring from ordinary families. Gate Mudaliyar A. Coomaraswamy, their maternal grandfather, was the Tamil Member in the Legislative Council set up in 1834; his son, Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy, moved freely in the salons of London and Paris and was a friend of Lords Houghton, Palmerston and Disraeli, the last of whom made him a character in one of his novels. He created history by becoming the first non-Christian Asiatic to be admitted to the English Bar and he in turn became a member of the Legislative Council.
1. Retired Commissioner of Assize, from his Portraits of Ten Patriots of
Sri Lunka (Kandy, 1966).
2. See the sketch of Ramanathan in the book cited in n. 1 and see M. Vythilingam, The Life of Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, 2 vols. (Colombo, 1971, 1977).
3. See S. Durai Raja Singam, The Life and Writings of Sir Muttu Coomara
swamy (Kuala Lumpur, 1973).

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II His only child Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, who died in 1947 in Boston in the U. S. A., became an art critic and savant of international repute, whose brilliant expositions of Hindu and Buddhist philosophies started vibrations of interest in the West that are felt even today.'
Arunachalam was born in Colombo on the 14th of September 1853. When old enough to go to school, he with his brothers Coomaraswamy and Ramanathan entered the Colombo Academy (now the Royal College), where he shone like a bright star. "In my forty years experience in the instruction of youth, said the Principal Dr. Boake, "I have never met with any pupil who gave greater evidence of ability and scarcely one who gave so great." He won the coveted Turnour Prize awarded to the best student of the school, which his uncle Sir Muttu had won before him and his son Sir Arunachalam Mahadeva and the latter's son were to win after him. Finally he won the Queen's Scholarship and proceeded to Christ's College, Cambridge - "an Eastern youth of exceptional merit and promise', as the certificate from the Director of Public Instruction described him.
He lived up to his promise at Cambridge, where he was soon recognised as a "brilliant mathematician and an able classics scholar". There he met the poet and social reformer Edward Carpenter, to whom he gave a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, then little known in England, setting in motion the inspiration for Carpenter's famous book Towards Democracy (1883). In his autobiographical My Days and Dreams (1916) Carpenter thus described Arunachalam: "As in the case of other Hindus, his extraordinary quickness and receptiveness of mind had very quickly rendered him au fait in all our British ways and national institutions. With engagingly good manners, humorous and with some of the Tamil archness and bedevilment about him, he was already a favourite in his own college.”
After Cambridge Arunachalam qualified for the Bar from Lincoln's Inn and he had ambitions of carving out a great
4. See R. Lipsey, Coomaraswamy. His Life and Work and Coomaraswaту:
Selected Papers, 2 vols. (Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.A., 1977).

legal career for himself, which no doubt with his remarkable gifts he would easily have achieved. But his uncle Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy, whose advice the brothers accepted with almost filial piety, persuaded him in 1875 to sit for the Civil Service Examination, and Arunachalam because the first Ceylonese to enter through open competition the sacred preserve of the White Man.
Into this select company Arunachalam strode triumphant, "with some of the Tamil archness and bedevilment,” in intellect miles above most of his white colleagues. But it was one thing to enter the citadel and quite a different thing to conquer the many pockets of petty prejudice. Arunachalam spent the greater part of his early career in the Civil Service in the isolated detachment of judicial office, in which, it was presumed, he could do little harm to the prestige of the rulers. In 1879 Sir Budd Phear, one of the greatest of our Chief Justices, stated in a communication to the Governor and the Secretary of State that he knew of only two men in Ceylon who rose to the standard of what judicial officers ought to be - T. Berwick and Arunachalam.
There is one judgment of Arunachalam which will go down to history - The Adippola Sannas Case (1904). It is more a study in history and the development of local selfgovernment than an exposition of the law. He traced there the growth of village communities, the ancient systems of land tenure and the disastrous impact of the newly introduced Waste Lands Ordinance on the fabric of village society. No student of history or sociology can afford to ignore that able judgment; and though the Supreme Court set it aside, it nevertheless remains a classic.
When Arunachalam was the District Judge of Batticaloa and still in Class Four of the Civil Service, Sir Arthur Gordon was the Governor. He was a liberal minded administrator, quick to recognise merit and anxious to associate as many Ceylonese as possible in the government of the colony. He suddenly caused consternation in the serried ranks of the
5. Lengthy extracts from it are reproduced in Appendix IV of Aruna
chalam's A Digest of the Civil Law of Ceylon, vol. 1 (Colombo, 1910).

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august Civil Service by translating Arunachalam over the heads of about thirty seniors to the post of Registrar-General and Fiscal of the Western Province. It was like the fall of a dynasty. The shocked Civil Service at once sent a memorial of protest to the Secretary of State; but Sir Arthur had his way and Sir Arthur was proved to be right.
The Registrar-General's Department at the time Arunachalam took it over was a vast morass of almost insoluble problems; it was the convenient refuge of the inept, the inefficient and the corrupt. The record fees amounted to Rs. 25,000/- a year; yet no one knew where the money went. The Times of Ceylon in a scathing editorial exposed the scandal: "infinite delay","harassment", "chaos”, “corruption", "fraud" and "dishonesty" were among the searing words it used.
Arunachalam set about with his accustomed perseverance and thoroughness to clear up the mess. He re-organised the entire office system and arranged the files in the record room on a systematic basis so as to facilitate easy reference. With the fees that went to various pockets, he founded a reading room and a library. These reforms were no doubt unpalatable to some of the staff, but they won the warm acknowledgement of the Governor.
The Registrar-General's Report on Vital Statistics won the admiration of foreign statisticians. One of them writing to the Governor from America said: "In an experience extending over many years and including a knowledge of nearly all the British Colonies, I have never come in receipt of a report at once so comprehensive, so scientific and useful.... There is not published in the entire United States a report equally valuable and comprehensive.” The information was carefully collected and tabulated. He drew pointed attention to the alarming death rate, attributing it to the insanitary conditions in the slums, and as a remedy he advocated the construction of model tenements and a drainage system fo Colombo. The model tenements of today and the fis† drainage system of Colombo are the direct results of his recommendations.

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The far-reaching reforms of Arunachalam needed new legislation, and although normally it was the duty of the Attorney-General to pilot bills in the Legislative Council, the task was entrusted to Arunachalam. The Ordinance for the Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths of 1895, the Notaries Ordinance of 1907 and the Land Registration Ordinance of 1907, all bear the impress of his skill and thoroughness. He also sponsored a scheme for the registration of titles — a step which is even now in the contemplation of the Government - for reducing land disputes, land litigation and the consequent crimes and murders. It was approved with great enthusiasm by a Commission presided over by the Chief Justice, but unfortunately was not implemented.
One of Arunachalam's greatest achievements during his period in the Government Service was his famous Census of 1901, a work that was accomplished with his accustomed thoroughness. Four huge volumes of statistics disclose to the student an accurate picture of Ceylon at the time. The report introducing the figures was described by The Times of London as "the most comprehensive authority on the ethnology of Ceylon, and of its varied peoples, their history, their religions, languages and literature.” In his report Arunachalam remarked: "It has been said that half the circle of sciences and all the circle of human interests are open to a Census reviewer, and that the perfect report can be written only by that rare and fortunate individual who is at once a facile and elegant writer, a good mathematician, an authority on vital statistics well versed in economic problems and linguistic science and thoroughly acquainted with the history, the religion, the literature, the customs and the superstitions of the people enumerated and the intricacies of their caste and tribal divisions". No man in Ceylon at the time possessed those qualities of the ideal census reviewer in a greater measure than Arunachalam. Mr. Armand de Souza, the Editor of the Morning Leader, echoed the praise of The Times when he said of the report that it was "perhaps the most luminous dissertation on the ethnological, social and economic conditions of the Island,” and that in it "would be found the

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language of Addison, the eloquence of Macaulay and the historical insight of Mommsen”.“
Arunachalam's mind never ran in a single groove, though he appeared to be completely engrossed in the task immediately before him. In the midst of his other duties, he found time - such was the amazing intellectual energy of the man - to write a volume entitled A Digest of the Civil Law of Ceylon (1910). It was a stupendous work of scholarship, in which he attempted - on the lines of the famous German Civil Code of 1900 - to reduce to a compact form so much of the bewildering mass of material of the Roman-Dutch Law as was still applicable in Ceylon. The book restated the underlying principles with lucidity and precision; it won high praise and, though he was able to bring out only one volume, it is still cited in our courts as authority, and can well provide a model for any restatement and codification of the laws of Ceylon.
In the midst of all his work as an official of the government, Arunachalam cherished deeply the dreams he had dreamed as a Cambridge undergraduate for the ultimate political emancipation of his country. He had seen how in Italy Mazzini by his speeches and writings had roused the Italians in the great Risorgimento, and moulded a modern state out of a number of corrupt and independent principalities. He had watched Bismark, the man of blood and iron, unite the various sovereign states of Germany into an Empire, which was then at the height of its power and glory. He too dreamt his dreams and saw the vision of a free Lanka before others did.
He had in Ceylon a friend, William Digby of the staff of the Ceylon Observer, a kindred soul encouraging him in all his political aspirations. "You will never make full use of your brilliant qualities of head and heart,” he wrote to Arunachalam, "until you brave the obstacles around you and cease to lead the exclusive life you do now."
6. See also Arunachalam's article "Population: The Island's Races, Religions, Literature, Castes and Customs” in Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon, edit. by Arnold Wright (London, 1907), pp. 323-354.

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Arunachalam was too dynamic a person to allow the obstacles to paralyse him into a torpid apathy and inactivity. Before Gandhi and before Jayaprakash Narayan, he saw clearly what the structure of society should be. His passion was to see the revival of the ancient system of local government, where the State governed least and where the people managed their own local affairs with the least outside interference in a spirit of co-operation for the common welfare. His conception of self-government was not of a process starting at the top, but one starting from the Gansabhawas in the village and rising upwards. Government would then, he considered, be broad-based on the people's will and work inevitably for their welfare.
It was a magnificent dream suggested to his mind by his deep studies of our ancient institutions - the Gansabhawa and the Co-operative system. In it there would he no room for the aggrandizement of private individuals, while it would give full scope for the free flowering of human personality. Power would not be concentrated in the hands of a few, but diffused throughout the whole community consistently with the security of the State. It is the only alternative to the monolithic society planned by Communism and the only basis for a really democratic society.
In 1902 Arunachalam boldly published a letter in the Ceylon Observer under the pseudonym "Reform" advocating a constitution for Ceylon. The paper published the letter with the comment that the author was "a Ceylonese gentleman of local standing for whose cultured intelligence, steady industry and high character we have much respect.” But nothing came out of this letter except shocked official disapprobation, and a transfer from Colombo to the then malariaridden town of Kurunegala as District Judge.
It was at Kurunegala that his Cambridge friend, the socialist poet Edward Carpenter, visited him and stayed as his guest. In Adam's Peak to Elephanta (1892) Carpenter has recorded his impressions of Ceylon; and in A Visit to a Gnani of Wise Man of the East (1900) and Light from the East (1927) he has written for Western readers an account of the ancient

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esoteric doctrines which Arunachalam's spiritual preceptor had explained to him.
In 1912 the Governor Sir Henry McCallum nominated him to the Executive Council, where he astonished his colleagues by his independence and his indefatigable application to whatever matter, great or small, that came up. "He seemed to me,” said Sir Anton Bertram, who was then the AttorneyGeneral and was later to be the Chief Justice, "to bring to his work all the highest qualities that an Executive Councillor should have.”
Arunachalam retired from the public service in 1913, and his great services to the country were recognised by the grant of a knighthood. But the accolade was not to curb his activities; he merely moved from one place of service to another which was more to his liking. Free from the shackles of office, he was now free to devote his great qualities of head and heart for the service of his country. And it is for those services that he will be best remembered by history, for it was he who with a few others released the forces that in the end brought freedom to Ceylon.
The riots of 1915 and the manner they were suppressed convinced Arunachalam, as they did all thinking men at the time, that a system that made possible such atrocities needed to be changed so radically that a repetition of such things would become impossible. Mr. E. W. Perera, President of the Ceylon National Congress, in a speech at the unveiling of a portrait of Arunachalam on the 3rd of March 1927, referred to his services thus: "During the dark days of martial law when, in the words of the Mahavansa, Lanka was turned into a house of mourning, Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, blazing with indignation like a lambent flame, was doing all he could to burn up and withdraw those iniquities and once again to reduce things to normal conditions.” Arunachalam wrote, more in sorrow than in indignation, to the Governor asking for an impartial Commission of Inquiry, and to his powerful friends in England to redress the wrongs.
In 1917, at the request of the late Mr. D. R. Wijewardene, Arunachalam addressed the Ceylon National Association,

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in one of the greatest political speeches ever delivered in Ceylon, on “Our Political Needs.” He surveyed the whole field of government - the political and judicial institutions, education, the economy, local government, agriculture and irrigation. No apology is made for quoting a few extracts from that memorable address, which Sir James Peiris urged all students of politics to treat as a sort of "Political Bible". "The assumption", he declared, “underlying the whole system of our administration is that we are children unable to judge for ourselves. It is for us to show that we are grown up and determined to have a say in the management of our affairs.... Successive generations of our youth, deprived of the opportunities of education during the formative years of their life, pass into the adult population with irremediably stunted powers and narrow outlooks affecting the whole quality of our national life. The real makers of the country's wealth, the peasant and the labourer, are steeped in poverty.... Tied as we are to the apron strings of a bureaucracy and deprived of all power and responsibility, our powers and capacities are dwarfed and we never rise to the full height to which our manhood is capable of rising. We have hypnotised ourselves into thinking that we are weak and inferior. No greater disaster can overtake a people. We must regain our self confidence. We must feel that nothing can daunt us, nothing is beyond us'.
He went on to urge a wide extension of Local Government. "It would convert idle spectators and carping critics of the administration into men with interest in and responsibility for good government, would promote self-confidence and self-respect, breathe new life into people and give them dignity at home and abroad". Adverting to the Legislative Council, he said: "We ought to have at once a large increase in the number of elected members of the Legislative Council and adequate safeguards for the minorities”. He advocated that Ceylonese should be admitted freely to the Civil Service and that Judges should be recruited from the Bar. "We claim
7. Speeches and Writings of Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam (Colombo, 1937), pp. 8 et seq.]

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the right to take full part and to be given full experience in every branch of the administration. The highest judicial and legal appointments, including the Chief Justiceship and Attorney-Generalship, should be open as a matter of course to the leaders of the Bar and the existing barriers of race prejudice swept away". Quoting the dicta of Macaulay and Lord Hardinge, the Viceroy of India, about the duty of the rulers to encourage and guide the political self-development of the ruled, he concluded his address in memorable words: "So do we in Ceylon desire that our Government shall be a Ceylonese government, that our rulers shall identify themselves entirely with Ceylonese interests and, in the striking
words of the Mahavansa, "be one with the people'".
In the inaugural message he sent to the first issue of the Ceylon Daily News in 1918, Arunachalam made a stirring appeal to the youth of Ceylon to dedicate themselves with a sense of mission to the service of the country. "In our zeal for political reform,” he wrote, "we must be on our guard against making it an end. We must seek it only as a means to an end. We seek it not to win rights but to fulfil dutiesduties to ourselves and our country.... People, like individuals, have each a divinely appointed end, a distinct task to perform. I look to our youth to spiritualise public life and I believe they will do it. They will each seek his own well-being in the well-being of all, will identify his own life with the life of all and his own interests in the interest of all. They will lay at the feet of our dear Motherland the love offerings of passionate service. They will work in unity that, in the words of Dante, all the intellectual and spiritual forces diffused among men may obtain the highest possible development in the sphere of thought and action. With our youth inspired by such a spirit and such ideals, I look to see our country rise with renewed splendour, paling the glory of Parakrama Bahu the Great, and be a beacon light to all lands.” In the frenetic scramble for power, we now think only of our rights and not our duties - duties to ourselves and our country. It will be well indeed if our present leaders read and ponder over the inspiring words of a great patriot.

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There was already existing at the time the "Ceylon National Association” working for the national interest. In 1917 Arunachalam founded the "Ceylon Reform League" with the special purpose of agitating for further reforms. In 1919 he published, in the name of the joint committee of both those bodies, his "Case for Constitutional Reform in Ceylon.” When the late Mr. F. R. Senanayake formed the Lanka Maha Jana Sabha to educate and mobilise the masses in the struggle, Arunachalam gave him his full support and encouragement. In 1919 he delivered an address on "The Present Political Situation,” and in December of the same year he united all the political associations in the "Ceylon National Congress".
The formation of the Ceylon National Congress was the crowning achievement of Arunachalam in the political field. He united, as never before in our history, all the different communities in a common effort and a common aspiration. Even some of the Burghers joined the Congress. The British rulers found themselves confronted by a united people demanding a voice in the management of the affairs of the country. In 1920 they reluctantly granted the first instalment of reforms, a mere sop while they yet held the reins of power in their hands.
For the services he had rendered in politics, especially for the creation of the Congress, the late Mr. C. E. Corea paid this posthumous tribute to Arunachalam in the picturesque phraseology of which the former was a master. "In later years in this centre of energy (Colombo), a great man possessed of a keen and observant eye looked and saw in the distance the glow of the scattered sparks of individual enthusiasms, smouldering in isolation towards extinguishment. And the great man arose and made haste: he went forth and gathered up those far-flung embers, energised them with his own burning patriotism and brought them together in one great life-giving furnace of national endeavour: the crucible in which was shaped and formed this, the Ceylon National Congress. The Congress is the offspring of the late Sir Ponnambalam's enthusiasm.” A worthy tribute to a worthy man by another worthy man. -

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The burning patriotism of Arunachalam was far too catholic and comprehensive to be confined only to the political emancipation of the country. Reform to him, as he stated in a memorable message to the Ceylon Daily News, was not an end in itself; it was a means for the upliftment of the people. His patriotism embraced every aspect of the people's life and, while fighting for the country's freedom, he was fighting to secure for it the other freedoms also - freedom from poverty, freedom from ignorance, freedom from spiritual torpidity.
In 1915, with the active co-operation of Sir James Peiris, he inaugurated the Ceylon Social Service League of which he became the first President. Working eight to ten hours a day, he organised study classes, night schools, athletic clubs for the poor, lane visits and lectures on hygiene and sanitation. He encouraged cottage industries and was the first to urge the creation of co-operative credit societies to finance them. "He felt the sorrow of the common people.” said Sir Anton Bertram. "He did not start the social service movement because it was a fashionable movement. He realised the sorrow of the poor and heard what Wordsworth called “the still sad voice of humanity.” The work was to Arunachalam a duty - a duty he owed to himself and to society. Along with social service, it was inevitable that Arunachalam should turn his attention to the working classes both in the towns and on the estates. That too was an inescapable duty to him. At that time the working classes were the slaves of their employers. Exploited to the fullest, without any organisation to protect their interests and helpless in the face of rigorous labour laws, they were the lost souls living without hope. Slavery had long been formally abolished, but the penal provisions of the then Labour Ordinance made the estate labourer a virtual slave. But no one dared to suggest any alteration in their condition in the face of the powerful Planters' Association; for when its President nodded the entire government, from the Governor downwards, trembled. Arunachalam set about with characteristic energy to right the wrong. In June 1919 he started the “Ceylon Workers' Welfare League” to "protect the interests of the working

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classes in Ceylon and promote their welfare; to improve their social and industrial conditions and help their material and moral development; and to encourage the study of questions bearing on the social and economic conditions of the people.” In 1920 he established the “Ceylon Workers' Federation”. His efforts succeeded in effecting a considerable amelioration of the conditions of the working classes, in the repeal of the penal clauses in the Labour Laws and in the abolition of the "thundu" system on the estates, It is hoped that the workers and labourers of today remember the architect of their freedom.
Perhaps the greatest service rendered to the country by Arunachalam was in the sphere of education; it was part of his idea for the advancement of the country. “Successive generations of our youth”, he said in his famous address in 1917, "deprived of the opportunities of education during the formative years of life, pass into the adult population with irremediably stunted powers and narrowed outlooks adversely affecting the whole quality of our national life.” He had realised the need for a university for Ceylon as far back as 1906, when the Ceylon University Association was formed. In his presidential speech at the public meeting which led to the formation of the Association, he said: "The aim of our association is to strive for the establishment of a University which will be the crown of a well-ordered series of elementary and secondary schools and colleges, which will systematise and concentrate the energies now dissipated in various institutions for general and professional education, and which will render it impossible for our schools and colleges to go on in a drowsy and impotent routine, but will raise the culture of our people higher and higher by their means.” His aim was the creation of a truly national seat of learning where our languages, given their rightful place, could flower to full bloom and where culture could be revitalised and allowed to develop on its own lines, opening up
8. For Arunachalam's place in the history of the Labour Movement see V. Kumari Jayawardene, The Rise of the Labour Movement in Ceylon (Durham, N. Carolina, 1972), passim, especially pp. 203-214.)

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in the process newer vistas for our arts, our literatures and our sciences.
When the University College was ultimately established Arunachalam gave to it his wholehearted devotion, and when he died in 1924 Professor R. Marrs, the first Principal of the College, addressed the students and paid him a tribute as memorable as it was deserved. "I have asked you” he said, "to assemble here at this hour as a mark of respect to the memory of one who was in a very real sense the Father of the University project in Ceylon...No man in this Island has pressed his advocacy of the University with so clear a conception of its ultimate significance to the political progress of the country or with such single-minded and forceful enthusiasm. The outward evidence of his interest we at the College know. There is, first and foremost, his great gift of the Padmanabha Library, whose value has in my opinion not yet been sufficiently realised. There is the bequest of the Sir Coomaraswamy Science Prize and his generous donation to the Union Hostel. But these are nothing compared with the gift of time, energy and thought to the affairs of the College, not only as a member of the College Council and the Academic Committee, but as one who was ever ready to extend help and advice to those on whom has fallen the task of guiding the destinies of the College and preparing the foundations of the University of Ceylon. Here I speak with fuller knowledge than others. From the time I landed in this country, which he loved and for whose good all (whatever their political opinions) must agree he strove throughout, I have been in the closest contact with him and can assure you that he gave of his best in will and thought and time to the furtherance of our project. When progress seemed impossible, it was he who confounded the pessimists and inspired them to fresh efforts. It is not easy for me as Principal of the College to measure the debt of gratitude which I owe to his courtesy, encouragement and support or to express the deep sorrow and sense of personal loss which I felt when I read of his death.
"Gentlemen, you have in him who has left us an example

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and an inspiration. Whatever the difference between him and others in religion or politics, he is an example of certain human qualities which lie at the root of all greatness and which you will do well to emulate in your adult lives. Of these I would single out moral courage, independent judgement and single-minded pursuit of the ideal. He fought the good fight for his ideal in the spirit of the poet's admonition to his soul :
"Heart, Heart, still vexed with troubles past the curing,
Up and be doing, steel thyself and stay Mid thronging foemen to the last enduring, Steadfast amid the forefront of the fray.'
His proximate ideal was the University. But his ultimate ideal was the ideal of all of us, to raise the natural tone of his countrymen by turning out, as generation succeeds generation, ever increasing numbers of true men - men of thought and men of action who think and act according to the highest standards of human civilization.” Arunachalam Hall, the first hall of residence to be established at the University of Ceylon at Peradeniya, stands today as a fitting memorial to the “Father of the University”.
Arunachalam's contribution to the study of our history and our religions would alone place him among the foremost scholars of his time. Sir Anton Bertram called him a man of "distinguished culture, a rare combination of a scholar and a gentleman", and Colonel Olcott described him as "one of the most intellectual and polished men we have met in Asia.” He lived at a time when the history of our country was a closed book to our people. Our students knew a great deal about William the Conqueror, Nelson, Napoleon and other heroes of the West, but they knew nothing about their own great men. His Sketches of Ceylon History (1906) revealed to the youth of Ceylon that they too were not without a past of which they could well be proud. His hobbies were those of a man of culture and he was the first Ceylonese to become President of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch), to whose journal he contributed many papers on subjects dealing with the history, philosophy and art of Ceylon and India.

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His book Studies and Translations-Philosophical and Religious was a luminous exposition of Hindu philosophy and the Hindu way of life as embodied in Tamil and Sanskrit literature, replete with the knowledge of that varied culture whereof the author was an exponent as well as an embodiment. Another great scholar and statesman, Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer, in his preface to the book says: "The significance and value of his contributions are enhanced by the circumstance that the author was not a cloistered savant, nor a recluse but was one who, as a great lawyer and administrator, exemplified in his own life the possibilities of that combination of wordly and other-wordly achievement, the supreme exemplar of which was King Janaka of Mithila.”
The last two years of Arunachalam's life were a period of disappointment and disillusionment. The ideal he had steadfastly held before him was a united Ceylonese nation in which the minorities would be adequately safeguarded and to which each component community would make a distinctive contribution. In a letter to the Governor Sir William Manning, written in June 1923 at a time when he was being attacked and misrepresented by some of the Sinhalese leaders, he explained his position: "My view has always been that the goal of responsible government, which we all desire, cannot be reached except by a united people and on the basis of... . trust, harmony and co-operation between the various sections ...of our Island population. Only those who have been in the inner councils of the Reform movement can know how difficult it was to bring the various communities together on a common platform, what toil and tact were needed to educate the people in their rights and duties, to remove ancient prejudices and jealousies, to harmonise differences and dissensions and create the indispensable basis of mutual trust and co-operation. This almost impossible task was, : however, fulfilled and the Ceylon National Congress achieved a position of power and prestige that could not be ignored and made its influence felt both by the local Government

XV and the Secretary of State. The final attainment of success depended entirely on the continuance of mutual trust and co-operation, to which the policy I advocated of concessions from the majority to the wishes of the minorities was essential.” In 1918 and 1919 he had succeeded in inducing the Tamils to come into the Ceylon National Congress on the strength of a pledge, given by the Sinhalese leaders at the time, that they would provide for due safeguards for the minorities in the scheme of territorial representation advocated by them. But in 1921 a militant group of Sinhalese, who had gained control of the Congress, compelled the leaders, much to the disgust of men like the late Mr. C. E. Corea and the late Mr. E. T. de Silva, to repudiate the assurances given to the Tamils, and Arunachalam to his great regret was forced by Tamil opinion to leave the Congress. But neither he nor the more farsighted Sinhalese leaders regarded this secession as anything more than a passing phase. "It is open to the present leaders of the Congress,” he said in the letter mentioned above, “to exercise restraint on themselves and their followers and to behave in such a way during the next decade as to deserve the confidence and co-operation of all communities, and so to hasten the day of attainment of responsible government which the British Government will give only to a united and loyal people.”
It is not true, as some have suggested, that Arunachalam's withdrawal from the Congress was due to pique and frustrated ambition because he coveted the Colombo seat in the Legislative Council and was thwarted by James Peiris. Having sat both in the Executive Council and the Legislative Council, he had more than carried out the family tradition and found no further attraction in a seat in the Legislative Council. On the contrary he urged Peiris to come forward for the Colombo seat and gain experience in the Council. It is a significant fact that, despite Arunachalam's resignation and the clumsy attacks on him that followed, his son Mahadeva continued to be the Secretary of the Congress, for all expected the rift to be only temporary; had Arunachalam lived long enough he

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XVIII would undoubtedly have healed the breach
The last stages of the life of a devout Hindu must traditionally be devoted to the seeking of his own salvation by the contemplation of the eternal verities; and that end Arunachalam, pursued assiduously in the last years of his life after he had retired from the political limelight. In 1923 he set out on a pilgrimage to the sacred shrines of India, and on the 9th of January 1924 he passed away at Madura, as he would have wished, in the midst of his devotions in that holy city with his heart at peace and praying to be at one with the Eternal.
Administrator and educationist, lawyer and statesman, savant and patriot, no man in the last hundred years had done more for the political and social advancement of the country than Arunachalam. If one traces back to their roots the various schemes of progress of which we are most proud today, one finds Arunachalam there with his undimmed vision, his indomitable will and unquenchable faith. A statue erected six years after his death by a grateful people stands in the grounds of the Legislative Council' to inspire his countrymen to high endeavour, and at its feet one may inscribe the closing passage of Arunachalam's own Sketches of Ceylon History: "Over the garden gate of my old college (Christ's) at Cambridge-the college of Milton and of Darwin-stands the motto of the noble foundress..."Souvent me souvient, "often it comes to my mind', 'often I am reminded'. It is a perpetual reminder, to successive generations of the members of her family and of her college, of her ancestors' loyalty to duty, to king and country and to high ideals. Well would it be for us Ceylonese if we too kept fresh in our hearts the great deeds done and the great ideals cherished by our ancestors and strove to make ourselves worthy of our inheritance.”
9. For Arunachalam's part in the formation of the Congress and the circumstances of his leaving it, see K. M. de Silva, "The Formation and Character' of the Ceylon National Congress 1917-1919", "The Ceylon National Congress in Disarray 1920-1" and "The Ceylon National Congress in Disarray..... 1921-1924” in The Ceylon Journal of Historical and Social Studies, vol. 10. (1967), vol. 2 (New Series) (1972) and vol. 3 (New Series) (1973) and the same author in The University of Ceylon History of Ceylon vol. 3 (Colombo, 1973), pp. 394—401.)
10. The statue was the first to be erected in these premises. The second, that of Ramanathan, was erected in 1953.)

XIX
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
A Few Hymns of Manikka Vachaka and Tayumanavar by P. A. P. Arunachalam and G. U. Pope, Madras, 1897.
Studies and Translations from the Tamil by P. A., Madras, 1898.
Report on Ceylon Vital Statistics 1898, Colombo, 1899. The Census of Ceylon, 1901, 4 vols., Colombo, 1902. "Luminous Sleep", Westminster Review, November 1902, London, 1902 (reprinted Colombo, 1903).
Papers relating to the Education of the Rodiyas of Ceylon (Sessional Paper III of 1905), Colombo, 1906.
"Sketches of Ceylon History", Ceylon National Review, vol. 1 no. 1, Colombo, 1906 (later published in book form 1st edn, Colombo, 1906 and 2nd revised edn, Colombo, 1906).
"A Plea for a Ceylon University", Journal of the Ceylon University Association, vol. 1 no. 2, Colombo, 1906.
"Population: The Island's Races, Religions, Literature, Castes and Customs” (in Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon, edit. by A Wright, London, 1907).
"Ancient Bronzes in the Colombo Museum, with descriptions of some Polonnaruwa. Bronzes by the Hon. Mr. P. Arunachalam, Registrar-General and remarks on inscriptions by D. M. de Z. Wickremasinghe, Govt. Epigraphist", Spolia Zeylanica, vol. vi part xxii, Colombo, 1909. * A Digest of the Civil Law of Ceylon, vol. 1, London, 1910. "Jnana Vasistham or the Dialogues of Vasistha on Wisdom", Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xxii. no. 63, 1910.
"Kandyan Provinces”, Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xxii No. 63, 1910.
Presidential Address of Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam to the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Journal of the Society, vol. xxiii no. 67, 1914 (reprinted Colombo, 1914). The most important part of the address dealt with the political relations of Ceylon with China during the Middle Ages.

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XX
"Polonnaruwa Bronzes and Siva Worship and Symbolism: an account of the Nataraja and other Saiva Bronzes found at Polonnaruwa and now in the Colombo Museum, with an explanation of their symbolism and their relation to the Saiva Siddhanta system of philosophy”, Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol., xxiv no. 68. 19151916.
Our Political Needs: Address of Sir P. Arunachalam before the Ceylon National Association, April, 1917 (Colombo, 1917). Constitutional Reforms: Presidential Address of Sir P. Arunachalam at the Ceylon National Conference, December 1918 (Colombo, 1919).
Case for Constitutional Reform in Ceylon by Sir P. Arunachalam, published by the joint committee of the Ceylon Reform League and the Ceylon National Association, September 1919 (Colombo, 1919).
Sinhalese Conference for Organising People's Associations: Address (in Sinhalese and English) of Sir P. Arunachalam, 20 September 1919 (Colombo, 1919).
The Present Political Situation, Address of Sir P. Arunachalam, 24 September 1919 (Colombo, 1919).
Presidential Address of Sir P. Arunachalam at the Ceylon National Congress, 11 December 1919 (Colombo, 1919).
Swaraj: Message from the King - The Present Political Situation, Address of Sir P. Arunachalam, 15 March 1921 (Colombo, 1921).
"The Worship of Muruka or Skanda (the Kataragama God)", Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xxix no. 77, 1924.
Light from the East: being letters on Gnanam, the Divine Knowledge by the Hon. P. Arunachalam, edit. by Edward Carpenter, London, 1927.
"Eastern Ideals in Education and their Bearing on Modern Problems", an Address delivered by Sir Ponnambalan Arunachalam at the Calcutta University Institute on 24 January 1916, Educational Society of Ceylon, Bulletin no. 4, 1936 (Colombo, 1936).
Speeches and Writings of Sir Ponnambalan Arunachalam, vol. 1, Colombo, 1936.

XX Studies and Translations (Philosophical and Religious) by Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Colombo, 1937; 2nd edition 1981.
Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Scholar and Statesman a Brief Account of his Life and Career by J. T. Rutnam, Colombo, 1953.

Page 18

FORE WORD
BY
SIR C. P. RAMASWAMI AIYAR, K.C.I.E.
The wise but cynical Persian Poet, Omar, the tent maker (Khayyam as he was called) sings according to Fitzgerald's rendering:
Myself when young did eagerly frequent Doctor and Saint, and heard great Argument About it and about; but evermore Came out by the same Door as in I went.
This attitude represents a phase and, by no means an infrequent phase of human thought especially in these sophisticated days that are so full of disillusionment. Perhaps the most effective antidote to this malady of the soul lies in the inspiration afforded by the message of the East, whether that message of certitude be conveyed in the affirmations of the Upanishads and the Gita, in the plenary hopes of the Bhakthi cults like Vaishnavism or Christianity or the stoic but assured outlook upon life inculcated by the Lord Buddha. These gospels are well known to the world but not so well known are the realisations of spiritual search, the marvels of contemplation, the refusals to belimited by outward appearances, the attempts to rid the self of the accidents of personality and to merge with the divine, the wedding of exquisite phrase to the perfect expression of adoration, that are the features of the best work of the Tamil Saints and Devotees.
The world cannot be sufficiently grateful to Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam for having in his philosophical and religious' Studies and Translations, 'unlocked these treasures of thought and of language to those wholly or partially unacquainted with the wonders of Tamil thought and Tamil

Page 19
FOREWORD
poesy. Although in the case of some of the earliest poets and poetesses of the Tamil land the language was direct and simple, nevertheless, as time went by, the craftsmanship of the seer grew more and more intricate and the language became so compressed that adequate guidance has become necessary for their comprehension. In a series of essays, some dealing with the worship of the Devi and of Skanda and some setting out selections from Manikkavasagar, Thayumanavar and other bhaktas like Nakkirar and the author of Purananuru, Sir P. Arunachalam has elucidated their phraseology and introduced us to their thought forms and their aspirations. Even Sanskrit literature with all its multiform development and its technical perfection of language, is not superior in the matter of philosophical and religious speculation or poetry, to the highest examples of the art of Dravida-especially as exemplified in Thayumanavar and in such miraculous verses as the Ode to Sakthi and in the works of Tiruvalluvar, Nakkirar and Manikkavasagar. The Saiva Siddhanta held sway in the extreme south of India and the tenets of the Vedanta seemed on certain points to conflict with it but the task of sages like Thayumanavar was to reconcile and harmonize the conflicting positions. As Sir P. Arunachalam himself says:
"The Soul and the Lord apparently distinct, but in fact non-dual, the Soul 'not even for the twinkling of an eye having intelligence of its own and owing its intelligence wholly to Him, and finally by His Grace merging in Him and standing there non-dual (v. 20), He, all the while. remaining unaffected, as the magnet is unaffected by the iron which it energizes or as the sun by the flower which opens under the genial influence of its rays -this is the doctrine of the Saiva Siddhanta, the more ancient interpretation of the Vedanta than that which now passes as the Vedanta, the interpretation in fact, by which Masters like Thayumanavar harmonize the seemingly conflicting positions of the modern Vedantic and Saiva

FOREWORD
Siddhantic schools (Vedanta Siddhanta Samarasa). ” " In the Siva-gnana-bodham, which is the chief of the Saiva scriptures in Southern India, the Highest Love (Para Bhakti) is based on the soul’s recognition of the nonduality and of its debt to the Lord. He standing nondual with the soul, enables it not only to know external objects but also to know itself and Him. "Therefore must the soul place highest love in its benefactor. By unfading love that forgets not this non-duality will be reached the feet of the Lord. ' "This song of Thayumanavar is the expression of that Highest Love and of the bliss of the realization of that non-duality. Only such as he have attained Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and in a truer sense than is understood by those who talk of it in the West. To him there are no distinctions, for he seeth his Beloved everywhere." In many songs do the Tamil poets and Sutrakas give expression to this form of highest love.
The task of translation from these classics is inexpressibly difficult and no higher praise can be given than to say that Sir P. Arunachalam's translations enable us to comprehend the spirit and some part of the formal beauty of the original. Two examples must suffice:
கண்ணிற் காண்பதுன் காட்சிகை யாற்றெழில்
பண்ணல் பூசை பகர்வது மந்திரம் மண்ணுெ டைந்தும் வழுங்குயிர் யாவுமே
யண்ண லேநின் னருள்வடி வாகுமே. "Whatsoever the eye seeth is Thou. Whatsoever the hand doeth is Thy worship. What the mouth uttereth is Thy praise. The earth and other elements and all living things are Thy gracious forms, O Lord. '
நதியுண்ட கடலெனச் சமயத்தை யுண்டயர
ஞானவானந்த வொளியே
நாதாந்த ரூபமே வேதாந்த மோனமே நானெனு மகந்தை தீர்த்தென்

Page 20
FOREWORD
"Light and Bliss of Knowledge Supreme, that Swallowest religions as ocean rivers O Stillness, the Vedas' goal, Thy form seen where vibration ends; OWisdom, consumer of me and thought '
In a carefully arranged series of essays which display a unique acquaintance with European literature-classical and modern in addition to a mastery over Eastern lore, he has discussed such varied subjects as "Luminous Sleep '-the sleep in which while there is rest and absence of thought, there is no darkness or oblivion but perfect consciousness, a state of being which has been referred to in Plato and Tennyson and realised by the Yogis of India. He discourses on the symbolism of Siva worships with special reference to the Bronzes found at Polonnaruwa and in the course of his monograph points out that " a correct judgment of a nation's Art is not possible unless a critic divests himself of prepossessions and endeavours to understand the thought of that people and places himself in their point of view. ' He has shown that orthodox Hindu teaching held it to be illogical to found artistic ideals of the Divine upon strictly human prototypes and he makes the pregnant observation that spiritual vision is the best and the truest standard. Pointing out the contrasts between Greek Art and Indian Art he has made possible the true conception of the sculptural and architectural symbolism of the East. Not the least valuable and stimulating amongst the essays collected in this volume is the reprint of an Address on the "Eastern Ideals of Education and Their Bearing on Modern Problems' wherein Sir P. Arunachalam has traced the history and mission of the forest Universities of India and the method of their striving for true knowledge and has instituted a comparison and contrast between the modes of approach in the East and in the West to the ultimate problems of education for life and for the after-life.

FOREWORD
Although the book is styled "Studies and Translations,' there is embedded in it much original thought evolved by one to whom Greek, Latin, Sanskrit and Tamil literature were equally open books. The significance and value of his contributions are enhanced by the circumstance that the author was not a cloistered savant nor a recluse but was one who, as a great lawyer and administrator, exemplified in his own life the possibilities of that combination of worldly and other worldly achievement, the supreme exemplar of which was King Janaka of Mithila.
It was my privilege to have personally known Sir P. Arunachalam and his equally distinguished brother, Sir P. Ramanathan and I account it a piece of good fortune to have the privilege of introducing this volume to a world which will be all the better for the knowledge and assimilation of that varied culture whereof the author was an exponent as well as an embodiment.
2. S. P. C. - 8272

Page 21

CONTENTS
Page
Luminous Sleep . s 端 够 es
Jnána Vasishtam . . . . . I4 Eastem Ideals in Education .. . . 52
Polonnaruwa Bronzes and Siva Worship and Symbolism 73
The Worship of Muruka or Skanda , - Ι09
Thiru-murukárruppadai . . I34
Studies and Translations from the Tamil . . ... I56
Selections from Táyumanavar 娥 怨 ... ISI
Thirukovaiar . . 258
Kalládam Q se a t . . 269
The Dhammapada 0 . . 289
Translation of the Sutras of Sivagnana Bhodam so 297
Mándukya Upanishad 30

Page 22

LUMINOUS SLEEP.
The refreshment of sleep is in the experience of all:
"Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care,
The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, Chief nourisher in life's feast.'
Few would exchange it for any other blessing the world can give, none but would soon crave to have it back.
The pathology of sleep has been little studied, and its nature and cause are enveloped in obscurity. But the approach of sleep is, as we all know, usually marked by, drowsiness or a desire for sleep as imperative as hunger or thirst, and is accompanied by diminished control over the voluntary motor nerves and muscles, the result probably of the partial abeyance of their nerve-centres. The upper eyelids, pressed down by a sensation of weight, close; the head droops on the breast, the mouth opens, the limbs relax, and the body seeks a recumbent position. The sensory nerves, the avenues by which external impressions are conveyed to consciousness, continue to act but with rapidly decreasing force as their nerve-centres fall into abeyance. The outer world by degrees fades and disappears. The curtain falls on this Act to rise on another far more interesting, an inner world full of intense life and emotion.
It is probable that every act, thought, or experience causes a vibration in the brain-stuff and stirs up the impressions, countless as the sands of the sea, left in the brain by every previous act, thought, or experience This stir is in a measure kept in check in the waking life of a rational person by

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2 LUMINOUS SLEEP
his will and directed into definite channels according to the laws of association. In dreams this direction and control are wanting. A slight stimulus-whether from the action of external objects, from the state of the internal bodily organs, from the automatic excitation of the cerebral regions, or from other cause-gives rise to experiences most varied and rapid, often exaggerated, incoherent, and grotesque, long panoramas and tragi-comedies, in which we believe as firmly and in which we joy, sorrow, or rage as keenly as we did in the experiences of the waking world we have left behind.
After a while this Act closes, the brain-stuff ceases to vibrate, all the nerve-centres are in a state of profound repose, save those which are essential to life, such as those connected with the respiratory movements and with the distribution of blood by the vaso-motor arrangements. We pass into a strange unexplored land, the region of deep sleep. We are in utter oblivion and darkness. We know nothing of the waking or dreaming world. We do not know that we sleep. We are unconscious of our very existence. On emerging from this darkness and returning to waking life, we are sure that we have been in a blissful haven of rest, and we say, " I have slept well.' メ
The inactivity of the nerve-centres in sleep is believed by some to be due to the withdrawal of blood from the brain to other organs. But why this anaemic condition of the brain should cause unconsciousness and what are the precise changes that produce it, is not known. Whatever may be the true physiological explanation of sleep, it seems clear that deep sleep, as we know it, is a sleep of darkness, and that the refreshment and happiness of it are due to the absence of thought.
Is there a sleep of light, a Luminous Sleep, sleep in which while there is absence of thought, while there is rest and bliss, there is not darkness and oblivion but perfect con sciousness?

LUMINOUS SLEEP 3
To modern European philosophers this would seem impossible, a contradiction in terms. How can there be consciousness without thought? But it did not seem so very irrational to the philosophers of ancient Greece. They have left not only opinions but facts on record which deserve more attention than they have received.
In the Symposium of Plato, for instance, reference is made to a habit of Sokrates which on one occasion placed a devoted friend and admirer in a comic and embarrassing position (Sympos. I74-5). Sokrates was on his way to a banduet, and, meeting this friend Aristodemus, induced him to go with him. As they walked along the road conversing, Sokrates lagged behind, in a fit of abstraction (literally, "fixing the mind on himself in a way'), and desired Aristodemus, who was waiting, to go on. When he reached the house, he found the door wide open. A servant met him and led him at once into the banqueting hall where the guests were reclining, for the banquet was about to begin. "Welcome, Aristodemus,' said Agathon the host, "you are just in time to sup with us. If you come on any other business, put that off and make one of us, as I was looking for you yesterday and meant to have asked you if I could have found you. But how is it that you do not bring Sokrates with you ?' Aristodemus turned round and saw that Sokrates was missing. He explained that he had been with Sokrates a moment before and had come by his invitation. 'You were quite right in coming,' said Agathon," but where is he himself?' " He came behind me just now," replied Aristodemus, " and I cannot think what has become of him.' "Go and look for him, boy,' said Agathon, " and bring him in. And do you, Aristodemus, take the place by Eraximachus.”
In a while a servant came in and said that Sokrates had retired into the portico of the neighbouring house and stood fixed there and would not come when called. "How strangel'

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4. LUMINOUS SLEEP
said Agathon, "then you must call him again and keep calling him.' "Let him alone,' said Aristodemus, “this is a way he has of retiring at times and standing wherever he may chance. Do not disturb him. He will appear soon, I think.' The supper proceeded, but still no Sokrates, During the meal Agathon several times expressed a wish to send for him, but was dissuaded by Aristodemus. At last. when the feast was half over, Sokrates made his appearance, for the fit, as usual, was not of long duration (literally, "Sokrates came, having spent not much time as usual').
Agathon, who was reclining alone at the end of the table, begged Sokrates to take the seat next to him, "that I may touch the sage,' he said, " and have the benefit of the wise thought which came to you in the portico and is now in your possession, for I am sure you would not have come away without it.' " How I wish,' said Sokrates, taking his place as desired, " that wisdom could be infused by touch out of the fuller into the emptier man, like water poured through wool out of a fuller into an emptier cup. In that case how much I should prize sitting by you For you would have filled me full of much and beautiful wisdom, in comparison of which my own is of a very mean and questionable sort, no better than a dream; but yours is radiant and only beginning, and was manifested forth in all the splendour of youth the day before yesterday in the presence of more than thirty thousand Hellenes.” (Agathon had won the prize for a tragedy and was celebrating the victory by the banquet). So the banquet proceeded, and it was signalized by the discourses on Love which Aristodemus, the unbidden guest, is made by Plato to report for our benefit.
Towards the end of the banquet Alcibiades joins the party and delivers a panegyric on Sokrates. In the course of it he mentions that on one occasion during a campaign Sokrates
was found by his comrades at arms standing still in one place in contemplation from early dawn, meditating on

LUMINOUS SLEEP 5
something, and as he did not succeed, he would not give up, but stood fixed in contemplation (literally, "stood seeking'). At noon attention was drawn to him, and the rumour ran through the wondering crowd that Sokrates had been standing and thinking about something ever since the break of day. At last, in the evening after supper, some Ionians brought out their mats and slept in the open air that they might watch him and see whether he would stand all night. There he stood all night until the following morning, and with the return of light he offered up a prayer to the Sun and went his way. (Sympos. 220 C.D.).
I am not aware that any commentator of Plato has explained these incidents in the life of Sokrates. They seem to be looked upon as mere eccentricities of the great man. It is difficult for modern Europe to understand or sympathize with these aspects of the genius and life of ancient Greece. A person so distinguished for Greek learning and sympathies as the late Dr. Jowett, Master of Balliol, was disposed to regard almost as delusions the essentials of Plato's philosophy, the reality of pure abstraction, of absolute knowledge, and the possibility of attaining it. In opposition to Plato, Dr. Jowett maintains that pure abstraction is mere negation. He gives no reasons, apparently regarding it as an axiomatic truth.
If the question is to be decided by mere authority, one may be forgiven for preferring Plato to Dr. Jowett. But it is too important to be so decided, and a more satisfactory solution should be sought, and, if possible, on the basis of experience. If Dr. Jowett bases his view on experience, it is possible that he continued the process of abstraction, of wearing away particulars, until he fell asleep in the sleep of darkness-an experience, alas ! too common among those who have made the attempt. But what if he had succeeded in lifting the
* Jowett’s Dialogues of Plato, 2nd edition, vol. III., p. 563, Introduction to Timaeus.

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6 LUMNOUS SLEEP
veil of sleep? He might perchance have found himself in the presence of that wondrous beauty which Plato loved to paint. Has the attempt been made in modern Europe, made systematically and strenuously ? Have heroic hearts set forth upon the quest,
“strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield 2 ''
Have they persevered, undaunted by failure and disaster? The European philosopher turns his back on such investigation. To him metaphysics-in Aristotle's sense of the science of the first principles of being, the science of the first principles of knowing, the science of God as the beginning and end of all things, as the absolute unity of being and thought-deals with that which is beyond experience; with notions so abstract and general that they cannot be fixed or tested by reference to experience, and must necessarily be the playthings of dialectical sophistry; with questions regarding the final cause and ultimate meaning of things, to which it is vain and presumptuous for us to attempt to answer."
To the wise men of the East, however, these are matters quite as amenable to the test of experience and verifiable by it as the facts of physical science. Accordingly, in India, systematic study has been made and sedulously pursued for centuries, and the methods of attainment, involving physical, intellectual and moral discipline, have been reduced to something like a science, which teachers, carrying on the ancient traditions, still teach, not for gain or show, but from pure love, to pupils found worthy of the instruction. The goal is recognized to be supremely difficulty of attainment and even hazardous. ' Arise, awake, seek the great ones, and get understanding. Sharp as the edge of a razor, hard to pass over, hard is the path to tread, say the seers.' (Katha
* Encyclopaedia Britannica. Article “ Metaphysics,” by Professor Caird.

LUMINOUS SLEEP 7
Upanishad I-3-I4). So also Plato, in discussing "how to handle philosophy without utter destruction,' says, "all great things are hazardous, and according to the proverb, beautiful things are indeed hard of attainment' (Republic 497 D). However-or should I say therefore ?-among the labourers in this science are still to be counted the choicest spirits of the East.
The way prescribed for the realization of pure abstraction or absolute knowledge necessarily varies with the idiosyncracies of each seeker. To the Greeks with their keen sense of beauty the way that appears to have been most effective was one which appealed to their aesthetic feelings. Of it we have a striking illustration in those beautiful passages in the Symposium in which the prophetess Diotima initiates Sokrates (Sympos. 2Io-2) :-
These are the lesser mysteries of love, into which even you, Sokrates, may enter ; to the greater and more hidden ones which are the crown of these, and to which, if you pursue them in a right spirit, they will lead, I know not whether you will be able to attain. But I will do my utmost to inform you, and do you follow if you can. For he who would proceed aright in this matter should begin in youth to visit beautiful forms; and, first, if he be guided by his instructor aright, to love one such form only, and out of that he should create fair thoughts; and soon he will of himself perceive that the beauty of one form is akin to the beauty of another; and then, if beauty of form in general is his pursuit, how foolish would he be not to recognise that the beauty in every form is one and the same And when he perceives this, he will abate his violent love of the one, which he will despise and deem a small thing, and he will become a lover of all beautiful forms; in the next stage he will consider that the beauty of the mind is more honourable than the beauty of the outward form. So that if a virtuous soul have but a little comeliness, he will be content to love and tend him, and will search out and bring to birth the thoughts which may improve the young, until he is compelled to contemplate and see the beauty of institutions and laws, and to understand that the beauty of them all is of one family, and that personal beauty is a trifle; and after laws and institution she will go on to the sciences,

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8 LUMINOUS SLEEP
that he may see their beauty, being not like a servant in love with the beauty of one youth or man or institution, himself a slave, mean and narrow-minded, but, drawing towards and contemplating the vast sea of beauty, he will create many fair and noble thoughts and notions in boundless love of wisdom; until on that shore he grows and waxes strong, and at last the vision is revealed to him of a single science, which is the science of beauty everywhere. To this I will proceed; please to give me your very best attention.
He who has been instructed thus far in the things of love, and has learned to see the beautiful in due order and succession, when he comes toward the end will suddenly perceive a beauty of wondrous nature (and it was for this, Sokrates, that all our former toils were endured)--a beauty which, in the first place, is everlasting, not coming into being and dying, or waxing and waning; in the next place, not fair in one point of view and foul in another, or at one time or in one relation or at one place fair, at another time or in another relation or at another place foul, as if fair to some and foul to others, or in the likeness of a face or hands or any other part of the bodily frame, or in any form of speech or knowledge, or existing in any other being; as, for example, in an animal, or in heaven, or in earth, or in any other place; but beauty only, absolute, separate, simple, and everlasting. All other things are beautiful through a participation of it, with this condition that, while they come into being and die, it never becomes more or less nor suffers any change. He who, under the influence of the true love of youths, rising upward from these things, begins to see that beauty, is not far from the end. And the true order of going, or being led by another, to the things of love, is to use the beauties of earth as steps along which he mounts upwards for the sake of that other beauty, going from one to two, and from two to all fair forms, and from fair forms to fair practices, and from fair practices to fair notions, until from fair notions he arrives at the notion of absolute beauty, and, at last, knows what the essence of beauty is.
This, my dear Sokrates, said the stranger of Mantineia, is that life above all others which Innan should live, in the contemplation of beauty absolute; a beauty which, if you once beheld, you would see not to be after the measure of gold and garments, and fair boys and youths, whose presence now so entrances you that you and many a one would be content to live, seeing only and conversing with them, without meat or drink, if that were possible, beauty, pure, clear,

LUMINOUS SLEEP 9
and unalloyed, not clogged with the pollutions of mortality and all the colours and vanities of human life-the true beauty, divine, and simple Thither looking, gazing on it with kindred power of the soul" and holding converse with it-would that be an ignoble life? Do you not see that in that communion only, beholding beauty with the eye of the soul, he will be enabled to bring forth, not images of beauty (for he has hold not of an image), but reality (for he has hold of reality), and bringing forth and nourishing true excellence, to become the friend of God and immortal if mortal man may ?†
It is usual to regard this as a fine poetic fancy, more beautifully expressed but hardly more real or useful than the visions of Blake in more recent times. Mr. Grote says that this passage is 'a striking manifestation of the Platonic characteristics: transition from amorous impulse to religious or philosophical mysticism-implication of poetical fancy with the conception of the philosophizing process-surrender of the mind to metaphor and analogy which is real up to a certain point, but is forcibly stretched and exaggerated to serve the theorizing process of the moment' (Grote's Plato II., Pp. 22I-2).
So far from being a rhetorical artifice, this and similar passages of Plato seem to me to glow with the impassioned conviction of truth. They would be recognized by Eastern sages as setting forth actual experience. The process of abstraction described by the prophetess necessarily ends, as in the Jndina Yoga of India, in the cessation of differentiation, that is, of thought. If sleep which then supervenes be also suppressed, there remains not, as Dr. Jowett supposed, mere negation, but the reality eloquently described by Diotima.
“Literally, 'with that with which we should behold.' Cf. Republic, 49o, 'apprehend the nature of each thing as it really is, with that kindred part of the soul whose property it is to lay hold of such objects.'
In the translations from Plato I have mainly followed Jowett and (in the Republic) Davies and Vaughan, with such changes as I though necessary.

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O LUMINOUS SLEEP
This reality is pure consciousness of spirit. It is indinam or wisdom, which, in language very like that of Diotima, the Tamil sage Tiruvalluvar has described as "the vision of the supremely beautiful, the one reality” (Kural, XXXVI., 8), and which in Charmides (17o D.) is defined as "not the knowledge of the things we do or do not know, but the knowledge that we know or do not know.' It is knowledge which in the Phaedrus (247 D.) is described as “ knowledge absolute, not in the form of created things or of things relative which men call existence, but knowledge absolute, in existence absolute.' It is the idea of good in the Republic (508-II), "the principle which is above hypotheses and to which the soul passes out of hypotheses.' It is God as declared by Himself to Moses : " I AM THAT I AM ' (Exodus III., I4)*.
It is hardly surprising that European students and admirers of Plato, having neither his spiritual experience nor living teachers who have gained it, are perplexed by his language even when most clear and earnest, their perplexity being . deepened by the confusion inseparable from the Sokratic irony and pretence of ignorance and from the dramatic necessities of Plato's dialogues, and that, failing to understand the fundamental points of Plato's philosophy, they are driven to apologize for their master's supposed failings.
Yet the means of arriving at a correct understanding has not been lacking in Europe even in recent times. Take, for example, the following experience of the poet Tennyson, which puts to rout the theorizing dogmatism of scholars :-
' For more than once when I Sat all alone, revolving in myself The word that is the symbol of myself
The mortal limit of the Self was loosed, And past into the Nameless, as a cloud
*Read the very interesting expositions in the Midndukhya Upanishad, and the Commentaries of Gaudapáda and Sankara thereon.

LUMINOUS SLEEP
Melts into Heaven. I touch'd my limbs, the limbs Were strange, not mine-and yet no shade of doubt, But utter clearness, and thro' loss of Self The gain of such large life as match'd with ours Were Sun to spark-unshadowable in words, Themselves but shadows of a shadow-world.'
The Ancient Sage.
Of this same experience the poet writes' to a correspondent who had communicated certain experiences undergone under, the effect of anaesthetics :-
I have never had any revelation through anaesthetics, but a kind of waking trance (this for lack of a better name) I have frequently had quite up from boyhood, when I have been all alone. This had often come upon me through repeating my own name to myself silently, till, all at once as it were, out of the intensity of the consciousness of individuality, the individuality itself seemed to dissolve and fade away into boundless being; and this not a confused state, but the clearest of the clearest; the surest of the surest; utterly beyond words; where death was an almost laughable impossibility, the loss of personality (if so it were) seeming no extinction, but the only true life. I am ashamed of my feeble description. Have I not said that the state is utterly. beyond words 2
If the science of the spirit were cultivated in Europe as it is in India, and if practical instruction and guidance had been available to Tennyson, what heights might not so ripe a soul have scaled What blessed vistas might he not have opened up to the West it
Of the practical value of the experience which is the goal of this science, Plato in the Charmides (I72 B.), after giving the definition already quoted of wisdom, declares :-
*Under date May 7, 1874, Farringford. See also the Memoir of Tennyson by his son, I., p. 32O, II., pp. 473 and 478.
tA great living Englishman has written on the control and effacement of thought as practised in India, on the special value of these practices to the Westerns, dominated as they are by a fever of thought, and on some of the spiritual experiences gained. (Edward Carpenter From Adam's Peak to Elephanta, chapter XI., “Methods of Attainment'). The whole book is well worth reading, as the only Western account of India that shows a knowledge of the great undercurrents of Indian life.

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2 LUMINOUS SLEEP
May we then assume that wisdom, viewed in this new light merely as a knowledge that we know or do not know has this advantage-that he who possesses this wisdom will more easily learn anything which he learns, and that everything will be clear to him, because, in addition to the knowledge of each thing that he learns, he sees the knowledge, and he will also be better able to test the knowledge which others have of what he learns himself, whereas the inquirer who is without this knowledge will not be able to do it so vigorously and well ? Are not these, my friend, the real advantages which are to be gained from wisdom ?
That is to say, one who has attained wisdom, though he may on any particular subject know little or nothing, can' easily master the subject on turning his attention to it, and
even excel a specialist.
The observation applies also to other phases of life. Sokrates was himself an example. While by the strength of wisdom he excelled on the intellectual plane, he excelled also in endurance of cold and heat, hunger and fatigue, in bravery on the field of battle and contempt of the dangers of war, even in the power of bearing more wine, if the occasion demanded it, than any one else without being intoxicated. Then there were the marvellous g ces of the spirit, his perfect self-mastery, his equanimity under all circumstances, his
&
unflinching adherence to truth and right. .
Such men as he are sustained at this high level by the practice of Luminous Sleep. In the stillness of that sleep they are in contact with the innermost source of all light, health, and peace. "Be still and know that I am God s (Psalms, XLVI., Io). From that communion they come forth with renewed knowledge, strength, and purity, for the active duties of the world. For those duties, therefore, the practice of Luminous Sleep is recommended by the sages of India as the very best training, apart from its spiritual value.
Might not Luminous Sleep, then, be worth cultivating ? Ought one not, as Plato says every true lover of knowledge ought,

LUMNOUS SLEEP I3
to strain every nerve to reach real existence, and, far from resting at the multitude of separate phenomena which exist only in the region of opinion, to press on undiscouraged, and not to desist from his passion until he has apprehended the nature of each thing as it really is with that kindred part of the soul whose property it is to lay hold of such objects, and until having by means of this approached and held intercourse with the one reality, he begets wisdom and truth, so that then and not till then, he knows, enjoys true life, and receives true nourishments, and is at length released from his travail pangs ? (Republic 49o B.).
We all know the refreshment of sleep. When shall we know the blessings of Luminous Sleep, and say with the sage Tayumanavar :-
"What availeth me to sleep and wake?
If to sleep unsleeping the way is seen, Ah, then I see it availeth me.'

Page 29
JNANA VASISHTAMI;
OR
THE DIALOGUES OF VASISHTA. ON WISDOM.
I.-INTRODUCTION.
The Jndina Vdisishtam is a Tamil poem of authority in that collection of the spiritual traditions of Ancient India known as the Vedanta, and consists of a series of discourses said to have been delivered by the sage Vasishta to Rama, the hero of the Ramayana, the Iliad of India. Seized in early youth with an aversion to worldly life, he longed to abandon his royal state and to retire as a hermit into the forest. By these discourses the sage persuaded him that, even amidst the pomp and temptations of royalty, it was possible to attain to the highest spiritual state. He showed the way to the goal, which the prince in due time reached. From the name of the sage (Vasishta) and from the fact that Jndinam, or the spiritual science known of old as Wisdom, is the subject of the discourses, the work has been called Jndina Vasishtam.
The original discourses were in Sanskrit, and are said to have been reported by Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana, for the benefit of his pupil Bharadvája in Ioo,ooo stanzas, of which 36,000 are extant under the name of the Yoga Vasishta Mahá Rámayana. They were reduced to 6,ooo by Abhinandana, generally known as the Kashmir Pandit, whose abridgment passes under the name of Laghu (i.e., little) Yoga Vásishta.
* Another form of YyG-33 and know-ledge, the root being jina, gno, to know.
I4

JNÁNA VÁSISHTAM I5
The Tamil work consists of 43 chapters of 2,055 quatrains, and was composed by Alavantar Mádavappattar of Virai, a village near Vembattir in the Madura district of the Madras Presidency. I have not been able to ascertain his date. He probably lived about three hundred years ago. He is said to have belonged to a family distinguished in literature during many centuries and still holding lands and titles conferred on them by the Pandiyan kings in reward of their merit. A valuable commentary was made on the poem about eighty years ago by Arunāchala Svámi of Piraisai near Negapatam, who lived in Madras many years and had a great reputation as a teacher of philosophy. The Tamil author and commentator are regarded as no mere translators or commentators, but rather as men of spiritual insight confirming by their testimony the truth of the experiences related by Vasishta.
Veddinta means the end of the Vedas, the most sacred books of the Hindus, and was so called because it taught the ultimate aim and scope of the Vedas. It was in short the Goal of the Law. The Vedanta, as Oriental scholars have pointed out, is the basis of the popular creed of the Hindus of the present day. Of the Vedānta, Professor Max Müller, lecturing in March, I894, at the Royal Institution, London, said: "A philosopher so thoroughly acquainted with all the historical systems of philosophy as Schopenhauer, and certainly not a man given to deal in extravagant praise of any philosophy but his own, delivered his opinion of the Vedānta philosophy as contained in the Upanishads in the following words :-"In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death.' If (adds Professor Max
Müller) these words of Schopenhauer's required any endorsement, I should willingly give it as the result of my own
*The first edition of the Tamil poem and commentary appears to have been printed in I843, having previously existed in MS. palm leaf and is very rare. The two next editions were of 185o and 185I.

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I6 JNÁNA VÁSISHTAM
experience during a long life devoted to the study of many religions. If philosophy is meant to be a preparation for a happy death or euthanasia, I know of no better preparation for it than the Vedanta philosophy.'
This philosophy was at an early period systematized in certain satras or aphorisms attributed to Bádarayana alias Vyasa, which have been copiously interpreted and expounded. The best known expositiont is that of Sri Sankarácharya Svami, the Hindu philosopher, who lived about the sixth century of the Christian era. His writings and apostolic zeal were mainly responsible for the downfall of Buddhism in India. He founded the abbey of Sringeri (in Mysore), the abbot of which is still the spiritual head of many millions of Hindus. Sankaráchárya's views are often erroneously indentified, especially by European scholars, with the Vedanta, as if there were no other authoritative view. An earlier commentator was Sri Nilakanta Svámi, who is of great repute and authority among the Saivas, or those who worship God under the name of Siva. Nilakanta's work is so little known outside the circle of Saiva theologians that the learned Dr. Thibaut, who has translated the Vydisa Stras and Sankarácharya's commentary for the Sacred Books of the East series of the Oxford Clarendon Press, was not aware that in some of the points in which Sankaráchárya appeared to him to misunderstand the original, Nilakantha took a different and truer view. Another commentary$ is that of Sri Ramānuja Svámi, which enjoys great authority among the Vaishnavas, or those who worship
* Known variously as the Veddnta Sastras, Vyasa Satras, Brahma Sútras Uttaramimámsa Sútras or Sáríraraka Mimása Sútras.
tCalled after him Sankara Bhdishyam.
Called after him Nilakantha or Srikantha bhdishyan, and also saivabháshyam or Suddhádvaita bháshyam.
$Called after him Ramanuja baihshyam

JNÁNA VÁSISHTAM п7
God under the name of Vishnu. The three expositions" may briefly, if roughly, be thus distinguished in regard to their conception of the relations between God, soul, and matter. Sankaracharya is a Monist, Nilakantha a pure Non-dualist (Suddahdvaita), Rámánuja a qualified Non-dualist (Visishtadvaita). All take their stand on the Upanishads, while putting forward each his view to be the true one. The expositions are not easy to follow, and require the same effort of attention and study as Western students have to devote to the intricate arguments of Aristotle or Kant.
A.
Sankaráchárya is sometimes described as "a Monist or Non-dualist.' But the terms are not regarded as synonymous by the pure Non-dualists, especially by that school of pure Non-dualism, which is the glory of Tamil philosophy and is known as the Saiva Siddahnta. Its chief authority, the Sivajndina potham, draws this important distinction (ii., 2 and 3) :-
" One,' say the Vedas. Behold, it is said of the One. The One is the Lord. Thou who sayest 'One,' art the soul. Lo, in bondage art thou. If the One were not, If vowel A were not, letters there would be none. In this wise say the Vedas "One.'
Like song and its tune, like fruit and its flavour, the Lord's energy everywhere pervadeth, non-dual. Therefore say the great Vedas not " One,' but "Not-two.'
The meaning is this: When the Vedas say ' Ekam Sat,' "All that is, is one,' they do not mean, the identity of God and the soul, but that God pervades and energizes the soul. The first sound uttered as the mouth opens is the sound of U in but, which sound is represented in Indian alphabets by their initial letter, the vowel A (Sansk. 2, Tamily). This sound exists in, and is indispensable to the formation of, the sound represented by every other letter. Thus, the Indian
*There are two other commentaries in current use, one by Madhavachárya and another by Vallabháchárya. Two others, little known and said to be older even than Nilakantha's, are attributed to Bodháyana and Bhaskara.

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8 JNÁNA vÁSISHTAM
letter A, while it may be said to pervade and energize every other letter, remains also a distinct and the chief letter. So God and the soul. All souls are pervaded and energized by God, as all letters by A, as a song by its tune, as a fruit by its flavour. Nevertheless, like A, God stands apart, Himself, of all things the source and the chief. " One,' therefore, in the Vedas must be understood to mean not unity, but non-duality, of God and soul. The same argument is pithily expressed by the poet Tiruvaluvar in his celebrated Kural :
'All letters have for source the letter A,
The world for source hath the Ancient One, The Adorable.'
This traditional illustration of the pure Non-dualists, prominently set forth in the very opening verse of the poem, shows that the author—who, in spite of his outcast birth, is "the venerated sage and law-giver of the Tamil people,' whom every Hindu sect is proud to claim-was a Vedāntist of the pure Non-dualist tpye.
The study of the Vedanta is held in highesteem in India as the most effective cure for the disease aindinam, or ignorance, which keeps the soul from God. The doctrines of the Vedanta are expounded in the Jndina Vasishtam mainly on the lines of Sankaracharya, with endless variety of illustration, in the form of stories which convey to the thoughtful reader, with all the interest of a romance, an easy understanding of the most difficult problems of philosophy-Who am I ? Whence 2 Whither ? It is no uncommon thing in the towns and villages of Tamil-land for groups of earnest seekers to meet in the quiet hours of the day or night to listen to the reading and exposition of the poem and ponder on the great questions. At such séances women are not the least interested of the listeners nor the least keen of the questioners.
The Jndina Vasishtam not only explains the doctrines of the Vedanta as to the nature of God the soul and the universe

JNÁNA vÁSISHTAM I9
but teaches the practical methods by which the soul may effect its union with God. The mode of effecting this union or "yoking ' is called Yoga, a word having the same root as the English Yoke. It is treated here under two heads: Karma Yoga or the Way of Work, and Jndina Yoga or the Way of Knowledge. It is the latter form of Yoga of which the book mainly treats. Karma Yoga in its higher forms-work for work's sake, duty for duty's sake, without reference to any ulterior motive or reward-is given a prominent place and shown to have the same goal as Jndina Yoga. Four chapters -the stories of Uttalakan, Vitakavyan, Pusundan, and Sikitvasan-discuss Karma Yoga in its lower forms (bodily penances and mortifications), which are said to be rewarded with wonderful powers over nature called the Siddhis. But their pursuit is generally discouraged by the sages as likely to involve the soul in the bonds of desire and to perpetuate its ignorance and separation from God. Another and most important form of Yoga called Bhakti Yoga, the Way of Love, which is fostered by the ordinary worship of the temples and churches, is but lightly touched in this work.
It is difficult to give an adequate idea of the Jndina Vasishtam in a summary or even in a translation. I have, however, attempted to summarize a few discourses and to translate a. few others, adding to each some explanatory comments. One of the most memorable of the discourses, entitled 'The Worship of God,' is included in the translations.
In reading them it should be borne in mind that interpretation from one language to another is seldom successful and never easy. The difficulty is in this case greatly increased by the nature of the sulject, a metaphysical one so profound as confessedly to be beyond the reach of word or even thought. The Hindu system of metaphysics, moreover, is in many respects different from modern European systems, and suitable English equivalents are not easily found for its technical

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terms. For example, the word manas, though philologically the same as the Latin mens and the English mind, cannot be translated as mind without serious confusion of ideas. Mind, in modern European metaphysics, is understood to mean the sum total of the intellectual, volitional, and emotional, faculties of man and to be antithetical to matter. But manas is regarded by Hindu philosophers as a subtle form of matter, an organ by which the soul receives from the gates of the senses impressions of external objects, and is enabled to know them and thereby to experience pains and pleasures, which it utilizes for its development and progress to God. The antithesis of matter according to Hindu philosophers would thus be not mind, but the soul or spirit (ditman), which is conscious of thought and for its salvation has to free itself from the fetters of thought.
The great gulf between the two systems is the doctrine that consciousness may exist without thought, which to European philosophers, at least of modern times, appears to be an absurdity and an impossibility. However, Hindu sages declare, and declare not as a speculation but as actual experience, that when thought is completely suppressed and also its twin-brother sleep, the pure consciousness or spirit long hidden begins to manifest itself. Free from the stain of thought and oblivion and truly pure in heart, the soul is blessed with the vision of God, wins the peace of God that passeth all understanding, realizes somewhat of the infinite power, glory, and bliss of the Divine Spirit, and finally is united to it.
A kindred experience is thus described by Tennyson :-
"For more than once when I
Sat all alone, revolving in myself The word that is the symbol of myself, The mortal limit of the Self was loosed And past into the nameless, as a cloud

JNÁNA vÁSISHTAM 2.
Melts into Heaven. I touched my limbs, the limbs Were strange, not mine-and yet no shade of doubt But utter clearness, and thro' loss of Self The gain of such large life as match'd with ours Were Sun to spark-unshadowable in words, Themselves but shadows of a shadow-world.'
The Ancient Sage.
Notwithstanding the difficulties of interpreting such a work as the Jnana Vasishtam, the attempt has been made in the hope that, even in the garb in which it is here presented, a poem which has been of inestimable help to the best spirits among countless generations of Hindus will be of interest to Western students, and perhaps be of service to some among that large and increasing number of cultured men and women, in the West as in the East, who are sick of church or temple, sick of ritual and prayer, and are left stranded on the shore of atheism or agnosticism without hope or comfort. Here they will find, and perhaps have comfort in finding, what the sages of ancient India conceived, and their successors still conceive, to be the true worship of God, and as a preparation for which has been established the Hindu religious system with its diversity of methods, providing spiritual food for all according to their needs, and significantly called the Sopdina Marga or "the ladder-way.'
III.—RENUNCIATION.
The Vedanta is not taught indiscriminately to all, for, as Vasishta says, "The study of the great books is fraught with danger to persons of little understanding. It will breed degrading folly in them, no other books will breed so much,' -an observation verified in the case of students who take to idle, useless, and even vicious lives, pleading the principles of the Vedānta. Hence, before admitting a pupil to these studies, the teacher is enjoined to test his moral and spiritual fitness. The pupil should be imbued with a sense of the impermanence

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22 JNÁNA vÁSISHTAM
of life and the worthlessness of all worldly things, all desire must have died in him for the so-called goods of this world or the next. He should be truly poor in spirit and hanker and thirst after wisdom, in the pursuit of which he must be ready to give up all else. Ráma was the type of the qualified student, and the chapter called Vairagya prakaranam, or the Chapter of Renunciation, describes his spiritual condition just before his initiation.
He was the heir to a great kingdom and had just returned from a pilgrimage, which in those days, as now, apart from its spiritual uses, is the popular form of travel in India and covers the face of the land with happy troops of pilgrims of all grades, ages, and sexes, for whose counterpart in England one must go back to the time of Chaucer. Ráma was transformed on his return. His royal duties, the pleasures of the court and the chase, became irksome to him; he went through them, mechanically for a time, and finally gave them up altogether. His religious duties, to which he had been devoted, had no interest for him. He neglected food and sleep, sought solitude and contemplation, and pined away until his attendants were filled with anxiety and reported his condition to his father who doted on him. The king sent for him and questioned him with much concern, but could get no clue to his troubles. Shortly afterwards the sage Visvamitra came on a visit to the king in order to obtain help of Rama against some wild men who were molesting him in his forest retreat. With great reluctance the king consented to part with his son for the purpose. Rāma being sent for, comes to the king's presence, and, instead of taking his usual place in the assembly, seats himself on the floor to the consternation of the king and his courtiers. Vásishta, the guru or spiritual preceptor of the royal family, who was present, and the visitor Visvámitra speak to Ráma and beg him to explain the cause of his melancholy. Unable to disobey them, he breaks silence and answers :-

JNÁNA vÁSISHTAM 23
"Born of this king, reared by him, trained in the knowledge of various arts and sciences, I duly performed my religious and royal duties. I have now returned from a pilgrimage to sacred shrines, and straightway all desire for the things of the world hath ceased in me. There is no pleasure in them. We die but to be born, and are born but to die. All, all, are fleeting. What good is there in the fictitious things which constitute wealth 2 What good in worldly enjoyment, in royalty Who are we? Whence this body ? All false, false, false. One who reflects and asks himself "Who hath obtained what ' 2, will have no desire for them, even as a wayfarer desires not to drink water which he knows to be a mirage. I burn, I choke, seeking a way out of this delusion and sorrow.'
Ráma then proceeds to analyse worldly things and makes them out, one and all, to be worthless. Wealth, he says, like kings, favours its courtiers without regard to merit, dissipates. energy by manifold acts, harbours the snakes "like' and "dislike,' shuns the teaching of the wise and good. Whom doth wealth not corrupt? It is like the flower of a plant in a snake-encircled pit. Life is like a water-drop at the tip of a pendent leaf, a mad man rushing out at unexpected unseasonable times, a flash of lightning in the cloud desire, a stumbling-block to the unwise. Life is harder to guard than to cleave space, to grasp the air or to string waves of the sea. Unstable as a rain cloud, as the light of an oil less lamp, as a wave, life causeth pain to those who desire it, as the pearl is the death of its oyster-mother. The life, except of the wise man, the Jndini, is the life of an old donkey. No enemy is so great as egoism. All acts, religious and other, mixed with it are false. As the ego-cloud grows, so doth the jasmin-creeper desire. The ego is the seed of desire, the breeding ground of fatal delusion and ignorance.
*Cf. Bossuet : On trouve au fond de tout le vide et le néant.

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24 JNÁNA VÁSISHTAM
Thought wanders in vain like a feather tossed in a storm or like an ownerless dog; it is like water flowing from a broken pot. Mind, a dog running after the bitch desire, tears me, says Rāma, to pieces, drives me about as if I were possessed with a devil, entangles me in vain acts, as though I tried with a rotten rope to pull a beam from the bottom of a well. The mind-devil is fiercer than fire, more impassable than mountains, harder to control than to pull the Himalayas by their roots, to dry up the ocean, or swallow the submarine fire If thought dies, the universe dies. If thought springs, the universe springs. Gladness and sorrow thrive in the mind as forests on mountains, and with the mind disappear.
These strictures on the mind may seem extravagant. But what is here condemned is not the use but the abuse of mind, the tyranny of thought of which we are the victims. What reflecting person but is conscious of the difficulty of the habit of undivided concentration on the thing in hand, conscious of the wandering of the mind, of its division and distraction, its openness to attack by brigand cares and anxieties? Man prides himself on mastery of sea and land and air, but how rare the mastery of the mind The weary and care-worn faces of thousands, especially among the wealthy and educated classes, with their projects and plans and purposes, bear eloquent witness to the fever of thought by which man is dominated and over-ridden, a miserable prey to the bat-winged phantoms that flit through the corridors of his brain. Until one is able to expel a thought from his mind as easily as he would shake a pebble out of his boot, it is absurd to talk of man as the heir of all the ages and master of nature. A slave rather. But if while at work you can concentrate your thought absolutely on it, pounding away like a great engine, with great power and perfect economy, no wear and tear of friction, and then when the work is finished and there is no more occasion for the use of the machine, you can stop it

JNÁNA VÁSISHTAM 25
equally absolutely, no worrying, as if a parcel of boys were allowed to play their devilments with a locomotive as soon as it was in the shed-if you have gained this mastery over thought, only then would you be deemed by the sages of India on the way to freedom. But the effacement of thought does not mean its giving place to sleep. This too must be conquered, a no less difficult conquest, and then according to them the veil lifts and you pass into that region of your consciousness where your true self dwells and where, in the words of Tennyson, is the gain of such large life as matched with ours were Sun to spark.
To return to our hero, he continues:-In the dark night, desire, the owls, lust, anger, and the rest haunt the sky of the soul. Good qualities are destroyed by desire, as the strings of a violin by mice. Caught in desire like a bird in a net, I faint, I burn. Desire makes cowards of heroes, blinds the clear-sighted, makes the wise tremble, is like a courtesan who runs in vain after men though her charms have long departed, or like a dancer attempting dances beyond her power, seeks things hard to get, is not satisfied even when they are got, is ever on the move like a monkey or a bee, traverseth earth and heaven in a second, is the root of all sorrow. Desire masters and ruins the greatest of men in a moment: its only cure is the riddance of thought.
Nothing is so mean and worthless as this body, the dwelling place of the ego, with his wife desire, and handmaidens the organs of sense and action. Fleeting riches and royalty and body, are they worhty to be sought 2 In a little while they disappear. Rich and poor alike are subject to age, disease, death. What profiteth this body ? Infancy is more restless than waves or lightning or woman's eyes; it eats dirt, is easily moved to joy and sorrow, it calls to the moon, is the home of folly, ever breeds fear to parents and guardians. Passing from infancy to youth greater dangers wait. Youth is

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attacked by the demon lust in the cave of the heart. None so learned or wise but in youth is deluded and blinded. Youth is a mirage which torments the deer, mind, sinking in the slough of external objects. Only those rare ones, who cross the dangers of youth and in youth attain wisdom, are worthy to be called omnen.
What is the attraction of woman's beauty ? Analyse the component parts of her lovely body-flesh, bone, blood, mucus, and the rest-and then, if you think it beautiful, hanker after it. Women's breasts, once decked with strings of rarest pearl, become the food of dogs in the burial ground. Her soft fragrant locks, her eyes that deal destruction, who can escape their power ? Pleasant at first, painful in the end, she is Cupid's net to catch men, she is the bait by which the death-god catches them into hell. I seek not the pleasures of woman, that chest of love, jealousy, anger, locked with the lock of dire sorrow. Deliverance from sexual desire is the beginning of heavenly bliss.
Old age, which follows on youth, is a time of greater sorrow still. Wisdom runs away from old age as love of first wife runs away from the heart of him who has married a second. Weakness of body, disease, excessive desire, inability to satisfy it, are the lot of the old. Their tottering gait, their failings, are the laughing stock of children and women, of servants, kinsmen, and friends. Desire comes home to roost in old age, fear of the next world torments it. Grey heads are ripe fruit to feed the messengers of death. The king of death comes in state attended by an army of diseases and fanned with chouris' of grey hair. He lives in a palace washed with grey, and his wives are weakness, disease, danger. What availeth life so beset with pain and sorrow at every step, its string hourly gnawed by time 2
"Tail of the Yak (a wild ox of the mountains of Tibet) used by Eastern princes as fans and fly-flappers.

JNÁNA VÁSISHTAM 27
What thing in the universe can escape Time, which swallows all like the fire that dries up oceans ? The greatest and the least he destroys-he will not grant a moment's grace. Oceans and mighty mountains yield to his power as leaf or a grain of dust. Worlds resonant with the buzzing of countless gnats, are apples dropped by the tree of Time. With his eye, the sun, Time watches throughout the ancient garden of the universe and eats the fruits as they are ripe, to wit, the warders of the world. He wears the necklace of world-clusters strung on the three strands of the gunas. He hunts game in the forest of the universe. He gathers into his death-chest falling worlds; at intervals of ages, at the great Kalpa time of destruction, he gambols in the oceans as in a pond. Time, too, yields to the power of the great Goddess of Destruction, who rangeth like a tigress through the universe, destroying all the earth her drinking cup, the worlds flowers on her neck, her pets time and the terrible man-lion whose thunder-roar is death, the unreal her bow, pain her arrow, the celestial regions her tiara, the infernal worlds her anklets fastened with the cord of sin, the mountains Himavan and Mahameru her earrings with pendant sun and moon. She wears the heads of Brahmas, Vishnus, Rudras, and, terrible to herself, she
*Regents or presiding deities appointed for the four cardinal and the four intermediate points of the compass by Brahma at each creation of the world.
The gunas, the three ingredients or constituents of nature, corres. ponding pretty closely to the three principles of the soul according to Plato (Republic, IV. 44 I E, 442 A):-
(I). Satva (MòYos or trò À OY totoxów).--Purity or goodness, producing illumination and mildness, wisdom, grace, truth, &c.
(2). Rajas (0.03 or tb 6uoetõég).–Passion or energy, producing activity, and variability, mental exertion, courage, learning, &c., and also worldly covetousness, pride, falsehood, sensual desire.
(3). Tamas (ści 0upić) -Darkness or ignorance, producing sluggishness, arrogance, lust, and other depraved attachments. Kalpa, or the duration of the universe, is supposed to be 36,ooo
times 432 million years, at the end of which it is destroyed, and after a pause again created.

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danceth the peerless dance at the final dissolution of the universe.
The universe, according to Hindu philosophers, has been created and destroyed times without number, and will be again and again created and destroyed, not in the sense of being created out of nothing and reduced to nothing, but in the sense of being projected or evolved (Srishti) out of cosmic stuff (mila prakriti) and of being involved or withdrawn into it (Samhaira). The manifestation of the creating or evolving energy of God is called Brahma, of the preserving energy Vishnu, and of the destroying or involving energy Siva or Rudra. These three manifestations constitute the Hindu Trinity, and each has a time-limit counted by thousands of millions of years. At the end of the cycle they all withdraw into the absolute Godhead, to come forth again.
The whole universe, continues Rama, is fleeting and unrealIt is born and dies, it dies and is born, wihtout end. The deluded mind faints with desire. Youth wasted flies, the friendship of the wise unsought, freedom and truth far away. Attachment to the fleeting things of the world is the chain that binds to birth.* All living things perish. The names of countries change. Mighty mountains become dust. Oceans disappear. The quarters of the sky vanish. The starry worlds, the celestial hosts, the holy Rishis pass away. The lord of the polar star dies. Time, space, law cease. Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, merge in the One Reality, the pure substance ineffable. The whole universe is mean and naught by It.
Sunk in petty enjoyments, thinking them so wonderful, the world perisheth. If the day is not spent in treading in the footsteps of the wise, whence cometh sleep at night? Wives and children and gold are sought and loved as ambrosia. For
*Reincarnation, to which the soul is subject until it becomes pure and ripe for union with God.

JNÁNA vÁSISHTAM 29
them nothing is left undone. When the time of parting comes, they are more painful than deadly poison. Every foe overcome, surrounded by every prosperity, one liveth happily, sole emperor. Lo, from somewhere comes sudden death and cuts him off. Wife, children, and the rest are travellers meeting at a fair. The lives of Brahmas' are but a second. The difference between long life and short life is a delusion. Mighty power and prosperity, learning, deeds all pass away and become mere fancies-so do we. Pain and pleasure, greatness and smallness, birth and death, all are for a moment. A hero is killed by a weakling, one man kills a hundred, the mighty become low and the low mighty. All goes round and round. 'I care for none of these things. I care for neither life nor death. Grant me, O sages, calm and peace of mind. My heart yearns for union with its Lord, and is distressed as a woman parted from her beloved. What is that state without pain, fault, doubt, or delusion ? What is the state incorruptible? Ye sages know it. Declare it unto me. I want neither food nor drink nor sleep. I will not perform religious rites nor royal duties. Come weal, come woe. I care not. I stand still, doing nothing. welcome death.'
Such an appeal it was impossible to resist, and the discourses which constitute the Jndina Vasishtam were the answer.
III.—SToRY oF SUKAR.† The first discourse is attributed to Visvamitra, who relates to Ráma the story of Sukar and comments upon it. Though short, it is interesting in more respects than one. It shows that in those times, as now, though not generally known the Brahmins were not the sole custodians of spiritual knowledge,
"A day of Brahma = 432 million years of man. 36o such days constitute a year of Brahma, and Ioo such years his life time, or a kalpa, which is equal to 36o,ooo times 432 million years the duration of the world.
†This is the Tamil form, in the honorific plural, of the Sanskrit Suka.
3. S. P. C. - 8272

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but were even glad to seek it from men of other castes, as in this instance from one of the royal caste. Indeed it would appear from the Chandogya Upanishad, W., 3, 7, that in ancient Vedic times a Brahmin was not deemed fit to receive instruction in the mysteries of spiritual knowledge. A Brahmin is there represented as seeking instruction from a king who tells him that no Brahmin was ever taught such knowledge, this being reserved for the Kshattriya or the royal caste. The king was, however, induced to make an exception in this instance. The fact that verses so prejudicial to the interest and dignity of the Brahmin caste occur in writings, which now for three thousand years have been in their sole charge, is remarkable, and is strong testimomy to the authenticity of this particular Upanishad.
The term Brahmin had once a purely spiritual meaning, viz., one who had seen God (Brahm, or the Supreme). Any one of whatever caste who had attained the vision or knowledge of God was called a Brahmin. The descendants of such men gradually crystallized into caste, which after a time lost all spiritual culture and even came to be regarded as unfit to receive spiritual instruction. The Brahmins, as a caste, then became what they are now, ritual priests, whose duty is to conduct public worship in the temples and to perform the countless domestic ceremonies of the Hindus. The aim of this ritual is to develop spiritual life in the laity and prepare the soil for the seed of the spiritual priest. The relationship of the latter to his disciple is a purely personal one, and no caste, race, or sex qualification is necessary either for teacher or pupil, for the Spirit has no caste, race or sex. A person of a low caste, or even an outcast, may be a spiritual teacher. This rule has lightened the burden of the Sudra's lot, for it throws open to genius the highest of positions. The best known of modern Hindu sages, Ramakrishna Svámi of Bengal, who died in 1886, and whose life was written by Professor Max

JNÁNA VASISHTAM 3I.
Miller, had for his teacher a woman, who was for him what Diotima was to Socrates, and inspired in him the same devotion, love and gratitude.
It is related of Sankaracharya-the great Hindu philosopher and apostle, to whom I have already referred-that Ol one occasion, while travelling with the pomp suitable to his dignity, he suddenly met on the road a Paria bearing a load of beef fresh slaughtered and dripping with blood. Shrinking from the sight with a holy Brahmin's horror, he called out imperiously to the outcaste to move out of sight, "Whom dost thou order,' answered the Paria with amazing boldness, "to move out of sight-the spirit or the flesh?' Sankarácharya, remembering that the flesh of his own body did not differ from that of the Paria or the beef, and realizing that the all-pervading Spirit of God was equally in Paria and Brahmin, recognized in this outcaste his long-waited-for spiritual teacher, and descending from his palanquin prostrated himself at the Paria's feet. The Paria, who was (it is said) no other than the Lord Siva, vanished. Sankaráchárya's conversion dates from this incident, and to him Hinduism owes more than to any other man.
The story of Sukar also shows that, to gain the knowledge of God and participate in the divine bliss, it is not necessary to abandon the world and retire into the solitude of a forest, nor is death of the body a condition precedent. King Janaka attained this high estate while still in the flesh and in the active exercise of royal power.
Here, too, is briefly enunciated the fundamental doctrine of the Vedanta, that the One and only Reality is the Spirit or pure consciousness, and that the universe is a differentiation and evolute of that one Reality resulting from the cosmic illusion called Maya. Students of modern science will recall Professor Huxley's definition of matter as "a name for the unknown and hypothetical cause of certain states of our own

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consciousness' (Lay Sermons, p. 142). A learned Christian Professor, Dr. Sanday, not long ago wrotein this connection:-
All sure knowledge is knowledge of states of consciousness and nothing more. The moment we step outside those states of consciousness and begin to assign a cause to them, we pass into the region of hypothesis or assumption. The first effort of thought is to distinguish between "self' and "notself,' but neither of the 'self' nor of the "not-self' have we any true knowledge, we do not even know that they exist, much less how they exist or what they are. We might as well call the one X and the other Y as give them the names we do. And if this holds good for a process of thought which seems so elementary, much more must it hold good for others which are more remote. When we call things about us and give them names, as Adam is described as doing, what we really name is only the states of our own consciousness, not the things themselves. Judged by the standard of strict logic, the world which we inhabit is a world of. visions, of phantasms of hypothetical existences and hypothetical relations. All thought and all the objects of thought are at the bottom pure hypothesis. Its validity is only relative. The propositions which we call true are not true in themselves. When we call them true, all that we mean is that to assume them gives unity and harmony to the operations of the thinking mind. The belief that we can trust our memory, that one state of consciousness is like another preceding state of consciousness, that the ego is a centre of permanence, that nature is uniform, and that what has happened to-day will also happen to-morrow, all these beliefs stand upon the same footing. They are working hypotheses, assumptions which enable us to think coherently: we cannot say more."
The great divine and philosopher, Bishop Berkeley, has said in terms which a Vedantist would have used :-"the physical universe which I see and feel and infer, iš just my dream, and nothing else. That which you see is your dream, only it so happens that our dreams agree in many respects.' The Vedanta goes further and declares that underlying this fiction of the universe there is a very real reality, not, as the Bishop supposed, the mind, which is itself a fiction, but the
*Professor Sanday on 'Professor Huxley as a theologian;'

JNÁNA VÁSISHTAM 33
Spirit which the Vedanta declares to be the One and only Reality. This One Reality is called by many names, Brahm (the supreme), Jnanam (wisdom), Atman (the Self), Sivam (auspicious), &c. It is also called Sat-chi-dinanda as being sat, -pure and eternal being or truth (c 6 6 y of Plato), -pure knowledge (chi), pure bliss (dinanda) : pure in the sense of there being no distinction between subject and object. Being spirit as well as infinite, it is frequently called chit-akasa or jnánákása, Spirit-space.
It was of this chit or pure knowledge that Plato spoke in the Phædrus (247 D) :—Ka6op ồè irrorTńpunov oix i yéve 7c yrpórt arriv, ουδ' ή εστί που ετέρα εν ετέρω ουσα ών ήμείς νυν όντων καλούμεν, αλλά την εν τώό εστινόν όντως επιστήμην ουσαν. Knowledge absolute, not in the form of created things or of things relative which men call existence, but knowledge absolute in existence absolute.' It was of this sat, the One Reality or Truth, Jesus spoke to Pilate (John XVIII, 37). "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I unto the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth. Every one that is of the Truth, heareth my voice.' To Pilate's next question “What is Truth?' no answer was vouchsafed, probably because the question was a mocking one and because the infinite spirit is not to be described in words. "It can only be described,' says the Brihádaranyaka Upanishad (IV. 5 I5), “by no, no,” i.e., by protesting against every attribute. The usual Vedantist illustration is that of a Hindu wife who, asked to point out her husband from among a number of men, said "no, no,' to every person pointed out, until her husband was pointed out, and then she stood bashful and silent. In a dialogue reported by Sankaracharya Svámi from an Upanishad, 'Vashkali said, 'Sir, tell me Brahmin. Then Bahva became quite still. When Vashkali had asked a second and a third time, Bahva replied "We are telling it, but thou dost not understand. That Brahm is quite still.'

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In the absolute unconditioned infinity, the Spirit, there arises an energy whereby the Spirit seemingly becomes conditioned or limited and differentiates itself-as under a breeze the calm face of the ocean breaks into waves-into the universe, countless souls, infinite varieties of matter, endless growth of sun and satellite and planet, all passing from a state of latency to manifestation and vice versai. The task of the soul is to emancipate itself from the grasp of this cosmic illusion of Maya, under the influence of which the soul cherishes the idea of "I' and "mine' (as if each wave were to think itself a separate entity from other waves and from the ocean) and identifies its fictitious coats of mind and matter with itself. In other words, the soul has to go back from the unreal to the only real. What Maya is, how it originated, how and when it ceases, are explained in the story of Sukar.
Having heard Rama's impassioned address which I have summarized in the last chapter,-
Visvamitra says:-O Rama, by pure intellect thou has seen all things free from fault. There remains naught else for thee to know clearly. The sage Sukar and thou are peers. Even they who have attained the knowledge of the real and unreal, yearn for peace.
Ráma inquires : How happened it that Sukar, having attained the knowledge which destroys 'I', attained not peace at once but afterwards 2
Visvámitra replies as follows : Sukar, filled with the knowledge that cuts off birth, pondering like thee on the nature of the universe, grew in understanding and gained the knowledge that is without flaw. Yet doubt remained regarding it, and peace he had not. He sought his sire (Vydisa) who lives on the northern mountain (Meru) and asked: "Whence cometh this dangerous maya ? How shall it, perish 2 To whom does it belong What is its measure? When did it appear?' The father made answer to these questions so that Sukar should understand. But Sukar

JNÁNA VÁSISHTAM 35
replied: “What thou hast said was already known to me.“ Then his father, seeing that Sukar reached not the excellent state of peace, said: 'There is a king named Janaka, great in the knowledge that is without flaw. Seek and ask him.' So saying, he graciously sent him, and Sukar departed. He reached the gate of the golden palace where Janaka dwelt. The king, hearing of his coming, came not to meet him, thinking to try him. Seven days tarried Sukar there, indifferent. Seven more days the king set him in another place, then he lodged him in the beautiful inner chambers of gold wherein the women dwell. Slender-waisted maidens served him with dainty food and pleasures. He bore with them, being like unto the cold full moon. Neither the pleasures provided by the king nor his previous insult touched the mind of Sukar. Can the gentle south wind shake Meru, greatest of mountains ? Seeing his state, the king worshipped and praised him and said: "O thou who art rid of the acts of the world and hast obtained all that is to be obtained, seeking what hast thou come hither ?’ He replied: “Whence sprang maya ? How grew it? How will it cease ? Tell me truly.' To the sage thus seeking the truth, the king spake as his father had spoken. The sage replied: "This have I already known by my understanding. Thou hast spoken even as my father spake. The perfect Scriptures all declare but one thing. If the differentiation that springs within ceases, mdiya ceases. There is nothing in mdiya. Such is its nature. Declare unto me the One Reality, Oking who curest the infatuation of all.'
The king made answer. “O sage, what thou hast thyself ascertained, what thy father has declared to thee, again in doubt thou askest. That alone is true. Here is infinite Spirit, nothing else. That Spirit is fettered by thought, it is free when rid of thought. 'Tis because thou knowest well that Spirit, thou art rid of desire and of all visible things. Thou hast attained all that is to be attained by a perfect mind.

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Thou inseparably blendest with the One that is beyond sight. Thou art free. Give up the doubt that troubleth thy mind."
Thus when Janaka, king of kings, taught, the faultless Sukar, quenching his restlessness in the Supreme whose place is Itself, freed from fear, from sorrow, from agitation, from act, from doubt, went up on the golden mount Meru and, standing in the calm of undifferentiating abstraction (samadhi) for twice 5oo years by the sun's count, like unto the light of a lamp quenched with the burning out of oil and wick, became blended with Spirit-space. Rid of the stain of thought and become pure, the rising thought ceasing as water drops merge and become one with the sea, he became one with the Absolute. He was freed from delusion and desire and so from sorrow. That way will be thine, O Rama. The manner of the mind which knoweth all that should be known, is never to think that pleasures and pain are "mine.'
As the attachment to things which are not realities becometh established, the fetters are firmly riveted; as that attachment dwindles, the baleful fetters waste away. To crush the influence of outward objects, O Rama, is to be free; to sink in it is to be a slave. They who have overcome its might and, rid of desire, turn away from the enjoyments of the world, they alone have attained the high state of Jivan Mukti, of freedom while still in the flesh.
The purport of this story appears to be that a man may, by investigation and reflection, understand what is real and what is unreal, and may reject the unreal and be rid of all desire, and yet not attain perfect peace, which is won only when by the intense abstraction of Sandidhi he has realized in actual experience the One Reality. So also Tiruvalluvar says:-
"Though the five senses are under control, still there is no gain to them who know not the One Reality' (kural, xxxiv. 4).
"Wisdom is freedom from the delusion which is the cause of birth, and the vision of the One Reality, the supremely

JNÁNA vÁSISHTAM 37
beautiful.' (ibid. 8.) The delusion here referred to is explained (ibid. I) as that which takes for real the unreal.
Then turning to the assembly, Visvamitra says: What Rama has grasped with the mind, that is the reality, and nothing else. Who save Vasishta can teach great Ráma this?-Vasishta who, having learnt it from the lips of the wise, hath won peace of mind and freedom from doubt, who knoweth time past, present, and future, who is the world's teacher, who looketh on, a witness to all things that have name and form." (Addressing Vasishta): Rememberest thou, O Vasishta, the words of wisdom which the Lotus-God Brahma spake to us to heal our enmity and to cure good men of their ancient karma and help them to be free. Declare it, I pray thee, to the learned Rama. The precious words spoken to the heart of the pupil that is free from desire, are indeed knowledge; they are the substance of the Scriptures, they alone are beautiful. The words spoken to a pupil in the bonds of desire, will become impure like precious milk poured into a black dog-skin vessel.
In compliance with the request Vasishta proceeds to deliver to Rama the discourses which form the bulk of this work. Vasishta, it may be added, is believed by the Hindus to be still alive, inspiring and enlightening seekers after truth. Tradition has assigned him a perfect wife, Arundati, who, translated to the skies, shines in the Pleiades. Among the interesting and picturesque ceremonies of a Hindu wedding is the leading of the bride into the court-yard to point out the star to her as the ideal to be cherished. Vasishta himself is one of the seven stars of the Great Bear, called by the Hindus the Seven Sages.
'i.e., the manifested Universe.

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IV- THE WORSHIP OF GOD
Sage Wasishta speaks :-
This body of bone and nerve that seemeth so real is a mere apparition, one of the infinite fictions of thought. 'Tis false to think of it clingingly as 'he' and ' I.' Away with the delusion. While thou liest in soft couch wrapt in sleep, thou dost in dream-body wander forth in all directions and art distressed. Or awake, in imagination traversing Mount Meru and the celestial worlds, thou art tossed. Where then is that body which thou callest thine, O Ráma ? Reflect. Awake or asleep, thy dreams and reveries are illusions. So look on this world. It is mere appearance. To cease to think of it, that it is or that it is not, to be rid of differentiating thought, is the Blessed Vision, say the wise, O Prince. Death at all events is certain. Why weepeth the world in vain when Death draws nigh? Should not all men born seek to win somewhat of the Bliss supreme Wherefore the pride of men in their fleeting possessions ? Cease to differentiate between objects. Let all things in this world of apparitions be alike to thee. They are the dirt that dulls the mirror of the Heart". Away with differentiation, great Prince, and stand free from apparitions.
Whosoever harbours not in his mind the serpents Like and Dislike, is indeed the Tree of Plenty. Is there any boon he cannot grant? Whosoever harbours them is to be spurned as a donkey, though he be learned in all the arts and sciences. The chariot whose wheel is birth, ceases to run if its axle, the mind, is stopped from turning. Let the axle move ever so little, none can stop the chariot. By the power of wisdom, by subtlety of understanding, by noble perseverance, it may be stopped. There is naught that cannot be won by strenuous perseverance in the cultivation of wisdom, of the friendship and virtues of the wise, of the study of philosophy. The dread demon Mind ever causeth woe and fear. Destroy the monsterf. What then remains ? Pure Consciousness.
*மனக்கண்ணுடி-உள்ளம்.
t Manus (thought) with its counterpart sleep.

JNÁNA vÁSISHTAM 39
Be It and thou wilt lack nothing. If the Mind-devil clutch thee fast, philosophy cannot save thee, nor friends, hardly even thy Teacher. But if the devil will leave thee in peace, thou canst be saved, even as a beast may be pulled out of mud which is not very deep.
Give up the enjoyment of things of the sense, take refuge at the feet of thy Teacher, and learn to know the One Reality, thy own true Self. This vision of the Supreme that destroys dread Maya, was declared unto me by Him" that weareth the Moon in his crown. I will tell it thee. Listen.
Once upon a time in a hermitage on the bank of the Ganges I sought with pious service and devotion Siva that dwells on lofty Kailas' peak. For many long days with sages I read and examined the Scriptures, spending our time to good purpose. Then one day in August, on the eighth day of the growing moon, when half the night was passed, my meditationt over, I was looking outwards. There was a deep silence in all the quarters of the earth, an unwonted darkness filled the forest and mountain-caves, so thick that it seemed a sword might cut it. Suddenly I saw a light shine before me, a splendour as of millions of white clouds and millions of white moons. Nạndi! leading the way, Siva came, Goddess Uma'ss hand in his, stilling my thoughts to silence. At once with my pupils I rose and with offerings meet, sweet flowers, libations, prayers, I worshipped from a distance Siva, whose beauteous eyes shed gracious looks more refreshing than the light of the moon and curing all ills. In like manner I worshipped the Goddess Uma, and I prostrated myself at their feet. When I had with due reverence saluted their attendants, the Bright One spake unto me gracious words: " Have thy devotions proceeded unhindered ? Hast
* Siva, the chief of the Hindu Trinity. * Samadhi. காட்டசமாதி. it. The chief attendant of Siva.
S Uma exoterically the Consort of Siva, represents his energy as manifested in the operations of the Universe.

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thou gained what should be gained? Are objects dead to thee ? Hast thou won peace? Art thou established in the Supreme '
When the Pure One, the Source of the universe, vouchsafed these words, I worshipped Him and humbly answered: "O Lord of the Celestials, to those who have obtained Thy grace nothing is unattainable, no fear can draw nigh. Thy votaries are honoured by all. Where those great ones live, who have taken refuge at Thy feet, that is land, that is mountain. The seeking of Thee is the fruit of righteousness in the past; it is the rain that watereth the plant, righteousness, in the present; it is the seed of righteousness in the future. The seeking of Thee is the peerless vessel filled with the ambrosia of wisdom, it is the full moon shedding the light of peace, it is the way to the house of Truth. Having won that lovely wishing-gem called "the seeking of Thee,' I trample under foot all dangers, O Lord.'
Having thus praised the Lord, who is the First Cause, I worshipped Him again and said: "Ocean of mercy that dwellest on Mount Kailas, by Thy grace nothing is lacking to my understanding. Yet have I one doubt. Be pleased to make it clear unto me. What is the Worship of God, which destroyeth all evil and giveth all blessings?'
Thus when I asked, He graciously answered:
"If thou askest what is GOD, it is not feeble Vishnu, nor Siva, nor anything that has an elemental body, it is not perishable Mind. GoD is PURE CoNSCIOUSNEss, without beginning or end, uncreated. Are the petty things that have bodies and other parts God? The Consciousness without beginning or end, without part, act or other delusion of thought, is the Supreme Intelligence. That is GoD. That alone is worthy to be worshipped. To the foolish, however, and those void of understanding, the worship of forms is said to be fitting. Travellers, who cannot walk ten leagues, can walk a mile. So the ignorant worship many forms, but the certainty of true wisdom is not for them. The Spirit-Space (Chit-akás), without beginning or end, pervadeth and filleth

JNÁNA vÁSISHTAM 4.
everywhere, and is imperishable through the ages, eternal. Therefore that is GoD. The worship of that God, the allpervading, inseparable SELF, with the flowers of intelligence, equality, joy, is true WoRSHIP. Formal worship is not worship. The infinite God is not to be reached by rites and forms. The true worship yields fulness of bliss. The Spirit is beyond the reach of all the sciences, standeth in them, underlieth their meaning. Its form is the True Universal, which is in the middle of That which is and That which is not. It is the One Reality. It is God. If It differentiates, It loses the form of Spirit. By dwelling on things differentiatingly, It enters the thought-state, then surrounded by the energies of time, space, and the rest, It becomes the ignorant Jiva (the individual self), It becomes discernment, It becomes the I-making faculty (ahankara), It becomes Manas, and having attained this volatile state, It clings to birth and death. By thinking " I have joined a body,' It becomes sunk in the slough of delusion; sorrow grows more and more. While there is whirling thought, there is sorrow; when it ceases, sorrow ceases. Thought is sorrow, the absence of it is happiness. Drive away the clouds of thought by the mighty wind of thy intelligence, and stand pure as the sky swept of rain-clouds by a storm. Wash within thyself the dirt of thy thought. Thus made clean and pure, bathe in the ocean of supreme bliss.
The SELF is the possessor of all energies. By their dance are caused bondage and freedom. This Self which is equal, which is Pure Spirit, which creates all forms, has the energies of desire, space, time, fate, knowledge, act, doer, non-doer, and other countless energies. The energy of ignorance breeds birth and death over the universe. The great emancipating energy destroys birth and death.
Intelligence, i.e. Pure Intelligence, free from thought and oblivion (v. 7 above.)
Equality. "Let all things be alike to thee (v. 5). Joy. Freedom from like and dislike, and cheerful acceptance of
all that happens. That which is not, i.e. the universe which seems but is not.
That which is, i.e., the Divine Spirit which is.

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Of all worship the purest and best is the burning up of the body, the abandonment of the thought that this body, which is the fruit of deed of old, is I. Thus shouldst thou worship: "The Spirit whose light is the source of all light, and to whose splendour the splendour of a hundred thousand suns is as nothing, that Spirit is I." Cling to It. Of this Person the infinite space is his throat, the boundless space below is his golden feet, the endless quarters of the world are his mighty shoulders, the spheres are his bright weapons. In the lotus of His heart, on one petal, rest countless millions of world-clusters. Such is the form, resplendent, beauteous, without beginning or end, of the Supreme. Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Indra, and other celestials adorn the Lord's body. All living things are hairs upon it. In His body are centred the energy of desire and other diverse energies that, like strings, work the machine of the universe. This Bright One is worshipped as the Supreme Lord by those who know. HE is Wisdom, HE is the SELF manifested in actual experience. HE dwelleth everywhere. HE is accessible to all. HE is the support of all things. His body is Truth. The warder at His gate is Time that regulates the starry systems. HE is pure Splendour, self-existent.
By the energies of eye, nose, ear, skin, tongue, mind, experience all objects duly, without clinging, realise that the Supreme Sivam, who is beyond all is in all things, and thus worship GOD fittingly. Rites and forms are not fitting for the worship of GoD, whose form is His own Spirit. Offer thou pure, joyful worship always with thy intelligence, which is one, which is ambrosia, which is all-pervading, eternal. That Pure Spirit within,--to remain. It and It alone always, is true devotion, is fitting worship. In experiencing objects by eye, skin, ear, tongue, nose, in sleeping, in speaking, in walking, in breathing, thou shouldst remain as Pure Spirit. The worship of the resplendent Self is true worship. Save in this way Wisdom is not to be gained. Even fools performing this perfect worship for fifteen twinklings of an eye will
1. Sivan (neut.) The unmanifested god, the Absolute.

JNÁNA VASISHTAM 43
gain the merits of gifts of cattle. If the worship be performed for a hundred twinklings, it is equalin merit to the performance of the horse-sacrifice; if for half a nalikai (i.e., twelve minutes), the merit is equal to that of performing a hundred thousand sacrifices; if for an hour, the benefit will be that of the Rajasuya sacrifice. If the Spirit within is worshipped for fifteen nalikai (i.e., six hours), free from bondage (i.e., of thought and oblivion), it is equal to a hundred thousand Rajasuya sacrifices. If for one day, thou mayest be established in the Perfect Splendour Supreme, this is the Yoga (spiritual communion) above all Yogas, thisis the ritual above all rituals.
This is the outward worship of the God of Wisdom. Listen to the inward worship. Never forgetting this God that dwelleth in thy body, regarding this supreme Sivam as the comer, the sitter, the sleeper, the waker, the enjoyer of pleasures, the renouncer of them, washing away the taint of contact with objects in the sacred stream of thy Pure Consciousness, offer the worship of flawless wisdom to the great God of Wisdom. Is there a place where this infinite Widsom is not ? In the expanding mind, in meditation, in the middle of the incoming and outgoing breath, in the heart, in the throat, in the middle of the tongue, between the eyebrows, at the tip of the nose, at the meeting-place of the thirty-six categories, in the heart free from differentiation, the God of Wisdom dwelleth all-filling. Ever think thus: "The God which shines within my body with the splendour of intelligence, is I.' Regard the energies of mind, sight, speech and other organs of sense and action, as cleaving to Him as women cling to their beloved husbands. Regard the Manas* by which thou knowest the universe as thy peerless warder, the emotion as thy trusty servant at the inner door, the expansion of the intelligence as thy bodily ornaments, the ten organs (of sense and action) as thy palace-gates.
Sivam (neut.) The unmanifested God, the Absolute.
* Siva (masc.) The manifested God, in his capacity as Destroyer.
* Unless the warder (Manas) is at these gates, objects may knock at them, acts may be done by the organs of action, and not be known to the Dweller within the Self.

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Thus shouldst thou worship. He who is thus the witness within of the energies of mind, organs of sense, action, etc., is I who am the Brahman".
Endless, inseparable am I, the unfailing support of all things, one full, all-filling, equal everywhere, a nature and splendour all my own, with peerless intelligence (Chit), pure I stood always, and never will cease to be. Thus shouldst thou worship.
By this pure worship great clearness can be attained. By thy intelligence which is equal, which is all things, realise that the identification of the body with thyself is a burden; gain the wisdom which is beyond, and with that wisdom which is One, worship unceasingly. Thus say the Wise.
Repining not for what thou canst not get, going not in the way of desire, thou shouldst worship. In eating, in drinking, in great wealth, in sleeping, in sitting, in riding, in manifold enjoyments, realising (the Supreme) shouldst thou worship.
In sickness of mind or body, in the beginning of desire, in all dangers, in the administration of justice, in dire poverty, thou shouldst realise the Intelligence and worship it with the flowers of pure deeds, with the acceptance of pure pleasures and the rejection of the impure.
Enjoying, without differentiation, whatever comes, clinging not to what is past and gone, this is the worship of Intelligence. Those who incessantly worship the eternal GOD OF WISDOM should, while experiencing pains and pleasures, stand as pure Intelligence.
Realising that all things whatsoever, in all forms and places are Brahman, thou shouldst worship. Not wanting, not rejecting, the wise accept equally all experiences, as the Ocean accepts all rivers.
Harbouring not the thought of high or low, accepting without differentiation pleasure and pain, which come of time. place, and act, with perfect equality shouldst thou worship,
* Tat-tvam-asi, 'It art Thou,' is one of the Mahavákyas or the great words which sum up the Vedas.

JNÁNA vÁSISHTAM 45
This equality is the most precious offering in the worship of the Supreme.
This offering tastes not sour or hot, bitter or salt, it is full of the wonderful sweetness of peace.
By the power of peace all visible things in the twinkling of an eye become ambrosia. By the power of peace, Equality, when regarded with clear discernment, is hard as rock, though it is pure Intelligence.
Casting away the delusions of pain and pleasure which spring from objects according to time, place, and act, worship thou the God in thy body and stand free from all desire.
Pure delusion (i.e., delusion connected with absence of desire, e.g., study of philosophy, spiritual communion, etc.) will drive away impure delusion (delusion connected with desire) and will destroy the poison of differentiating thought, As the washerman removes the dirt of clothes by dirt, so remove Impure Maya by pure Maya. Pure Maya, though not anything substantial, becomes so by the word of the Teacher and will yield without fail to the wise their true form which is Wisdom.
As the Teacher's word duly cherished grows in the pupil and is absorbed by him, the inaccessible form of the Supreme, difficult to be shown, will of itself stand manifest. It is not to be won by the mere study of books or by the word of the Teacher.
By oneself, by one's own Intelligence, the Supreme must be known. It is hard to attain without the Teacher and without the Study of Philosophy. In the prolonged Union of Perfect Teacher, Philosophical study and pupil, the flawless Supreme is manifest as in the daylight all acts are yielded and manifest.
If the Wise daily worship in this manner they will attain the State Supreme worthy of being praised by such devotees aS e.

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The universe seems to be, but is not. It is nothing but an apparition, a fiction of thought. That which is the meaning of Brahman and all other words, know that to be the Intelligence (Chit). It, by the differentiation of thought, shows itself as a thing to be known objectively, becomes subject to names and to the sense of "I.'
To this 'I' become attached in the fiction of Time and Place troops of handmaids called Forces. Surrounded by these, the One Reality takes the name of Jiva (the individual Soul) and then of Discernment.
Joining the energies of Sound, Act, and Knowledge, it creates thought. From that seed grows Manas, which is said to be the cause or Vehicle of the subtle body. %
There is no limit to the number of forces assigned to the Manas by Great Brahma. It is the Manas which takes the form of space and other things and creates the mass of categories. As thought creates phantoms out of nothing, so it creates forms which are called the Universe.
If these cease, there is eternal Peace. Those who are rooted in the sense of ''I'' and in the reality of this MirageUniverse are not fit to be instructed in the true Doctrine. They are despised as sinners by the Wise.
Only those who earnestly seek to know Brahman should be taught the supreme Truth, not those who are sunk in Delusion. It would be like wedding to a live maiden a dream-youth. Thus have I told the truth-O VASISHTA.
V-THE STORY OF SIKITUVASAN
Vasisha: Drive away the mighty bird thought that uses differentiating. Be at peace like King Sikittuvasan, stand in thy own self all-filling.
Rama: Who, Sir, was Sikittuvasan? Tell me, that wisdom may grow in me more and more.
Vasishta. He lived in the beginning of the Dwapara age, what time seven Manus had lived and died, King of Malawa country, Sikittuvasan by name, of sceptre ever upright,

JNÁNA vÁSISHTAM 47
gifted with every virtue, rich in the stillness beyond the strife of words. Sudalai, daughter of Surathra, was his wedded Queen, herself her peer in virtue. One in thought and deed they lived, accomplished in many arts and sciences, and were happy. One life in two bodies, they enjoyed the pleasures of youth. But as the beautiful years sped, youth unstable passed away like water from a broken pot. Age came like frost on lovely lotus. While the days glided on as water trickling through one's fingers, desire grew apace like melon creeper in rainy season. Beauty rushed away as a river in flood. Pleasures took wind and disappeared like arrows from a bow. The vain acts of life, at last bred in the royal pair freedom from desire, even as a plantain tree is impregnated to its own death. They began to think in this wise. What is that which, when the mind has gained it, goes not elsewhere. That is most excellent. It cannot be won by those who are plunged in these vanities. The study of philosophy alone can cure the disease-birth. The knowledge of the self alone will destroy it. Thus thinking, they set themselves with all their heart to win the knowledgedaily cultivating the Service of the wise, duly performing whatsoever was prescribed by them, practising the abstraction of nishtai, and doing unceasingly all other necessary things. Thus they persevered long and long. Then the wise queen Sudalai, walking in the way prescribed and hearing and taking to heart the words of the Wise, began, detached from all acts, to investigate with clear mind. Looking upon herself she asked, 'what is it that is called 'I' p ' Whose is this delusion ? Whence did it spring ? And how? This body that is first seen, is stupid and unintelligent. It cannot be called ' I.' So too are the various organs of action and sense. They cannot be "I.' These were set in motion by the mind (Manas). Manas itself, whose energy is thought, is also unintelligent, being received by discernment (buddhi) as a stone by a sling. Buddhi, too, whose form is ascertainment, is unintelligent, being moved by the 'I'-making faculty (Ahankara), like water running down a slope. The

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evil Ahankara, too, is unintelligent and useless, being dependent on the Vital Spirit Jiva, whose form is wind and which manifests itself in acts. 'I' most delicate, attached to the heart, it lives by another. That other I have ascertained to be the Pure Intelligence, the Self, which is the true " I.' Unstained by outward objects, eternal, it gives life to the deluded Jiva. Their relation is like that of the mind to scent or of a downward plane to water. By association with unreal, unintelligent objects, the Pure Intelligence, Subject, Self becomes stained and dull, and like fire in much water loses its form. Thus alas ! the self, the Pure Intelligence, the only Reality, by attachment of objects becomes unreal and unintelligent Jiva, which knows not save as the self makes it to know. Thus have I in the ripeness of time learnt by the light , of the self, and by naught else. From want of reflection rose Manas and the organs of sense, etc. On reflection, they became utterly false. Naught is here save infinite Intelligence-stainless, painless, equal, free from egoism, selfresplendent, eternal, pure-It is also called the great Reality, Brahman, the Supreme.
Thus the Queen, daily inward looking, rejoicing in her own true self, free from desire or attachment, performed all duties unfettered by like or dislike, detachedly, and repining in her heart, she won the Supreme boon. Gaining the fulness within, which is beyond and beyond measure, her own true form manifested, she shone like unto a creeper bright with flowers. King Sikittuvasan, beholding with delight her strange and resplendent beauty, marvelled greatly and said unto her: "O flawless one, thou shinest as though thou hadst reached the beauty of thy youth, as though thou hadst drunk of ambrosia celestial, as though thou hadst reached the excellent state rare to win, and wert full of bliss. Wherefore yearnest thou not for pleasure, wherefore art thou peaceful and calm, lustrous, equal, and lofty minded ? How is loveliness of body wedded in thee to greater loveliness of Spirit 2 Tell me truly, Sudalai, as befits a royal wife.'

JNÁNA VÁSISHTAM 49
She made answer: "I have left altogether this Universe and have gained the form of the peerless, Mighty one that remains when all the Universe has passed away : therefore am I resplendent with beauty. I have learnt to know that which is less than the least, unchanging, beginningless, endless, which remains and endureth for ever. Therefore am I resplendent. While seeming to enjoy the things of the world, I am far from them and free from like or dislike. Therefore do I look happy and beautiful. Using like and dislike, as my little handmaids, I delight in the study of philosophy, in the company of that noble lady, Wisdom. Therefore am I beautiful and happy. Realising that of this Universe absolutely my true self is the resplendent Lord, I revel in that flawless self. Therefore have I become lovely. I have left all the aggregate of unreal things and gained that which is all these things and is other than they. Therefore am I lovely. Whatever I apprehend with eye or ear or sense organ or mind, to that I am not drawn, but, standing apart from it, I behold within me with delight the Mighty One. This is the cause of my beauty.' So spake the Queen, but the King understood her not, and laughing said: 'Slenderwaisted, in thy speech is no fitness, thou deludest thyself like a child. Living amidst royal luxury and splendour, how canst thou be resplendent in thy Self? Those who have left the petty Universe and gained the Infinite, are far from material things. How can they shine in material beauty? Tell me, soft-footed. Those who, spurning worldly enjoyments, revel in the bliss within, are poor and wretched to outward seeming. How can they be resplendent with physical beauty ? Those who profess to see not objects, but only the Self, how can they, while so professing, be physically resplendent? Therefore, simpleton, thou art deluding thyself with words into gladness,' and he laughed loud and loud, and rising, departed. The lady had pity on him that he did not rest in his self and be happy, nor understood her words aright. But she and the King again lived happily as of yore. Though

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at peace and free from all desire, she betaught herself for his sake to gain the power of walking in air. She gave up pleasures and sought a lonely place and, seated in fitting posture, practised for many days the upward direction of the breath.
Ráma: What, O Sage, is the way to gain the marvellous powers such as moving in the air ?
Vasishta: Listen, O Rama, to the way in which the practices connected with the vital airs will never fail of their purpose. One must give up all other thought and think only of the ways and means to the special power desired. By contraction of the anal and other openings, by selection of appropriate place, food, posture, by cleanliness, by study of the Yoga Shastras, by the use and observances of the prescribed things and practices, by the faithful following of the precepts of the Teacher, by giving up all else, by the control of the breath, by giving up anger, envy and other evil qualities, by renouncing pleasure-by these means, in due time, some persons, having rid themselves of like and dislike, will become masters of the Vital airs, which, taking the forms of Gods, all serve the adept, nake him emperor of the world, give him marvellous powers, and finally emancipation. There is a sovereign nerve called Antaraveshtani. It is placed among a hundred nerves, is round in shape like the body of a lute or like an eddy of water, spreads over the bodies of all living things, from Brahma to an ant. Rolled up like a snake, sleeping pinched with cold, it moves not. It is sustained by the vital breath, and is as delicate as a plantain flower. It hisses like an angry she-cobra; always hood up, ever the cause of agitation, it controls the other nerves which join the case of the heart. Its name is Kundalini. It is purified by the power of the self.
By thought, this force Kundalini is Kalai; by knowing, it is Pure Intelligence (Chit); by living, it is life (Jiva); by judging, it is judgment (Sankalpa); by ascertaining, it is perception

JNÁNA VÁSISHTAM 5.
(buddhi); by "I' making, it is egoity (ahankára); and thus it gets the name of the subtle body (Sukshuma Sareera). This vital energy called Kundalini lives well in the body--it goes up and down in the form of the inhaled breath (prana) and of the exhaled breath (apana) which escapes by the anus. It may go away altogether, upwards, or it may all come back. It is this force which becomes Jiva (life) and is subject to death. If this force Kundalini is by any means prevented from going or coming and kept motionless in the body, it will not be subject to disease.

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EASTERN IDEALS IN EDUCATION
ANO
THEIR BEARING ON MODERN PROBLEMS.
An Address delivered at the Calcutta University Institute on 24th January, 1916.
When, a casual visitor to your Metropolis, I was honoured by an invitation to address you, I readily consented. Not that I had anything particularly novel or valuable to say. But I felt I should not decline the opportunity of showing my high esteem for the University you represent and my profound interest in the great educational work it has been carrying on for nearly three quarters of a century. Plato said that the chief directorship of the education of boys and girls was the most important of all the chief offices of state, because, whatever the creature (be it plant or animal, tame or wild), if its earliest growth makes a good start, that is the most important stage towards the happy consummation of the excellence of which its nature is capable (Laws, 765). The function of education, as Plato interpreted it, is to help the child to get on in the direction of his ultimate perfection, to help "the earliest growth' of the man " to make a good start.' The training of the young is surrounded with some thing of the awfulness of a sacrament, and those who labour amid much hardship and drudgery in this sanctified field deserve a high place among the ministers of nature and the fullest recognition from the community.
52

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It has been our good fortune under the auspices of Great Britain to be brought in contact with the great currents of Western thought and culture and to be under their quickening influence now for some generations. In our eagerness to avail ourselves of these splendid opportunities we have in great measure neglected our own traditions and ideals, and there is some risk that we may not reap the full benefit of the new culture for lack of its being properly assimilated and made part of our life-blood. No people can safely break away from its past, or look upon itself as a tabula rasa on which others may paint pictures at will. Least of all should the peoples of India and Ceylon do so, who have inherited an ancient and precious civilisation. Our aim should rather be to build, on the foundation of our accumulated knowledge of centuries and our inherited stock of capacities and temperaments, a stately and enduring structure with the aid of Western learning and science. We must, as Japan did, develop our own soul, and not seek to borrow another.
UNIVERSITIES OF EUROPE: THEIR DEBT TO THE EAST.
We must not think, e.g., that the Science of Education begins for us with Herbart or Pestalozzi, Rousseau or Locke, with the Port Royalists, the Jesuits, or the Humanists of the Renaissance, nor even with Plato. We would do well to remember that the Universities of Europe owed their origin to the impulse from the East given to Europe during the Crusades of the IIth and I2th centuries. As Green, the historian of the English people, says : “The establishment : of the great schools which bore the name of Universities was everywhere throughout Europe the special mark of the new impulse that Christendom had gained from the Crusades. A new fervour of study sprang up in the West from the contact with the more civilised East. Travellers like Adelard of Bath brought back the rudiments of physical and mathematical science from the schools of Cordorva or Bagdad . . . .

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The long mental inactivity of feudal Europe was broken up like ice before a summer's sun. Wandering teachers like Lanfranc or Anselm covered sea and land to spread the new power of knowledge.' The earliest and most famous of the European universities were Paris, Salerno and Bologna. Salerno, established under Saracen influence, was for centuries a famous school of medicine. Bologna was a great school of law, with other faculties added later, while Paris was the centre of philosophy and theology, and was the mode, on which the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were organised. The intellectual revival in Europe, of which these universities were the expression, had its source in the great Mohammadan universities which extended from Samarkand and Bokhara to Fez and Cordova.
UNIVERSITIES OF INDIA: 35o To I2Oo A.D.
The Mohammadan universities themselves were not the earliest seats of Oriental culture. The historians and travellers of China and Tibet confirm Indian records and bear witness to the widespread influence of the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist universities of Ayodya (Oude), Kanchipura (Anglice, Conjeveram, near Madras), Nalanda and Vikramasila in Magadha (modern Behar), Cashmir and elsewhere. The university of Nalanda, which flourished from 350 to 850 of the Christian era, was visited about 400 A.D. by the Chinese pilgrim Fa-hian, and about 630 A.D. by the pilgrim H'wen Thsang who spent there fifteen months in study. The buildings, the gift of successive kings and nobles, were, he says, "truly glorious to behold.” There were thousands of students, all men of ability and learning. They were very strict in observing the rules of the Vinaya and were looked up to as models by all Indians. Learning and discussing, they found the day too short; day and night they admonished each other, juniors and seniors mutually helping to perfection.

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Learned men from different cities came to Nalanda to acquire renown, and some persons even usurped the name of Nalanda students in order that they might be received everywhere with honour. Of those from abroad who wished to enter the schools of discussion the majority, beaten by the difficulties of the problems, withdrew, and only those few who were deeply versed in old and modern learning were admitted. The Pandits wore a red cap with pointed peak and long lappets, which were lengthened in proportion to the rank of the wearer. A Tibetan work gives the portrait of the most distinguished professor of the university at the beginning of the 6th century, Acáryá Dignāga, a Tamil scholar from Kanchipura, an apostle of Mahayana Buddhism and the father of mediaeval Logic. His teaching bore abundant fruit in India, China and Tibet, and now exists mainly in Tibetan translations. The university of Vikramasila, which flourished from 8oo to I2Oo A.D., succeeded to the glories of Nalanda and was followed by Mithila and Nadiya.
A. FoREST UNIVERSITY IN 7TH CENTURY.
The Indian seats of learning were not always in cities or , splendidly housed. Here is a description, in the Harsha Charita of Bána, of a royal visit paid in the 7th century to a university in a forest. King Harsha enters the forest with a large retinue. As he approaches the abode of the sage who presided over the institution, he leaves his suite behind and proceeds on foot attended by a few of his vassals. While still at a distance from the holy man's abode, the king perceived a large number of "Buddhists from various provinces, perched on pillows seated on rocks, dwelling in bowers of Creepers, lying in thickets or in the shadow of branches, or squatting on the roots of trees,-devotees dead to all passions, Jains in white robes, mendicants, followers of Krishna, religious students, ascetics, followers of Kapila, Lokayatikas

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(Materialists), followers of Kanāda (Atomic school), followers of the Upanishads, students of legal institutions, students of the Puranas, adepts in sacrifices, adepts in Grammar, followers of Pancharátra, and others beside, all diligently following their own tenets, pondering, urging objections, raising doubts, resolving them, giving etymologies and disputing, discussing and explaining most points'-and all this apparently in perfect peace and harmony.
MoNASTIC SEATS OF LEARNING: THEIR DECLINE.
Many of these universities perished from the violence of Mohammedan invaders, who were of a very different type from their co-religionists who had for centuries kept alight the torch of knowledge in Europe and Asia. But some universities survived in the wealthy monasteries and colleges scattered over India and Ceylon, and under the native kings fulfilled their purpose with greater or less efficiency. Of late they have fallen into decline for want of proper supervision and control, much as the universities and public schools of England did in the 18th century and later, until their sense of responsibility was quickened by the action of Parliament, a precedent worthy of being followed here. In the I5th century we had in Ceylon a splendid college of the university type in the Wijayabahu Pirivena at Totagamuwa in Galle District, presided over by Ceylon's greatest poet, Sri Rahula Sthawira. It was catholic in its aims and provided instruction for Buddhists and Hindus, clerical and lay, in all the knowledge of the time. A vivid picture of the college and its throngs of students is given in the Gird Sandesa, a contemporary poem composed in honour of the Chancellor.
EARLIEST EDUCATIONISTS: THE UPANISHAD SEERS. Our real educationists, however, belonged to a period much earlier than the universities I have mentioned and earlier than the Christian era. These men lived away from the din of

EASTERN IDEALS IN EDUCATION 57.
cities, leading simple lives and meditating on the great problems of humanity. Their teaching has come down to us under the name Upanishad. It has profoundly influenced all Indian thought, and through China and Persia, nearly all Asiatic thought. It filtered into Europe through Persia, Arabia and Asia Minor, both before and after the invasion of India by Alexander the Great, and left its impress on the early Greek philosophers from Thales and Pythagoras, on the Gnostics and Neo-Platonists of Alexandria, on the universities of the Middle Ages and through Descartes and Spinoza, Schopenhauer and Hartmann on modern Europeaní thought.
Upanishad means etymologically "sitting near a person, the French seance or session, and these Upanishads represent to us the outcome of sittings or gatherings which took place under the shelter of mighty trees in the forests, where the old sages and their disciples met together and poured out what they had gathered during days and nights spent in quiet solitude and-meditation. They did not profess to be educationists. But they made it their business to investigate that mysterious thing which we call Personality. As the problem of education is how to strengthen and develop Personality, the labours and discoveries of these wise men of three or four thousand years ago have a perennial interest for us. Many have endeavoured to define Personality, and failed. Let us view it from the Upanishad stand-point. ·ቶ
PROBLEM OF PERSONALITY. What is it that we mean when we speak of 'myself' or "yourself?' To the average man it would seem ludicrous to feel any difficulty at all in the matter. He is quite satisfied he knows who he is-a young man, say, of 25, athletic, handsome, 5 ft. 9 ins. in his boots, Tom Smith by name, of such and such a profession, etc. But the body that he identifies with

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himself has undergone considerable change since his infancy, and will in the course of years or under the influence of disease become weak and decrepit and a scarcely recognisable shadow of the Tom Smith of vigorous adult life. Yet he believes himself the same person. His body, therefore, cannot be altogether or mainly, his self. Perhaps, then, it is a certain bundle of qualities and capacities-good, bad and mixedwhich is the true self of Tom Smith; say, affectionate and impulsive, indolent, with literary tastes, passion for music, and so on. But not only are mental and moral qualities subject to changes and profound changes, but Tom Smith if he is at all of a reflective turn and thinks of himself as of a bundle of qualities, will see that his real I, his true self, is not that bundle, but something inspecting the bundle from outside -a witness, as it were, watching what is going on-and that something or witness is very much more ethereal and subtle. So Tom Smith is baffled again. Sometimes in moments of inspiration, of intense enthusiasm, of love and dedication to a person or a cause, of communion with nature, of religious ecstasy an immense world is opened up for the astonished gaze of the inner man, who sees a self stretched far beyond anything he had imagined. Then indeed his "exterior semblance doth belie his soul's immensity,' and his little desires and satisfactions become absurd and ridiculous. He may compare himself, in that fine image of Edward Carpenter, to the little self of a coral or sponge functioning at the end of a stem and casting forth its tentacles into the water to gain food and to breathe the air out of the water. That little animalcule there, living in that way, is thinking no doubt that it is working all for itself, and yet it is united down the stem with the life of the whole coral or sponge to which it belongs. While the little creature at the end of the stem fancies that its whole energies are absorbed in its own maintenance, it really is feeding the common life of the whole, and in its turn is being fed by that common life. So also each little leaf on a tree

EASTERN IDEALS IN EDUCATION 59
may think itself an entirely separate being, maintaining itself in the sunlight and the air, withering away and dying when its time comes, and there is an end of it. All the time it is being supported by the sap, which flows from the trunk of the tree, and in its turn is feeding the tree; its self, in fact is the self of the whole tree.
THE THREAD RUNNING THROUGH THE UPANISHADS.
The thread which runs all through the Upanishads is the identity of the self of each individual with the self of every other individual in the universe." That which, after stripping off everything external, we discover in ourselves as our real, most essential being, our true self, is identical also with that eternal, infinite power which presents itself to us materialised in all existing things, which creates, sustains, preserves and receives them back into itself. "The One,' says the Upanishad, “luminous beings hidden in all, pervading all, the Self within all, overseer of all works, shadowing all creatures, the witness, the perceiver, alone, free from all qualities.' (Svetasvatara Up. 6-II). This thought, so staggering to the average mind, has a significance reaching far beyond the Upanishads, their time and country, and has so profoundly influenced India and the East, that no work done in the East can be fruitful which ignores this thought and the trains of thought and action that have flowed from it.
THE GOAL AND THE METHOD, The seers of India, having formed this conception of the self, set themselves to realise the identity of each with all.
"Who sees but One in the changing manifoldness of the
Universe, Unto him belongeth eternal Truth, unto none else, unto
none else.'
* This is the basis and the justification of the maxims, "Love thine enemy,' 'Love thy neighbour as thyself,' etc., for every injury to another is injury to yourself. "The deed is unto the doer and comes back most to him.' (Walt Whitman.)

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is the cry of the Upanishads. The attainment of this One Reality is the goal of the choicest spirits of the East, and the pursuit is made with a zeal and ardour, a reckless disregard of consequences, such as in the Western world only the dauntless navigators of the polar seas would understand. Years of the severest training and discipline are cheerfully undergone. The methods of training are almost infinite in their variety, for they have to be adapted to the idiosyncrasy of each individual.
SIGNIFICANCE TO EDUCATIONISTS.
I have only time to touch in the briefest way on one or two of these aspects. But the idea underlying all is one of great significance to educationists. The pupil is not regarded as an ignorant, weak and corrupt person, to whom the blessing of knowledge is brought from outside, but as one essentially, in his true self, wise and pure and strong, who is hidden by a cloud, on the lifting of which he shines in his innate, divine glory.
EvOLUTION ACCORDING TO DARWIN.
With this idea is inseparably associated the Upanishad theory of Evolution. It differs vitally from the Darwinian theory and from the Mendelism now in vogue-theories which have influenced almost every department of Western thought, and not least the science and practice of Education. Genetics, or the study of heredity and its laws, is now deemed the indispensable foundation of any educational system worthy of the name.
According to Darwin, evolution is effected by the agency of natural selection. More individuals, he said, are born than there is room for in the world, and in the struggle for life which results from this fact those individuals survive which are best fitted to survive. This selective action of the external world applies not merely to the organism as a whole but to parti

EASTERN IDEALS IN EDUCATION 6I
cular qualities and parts of the organism. In this way any difference, however minute, would be likely to survive, to be handed on to the next generation and so be perpetuated. The same external circumstances, which encouraged the persistence of the original minute difference, would also tend to accentuate the difference in a later generation. Gradually, by a process of summation of small variations, the greatest changes might occur, and an organism might become adapted, not merely as a whole but in its particular qualities, to the circumstances in which it lived. On these lines Darwin and his followers believed it possible to account for the development of all the different sorts of living creatures on earth and all their most minute differences of structure.
ACCORDING TO MENDEL.
This theory does not now hold the field. Professor Bateson, in his Presidential address at Melbourne to the British Association, declares that Darwin speaks no more with philosophic authority, and that his theory of evolution is now read as we read the theory of Lucretius. Practical and experimental study of variation and heredity has opened up new ground, new points of view and new standards of criticism.
The researches of Mendel and his school are deemed to have now almost established that all those variations, which distinguish the individual from the very first month of his existence, are due to the presence, or absence, in the cell from which he is built, of certain things called " genetic factors,' whatever this term precisely means. To take a stock instance, if the factor that produces tallness is present in the germ-cell of a sweet pea, this pea will be 6 ft. high; if that factor is absent from the germ-cell, it will only be about one foot. Every individual is characterized by the presence or absence in him of an enormous number of factors similar to this. No individual can acquire a particular characteristic unless the requisite factor entered into the composition of that
4, S. P. C. - 8272

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individual at fertilization, being received from either father or mother or both; and consequently no individual can pass on to his offspring positive characters which he does not himself possess. The potentialities and aptitudes, physical as well as mental, sex, colour, powers of work or invention, liability to diseases, possible duration of life and the other features by which the members of a mixed population differ from each other, are determined from the moment of fertilization, and these qualities are in the main distributed on the factorial system. By changes in the outward conditions of life the expression of some of these powers and features may be excited or restrained. For the development of some an external opportunity is needed; and if that be withheld, that character is never seen, any more than if the body be starved can the full height be attained. But such influences are superficial and do not alter the genetic constitution. Corditions give opportunities, but cause no variations.
EvOLUTION ACCORDING TO THE UPANISHADS.
These rather materialistic views of human nature would scarcely commend themselves to the philosophers of the Upanishads, whose theory of evolution is essentially spiritual. In an Ocean there are waves mountain-high, as there are smaller waves and wavelets and also bubbles. The background of them all is the infinite ocean. So behind the supreme genius as well as a little worm there is the infinite storehouse of divine energy and perfection, the common birthright of every living thing. The obstacles that stand between us and that storehouse have to be removed. The philosopher Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras compares the process to that of a farmer (IV. 3). When he is irrigating the fields, the water is in the canals, but is barred by gates. The farmer opens the gates, and the water flows in by itself. So all human progress and power are already in everything, perfection is in every man's nature. If the bar is removed

EASTERN IDEALS IN EDUCATION ნვ,
in rushes nature and you attain the powers which are yours already. The true secret of evolution is thus the manifestation of the divine perfection which is already in every being. All education aims at the removal of the barriers behind which the infinite tide is waiting to express itself. We have to learn the proper way to unlock the gate and let the water in.
It is interesting to find a similar line of thought in a recent work on Education. Mr. Holmes in his Tragedy of Educations says: "There is a potential Christ in every new-born babe. The central doctrine of Christianity means this, or it means nothing. Christhood, 'true manhood,' the ideal perfection of human nature, is divinity itself. Whatever is born carries with it in embryo the perfection of its own generic nature. And the perfection of human nature-perfect in its mastery of itself, perfect in its emancipation from self-is in a word divine. Therefore, instead of being born bad, man is it at birth, 'a god though in the germ.' Education has so far made man miss his divine destiny, has so far hindered his growth, it must now try to foster it. Man is great, because he knows himself to be miserable. Why should he not outgrow his misery by realizing his potential greatness? His nature, if allowed to grow to the full stature of its potential greatness, will spontaneously close the main sources of his misery by placing the egoism of his ordinary self and the desires and impulses of his lower self under due control.'
ROUSSEAU AND EDUCATION. Rousseau was the pioneerin this new movement in education in Europe. At a time when the Christian Church had not fundamentally modified the significance of the dogma of the fall and depravity of man, when education was still conceived as a process of eradication and suppression of the mystical old Adam, Rousseau proclaimed enthusiastically his intense

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faith and conviction in the goodness of all things and creatures as they are produced first by nature, and he based education on this conception of man's innate goodness and perfection, and besought instructors to disturb its freeworking as little as possible. In Rousseau's epoch-making work Emilius, "education began," says Lord Morley, "to figure less as the suppression of the natural man than his strengthening and development, less as a process of rooting out tares, more as the grateful tending of shoots abounding in promise of richness. If man be born not bad but good, under no curse but rather the bestower and receiver of many blessings, then the entire atmosphere of young life in spite of the toil and the peril is made cheerful with the sunshine and warmth of the great folded possibilities of excellence, happiness and well doing.'
NATURE AND NURTURE.
The age-long controversy as to the relative importance of nature and nurture seems now to be at end, and it is generally accepted that nature is overwhelmingly significant. Hence the key-stone of modern education is a wise respect for the individual personality of the pupil. We have Dr. Montessori in regard to little children, watching nature's progress with expectant and deeply interested hopefulness, and infinite patience. For them as for older pupils the need and value of a free development is recognized, and that if the inner spirit is depressed, if the instinct for liberty is quelled by authority, the school has stopped the springs of being at its
SOCe.
WoRDSwoRTH's EDUCATION OF NATURE. We may trace the influence of Rousseau in Wordsworth's passionate love of nature and belief in its infinite educative power. He had in his youth been brought into direct contact with the moving spirits of the French Revolution. You may remember his beautiful lines on the Education of Nature.

EASTERN IDEALS IN EDUCATION 6
Three years she grew in sun and shower; Then Nature said, "A lovelier flower
On earth was never sown : This child I to myself will take; She shall be mine, and I will make
A lady of my own.
"Myself will to my darling be Both law and impulse: and with me The girl, in rock and plain, In earth and heaven, in glade and bower, Shall feel an overseeing power To kindle or restrain.
"She shall be sportive as the fawn That, wild with glee, across the lawn
Or up the mountain springs; And her's shall be the breathing balm, And her's'the silence and the calm Of mute insensate things.
"The floating clouds their state shall lend To her, for her the willow bend; Nor shall she fail to see E'en in the motions of the storm, Grace that shall mould the maiden's form
By silent sympathy.
"The stars of midnight shall be dear To her; and she shall lean her ear
In many a secret place Where rivulets dance their wayward round, And beauty born of murmuring sound
Shall pass into her face.'

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PARAMAGURU SWAMI.
To many this seems but a poetic fancy, but the supreme value of this education is well recognized by our sages and it is a method much in favour among teachers and pupils carrying on the ancient traditions. One of the wisest and best men I have known was one who in his youth had been a cooly on a coffee plantation in Ceylon. He was moved to take to the woods, and for three years dwelt alone in the forests between Matale and Trincomalee, cut off from all human society, living in the contemplation of nature and in meditation, water and wild fruits his sustenance. He was discovered by some wayfarers, chased and captured, and brought into the town where they kept and tended him till by degrees he returned to the ways of human society. His was a sweet personality. Rich and poor, men, women and children, alike felt instinctively drawn to him and found peace and comfort. He had been all but illiterate in his youth, but after his experiences in the forest was able to hold learned discussions with pandits and was heard by them with reverence. He lived all his life a mystic and unwearied in good deeds. He seemed to be one who had succeeded in breaking the barrier I spoke of, in unlocking the gate and letting the great ocean waters in. Paramaguru Swami passed away in I904. A shrine much frequented by worshippers marks the place of his interment at Alu vihare, near Matale.
Cases such as this illustrate what Nature can do unaided. It is one of many ways recognised in India. Such experiences are not unknown elsewhere. But, so far as I know, in India more than elsewhere there is a living spiritual tradition in such matters, a systematic study and investigation silently and sedulously pursued through centuries, and living teachers of the principles and methods. The teachers are not necessarily of the priestly class, in fact very frequently not, and have sometimes been women and sometimes persons of the lowest castes. For in education the message is from spirit to spirit, and the spirit has no caste or sex or race,

EASTERN IDEALS IN EDUCATION 67
RELATION BETweEN TEACHER AND PUPIL. The relation between the teacher and pupil is singularly beautiful. In that fine Platonic dialogue Theaetetus (150) Socrates speaks of himself as a midwife who ushers into light, not children, but the thoughts of men; my patients, he says, are barren and stolid at first, but after a while they round apace, if the gods are propitious to them, and this is due not to me but to themselves; I and the God only assist in bringing their ideas to the birth. The ideal teacher of the East is of this kind, and watches over his pupil with a mother's love or as a hen broods over her egg. No question of remuneration enters into the relation, any more than it did between Socrates and his disciples. The pupil's attitude is one of reverence for the master, however humble his social position, loyal devotion, to him, and personal service-an ideal never more needed than now-and the years spent under the master were less a time of instruction than of discipline and self-abnegating activity. Well have our Teachers deserved such devotion. The strenuous, disinterested pursuit of Truth, the simple life of hard discipline and high effort under self-imposed rule and restraint, made them the salt of the earth. Their example and influence have mainly contributed to the preservation of Indian culture through the ages, which have witnessed the rise and fall of many civilizations and many. vicissitudes in our own. And now in the throes of a war spread over three continents we are almost witnessing the shipwreck of another great civilization, which in the glamour of material wealth and power has cared little for the things of the Spirit and has forgotten the simple life.
In our Sanskrit epic the Mahdibhdrata you may remember the story of Drona, a famous master of the science and art of war, who was the tutor of the King's sons and nephews. A Bhil prince sought to become his pupil, but was not accepted. The disappointed youth went back into the forest, made a clay image of Drona and began to worship it as if it

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were his real preceptor and to practise weapons before it with the most rigid regularity. 'In consequence,' says the poet, ' of his exceptional reverence for his preceptor and also of his devotion to his purpose,' he excelled all others as a warrior. The idea underlying this story is what I have indicated. It is not the individual in human shape that is the real teacher, but the infinite wisdom behind him; and the pupil by his devotion to the human manifestation and by the concentration of all his energies and thoughts on his study, puts himself into such a relation with that divine power as to benefit by it without an intermediary.
CoNCENTRATION.
Concentration, or "one-pointedness,' as it is significantly called, is the quality on which most stress is laid. Of the same teacher it is related in the Mahdibhdrata that, when the education of the princes was completed, he was desirous of testing their skill in the use of arms, and brought them to gether for the purpose. He had previously caused an artificial bird to be placed on the top of a tree as a target. When the pupils were assembled, he said, 'Take up your bows and arrows quickly and stand here aiming at that bird on the tree. As soon as I give the order, shoot and cut off the bird's head. I will give each of you a turn.' Then addressing the eldest of the princes, as he stood bow in hand, Drona said, "Behold that bird on the top of the tree.' The prince replied " I do.' Drona asked, 'What dost thou now see? Dost thou see the tree, myself, thy brothers?' The prince replied, "Yes, I. see the tree, thyself and my brothers.' Drona repeated the question and got the same reply. He was vexed and told the prince "Stand aside. It is not for thee to strike the aim. He then called up the other pupils one by one and repeated the experiment. In every case the answer was the same, "We see the bird, the tree, thyself and our fellow pupils;' and they were

EASTERN IDEALS IN EDUCATION б9
ordered to stand aside. At last was called Prince Arjuna and he was told, "Stand here with bow and arrow and aim at the bird as I give the order.' Next instant Drona asked, "Seest thou the bird there, the tree, myself, thy brothers.' Arjuna replied "I see the bird only, but not the tree or thee or my brothers.' Drona well pleased asked, "If thou seest the bird, describe it to me.' Arjuna replied, "I see only the bird's head, not its body." At these words of Arjuna, says the poet, the down on Drona's body stood on end for delight, and he called out "Shoot.' Arjuna sped his arrow and brought the bird's head to the ground. Immediately the teacher clasped him to his bosom, and felt the victory already won in the great battle which was impending and which is the main theme of the Epic.
ITS VALUE.
The concentration of thought, its control and mastery by the development of will-power, as practised in India, are of immense practical value and would be of special benefit to the modern world, dominated as it is by a fever of thought. What reflecting person but is conscious of the difficulty of the habit of undivided concentration on the thing in hand, of the wandering of the mind, of its division and distraction, its openness to attack by brigand cares and anxieties? Man prides himself on mastery of sea and land and air, but how rare the mastery of the mind The weary and care-worn faces of thousands, especially among the wealthy and educated classes, with their projects and plans and purposes, bear eloquent witness to the fever of thought by which man is dominated and over-ridden, "a miserable prey to the batwinged phantoms that flit through the corridors of his brain." Until one is able to expel a thought from his mind as easily as he would shake a pebble out of his boot, it is absured to talk of man as the heir of all the ages and master of Nature.

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A slave rather. But if, while at work, you can coneentrate your thought absolutely on it, "pounding away like a great engine, with great power and perfect economy, no wear and tear of friction, and then when the work is finished and there is no more occasion for the use of the machine, you can stop it equally absolutely, no worrying as if a parcel of boys were allowed to play their devilments with the locomotive as soon as it was in the shed; 'if you have gained this mastery over thought, only then would you be deemed by the sages of India on the way to freedom. But the effacement of thought does not mean its giving place to sleep. This too must be conquered, a no less difficult conquest; and then according to them the veil lifts and you pass into that region of your consciousness where your true self dwells and where, in the words of Tennyson, is:-
"The gain of such large life as matched with ours
Were Sun to spark.'
There are numerous other aspects of my subject which demand consideration. But I have detained you longer than I wished, and I must bring my observations to an end.
EDUCATION OF WORK.
I will close with a remark or two on the Education of Work We have all work of some sort to do. Cessation of work, of activity in an organism, means death. Not for an instant can one remain actionless. How should work be done to be most effective and most helpful ? That is a question which concerns us all vitally. The answer of our Sagas is this: “Whatever the work in hand, big or small, fix your whole mind to it, devote to it your whole energy.' This is concentration of thought by development of will-power, of which I have spoken, and is generally recognised to be the secret of success. But in Eastern teaching concentration is much more than a mental discipline : it has a high spiritual value.

EASTERN IDEALS IN EDUCATION 7I
The Masters add, and lay particular stress on, this: Have no personal interest in the event, carry out the duty imposed by your place in life, carry it out without like or dislike, hope or fear; perform duty as duty, realizing that for every man the zealous performance of duty and the discharge of obligations is an appointed path for the mighty evolution that ends in the realization of the true self.
IDETACHMENT IN ACTION.
In the Bhagavad Gita the scene is laid in a battle-field, where one of the heroes is torn between the duty of fighting for his sovereign and cause and the slaughter of his opponents, . among whom were dear friends and kinsmen. “I know not,' he cries," which for us would be the better, that we conquer them or they conquer us. I see not that it would drive away the anguish that withers up my senses, if I should attain supreme empire on earth or even the sovereignty of the gods.' His friend and teacher recalls to him the teaching of the Upanishads: “Do thy duty. Perform action, dwelling in union with the divine, renouncing attachment, balanced evenly in success and failure. Taking as equal pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, gird thee for the battle. Thy concern is with the action only, never with its fruits; pitiable are they who work for fruit. Abandoning all attachment to the fruit of action, ever content, thou, although doing actions, doest nothing. Who seeth action in inaction and inaction in action, he is wise among men, he is harmonious.'
This Upanishad ideal of absolute detachment in action is perhaps our mother India's most precious gift to us. It is a much needed antidote to a common weakness of the philosophic temperament and an admirable equipment for the work of the world. In a beautiful passage in the Republic of Plato he draws the picture of a philosopher who, like a man in a storm of dust and sleet retiring under the shelter of a wall

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shrinks within himself from an unsympathetic crowd and surroundings and is content to live his own life and depart in peace and goodwill (Republic, 496 D). Not so the great example in the Upanishads of the active philosopher, king Janaka. While bearing the burdens and discharging the duties of his royal position, he was among the most illustrious sages and teachers of the time, and showed men how, in the midst of the storm and stress of worldly life, to achieve the full and perfect development of Personality.

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP AND SYMBOLISM,
An Account of the Natarajá and other Saiva Bronzes found at Polonnaruwa and now in the Colombo Museum, with a 4 eas planation of their symbolism and their relation to the Saiva Siddhdinta system of philosophy.
I.
The Bronzes that I propose to speak about were discovered with others in the years 1907 and Igo8 by the late Archaeological Commissioner, Mr. H. C. P. Bell, while pursuing his excavations in the "buried city' of Polonnaruwa, and are now in the Colombo Museum. It is, perhaps, the most important find yet made by the Commissioner. Some of the principal images were unearthed near a Siva temple, popularly but erroneously called the Daladá Maligdiwa, or the Shrine of the Tooth Relic, and distinguished in Mr. Bell's Report (Sessional Paper No. V. of Ig|I) as "Siva Dewale No. I.' The other bronzes were found near a building which he has designated "Siva Dewile No. 5 ' (Sessional Paper VI. of I913).
In February, 1909, I wrote for the late Director of the Museum, Dr. Willey, a short paper identifying the bronzes. It was published, with illustrations, in the Spolia Zeylanica of September, I909. Another description by Dr. A. K. Coomara Swamy (with illustrations) appeared in the Memoirs of Colombo Museum, Series A, No. I, published in I914. Other
* For a full description and illustrations of the temples, reference is requested to those Reports and the plates therein (pages I 7-24 and Plates XVI-XIX. of Sess. Paper V. of 1911, and pages 4-7 and plates X.-XIV. of Sess Paper VI. of I913). A list of the bronzes with illustrations is given in pages 36-7 and plate XXI. of the former Report and in page I7 and plates XVII.-XIX. of the latter Report.
73

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illustrations have been prepared for this Paper. None of the illustrations quite do justice to the originals. I am indebted to the present Director, Dr. Pearson, for permission to show some of the original bronzes to-day.
The Siva Dewale No. I is the choicest example of a Hindu temple found at Polonnaruwa, if not throughout the Island, and lies just south of the elevated quadrangle within which lie the ruins of Buddhist and Hindu shrines, combining the architectural features of Ceylon, South India and Cambodia in strange and not inharmonious grouping. The Dewale is all of carved stone, delicately fitted and wrought. " In almost every detail,' says Mr. Farrer in his Old Ceylon, "the thing is perfect, and perhaps it is more than fancy that finds Hellenic memories in the purity of its line and the perfection of its proportions . . . Tradition calls this lovely jewel of stone-work, the Daladá Maligáwa of Polonnaruwa asserting that this was the shrine of the Tooth Relic. Tradition here lies, for this temple is not Sinhalese but Tamil of the finest, it is not Buddhist but Hindu, it is not a shrine of the Tooth Relic but a temple of Siva the Destroyer. The Tooth Relic, we know, was treasured in the Wata-daige, and in all probability this Saivite shrine, so beautiful and ornate, is some family chapel of Parákrama Báhu the Great, who, for all his cult of Buddhism and its ancient monuments, never swerved from the faith of his ancestors.' The traditional name may be due, as Mr. Bell conjectures, to the building having been at some time or other used as a temporary resting-place of the Tooth Relic, pending its permanent lodgment in a Buddhist shrine worthy of its sanctity. Tradition also assigns the construction of the temple to King Kirti Nissanka, who seated himself on Parákrama's throne in II98 A.D.
* The Court religion in Ceylon was usually Brahminical, the kings and nobles being closely connected by marriage and other ties with S. India. Parákrama Báhu himself was (as Mr. Still shows by an analysis of his ancestry) not more than 22/64 Sinhalese

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 75
The temple is similar in plan and structure to, but more elaborated than, the Siva Dewale No. 5, or the better preserved shrine indicated in Mr. Bell's Report as "Siva Dewale No. 2,' but hitherto called Vishnu Dewäle in spite of its obtrusive indications of Siva worship, the bull and the lingam still found there. That Siva Dewale No. I was also devoted to the same worship is conclusively established by the finding here of the bronze images described below as well as of the pedestal of a Siva lingam.
II. ,
Before proceeding to a description of them, I will deal with their probable date. Mr. Rea (Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey, Southern Circle, Madras Presidency) declares the temples to be similar in outline to Chóla and Pándya temples of the IIth and I2th centuries in India. The Siva Dewale No. I is, he says, generally more advanced in plan and ornate architectural detail than the Siva Dewale No. 2; the former, with its pilaster-lined walls and niches for images, somewhat resembles the detached Subrahmanya shrine in the great temple of Siva (Brihad-isvara) at Tanjore. This temple is a Chóla structure of the IIth century, and the Subrahmanya shrine-a gem of South Indian Architectureis ascribed by Ferguson to the I2th century, an opinion in which Mr. Rea concurs. He assigns the same date approximately to Siva Dew&le No. I. A short pillar-slab, inscribed with Grantha Tamil characters, unearthed in the hall (mandapam) records" that it was set up by Lanka Vijaya Senevirat, a Sinhalese general, by order of King Gaja Báhu II. (I242I264 A.D.). Mr. Bell thinks this pillar was not originally connected with the temple, but brought later from elsewhere.
In Siva Dewale No. 2 there are three inscriptions cut on the walls in Grantha Tamil characters which give a safer
* Arch. Commissioner's Report for 1907 (Sess. Paper V. of 191, page 37)

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clue to the date. The longest of these inscriptions" records a grant of a lamp and lamp-stand to the temple, and that the temple authorities and servants hold themselves responsible for the keeping of the lamp alight for ever. The date of the grant is mentioned as the reign (No. of the year missing) of Parakésarivarman alias Udaiyár Sri Adhirájendra Deva, a Tamil King of the Chóla dynasty who ruled in South India circa Iozo-Io73 A.D. His valour and greatness are described in the first nine lines of the inscription in ornate Tamil prose. One of the predecessors of Rajendra Chóla I. (Io29 to Io42
A.D.) is referred to in another of the inscriptions.
This was about the period when, according to the Mahdivansa, the rule of the Chóla kings in Ceylon was at its zenith. The Sinhalese king Sena V., who ascended the throne at Polonnaruwa about 99II A.D., having quarrelled with his commander-in-chief, had to take refuge in the Rohana country, leaving his capital in the hands of the Tamils. His successor, Mahinda V. (Ioor A.D.), lived with great difficulty for I2 years at Anurádhapura and then was driven to Rohana. The Tamils had hitherto come mainly from the Pandyan kingdom of Madura, and whether as invaders, allies, rulers or colonists, had exercised a predominant influence in the Island. The rival Chóla dynasty, whose seat was at Kanchipura, near Madras, was now in the ascendant. The king of Chóla, hearing of the distracted state of the Island, sent an army which overran the whole country, captured and deported
* Arch. Commissioner's Report for Igo6 (Sess. Paper XX. of Igo, pages 22, 26-7).
t The presiding deity, Siva, is here called "Vánavan Mádévi İsvaram Udaiyár, Lord (Udaiyar) of Jana nátha mangalam,' the last name being. that by which the city of Polonnaruwa was known to the Tamil rulers and meaning ' the auspicious (city) of (Siva) the Lord of creation '' It is called in other inscriptions 'Pulainari or Jananathapuram in the Chóla land of peerless fertility" (Fæfisk GF typ -6rs fru G. Libsflurer ager 5 sta, Li Ji), and again "Pulainari or Vijayarijapuram." (Arch Report for Igo9, Sess. Paper VI. of 1914, p. 27). Pulainari is the Tamil form of Polonnaruwa, itself a contraction of Pulastiya nagara ' city of Pulastiya.'

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 77
Mahinda to India (where he died I2 years later) and "stationed themselves in the city of Pulatti (Polonnaruwa) and held possession of the King's country even unto the Rakkhapásáņa-kantha* place ” (Mahávaņsa, LV. 2I-23). Thenceforward the northern half of the Island was securely held for half a century as fief of the Chóla kings until Vijaya Bahu I. (son of Mahinda) threw off the yoke (Io65 A.D.). It is to this period of Chólian conquest, contemporaneous with the period in English history from Cnut to William the Conqueror, that the Hindu temples of Polonnaruwa and the bronzes in question belong. One of the other inscriptions in Siva Dewale No. 2 refers to a date about 8 years later than the victory of Vijaya Báhu. We may take it, then, that the bronzes are about eight and a half centuries old.
III The images which I shall deal with are those of Siva, the principal member of the Hindu Trinity, of his consort Sivakami or Párvati, of some of his principal saints, his favourite charger (the bull Nandi) and the Sun-god (Sariya). The bronzes are characterised by the precision that comes of long tradition and practice. But there is inequality in style and finish. Some of the bronzes are heavy, commonplace and conventional, showing the artist struggling with imperfect realization of his ideals, defective knowledge and training and insufficient mastery of the technical difficulties; others are distinguished by consummate power and are "a music to the eye,” as, for example, Sundaramúrti in plate VIII., which is unsurpassed in the expression of religious rapture
and Chandeswara in plate IXa.
The most important are the bronzes of the dancing Siva known as Nata-raid or (in pure Tamil) Ada-vallir. In design and detail the bronzes do not differ from the bronzes in the temples of to-day, showing that there has been little of no
* Rakvama

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change in the ritual and conventions of worship. The images of Nata-rájá are scarcely equal in execution to the Nata-rájá in the Brihad-isvara temple in Tanjore or that in the Madras Museum.
The principal Nata-rájá, found in Polonnaruwa is shown in plate I. and on a smaller scale in plate II. a and b, the front and back view. Plates III. and IV. show two smaller figures of Nata-rajá (front and back view), but incomplete, as the halo is wanting, and in IV. also the braided locks. The dance represents the cosmic activity, of which Siva is the director and therefore is called King (or Lord) of the dance (Nata-raidi or Naesa). "Think of our Lord,' says a devotee," as the peerless dancer and dancing master, who abideth in all bodies as heat in fuel and maketh all creatures dance.'t
This form is a favourite symbol of Siva worship in the Tamil land of South India and Ceylon, but is not, as far as I know, found in Northern India except in temples of Siva established there under Tamil auspices. It is in Tamil land that the traditions of the dance had their origin and still have their yearly celebrations.
No Hindu image is deemed suitable for worship until it has been consecrated by elaborate ceremonies designed "to draw to 'it (a-vah-anam, Lat. ad-veh-o) the Divine Presence and make it what in Christian language might be called "a vehicle of Divine Grace.” When an image has been deprived of its daily services or defiled by contact of unworthy hands, it must be consecrated anew before worship. The images are daily robed, jewelled and garlanded, and worshippers see Scarcely more than face or hands. The almost nude bronzes
* See plates III. and IV. in Gangoly's South Indian Bronzes. tக்ாட்டவனல் போலுடல் கலந்துயிரை யெல்லா
மாட்ெேமாரு கட்டுவனெம் மண்ணலென வெண்ணுய் ... Tiruvátavúr-adikal Purámam, ('-'éareoir airfeá Geisire 4F(5éšas uă, 75).

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 79
before you you must imagine to be so robed and adorned in order to see them as they are seen in the temples. Dr. Pope, a great missionary and scholar, who spent over half a century in Southern India and has edited, with an excellent translation and commentary, Tiru-vachakam, the ancient and popular Psalms of Tamil-land daily recited in the temples, says (p. XXXv):—
" It is sometimes thought and said that the idols in these temples are mere signs, representing as symbols the Divine Being and some of His works and attributes. This is not altogether an adequate statement of the case. Each image by a peculiar service, which is called divdhanam, becomes the abode of an in-dwelling deity and is itself divine . . . Devout and enthusiastic worshippers, amid the glare of the lamps and the smoke of the incense, seem to be carried away so as to entirely identify the invisible object of their thought with that which is presented before their eyes. It was certainly so with our poet. If it be remembered that some of these images have been actually worshipped, tended, garlanded and treated as living beings for a thousand years; that each generation has done them service and lavished gifts upon them; that they are connected by association with long lines of saints and sages; and that it is earnestly believed that Siva's method of manifestation is by, through, and in these as what we should call sacraments of his perpetual presence, --we shall understand with what profound awe and enthusiastic affection even images, to us unsightly, can be beheld by multitudes of good and excellent people.'
IV. The orthodox Hindu teaching held it to be irreverent and illogical to found artistic ideals of the Divine upon any strictly human or natural prototype, and recognizing the impossibility of human art realizing the form of God, sanctioned only an allegorical representation. "The artist,'

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says an ancient Sanskrit writer, Sukrácháriya, in his Sukra Níti Sára or Sukra's Elements of Polity, a work translated into the Tibetan language in the 7th century A.D., " should attain to the image of the gods by means of spiritual contemplation only. The spiritual vision is the best and truest. standard for him. He should depend on it and not at all upon the visible objects perceived by external senses. It is always commendable for the artist to draw the images of the gods. To make human figures is bad and even irreligious. It is far better to present the figure of a god, though it is not beautiful, than to reproduce a remarkably handsome human figure.' This of course is the antithesis of Greek Art, which glorified physical beauty and strength and made the beautiful man or woman the type of God.
"Spiritual contemplation,' says Havell, "is the key note of Hindu Art, as it was of the art of Fra Angelico and other great Christian masters: the whole philosophy of Indian Art is in these two words, spiritual contemplation, and they explain a great deal that often seems incomprehensible and even offensive to Europeans.' Regarding all we see in Nature as transitory and illusive phenomena and the Divine Essence as the only reality, Indian Art cared little for the scientific study of facts, for anatomical detail, for the cult of the lay figure or the nude model. A faithful representation or imitation of Nature, though attained by him when he liked, was not to the Indian artist the end or a serious concern of Art. He strove, however imperfectly, to pierce the illusive appearance of things and realize something of the Universal, the Eternal and the Infinite. "Whatsoever a thing may be, to see in it the One Reality is true Wisdom,' says Tiruvalluvar (Kural, 355).*
*எப்பொரு ளெத்தன்மைத் தாயினு மப்பொருள்
மெய்ப்பொருள் காண்ப தறிவு,

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 8.
IEkodevah sarva bhuteshu gúdah sarvavyápísarvabhutánta
rátmá Karmádhyakshah, sarvabhutádhivásah sákshí chetá kevalo
nirguņascha. "The One, luminous, hidden in all beings, pervading all the innermost self of all, overseer of all acts, dweller in all beings, witness, perceiver, alone, free from all qualities." (Svetaşıvatara Upanishad, 6, III.)
Any attempt to represent in art this Being, transcending thought and speech, must necessarily be futile. How inadequate, for instance, are the representations by Michæl Angelo in the paintings which adorn the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at Rome and which are generally regarded as the grandest creation of Modern Art?
Mr. Laurence Binyon, poet and art-critic, writes thus of the Indian ideal and its influence in shaping the ideals and imagery of Chinese and Japanese Art now highly appreciated in Europe. "The Indian ideal claims everywhere its votaries, and the chosen and recurrent theme is the beauty of contemplation, not of action. Not the glory of the naked human form, to Western Art the noblest and most expressive of symbols; not the proud and conscious assertion of human personality; but instead of these, all thoughts that lead us out from ourselves into the universal life, hints of the infinite whispers from secret sources-mountains, water, mists, flowering trees, whatever tells of powers and presences mightier than ourselves: these are the themes dwelt on, cherished and preferred." (Painting in the Far East.)
V. A correct judgment of a nation's art is not possible unless the critic divests himself of prepossessions and endeavours to understand the thought of that people and to place himself in their point of view. As a great French savant, Taine, has said : "Quand on veut comprendre un art, il faut regarder l'âme du public auquel il s'addressait." As you can only

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speak to a person in a language which you both know, so you can only appeal to his artistic side by means of some common tradition, feeling, symbolism. Art is, it is true, in
one sense a universal language, but every nation's art is the
outward and visible expression of, and intimately associated with, the national culture and sentiment, uses the symbols.
best understood by the people to whom it is addressed, and requires for its appreciation a familiarity with the national
life and thought. This is especially the case with Indian
Art, which is essentially idealistic, mystic, symbolic and transcendental, and cannot be judged by the canons of Greek Art, the Renaissance or the Art of modern Europe, which
are all in greater or less degree naturalistic and realistic.
The symbolism by which Indian Art conveyed its ideas is to the Westerner, almost an insuperable obstacle to aesthetic appreciation. He cannot see a figure possessing more than the usual complement of limbs without uttering a groan of pain at this anatomical monstrosity. The question, however, is not one of Anatomy but of Art. The London Times some time ago observed, in a review of Mr. W. A. Smith's History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon: "The four-armed Siva is not a whit more anatomically impossible than the winged angels or the centaurs which have been represented by the greatest artists of the West-not to mention those cherubs of Italian art whose anatomical deficiencies, from the schoolmaster's point of view, gave an ever memorable opportunity to the humour of Charles Lamb. The fact is, that no artist of genius, East or West, has ever cared a straw about anatomy when he had anything to gain by disregarding it. Extra limbs can be badly composed, just as the ordinary number can, but each case must be judged on its own merits; nor is it possible, in dealing with a definitely symbolic work of art, to separate the symbolism from the art so drastically as Mr. Vincent Smith is inclined to do. Nor, again, can the

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 83
symbolism of one section of Hindu mythology be justly separated from the rest and condemned as the product of a diseased imagination because it represents certain terrible aspects of Nature, which undoubtedly form a part of the whole and have to be taken into account in any deep and sincere conception of the universe.'
Sukrácháriya says in the work from which I have already quoted: " In order that the form of an image may be brought out fully and clearly upon the mind, the image-maker must meditate and his success will be in proportion to his meditation. No other way, not even seeing the object itself, will answer this purpose.'
Something of this impatient refusal to be limited by the outward semblance of things and by the conscious imitation of them, something of this striving after the inner and informing Spirit by unlocking the treasures of sub-consciousness, marks the effort of all the new schools of European Art and especially of the Vorticists. Their painting and sculpture, crude as they seem to us, have raised fundamental aesthetic questions, and caused heart-searchings as to the sculpture commonly regarded as the greatest, that of Greece. That remarkable Vorticist sculptor, Gaudier Brzeska," who died last year, at the early age of 23, fighting for France, uttered regarding Greek sculpture what the Times calls "a profound piece of criticism.' He said: "The fair Greek saw himself only. He petrified his own semblance.' Commenting on this, the Times says: "It is the weak point in Greek sculp. ture, as compared with Egyptian, that it is entirely conscious and sharply limited by the effort to make the statue as like some reality as possible. The Egyptian was freed from his own egotism by his deeper religious feeling. His desire to make his gods more like gods than men delivered him from the thraldom of mere imitation, and made him more the
* Pronounced Jaersh-ka. The organ of the Vorticists was the Blast.

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master of the riches of his own sub-consciousness.' The Times adds that it is as absurd to condemn the works of the Vorticists because they are not like any natural thing, as it would be to condemn the fugues of Bach because they are not like any natural sounds: it may be that we are puzzled by it only because we have the habit of looking for likeness in sculpture, and painting, and if we could free our minds and eyes of that habit, the musical meaning of it would be clear to us.
VI.
According, then, to the traditional Hindu view which Sukráchárya has expressed, the sculptor of an image of Siva should engage in meditation. To help the artist-devotee in his meditations there exists a body of contemplative verses (dhyana slokas), which set forth the distinguishing features of the particular manifestation of God desired and sometimes the spiritual meaning of the conception. The success of the artist would correspond to the extent to which he entered into the spirit of these conceptions and realized them in his own consciousness. The limitations of these conventions need not, except to the mediocre, be a barrier to artistic expression, any more than the high formalism and convention of Greek tragedy hampered the genius of Sophokles or Euripides.
In the Dhydina Ratnávali the devotee thus meditates on Siva as Nata-rājā.
* There were also laid down for the apprentice-student certain canons of proportion in the ancient technical books on Art, known as the Silpa Sastra, of which the chief are Agastiya Sakáladhikára, Kásyapiya, Sukranitisára, Sárasvatiya, &c. Some account of them will be found in the recently published work of Mr. O. C. Gangoly on "South Indian Bronzes,' a valuable work (in spite of defects due to ignorance of Tamil and limited knowledge of Sanskrit) and one which it is not creditable to the English-educated Tamils of India and Ceylon to have left to a Bengali gentleman to write.
Since this paper was printed, I have seen the valuable work on Hindu Iconography by Mr. Gopinatha Rao of Travancore.

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 85
Sáyápasmáratorddhva sthitapadavilasad vámamuddhritya
pádam
Jválámálásamadhye natanaphanisamam vyághrapádádi
sevyam
Bhasmoddhulitamangavidrumanibham hastagrapadagra
kam
Vahnim dolákarábhanam damarukam dhyátvá natesam
bhaje.
"Luminous foot on dormant Apasmára (a Titan) planted left foot raised, in the midst of a garland of flame, with dancing serpents, by Vyāghrapáda and others worshipped, with ashes daubed, body of coral hue, tip of hand to tip of foot (pointing), fire, pendent hand, hand of refuge, drum :- (on these) meditating, I worship Natesa (Lord of the Dance)."
In another stanza Siva is meditated on together with his consort thus, and is called Sabhesa, the Lord of the (dancing) Hall.
Dhyáyet kotiraviprabham trinayanam sítánsugangádharam Dakshánghristhita vámakunchitapadam sárdúla charmám
baram Vahnim dolákarábhayam damarukam vámesivám syáma
lám Kalháram japasraksukám katikarám devím sabhesam
bhaje.
"Meditate on Him, resplendent as a million suns, threeeyed, wearer of the moon and the Ganges (on his head), right foot planted, left foot bent, in tiger-skin clad-fire pendent hand, hand of refuge, drum, -on the left the Lady Siva, dark of hue, water lily, rosary, parrot, hand on hipthe lady and the Lord of the Hall (Sabhesa) I worship.'
Şuddhaşphatikasamkâşam jatâmakutâmanditam
Makuțamtriguņam nágam prabhámandala manditam Dakshiņamsusthitam pádam vámapádan tu kunchitam Praspitamvámahastan cha, dakshashastábhayapradam

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Vámahaste sthitam, vahnim dakshine damuram-tathá Sarvábharaņasamyuktam apasmáropraristhitam Váme gaurisamnyukatam trimbh*.. ........... nchitam.
(bhaje tryambakam ucchritam)
"Like pure crystal, adorned with crown of matted haircrown of the three gunas, serpent, circle of flame, right foot planted, left foot bent, left hand stretched, right hand offering protection, fire in left hand, drum in the right, adorned with all ornaments, standing on Apasmára (the Titan), on the left to Gauri joined, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (I worship the standing Siva ”).
VII.
Such meditations as these are materialized in the bronzes Natarájá and Sivakámi, and for their correct understanding require some knowledge of Hindu philosophy, religion and traditions, especially of the Saiva Siddhánta School, the basis of the Siva worship introduced into Polonnaruwa by the armies of the Chóla Kings. The Saiva Siddhánta system is the chief contribution of the Tamils to philosophy and religion, and in the opinion of the learned Dr. Pope is "the most influential and undoubtedly the most intrinsically valuable of the religions of India.' This attempt to solve the problems of God, the soul, humanity, nature, evil, suffering and the unseen world is little known to Western scholars. Dr. Pope,it who devoted many years to the study and exposition of this system, Mr. J. M. Nallasami Pillai and others who have laboured in the same field have touched little more than
* The concluding words of the last line are imperfect in the original MS. and my friend, Dr. Satish Chandra Vidyābhusana, Principal of the Sanskrit College, Calcutta, has suggested the words in brackets instead.
t See footnote on gunas, p. 27.
tit For over half a century a missionary in South India and, later, teacher of Tamil and Telugu at Oxford and chaplain of Balliol College. See especially his translations of the Saiva Psalms (Tiruvachakan) with the valuable notes thereon; Nallasami Pillai's translations of Siva-gndina-Bodham, Siva-gnána-Siddhiyár, etc.

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 87
the fringe. Only a brief outline, limited to the needs of this lecture, is possible here.
The Saiva Siddhánta postulates three entities, viz., God (pditi LS or 930p, literally, Lord or King), the Soul or rather aggregate of souls (pasu, Lust, lit. cattle), and Bondage (pdisam, LITFLp), the sum total of all those elements which fetter the soul and keep it frcm finding release in union with God. Pasam is, in one of its aspects (malam), the innate taint clinging to the soul from of old as verdigris to brass and corresponding in a way to the “ original sin ” of Christianity : in another aspect (maya) it is the material cause of the universe. The scheme of the universe has for its aim the removal of the soul's impurity and its union with the Iord. This is effected by His energy (Sakti, fgS or syCD6it, arul, Grace) which abides in Him inseparable from Himself and is the gracious instrument of His operations.
Though God and the soul are eternal entities, the Saiva Siddhánta takes great pains to make out that they are not two entities nor yet one, and calls itself Pure Non-dualism (Suddhadvaita), being equally removed from the Dualism of such religions as Christianity, Mohammadanism and Vaishnavism and from the Monism of the Vedānta. God is often compared by the Saiva Siddhánta philosophers to the first letter A of the Tamil and Sanskrit alphabets, which represents the English sound u in but, the first sound that issues from the mouth when it opens. The sound underlies and energizes every other sound and is also a distinct and the first sound. So God pervades and energizes all souls and nevertheless stands apart, Himself, of all things, the source and the chief.
The Siva-gndina-bodham, the chief Tamil authority of this school, thus explains what the Vedas mean, when they say
Ekam Sat,' 'All that is, is one.'

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“One," say the Vedas." Behold, it is said of the One. The One is the Lord. Thou, who sayest 'One, art the Soul. Lo, in bondage art thou. If the One were not, -. If vowel A were not, letters there would be none. In this wise say the Vedas One.' '
'Like song and its tune, like fruit and its flavour, the Lord's energy everywhere pervadeth, non-dual. Therefore say the great Vedas not "one but " not two.''
God thus permeates and vitalizes all things, has neither name nor form, is beyond speech and thought, time and space. This conception of the absolute is well brought out in the ordinary Tamil word for God 5L6Git (Kadavul), meaning that which transcends (Kada) all things and is the heart (ul) of all things. When the Absolute becomes manifest, it is as Force (Sakti, sig5 or dyCair), of which the universe is the product, being from cycle to cycle evolved by Force from cosmic substance (Máya) and again involved. Hindu philosophers do not admit creation and destruction in the sense of production out of nothing and reduction to nothing. Their conception of creation which they calk projection (srishti, gobliq, Gs itsipin, torram,) and of destruction which they call contraction, involution or withdrawal (samhara, gias/Tob, 3(8a5asib, odukkam), is more akin to Huxley's: "All the choir of heaven and the furniture of the earth are the transitory forms of parcels of cosmic substance, wending along the road of evolution from nebulous potentiality, through endless growths of sun and satellite.
* Ekam sad viprá bahudhá vadanti (Rig. Veda, I, I64-46). "Alt that is, is one. Poets call it by many names.'
f ஒன்றென்ற தொன்றேகா ஞென்றே பதிபசுவா
மொன்றென்ற ரீபாசத் தோடுண்கா-னென்றின்மு லக்கரங்க ளின் ருர மகரவுயிரின்றே விக்கிரமத் தென்னு மிருக்கு. II. 2. பண்ணையு மோசையும் போலப் பழமதிவு மெண்ணுஞ் சுவையும்போ லெக்குமா-மண்ணமுள் அத்து வித மாத லருமறைக ளொன்றென்ன தத்துவித மென்றறைய மாக்கு. II. 3.

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 89
through all varieties of matter, through infinite diversities of life and thought, possibly through modes of being of which we neither have any conception nor are competent to form any, back to the indefinite latency from which they arose."
VIII. Not brute and blind, however, but full of intelligence and grace is the Power which thus makes and unmakes, and which by the sages of India is accordingly regarded as the Universal Mother and, being inseparably inherent in God, is also called the Consort of God,
அகிலாண்ட கோடி யீன்ற வன்னையே பின்னையுங் கன்னியென மறைபேசு மானந்த ரூப மயிலே.
'Mother of millions of world clusters, Yet Virgin by the Vedas called.'t
This power is addressed by Chidambara Swami in the Panchditikdira vilakkam, "Exposition of the Five Operations, in these words:
"My head I crown with lily feet of Sivakama Sundari,
Who with the Absolute inseparably is blended
As flower and scent, sun and ray, life and body,
As gem and lustre, form and shadow, word and meaning,
Who to the manifested Lord as Consort shines,
Who ever cures the life-hungertt of her children, all
living things,
With ceaseless bliss ambrosaial feeding and in Freedom's
mansion establishing.'
The various manifestations of this Power are grouped by the Saiva Siddhánta school under five heads, which are deemed the principal aspects of the great Mother and are called the Five Acts (pancha kritya gess G5Infé), ain-tolil), of
* Huxley, "Evolution and Ethics." † Táyumánavar, upbealari காதலி.
tt SAD elius, the liability of the soul to reincarnation and further development until it becomes ripe for union with God.

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God: (I) Projection or Evolution (srishti, SG59, Gas Tsiph or UGOL'il); (2) Maintenance or Preservation (sthiti, 5.5, fi26, 5 ITIL); (3) Withdrawal or Involution (samhaira, Fil 5 ITUh6?(B&&sub); (4) Veiling or Obscuration (tiro-bháiva, Lm60) spull); (5) Grace (anugraha, or arul gly Clair). The evolving energy (Brahma, the Creator) evolves for each soul according to its deserts out of primordial substance a body (tanu), organs of knowledge and action (karapa), pains and pleasures (bhoga) and spheres (bhuvana) to experience them in. The maintaining or preserving energy (Vishnu the Preserver) maintains them for a time for the soul's experience. The involving or destroying energy (Rudra, the destroyer) withdraws them and makes them disappear to be projected again. The obscuring energy (Mahesa) entangles the soul in them so that, unable to distinguish the real from the unreal, it identifies itself with its transitory envelopments, calling the body and the organs 'I' and the experiences and spheres mine.' When the soul has passed through the discipline of these experiences in many births, the gracious energy (Sadásiva) enlightens the ripened soul, delivers it from its delusion and bondage, establishing it in union with God, which is Freedom (Moksha, aSG, vidu), the final goal and fulfilment of every soul.
In this union the soul, set free by the Holy Spirit (SC) 6) Cloit), the gracious energy of the Lord, from the influence of its innate taint and from the fettering consciousness of the senses, lives eternally in the conscious full enjoyment of His presence, “thrall to the Lord.” (Siva-gnána-bodham, IX., 6.)
தனக்கு நிழலின்ரு மொளிகவருந் தம்ப மெனக் கவர நில்லா திருள்.
"Like crystal pillar that absorbeth light (of sun at Zenith) and hath no shadow, so no darkness remains to lay hold of him.' (Tiruvarutpayan, 67.)

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 91.
The earliest manifestations of the Divine Energy are Vibration (Nada) and the word (Vach)" which is the Logos of St. John. Among the later manifestations the most venerated in India is Umá or Sivakámi, beloved of Siva. According to an ancient tradition she appeared in response to the prayers of a Himalayan king as an infant floating in a golden lily lake and was thence taken and reared by the king until claimed by Siva. From this tradition she is also called Párvati, the Lady of the Mountain.
She is thus addressed by Tayumánavar in her esoteric and éxoteric aspects:-
'Mansion and wealth, children and friends around,
Splendour ever and throne, the certainty That Death's dark messengers draw not nigh, Wisdom's light, purity, wondrous powers-, All these are mine, so with thy feet my thought be one, O Mother that hast Thy seat beside the dark-throated
Lord li Light and bliss of knowledge supreme, that swallowest
religions as oceans rivers O Stillness, the Vedas' goal, Thy form seen where Vibration ends, O Wisdom, consumer of me and thought * Lady Uma, beauteous as the moon, Madhu Sudanas
sister, Who lovest mountain haunts and was born dear to the
Mountain-King as the apple of his eye S
* Etymologically the Latin vox.
it "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.' St. Matthew, VII, 33.
Siva, whose throat is said to have been stained dark-blue with a dread poison, which would have destroyed the world if he had, not swallowed it on its production at the churning of the ocean by the celestials for the nectar of immortality.
** The sense of I, and thought with its correlative sleep or oblivion, have to be consumed by the Holy Spirit (Sakti), for the union of the soul with God.
TVishnu.
STáyuménavar, Looneri a rass, l.

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2 POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP
"From the elements to Vibration Thou showedst
To me as false; myself to me unveildest. In the core of my intelligence standing,
Stand still, free, in spirit-space all filling, Without beginning, without end,' Thou saidst, And skilfully establish'dst me, O Mother Who vouchasfest pure knowledge and bliss, Yielding all the heart desireth. Forgetting Thee can I, poor wretch, live? Darling of the three-eyed Lord", of all ills The panacea, beyond the reach of them That lack the inner eye which illumineth The Vedas and excellent Agamas, Beyond the deaf, who hear not the praise of thy might Beyond the stricken with the plague of controversy Lady Uma, who lovest mountain haunts and wast born Dear to the Mountain-king as the apple of his eye 't
Though Umá or Sivakami is the female manifestation of Siva, she, being his inherent energy, is inseparable part of him and is spoken of exoterically as the left part. Siva is thus both male and female, and one of his names is ArdhaNárisa, "the half female Lord'. This recalls the old Orphic Hymn.:-
Ζευς άροην γενετο Ζευς άμβροτος έπλετο νύμφη ' Zeus was a male, Zeus was a deathless virgin,'
In token of the dual sex, Siva is represented as wearing in his right ear a man's ear-ring (makara kundala, G56ööTL6oth or G560p), and on the left a woman’s (táțanka or tóɖu, G3578) In a popular psalm of Manikkaváchakar, he sings :-
"The Lady is in Thee, and Thou art in the Lady;
Ye both are in me your servant.'
IX. The mystic dance of Siva symbolized in the Nataraja bronzes is said to have been danced in a remote age in the
* Siva. See p. 98. * Tâyumânavar, to3valeri sırase), 3.

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 93
forest of Darukavana after the overthrow of a body of heretics who, puffed up with the pride of learning and of skill in ritual and magic, regarded themselves as independent of Siva's authority and self-sufficing. The dance was, it is said, repeated for the benefit of two devotees, Patanjali and Vyaghrapada, at Chidambaram or Tillai (in the South Arcot District of the Madras Presidency), which is therefore held in the highest reverence by the worshippers of Siva and is called Koyil, "The Temple" par excellence.
The Skanda Purdina relates the legends of the dance in Darukavana (Daksha Kanda, Chapters XIII. and XIV; and in Tamil, Kachchiappa Swami's Kandapuranam, Daksha Kända, 30-Iz7). The Koyil Purānam of Umapáti Sivachariyar (written in the latter part of the 13th century) relates the legends of the dance at Chidambaram and the inauguration by King Hirany varma of a commemoration festival, which continues to be celebrated there every year on the sixth lunar asterism (arudrá) of the month of Markali (December-January), and draws immense crowds of pilgrims. It is an important festival in every Siva temple in S. India and Ceylon.
The shrine at Chidambaram is unique in combining the exoteric and esoteric aspects of Siva worship. The Natarája dancing the cosmic dance is separated from the Holy of Holies by a veil, which is seldom raised and only as a special boon to favoured individuals. There is then revealed mere space, the ether filling it being the symbol of God. But even this subtle, all-pervading element is deemed an inadequate symbol, for the ether is to the Hindu sages unintelligent matter (iaddikisa, "material-space,') while God is chid-akúsá, “Spirit-space,'-pure being (sat), pure intelligence (chit), pure bliss (dinanda). Hence the mystic name of the shrine, Chid-ambaram, "Spirit-space,' ambaran being another word for dikasd.
5. S. P. C. - 8272 -

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94 POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP
Mánikkavachakar, a great Saiva saint and apostle, whose figure in bronze was found at Polonnaruwa (Plate Xd.) and whose spiritual history was largely linked with the shrine, sings thus in one of his psalms (Kirtti-tiruvakaval):-
"The holy feet, that danced in the ancient city
Of Tillai, dance in all living things, in beauty of infinite diversity shining, Making, unmaking, earth and heaven And worlds celestial and hosts of sciences, Driving away my darkness and taking up Loving abode in the hearts of His servants.'
(After an enumeration of His gracious manifestations to them) :-
"The mighty Lord of Kailas' echoing peak
Who graciously maketh thrall of each and all By contrivance meet, bade me, a dog, Enter blissful Tillai's hall of glory, Crushing the I in me to make me His.' The redemption of souls is thus regarded as the culmination of God's operations in the universe; and the dance, while symbolizing these operations, is believed to have its counterpart in the subjective experience of saints:-
"The silent mystics, rid of the three-fold taint,
And drinking deep the bliss that wells Where self hath ceased, they behold the dance Of our gracious Lord in the sacred hall.' The hall is the devotees' heart, and the dance beyond speech and thought.
கருதரிய சிற்சபையிலானந்த நிர்த்தமிடு கருணு கரக்க டவுளே cries Táyumánavar. "O God, Ocean of Mercy, that dances, the dance of bliss in the Hall of pure Consciousness beyond the plane of thought !'
*மோனந்த மாமுனிவர் மும்மலத்தை மோசித்துத்
தானந்த மானிடத்தே தக்கியிடு - மானந்த மொண்டருந்தி நின்முடல் காணுமருண் மூர்த்தியாய்க் கொண்டதிரு வம்பலத்தான் கூத்து, (உண்மை விளக்கம், 38.)

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA woRSHIP 95
Often, in the yearly commemorative festival referred to above, you see male devotees dancing in ecstasy in the attitude of the Nataréja. Probably in olden times female devotees too, so danced. Here, e.g., is a hymn put in the mouth of flower-girls in the Tiru-vdichakam (SCD516 ideas, 5).
'' Lord Siva, who weareth on his locks the cassia o'er which
the bees dance, He came in the flesh, seeking me, and within me entered, That I might dance and dance and shout before all the world For Him, the eternal Dancer, King of the heavenly hosts,
gather we lilies.
X.
A hymn sung by Saint Mánikkaváchakar at Chidambaram and often recited in the temples (G5ITuSpsi)C15 JuSasle) well brings out the view of the Saiva Siddhanta, that temples and churches, usually regarded as Houses of God are but passages to the true House of God which is in man's heart " made beauteous by the flood of His Grace.' When He has taken his abode there, all distinctions of race, religion, caste, sex, etc., disappear-' who here is my kin? who is not ? '-and there is naught save the splendour ef the Lord.
This experience, not beyond the grave but here in this life, is the goal of the devotee. The methods employed to gain it are called Yoga, a word etymologically the same as the English Yoke and meaning the yoking of oneself to God. Bhakti Yoga, the method favoured by the Saiva Siddhánta, seeks realization of God by the way of Love. This Yoga, the worship in the temples, with their service of song and prayer and music, sacraments and fasts and works of mercy, is designed to foster, gradually purifying the heart and making it fit to be the "House of God,' His great holy shrine' (Tirupperunturai)," "the City of Siva," or in the language of Jesus, "the Kingdom of God,' of which he too said: "Behold the Kingdom of God is within you.'

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96 POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP
'O Supreme Splendour that rises within me welling forth
as ambrosia, Having blocked the ways of the five traitor senses that
ever delude me, Graciously show Thyself to me as Thou art, Clearest of the clear, Lord Siva, Dweller in the great holy
shrine, Obliss transcending all states without end, O my Love! With love Thy servant's body and soul melting in bliss, Sweet grace, by me not deserved, Thou didst grant. For this I have naught to give in return.
k
O King, Father to me that am the servant of those that
love Thee, Light of Truth that, entering body and soul, has melted
all faults and driven away the unreal darkness, Full, waveless, clear Ocean of Ambrosia, Siva, Dweller
in the great holy shrine, O Knowledget known there where speech and knowledge
are dead, Make known unto me, how shall I speak of Thee?
Perfect Fulness, flawless Ambrosia, Mountain of endless,
flaming Light, O King that camest unto me as the Vedas and the meaning
of the Vedas and didst fill my mind, Siva that, like torrent brooking not banks, rushest into the
mouth of my heart, Dweller in the great holy shrine, Sovereign Lord, Thou has made thy abode in my body. What more can I ask Thee?
O Splendour that rises in my heart as asking, asking I meltl Thou whose lotus-feet grace the crowns of celestials, Siva,
Dweller in the great holy shrine, Who art all-pervading space and water and earth and fire
and air Who art other than they, Whose form in them is hiddenI rejoice, having seen them this day.
Also the name of the celebrated temple associated with the Saint's spiritual history.
Pure Intelligence, the Absolute, where there is no conscious differentiation of subject and object.
Impure Intelligence or differentiating consciousness.

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 97
This day in Thy mercy unto me Thou didst drive away the
darkness and stand in my heart as the rising Sun.
Of this Thy way of rising-there being naught else, but
Thou,-I thought without thought
Nearer and nearer to Thee I drew, wearing away atom by atom, till I was One with Thee, O Siva, Dweller in the great holy shrine.
Thou art not aught in the universe. Naught is there save
Thou
Who can know thee ?
Thou that, sprouting as the earth and all the spheres,
spreadest as matchless expanse of light,
Fire water-laden, Pure One beyond the reach of thought,
Sweetness that wells forth in the heart made beauteous by
the flood of Thy grace,
Siva, Dweller in the great holy shrine,
Who here is my kin? who is not ? O Splendour that
makes me bliss'
(Tiv4-Vichakam, கோயிற்றிருப்பதிகம்)
THE BRONZES
XI.
Siva as Nata. Raja or "Lord of the Dance.' Colombo Museum Register No. 15, 13, 88, 283; No. I on pedestal. Height of the bronze 90.4 cm. or 36:I6 in. Plate I. is the front view, and Platella and b the front and back view on a smaller scale. The dance represents the operations of the universe (see supra, pp. 78, 85, 88, 92, 93). The bronze is a
fine specimen of this manifestation of Siva.
Siva stands in a halo or circle of flame (ivaldi mdilai, prabhdi mandala, Tamil tiru-vasi), a complete circle (vrittálkára prabha) united with the figure both at head and foot. A complete circle so united is rare in such bronzes. The circle issues from the mouths of a pair of dolphins (makaras). The halo symbolises the Pranava, the mystic word Aum, which is the generalized symbol of all possible sounds and therefore the fittest symbol of the Logos. (Plates III. and IV. show two smaller figures of the Nata-rája, both incomplete; in both the halo is missing and in IV. also the braided locks.)
Plate I. and Plates II.
a G 功

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98 POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP
The hair of the head is braided, the upper part tied together to form a crown (baddha veni), terminating in a crest of peacock feathers, and at the back a circular knot (sikhdi ohakra) (Plate IIb. and Plate IVb.), the lower braids falling loose (lamba veni) and whirling in the dance. At the base of the crown (Plate I.) is a human skull, symbol of Siva's destroying energy. On the lower braids is a mermaid on the right, representing the river Ganges, symbol of fertility and of God's Grace. According to tradition, the Ganges, a celestial river, was permitted by Siva to descend on earth in answer to the prayers of King Bhagiratha, and the force of the fall was broken by Siva receiving it in his matted locks for a time to save the earth from being crushed by the weight of the falling stream; a poetic explanation, probably, of the first issue of the river from the Himalayan snows. On the loose braids on the left are the crescent moon, symbol of Siva's grace and glory, symbol also of time (for the moon is the measurer of time); and a cobra, which by reason of its deadly venom, may be taken as a symbol of destruction and obscuration, but is here rather a symbol of the cosmic force Kundalini (see p. 99, Ioo infra).
Siva is represented with three eyes, symbols of sun, moon and fire and of time past, present and future. The third eye is located between the eyebrows and is known as the eye of wisdom. It is sometimes seen on images of Buddha. It is supposed to exist in all men but closed, except in the Jnani or Seer. Its site is indicated by the spot of sandal or other aromatic paste which Hindus usually wear on their foreheads to remind them of the latent power of vision which it should be their endeavour to waken and master. This third eye is probably connected with the pineal gland, which physiologists regard as the vestige of an aborted eye and in which Descartes placed the seat of the Soul.
*From root má to measure. A month (Sansk. mas Lat. men-s-is) of the period of time measured by one revolution of the moon, “the mother is the months,' as Shelley calls her,

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP 99
Siva wears in his right ear a man's ear-ring (makara kundala) and on his left a woman's (titanka or todu), to indicate that he is both male and female (see page 92).
He wears a necklace of skulls of Brahmas and Vishnus, symbolising that he has seen the universe created and destroyed times without number. After destroying the universe, he wears its ashes on his body. Hence the use of ashes by his devotees as a sacrament, the symbol of purification by the fire of his Grace, for each soul must lose the world to find God.
He also wears a necklace of rudrikshas, berries of the elaeocarpus ganitrus, symbols of his pity, being regarded as solidified tears wept by him for the woes of his devotees. Rosaries of these beads are worn by Siva's devotees. He also wears the upavita, the sacred thread, over the left shoulder and under the right arm. The upavita generally consists of 96 strands, representing the 96 tatvas, categories or constituents of the universe. No ritual can be celebrated without wearing the upavia. Siva here wears it to indicate that He is Lord of all acts (sarva karmarhaka).
Cobras (nagas) are coiled round his body and in his hair, symbols of the great cosmic force which the Rája Yogis call Kundalini and represent as a cobra, relics also perhaps of the serpent worship of the aborigines of India and Ceylon. According to the Raja Yogi, there runs through the spinal cord a canal called the Sushumna, at the base of which is a plexus called Mulcidhdira (basic) and at the crown in the brain the plexus called the Sahasraira (thousand petalled lotus). In the basic plexus is stored the cosmic energy, an infinitesimal fraction of which is distributed throughout the body by the sensory and motor nerves, and mainly by two columns of nerves called Ida and Pingala on either side of the Sushumna canal. This canal, though existing in all animals, is closed except in the Yogi. He dispenses with sensory and motor

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roo POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP
nerves, opens the canal, sends through it all mental currents, makes the body a gigantic battery of will and rouses the vast coiled up power from the basic plexus to the 'thousand petalled lotus' in the brain. As the power travels up the canal, higher and more wonderful powers of vision and knowledge are gained till the goal is reached of union with God. This power is pictured as a serpent coiled up (hence the name Kundalini) at the basic plexus and gradually rising with hood erect to the plexus in the brain, somewhat as in this illustration (Plate XI.). The serpents of the Nata-rajá bronze thus represent the cosmic force coiled in Siva, the Supreme Yogi.
He is represented with four arms:-
(I) The right upper hand holding a drum (damaruka), the symbol of creation or, more correctly, projection or evolution (srishti), the source of vibration (ndida), the first stage of evolution. The drum taps are the alternations of phase extending over vast regions of space and time.
(2) The right lower hand (abhaya kara) raised in token of dispelling fear and of assurance of protection, symbol of preservation (sthiti).
(3) The left upper hand, holding fire, the destroying and purifying element, symbol of destruction or (more correctly) involution (samhara) and of salvation and deliverance.
(4) The left lower hand hanging down (dola kara) pointing to the raised foot as the sole refuge of the soul; symbol of his grace (anugraha).
One leg (sthita pada) rests on a prone asura or Titan (called variously Muyalaka, Apasmâra, Roga-purusha) holding a snake in his hand; the other leg is raised and bent (Kunchita pada). The former foot is deemed the symbol of Siva’s

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP or
obscuring energy, the latter of his energy of grace and salvation. The prostrate Titan on whom Siva dances was, according to the legend, sent against him by the heretic magicians of Darukavana and represents the soul's delusion (Mayd) crushed under Siva's foot.
He wears short drawers of tiger-skin, and bells below the knee (kantimani) worn by heroes in battle, symbols of ndida (vibration), first stage in evolution, and of Siva's might. According to the legend the tiger, the drum, and the cobras were sent against Siva by the magicians, but Siva killed the tiger and cobras and wrapped the tiger's hide round himself as a garment and wound the cobras around his body and took the drum into his hand. The whole figure stands on a lotus which probably represents the thousand petalled lotus referred to in connexion with Kundalini sakti (page 99).
Thus the dance represents all the "five-fold acts' of God.
This symbolism is set forth in the Books, of which the following may be taken as samples, and more fully in the oral teaching of the masters.
Lokinahiya sarván damarukaninadair ghora samsara
magnán
Datvá, vittim dayálu pranatabhayaháram kunchita
páda padmam
Udhrityedam vimukterayanam iti karád darşayam
pratyáyartham
Bibhradivahnim sabháyám kalayati națianam ya sa
páyán națeșah.
"Who calleth with the sounds of the drum all men sunk in the terrors of worldly life-the Gracious One that giveth knowledge and destroyeth the fears of his worshippers and, raising his bent lotus-foot, pointeth with the hand for assurance, "This is the way to Freedom,' and bearing fire dancethin the Hall-may that Lord of the Dance (Natesdi) protect us'

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Plate III.
a & b
aoa POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIWA WORSBIP
தோற்றந் துடியதனிற் றேயுந் திதியமைப்பிற் சாற்றியிடு மங்கியிலே சங்கார-மூற்றமா யூன்று மலர்ப்பதத்திலுற்ற திரோதமுத்தி நான்ற மலர்ப்பதத்தே நாடு
(உண்மை விளக்கம், 36.) மாயை தனையுதறி வல்வினையைச் சுட்டுமலஞ் சாய வமுக்கிவருடானெடுத்து-நேயத்தா லாநந்த வாரிதியி லான்மாவைத் தானழுத்தல் தானெந்தை யார்பாதந் தான்
(உண்மை விளக்கம், 37.) “In the drum behold evolution, in the assuring hand preservation, in fire involution, in the planted foot obscuration and in the foot held aloft emancipation.
Driving away maydi, burning karma, crushing agava,' by the Holy Spirit (Arul) raising the soul and sinking it in the ocean of bliss-these are the works of the feet of our Father." SI vA as NATA-RÁJÁ (front and back view). (Museum Register No. 15: I3, 89, 283). Height of the bronze, 64.5 cm. = 258 in., or about a foot shorter than the bronze in
Plates I. and II. Flame-circle or halo (Jvála mála) missing.
Plate IV. 2 & b
Plate V. a & b
The crown is of different shape from I., being what is called Karanda Makuta. The crescent moon is on the left side of the crown, the usual position; in Plates I. and II. it is on the braided locks.
SIVA as NATA-RIJA. (Museum Register No. I5: I3,9I,284). Height 6I-5 cm. = 246 in. Type of face different from the two previous Nata-rajás; crown (Karanda Makuta) as in Plate III., and bearing crescent moon in the same position. Halo and braided locks missing.
SIvA KAMI or PARvATI (front and back view). (Museum Register No. 15: 13, IIIa, 288). The divine energy represented as a female and the Consort of Siva (pages 89-92 suitera):-
These are three aspects of the Pasam which fetter the soul (page 78 s sopra).

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP ros
'Mother of millions of world-clusters, Yet Virgin by the Vedas called.'
Height 626 cm. The crown is a Karanda Makua but pointed. Round the throat is a cord with the marriage symbol, Mangala Satra (Tamil, Tali). Below it richly chased ornaments on chest, shoulders and arms. When placed on the altar for worship, the upper part of the body would be covered with robes and jewels, leaving only the head and arms visible. Over the left shoulder and under the right arm is the sacred thread (Upavita) as in the figure of Siva (page 99). The right hand is in the pose called Kațaka hasta or Sinuha Karna (lion's ear), the tips of the fingers in contact with the thumb and forming a circle, in which a fresh flower might be inserted daily. The left hand hangs down loosely by the side (lol-hasta or lamba-hasta). The lower part of the figure is robed in a sari drawn up between the legs from behind. Over this robe and round the waist, jewelled zones or girdles called Mekhaldi, Kainchi, etc. The figure stands on a lotus, resting mainly only on the left foot bending at the hip. The posture or sway is that called tri-bhanga, having three bends, namely at the hip, the shoulder and the neck.
The following is a sample Dhydindi verse for the meditation of the sculptor, similar to those in pages 85 and 86 on Siva.
Syámám dvinetrám dvibhujám tribhangim Savyápasavya sthita kunchitanghrim Savyotpalám satkanakastanádhyám Hastányalambâm paramesvarim tàm.
"Dark of hue, two-eyed, two-armed, three-curved, left foot planted and right slightly raised, blue lily in left hand, possessed to golden breasts, the other hand pendent, the supreme goddess (Paramesvari).'
Sydna, which may be dark brown, dark blue, or dark grees, and is a term applied to "a female from 8 to 16 years of age, resembling in complexion the blossom of the Priyangu or in shape its slender stalk."

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Plate VI.
Plate VI. b
Plate VI.
C
Plate VIII. a će b
ro4 POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP
SIVA in half-dancing pose, called Sandhyá-nritta-márti, 'Lord of the evening twilight dance.' (Museum Register No. I5: I3, 94, 284). Height 67 cm. =268 in. The extra arms branch out from the elbow and not from the shoulder as in Nata-raja in previous plates.
BULL NANDI, I ft. 5 ins. by Ift. 2 ins. This is Siva's charger and represents the soul (pasu, lit. " cattle') of which he is lord, Pasu-pati (see page 87). Nandi is reputed to be a favourite servant and disciple of Siva and was initiated by him in the principles of the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy, which Nandi communicated to the world through a long line of sages to which belonged Meykandatevar, the author of the Tamil Siva-gnana-bodham (see invocation ad init).
SIVA-KAMI, consort of Siva. (Museum Register No. 15: I3, Io8, 287). Height I ft. 4 ins.
A, b and care in this plate arranged as they usually would be in this group called Sandyd-nritta-martti. The bull is stroked by the left hand of Siva, and Sivakami is looking on at Sivas dance.
The bull and cow are held in great reverence by Hindus, and their slaughter is a deadly sin. Probably the original reason was sentimental and economic. Bulls were indispensable for ploughing and the cow for milk; and religion came to their rescue, forbidding their slaughter. Economic and sentimental reasons similarly protect the horse from slaughter in many European countries and forbid the use of horse flesh as food.
SIVA and his Consort PARVATI alias Sivakami, alias Uma, seated at ease (Sukhdisana), front and back view. (Museum Register No. 15: I3, 9o, 284). The two figures and the pedestal are in one block. Height of Siva 2 ft. and of the female figure I ft. 8 ins. This group usually includes a little figure of their son Skanda or Kartikeya, God of War and

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA woRSHIP Ios
Wisdom, whose chief shrine- in Ceylon is at Kattragama (Tamil, Katirkamam), a famous place of pilgrimage in the S.E. corner of the Island. The group is called SOMA SKANDA MớRTTI = Saha (with) + Umá + Skanda + Múrtti, the manifestation of Siva with Uma and Skanda.
Siva is four-armed : one hand on the right holding a battleaxe, and one on the left a deer, the battle-axe and deer having been sent against him by the magicians of Darukávana and subdued by him (p Ior supra). The right lower hand is in the abhaya ("fear not ') pose, dispelling fear and assuring protection; and the left lower hand is in the Kataka pose.
Sivakami holds in her right hand a lotus-bud, and her left hand is in the varada or boon-giving pose.
For other features see description of Nata-rajá, pp. 97 et seq.
SUNDARA-MüRTTI, front and side view. (Museum Register No. 15: I.3, 98, 285). Height 62.6 cm. One of the chief saints and singers of Siva in Tamil land (circa 8oo of the Christian era); a native of Tiru-arar near Nagapatam in the Madras Presidency. The story is that on his wedding-day, just as the marriage rites were beginning, Siva came in the guise of an old Brahmin and claimed him as his thrall by virtue of a bond from an ancestor. The ceremony was stopped; there were violent disputes and recriminations, and the bridegroom was led to an adjoining village and into a temple where Siva suddenly manifested himself in his divine form. The artist has happily caught the young bridegroom at the moment of the vision in his suddenly arrested movement of breathless wonder and awe. The attire is that of a bridegroom,-jewelled ornaments on head, chest, arms, and waist, and anklets. Being a Brahman, he wears the sacred thread (Upavita) across the chest.
CHANDESVARA, an apotheosized devotee of Siva. (Museum Register No. 9: I3, IOO, 286). Height 73 cm. He has a shrine in every temple of Siva in Tamil land; no worship of
Plate W.
Plate I.

Page 75
Plate IX.
Plate X.
to6 POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP
Siva is complete until the final honours are paid to this saint. Here, too, the artist has successfully depicted the moment of rapture when (according to the story) Siva manifested himself, presenting him with a garland of cassia from his crown (which the devotee holds in profound reverence between his folded palms) and appointing him chief of his hosts (Ganapati). At the base of the statuette is an inscription in grantha and Sinhalese characters, which is in parts illegible and which may be read as "Ganapati Usaba vamse.' Usaba is a Sinhalese word found in inscriptions, meaning excellent. Vamse (Sinhalese Vahanse) is an honorific title.
SURYA, the Sun-God. (Museum Register No. I5: I3, 97, 285). Height 54 cm. Figure stands on a lotus in erect posture (called sama-bhanga); halo round head from top of crown to neck; lotus in either hand.
A sample dhyána verse is as follows:-
Dvibhujanca dvinetranca kirița makuțánvitam Makutantam kanțhamúlát prabhámandala manditam Kanțhántàțanka samyuktam raktavariņam tathaivaca Sanalabja karopetam hamsasakta samanvitam Samapadásthitam padme raktavastrair alankritam.
'Two-shouldered, two eyed, wearing a krita crown, halo from neck the end of crown, ear-rings (tatanka) reaching to neck, ruddy of hue, swan-associated lotus held in the hand by its stalk, standing on lotus with equal foot, adorned with red robes.'
The four figures in this group (which are reduced to the same scale) represent the four chief saints in the Saiva Calendar, whose images are to be found in every temple of Siva.
Appar Swami or Tiru-návuk-arasu. (Museum Register No. 15, 13, Io.4, 286). Height 55 cm. He lived about the 7th century. In early life he embraced Jainism and rose to be the head of the great Jain monastery in Pátaliputra in the Tamil country. He subsequently reverted to his ancestral

POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIVA WORSHIP roy
faith and was greatly persecuted by the Jain king, but persevered in his devotion to Siva. He went about the country a mendicant singing in the temples hymns of rare beauty, and weeding the court-yards. He is usually represented, as here, with hands folded in worship, shaven head, rosaries of rudraksha beads sacred to Siva (see p. 99) on head, neck, chest, &c., clad in a breech clout, and carrying the weeding implement. The title Naivuk-arasu, "Tongue-King,' is said to have been bestowed on him by Siva.
Sundara-múrti-swami (same as Plate VIII. a ; for description, see p. I05).
Tiru-jnana-sambhanda-swami. (Museum Register No. I5, I3, Io2, 286). Height 48.6 cm. A younger contemporary of Appar Swami (X. a), and perhaps the greatest of Saiva saints and mystics.
He is said to have received his call while an infant and to have died at the age of sixteen. He is usually (as here) represented as a nude child, with a pair of golden cymbals (said to be a gift from Siva) with which he went about singing his praise. He wears rudraksha beads on his neck, chest and arms, and a golden waist string with pendants.
The collection of hymns of Tiru-jnana-sambandha-swami, Appar Sami and Sundara-murti-swami (X. b), is known as the Divine Garland (Tevaram) and, togeiher with the Psalms of Mánikka-váchaka-swami (X. d), has been the mainstay of the religion of Siva in South India and Ceylon.
Manikka-váchaka-swami. (Museum Register No. 15: I3, IoI, 286.) Height 542 cm. A great Psalmist of Tamil and who lived about the 5th century of the Christian era. He was prime minister of the Pandiyan King of Madura, but after his call became a mendicant singer and preacher, in which guise he is here represented. The collection of his hymns is called Tiru-vachakam, "The holy word,' and his own name, which means "The golden-speeched,' is said to have been given him by Siva,

Page 76
Io8 POLONNARUWA BRONZES AND SIWA WORSHIP
He holds in his left hand a palm-leaf manuscript in which is inscribed the word “ Namachchiwaya," "Adoration to Siva," the initial word of the Tiruvachakam, which he is expounding, the right hand being in the pose titarka of a preacher of expositor. The hair of his head is matted, and he Wears rosaries of rudraksha beads, and across the chest the sacred thread of the Brahmin.
Dr. Pope, who has written an appreciative life of the saint and published an excellent translation of his Psalms, speaks of him as a mixture of St. Paul and St. Francis of Assisi. He spent his last days at Chidambaram, where IIlost of his hymns were composed. I have given specimens of this at p. 96-97.

J.A.
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Page 86

THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR
SKANDA
(THE KATARAGAMA GOD)
I.
There is on the South-east coast of Ceylon a lonely hamlet known as Kataragama" in the heart of a forest haunted by bears, elephants and leopards and more deadly malaria. The Ceylon Government thinks of Kataragama especially twice a year, when arrangements have to be made for pilgrims and precautions taken against epidemics. Hardly anyone goes there except in connection with the pilgrimage. General Brownrigg, Governor and Commander-in-Chief, visited this desolate spot in I8I9 at the close of military operations in the Uva country, and seven decades later Sir Arthur Gordon (afterwards Lord Stanmore) who attended the festival in July, 1889. Sportsmen are drawn to this region by the fame of its sport, but Kataragama itself is outside the pale of their Curiosity. Few even of our educated classes know its venerable history and association.
It was already held in high esteem in the third century before Christ, and is one of the sixteen places said to have been sanctified by Gautama Buddha sitting in each in
29 miles from Hambantota, 87 from Badulla and Io, from nearest post town Tissamaharama: situated on the left bank of the Menikganga, which rises in Maussagolla Estate, I 3 miles from Badulla.
The fifteen other sacred places are :-I. Mahiyangana (Bintenne in Uva on the right bank of the Mahaweliganga), 2. Nagadipa (said to be in the Northern Province), 3. Kelaniya (near Colombo), 4. Sripada (Adam's Peak), 5. Divaguha (perhaps the same as Bhagava lena near Adam's Peak), 6. Dighavapi (Nakha Vihare in Batticaloa District near Sengapadi), 7. Mutiyangana (in Badulla town), 8. Tissamahavihara (in Hambantota District) : with the 6 following places in Anurādhapura city, 9. Mahābodhi, Io, Mirisvetiya, II. Ruwanveliséya, I2. Thupārāma, I 3. Abhayagiri, I 4. Jetavana, and lastly, I5. Selacetiya (at Mihintale near Anuradhapura).
Ιο9

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IIo THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA
meditation. The Mahdivansa (XIX. 54), in enumerating those who welcomed the arrival at Anuradhapura of the Sacred Bodhi-tree from Buddha-Gaya in charge of Sanghamitta, the saintly daughter of the Indian Emperor Asoka, gives the first place after the King of Ceylon to the nobles of Kajara-gama, as Kataragama was then called. It was privileged to receive a sapling (ibid. 62) of which an alleged descendant still stands in the temple court. About a third of a mile off is the Buddhist shrine of Kiri Vihare, said to have been founded by King Mahanaga of Mahagama, cir. ვoo B.C.
Kataragama is sacred to the God Karthikeya, from whom it was called Karthikeya Grama ("City of Karthikeya') shortened to Kajara-gama and then to Kataragama. The Tamils, who are the chief worshippers at the shrine, have given the name a Tamil form, Kathirkamam, a city of divine glory and love, as if from kathir, glory of light, and kamam, love (Sk. kama), or town or district (from Sk. Grama). By Sinhalese and Tamils alike the God Karthikeya is called Kandasämi; by the Sinhalese, also Kanda Kumāra (Kanda being the Tamil form of Sans. Skanda and Kumara meaning youth), and by the Tamils Kumara Svami, "the youthful god'. More often the Tamils call him by the pure Tamil name Murukan," the tender child'. He is represented in legend, statuary and painting as a beautiful child or youth. The priests worship him with elaborate rites and ceremonies, the rustic with meal and blood offerings, the aboriginal Vedda invokes him also with dances in the primitive manner of the woods. The philosopher meditates on him in silence, adoring him as the Supreme God, Subrahmanya,-the all pervading spirit of the universe, the Essence from which all things are evolved, by which they are sustained and into which they are involved,--who in gracious pity for humanity takes form sometimes as the youthful God of Wisdom, God also of war when wicked Titans (Asuras) have to be destroyed,

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II2 THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA
Though born on those distant northern mountains, his home now and for over twenty centuries has been in the south, and his worship prevails chiefly among the Tamils. He appears to have been the primitive God of the Tamils and to have passed with them to the south from their supposed early settlements in N. India. He is now little known or esteemed in the north, where he has given way to other gods, as the Vedic gods Indra, Varuna, Agni gave way to Siva, Vishnu, etc., and as in Greece, Uranus gave way to Kronos and he to Zeus.*
Skanda had a great vogue in the north for centuries among the Aryan, Scythian, Mongolian, Hun and other invaders who succeeded the Dravidians, and, intermingling with them, became the ancestors of the present inhabitants. In an Upanishad of about the ninth century B.C. he is described as giving spiritual instruction to the Rishi Narada and is identified with the great sage Sanatkumara (Chandogya Upanishad, VII. 262).f The image of the God Skanda appears in the coin of King Huvishka, who in the beginning of the second century of the Christian era ruled over an empire extending from the Central Himalayas and the river Jamna to Bactria and the river Oxus. In the third century, the great Sanskrit poet Kalidasa wrote his classic poem on the god's birth (Kumara Sambhava, "Birth of Kumara'). In the Meghaduta (Cloud-Messenger) of the same poet, the hero, an exile from home, in sending a message to his sorrowing wife, bids the cloud halt at the god's shrine on MountDevagiri (near Ujjain).
*There is trace of an earlier God than Uranus in the Woodpecker God Picus. See Aristophanes, Birds, 645 ct. seq.
The instruction, extending over many pages, ends thus: 'the venerable Sanatkumara showed to Narada, after his faults had been rubbed out, the other side of darkness. They call Sanatkumara Skanda, yea, Skanda they call him.
Vincent Smith, Early History of India, p. 271.

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rt THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA
destroyed the Titan after mighty battles, his lance seeking the foe out in his hiding in the ocean. The Titan was then granted forgiveness for his sins and was changed into a cock and a peacock, it the former becoming the god's banner and the latter his charger. These events, with their moral significance of the expiation of sin, are yearly celebrated by festivals and fasts in Tamil lands in the month of Aippasi. (October-November) ending on the 6th day of the waxing moon (Skandha Shashthi). On such occasions, the Tamil Kandapuranam is read and expounded with solemnity, also at times in private houses, such reading being deemed efficacious, apart from spiritual benefits, in warding off or alleviating disease and danger and bringing good fortune.
The lance, the instrument of chastisement and salvation, is understood to typify his energy of wisdom (Jnäna sakti, i somewhat corresponding to the Christian Sophia) and is . often the only symbol by which he is worshipped in the temples. In others, he is represented with six faces, or aspects of his activities, and riding a peacock with his consorts, Teyvayanai (Sk. Devasena) and Valli who are regarded as his energies of action and desire respectively (kriyā sakti and ichcha sakti). The former was daughter of Indra, King of the celestials, and Valli was a Vedda princess whom, according to Ceylon tradition, he wooed and won at Kataragama. She shares in the worship of millions from Cashmir and Nepal to Dondra Head, and the priests (kapuralas) of Kataragama proudly claim kinship with her. He deigned, according to theologians, to set the world a pattern of married life, for the due discharge of its duties leads to God no less surely than a life of renunciation.
"Called Taraka by the Sanskrit poets, but Sura or Surapatuma by the Tamils, who give the name Taraka to a younger brother.
tThe peacock is therefore a sacred bird in India (as in Egypt and Greece)--a fact, the ignorance of which brings British sportsmen into collision with the people.

THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA II.5
In the Tamil epic the poet introduces a courting scene in which occurs this appeal:-
கோடிவர் நெடுவரைக் குறவர் மாதுநீ ஆடிய சுனையதா யணியுஞ் சாந்தமாய்ச் சூடிய மலர்களாய்த் தோயப் பெற்றிலேன் வாடின னினிச்செயும் வண்ணம் யாவதே.
(கந்தபுராணம் : வள்ளியம்மை திருமணம்).
"Highland maid of Kurava clan, could that I were the pool in which thou bathest, the perfumed unguents thou usest, the flowers thou wearest.'
t recals Anakreons' lover :-
“I would be a mirror, that
you would always look at me.
I would be your dress so that you would always wear me.
I would like to be water so that
I could bathe your flesh.
I would be a perfume, dear,
so that I could touch you.
And I would be the riband at your breast
and the pearls about your throat.
And I would be your sandal
that I might be trodden by your feet.'
Some of the stories of his birth and childhood seem to have travelled far west and left traces in the religion and literature of ancient Greece. He is said to have issued from the frontal eye of Siva as six sparks of fire. They were received by Agni, God of fire, and cast into the Ganges, from which they passed into the Himalayan lake Saravana and there were transformed into six babes. These were suckled by the six nymphs of the constellation Pleiades (Krithika) and became one on being fondly clasped by the Goddess Uma. He has many
*Perhaps I should say 'Anacreontic', for most of what has come down to us as "Anacreon' are imitations that bear in the dialect the treatment of Eros as a frivolous fat boy, the personifications, the descriptions of works of art the marks of a later age.

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I6 THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA
names: the Tamil Pingala Nigantu gives 37. Some of them are derived from the incidents I have mentioned: Agni-bhu, fire-born, from the manner of his birth; Gangaja or Gangesa from the association with the Ganges, (Tam. Kankesan, which gives the name to one of our Northern ports, Kankesanturai, where his sacred image is said to have been landed in the 9th century); Saravana Bhava, born in Saravana, a Himalayan Lake (Tam. Saravanamuttu, pearl of Saravama) ; Kārthikeya from his foster-mothers Krithikas (the Pleiades); Skanda, the united one, because the six babes became united into one. The more probable derivation is from the root Skand, to leap. Skanda would then mean the Leaper of his foes. He is also called Shanmukha (Tam. Sammukam or Arumukam) as being six faced. Being T, ytag 6y or, the one and only Reality, he is called in Tamil “Kandali' (spigs), which is explained as “reality transcending all categories, without attachment, without form, standing alone as the Self.'
*Yalpana Vaiapva Malai (Brito. p. II).
f சரவ ணந்தனிற் றனது சே யாறுருத் தனையு மிருக ரங்களா லன்புட னெடுத்தனள் புல்லித் திருமு கங்களோ ராறுபன் னிரு புயஞ் சேர்ந்த வுருவ மொன்றெனச் செய்தன ளுலக மூன்றுடையாள். எந்தை சத்திக ஞயிரெலா மொடுங்குறு மெல்லை முந்து போலவென் முகியே கூடிய முறைபோ லந்த மில்லதோர் மூ விரு வடிவு மொன்முகிக் கந்த னென்றுபேர் பெற்றனன் கவுரிதன் குமரன்.
(கந்தபுராணம், சலரணப்படலம், 20-21). "In Saravanai's waters her child's six forms she (Uma) lovingly clasped with both arms and lifted and of his six beauteous faces and twice six shoulders she made one form, she, the mistress of the triple world.
"As the diverse energies of our Father, at the involution of all things, become one as before, so the twelve forms of Gauri's son
became one and he received the name Kandan.”
Uma is the consort of Siva and his inseparable energy (Sakti), through whom alone. He (regarded as the absolute) acts. ' Joined to Sakti, Siva becomes Sakta (i.e., able to act), without her he cannot even move,' sings Sankaracharya in a famous hymn.
கந்தழி-ஒரு பற்றுக்கோடின்றி அருவாகித் தானே நிற்குக் தத்து வங்கடந்த பொருள்.
(கச்சிஞர்க்கினியர்).

THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA II.7
It is as such that he is adored at Kataragama, no image, form or symbol being used (see Infra). Kataragama thus holds a unique place among his numerous places of worship in India and Ceylon.
The worship of Skanda has suffered no decline in Ceylon from the introduction of Buddhism 24 centuries ago. The "Kataragam god' (Kataragama Deyyo) has a shrine in every Buddhist place of worship, and plays a prominent part in its ceremonials and processions. In the great annual perahera of Kandy, he had always a leading place; Buddha's Tooth, now the chief feature of the procession, formed no part of it till the middle of the 18th century, when it was introduced by order of King Kirtti Sri Rajasinha to humour the Buddhist monks he had imported from Siam. The town of Kalutara on the southern bank of the Kaluganga appears to have been specially associated with the god and still retains the name Velapura, "the city of the Lancer', the lance being his favourite weapon. The opposite bank of the town is called Desestra Kalutara, i.e., Deva Satru or the enemies of the gods. These names are perhaps relics of an unsuccessful movement to limit his jurisdiction to the southern half of the Island, the defeated opponents being pilloried by his votaries as demons. His shrines, however, are now as common north as south of the river : both among Buddhists and Hindus he is the god par excellence.
King Dutugemunu in the first century B.C., according to ancient tradition, rebuilt and richly endowed the temple at Kataragama as a thank-offering for the favour of the god, which enabled him to march from this district against the Tamil King, Elala, and, after killing him in battle, recover the ancestral throne of Anuradhapura. Dutugemunu's greatgreat-grandfather Mahanaga, younger brother of Devanampiya Tissa, had taken refuge in the Southern Province and founded a dynasty there, and Anuradhapura was for 78 years

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II8 THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA
(with a short break) ruled by Tamil Kings, of whom Elala (205-I6I B.C.) was the greatest. Dutugemunu conceived the idea of liberating the country from Elala. While his thoughts were intent on this design day and night, he was warned in a dream not to embark on the enterprise against his father's positive injunctions, unless he first secured the aid of the Kataragam god. He therefore made pilgrimage thither and underwent severe penances on the banks of the river, imploring divine intervention. While thus engaged in prayer and meditation, an ascetic suddenly appeared before him, inspiring such awe that the prince fainted. On recovering consciousness, he saw before him the great god of war who presented him with weapons and assured him of victory. The prince made a vow that he would rebuild and endow the temple on his return, and started on his expedition, which ended in the defeat and death of Elala and the recovery of the throne.
The incidents associating the Kataragama god with Dutugemunu's' victory naturally find no place in the Buddhist Chronicle, the Mahavansa, which glorifies him as a zealous champion of Buddhism. The tradition is confirmed by a Sinhalese poem called Kanda Upata "Birth of Kanda', for a MS. copy of which I am indebted to Mudaliyar A. Mendis Gunasekara. Stanzas 4I and 46 show that King Dutugemunu invoked the aid of the god, and received his help and built and endowed the temple at Kataragama in fulfilment of his vow. The royal endowment was continued and enlarged by his successors and by the offerings of generations of the people and princes of Ceylon.
"Like most Ceylon Kings he was more of a Hindu than a Buddhist. An ancient MS. account of Ridi Vihara, which he built and endowed, states that on the occasion of its consecration he was accompanied thither by 5oo Bhikkus (Buddhist monks) and I,5oo Brahmins versed in the Vedas (See Paper read at the R.A.S.B. in June, 1923 on 'Palm Leaf MSS. in Ridi Vihara'). Throughout Ceylon History, the Court religion was Hinduism, and its ritual and worship largely alloyed and affected the popular Buddhism and made it very unlike the religion of the Buddha.

THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA II9
This old and once wealthy foundation has for years been in a woeful plight, from loss of the State patronage and supervision which it enjoyed under native rule and owing to the corruption and dishonesty of the Sinhalese trustees and priests in whom, under the Buddhist Temporalities Ordinance, its administration is vested. Its extensive estates have mostly passed into other hands, the property that remains is neglected, the temple buildings are in disrepair, and the daily services are precarious. The Hindu pilgrims, however, continue to flock in thousands, pouring their offerings without stint and wistfully looking forward to the day which will see the end of the scandalous administration.
It is possible now to travel from Colombo comfortably by
train to Matara and by motor to Hambantota and Tissamaharama. The last stage of about II miles beyond Tissamaharama is over a difficult forest-track and an unbridged river, the Menik ganga, which in flood time has to be swum across there being no boats. In the thirties of last century, when good roads were scarce even in Colombo, my grandmother walked barefoot the whole way to Kataragama and back in fulfilment of a vow for the recovery from illness of her child, the future Sir Mutu Coomara Swamy. The hardships then endured are such as are yearly borne with cheerfulness by thousands travelling on foot along the jungle tracks of the Northern, Eastern and Uva provinces and from India. Nearly all are convinced of the god's ever-present grace and protection and have spiritual experiences to tell or other notable boons, recoveries from illness, help under trials and dangers, warding off of calamities. I once asked an elderly woman who had journeyed alone through the forest for days andnights if she had no fear of wild elephants and bears. She said she saw many, but none molested her. "How could they? The Lord was at my side.' The verses cited on p. III express the passionate feeling of many a pilgrim.

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An old Brahmin hermit whom I knew well, Sri Kesopur Swami, was for about three quarters of a century a revered figure at Kataragama. He had come there as a boy from a monastery in Allahabad in North India in the twenties of last century. He attached himself to the Hindu foundation (next the principal shrine) of the Teyvayanaiamman temple and monastery. This institution belongs to a section of the Dasanāmi order of monks founded by the great Sankaracharya of Sringeri Matam (Mysore). The lad after a time betook himself to the forest, where he lived alone for years, until he was sought out and restored to human society by a young monk, Surajpuri Swami by name, whom also I knew. The latter was a beautiful character, pious and learned, and with a splendid physique. He had been a cavalry officer of the Maharaja of Cashmere and, being resolved on a life of celibacy and poverty, found himself thwarted by his relatives who pressed him to marry and assume the duties of family life. Failing in their efforts, they brought the Maharaja's influence to bear upon him, whereupon he fled from home and travelled as a mendicant until he reached the great southern shrine of Rameswaram, well known to tourists and a great resort of pilgrims. There (he told me) he received a divine call to proceed to Sri Pada, the “ Holy Foot” (Adam's Peak of English maps), which the Hindus revere as sacred to Siva and the Buddhists to the Buddha. Here he was ordered to proceed to Kataragama, where he would find a hermit in the forest whom he was to wait upon and feed with rice. This he did and brought the hermit to the temple. He soon gave up rice or other solid food and confined himself to a little milk, hence he was known as Pāl Kudi Bāwa. A very saintly and picturesque figure he was, revered for his childlike simplicity and purity, spiritual insight and devotion, and much sought after for his blessings. He died in Colombo in July I898 at

THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANIDA I2
a ripe old age." His remains were taken to Kataragama and a shrine was built over them by his votaries. His pupil Surajpuri survived him only a few months and died in November, I898.
The old hermit told me of a saintly woman named Balasundari who lived there. She was the eldest child of a North Indian Raja, a boon from the Kataragam God in answer to a vow that, if blessed with children, the first born would be dedicated to his service. The vow was forgotten and a stern reminder led to her being brought by the father while still a child and left at Kataragama with a suitable retinue. She devoted herself to a spiritual life. The fame of her beauty reached the King of Kandy, who sent her offers of marriage, which she rejected. He would not be baulked and sent troops to fetch her to the palace. But, said the hermit, the God intervened and saved her. He brought the British troops to Kandy, and the king was taken prisonert and deported to Vellore in South India. This was in I8I4. The lady, thus saved from the king's rough gallantry, lived to a good old age, loved and revered, and died at Kataragama
He had for over a year been residing in Colombo in order to come plete an elaborate trust deed in respect of the temples and lands in his charge. This deed he executed on 9th March, 1898 (No. 237, J. Caderman, N.P.). Its preamble gives the history of his long connection with the temple and the nature of the succession from of old,
tMy grandfather A. Coomara Swami, Raja Vasal Mutialiyar, of the Governor's Gate and member of the Legislative Council on its first establishment (representing there till his death the Tamils and Muhammadans of this Island), under the orders of the Governor and Commander-in-Chief General Brownrigg, escorted the King and his Queens to Colombo (then a very arduous journey) and had charge of the arrangements for their stay here and their embarkation for India. In the year 189o at Tanjore, in the Madras Presidency, I had the honour of being presented to the last surviving queen of Kandy. In spite of very straitened circumstances, she maintained the traditions and ceremonial of a Court. Speaking from behind a curtain, she was pleased to welcome me and to express her appreciation of services rendered to her family since their downfall. A lineal descendant of the Kings of Ceylon held, till a few years ago, a clerkship in the Registrar-General's department, a living testimony to the revolutions of the wheel of fortune.

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after installing Mangalapuri Swami, who died in I873 and was succeeded by my venerable friend Kesopuri."
In 1818 a rebellion broke out in the Kandyan provinces, excited by the chiefs smarting under the loss of rights and privileges guaranteed by the Kandyan Convention of I815. The rebellion was suppressed with severity, especially in the Uva province, which (as Mr. White, C.C.S., states in his Manual of Uva, I893) has scarcely recovered from the effects.
It was towards the end of these military operations that General Brownrigg, the Governor and Commander-in-Chief, visited Kataragama. Dr. John Davy, F.R.S. (who was on the medical staff of the army from I8I6 to I82o and on the Governor's staff during this tour) has in his 'Account of Ceylon' (published I82I) described the tour in Uva and the visit to Kataragama. The Sinhalese Kapuralas were believed to be active participators in the rebellion. The custody of the principal temple was taken from them and delivered to the Hindu Monks, and a military guard was left to protect them. When the guard was removed some time later, the Kapuralas resumed forcible possession of the temple. The Hindu monks, whose abbot impressed Davy greatly, continued to be in charge of the Teyvayanaiamman temple and monastery. Speaking of the journey to Kataragama, Davy says (p. 403): "All the way we did not see a single inhabited house or any marks of very recent cultivation, nor did we meet a single native; dwellings here and there in ruins, paddy neglected, and a human skull that lay by the roadside under a tree to which the fatal rope was attached, gave us the history of what we saw in language that could not be mistaken.' Of Kataragama itself he says: " Kataragama has been a place of considerable celebrity on account of its Dewale which attracts pilgrins not only from every part of
*See also his petition to the Government Agent, Uva, 23rd August,
1897, where most of the facts are recorded. I am indebted to the Government Agent, Uva, for access to the document.

THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA 123
Ceylon, but even from remote parts of the continent of India, and is approached through a desert country by a track that seems to have been kept bare by the footsteps of its votaries.' The God, he says, is not loved but feared, and merit was made of the hazard and difficulty through a wilderness deserted by men and infested by wild beasts and fever. From the forlorn and ruinous condition of the place, Davy anticipated that in a few years the traveller would have difficulty in discovering even the site. The anticipation has not been realized, though over a century has now passed; the pilgrims are in fact more numerous and zealous than ever.
Robert Knox, who in the seventeenth century spent 20 years of captivity in Ceylon, in his "Historical Relation of the Island of Ceylon' published in I86I in London, in speaking of the Eastern Coast, says: " It is as I have heard environed with hills on the landside and by sea not convenient for ships to ride; and very sickly, which they do impute to the power of a great god which dwelleth in a town near by they call Cotteragon, standing in the road, to whom all that go to fetch salt, both small and great, must give an offering. The name and power of this god striketh such terror into the Chingalayas that those who are otherwise enemies to the King and have served both Portuguez and Dutch against him, yet would never assist either to make invasion this way.' In the great Perahera at Kandy, in Knox's time, there was no Buddha's Tooth, but 'Allout neur dio," God and maker of Heaven and Earth, and Cotteragom Deyyo and Pottingio dio, these three gods that ride here in company are accounted of all the others the greatest and chiefest'. Davy himself says (p. 228): "Of all the gods, the Kataragam God is the most feared . . . , and such is the dread of this being that I was never able to induce a native artist to draw a figure of
*Alutnuwara Deiyyo, represented in the procession, according to Knox, by a painted stick.
tThe Kataragam God and the Goddess Pattini.

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it.' This unwillingness was rather due to the fact that at Kataragam there is no figure of the god. He is not worshipped there in any image or form. A veil or curtain, never raised, separates the worshippers from the Holy of Holies, where, according to the best information, there is only a casket containing a Yantra or mystic diagram engraved on a golden tablet in which the divine power and grace are believed to reside. It is this casket which in the great festivals of July and November is carried in procession on the back of an elephant."
The history of this tablet, according to a native tradition reported to me by Kesopuri Svami, is that a devotee from N. India, Kalyanagiri by name, grieved by the god's prolonged stay in Ceylon, came to Kataragama to entreat him to return to the North. Failing to obtain audience of the god, he performed for I2 years severe penances and austerities, in the course of which a little Vedda boy and girl attached themselves to him and served him unremittingly. On one occasion when, exhausted by his austerities and depressed by his disappointment, he fell asleep, the boy woke him. The disturbed sleeper cried out in anger, "How dare you disturb my rest when you know that this is the first time I have slept for years?' The boy muttered an excuse and ran pursued by him until an islet in the river was reached, when the boy transformed himself into the God Skanda. The awe-struck hermit then realised that his quondam attendants had been the God and his consort Walli. Prostrating himself before them and praying forgiveness, he begged the God to return to India. The Goddess in her turn made her appeal (Lori Saul Si60s) and begged that the god might not be parted from her. This the sage could not refuse. He abandoned the idea of the God's or his own return and settled down at Kataragama where he engraved the mystic diagram (yantra)
*Compare the mystic chest employed in the celebration of the mysteries of Dionysus,

THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA 125
and enshrined it there for worship in buildings constructed or restored with the help of the ruling king of Ceylon. When in due course the sage quitted his earthly body, he is believed to have changed into a pearl image (muthu lingam) and is still worshipped in an adjoining shrine under that name (Muthulingasvami).
His pupil and successor was Jayasingiri Svami who received Governor Brownrigg at Kataragama and is admiringly described by Dr. Davy. He mentions as a special object of reverence the seat of "Kalana natha the first priest of the temple,' Kalana natha being Davy's variation of Kalyana Natha alias Kalyana giri. The seat is still very much as Davy described it: "The Kalana Madam is greatly respected and certainly is the chief curiosity at Kataragama; it is a large seat made of clay, raised on a platform with high sides and back, like an easy chair without legs; it is covered with leopards' skins and contained several instruments used in the performance of the temple rites: and a large fire was burning by the side of it. The room, in the middle of which 'it is erected, is the abode of the resident brahmin. The Kalana Madima, the brahmin said, belonged to Kalana Natha, the first priest of the temple, who on account of great piety passed immediately to Heaven without experiencing death and left the seat as a sacred inheritance to his successors in the priestly office, who have used it instead of a dying bed and it is his fervent hope that like them he may have the happiness of occupying it at once and of breathing his last in it. He said this with an air of solemnity and enthusiasm that seemed to mark sincerity and, combined with his peculiar appearance, was not a little impressive. He was a tall spare figure of a man whom a painter would choose out of a thousand for such a vocation. His beard was long and white; but his large dark eyes, which animated a thin regular visage, were still full of fire, and he stood erect and firm without any of the feebleness of old age.'
6. S. P. C. - 8272

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The Ceylon King who helped the saint Kalyanagiri in the construction of the temples is, according to tradition, Balasinha Raja, which I take it, is equal to Bala Raja Sinha. The earliest Kings of the name Rajasinha were Raja Sinha I. (I58II-I592) and Raja Sinha II. (I634-I684), the patron of Robert Knox. There were four others of the name (with prefixes) from I739 to 1815, when the dynasty came to an end. Considering the longevity of my friend Kesopuri Swami who spent 7o years of his life at Kataragama and was probably 90 at his death, that Kalyanagiri was reputed to, be a much greater yogi, as also his successor Jayasingeri, and that the practice of yoga is known to be favourable to health, and long life, Kalyanagiri may be assigned to the time when Rajasinha II. was administering the kingdom for his father Senerat, i.e., before I634.
The Government Agent of Uva, Mr. Baumgartner, in his report to Government on the pilgrimage of July, r897, mentions that Taldena R.M., who made an inventory of the temple property for the Provincial Committee, found nothing in the casket, the G.A.'s authority being the R.M.'s son, Taldena Kachcheri Mudaliyar, who had so heard from his father. It may be that the R.M. expected to find an image and did not notice the thin golden plate on which such diagrams are engraved, or the priests may have hidden it as too holy for a layman's view. Davy speaks of the "idol being still in the jungle" (p. 42I) at the time of his visit in 1819. having been hidden away during those troublous times.
II.
The earliest account of the worship of Muruka is to be found in an ancient Tamil lyric, the delight of scholars and often on the lips of others, even if not fully understood. To appreciate its significance, religious, historical and literary. some idea of the early literature of the Tamils is necessary.

THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA I27
Ancient Tamil history has for its chief landmarks three successive literary Academies established by the Pandyan Kings of South India, who were great patrons of literature and art. In this institution were gathered together (as in the Academie Française found by Cardinal Richelieu in I635 and copied in other European countries) the leading literati of the time. The roll of members included royal authors of note and not a few women who were poets and philosophers. New works were submitted to the Academy for judgment and criticism, and before publication received the hall mark of its approval. The Academy was the jealous guardian of the standard literary perfection and showed little mercy to minters of base literary coinage.
The first two Academies go back to an almost mythical period and their duration is counted by millenniums. The Tamils having a good conceit of themselves and a passionate love (equalled in modern times, I think, only by the French) of their mother tongue have assigned to it a divine origin and made their Supreme God Siva the president of the first Academy and his son Muruka or Skanda a member of the Academy and the tutelary god of the Tamil race. Both deities are represented as appearing on earth from time to time to solve literary problems that defied the Academy. The seats of the first and second Academies (old Madura and Kapadapuram) were the two first capitals of the Pandyan dynasty, and are said to have been submerged by the sea.
The Pandyan kingdom was already ancient at the beginning of the Christian era. In the 4th century B.C. Megasthenes, ambassador of Seleucus at the court of King Chandragupta at Pataliputra, speaks of the country as ruled by a great queen called Pandaia. Then and for some centuries afterwards, the Pandyan country covered the greater part of the Madras Presidency, and included the native states of Mysore, Cochin and Travancore, and was bounded on the North by the sacred hill of Venkadam (Thiruppathi, roo miles N.W.

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of Madras) and on all other sides by the sea. The southernmost point, Kumari (Cape Comorin of the English maps), is called after the 'Virgin' Goddess Kumari, another name of Uma or Sivakami, consort of Siva,
'Mother of millions of world-clusters,
Yet Virgin by the Vedas called.' Her temple crowns the headland as it did in the time of the Greek geographer Ptolemy (I4o A.D.) and earlier. He calls it Koparça &xpoy. In the “ Periplus of the Erythrean Sea' (cir. 8o A.D.), a manual of Roman or rather Egyptian trade with India and a record of the author's observations and experiences as merchant and supercargo, it is stated, "After this there is in the place called Komar, where there is a 3p diploy (probably poptoy a fort or epoy a temple) and a harbour where also people come to bathe and purify themselves. . . . it is related that a goddess was once accustomed to bathe there.' The worship at the temple and the bathing in the sacred waters of the sea still continue.
At the time of the first and second Academies, the land extended far south of Kumari, which was then the name not of a headland but of a river. South of it up to the sea were 49 districts whose names are given and which were intersected by a river called Pahruli. All these are said to have been swallowed by the sea. There are poems extant written before the submersion as e.g., Purananuru 9, where the poet wishes his patron the Pandyan King Kudumi long life and years more numerous than the sands of the Pahruli river. Traces have been discovered of a submerged forest on this coast. Was this part of the submerged Lemurian Continent referred to at p. II3 or a later submersion? One or other of the submersions which destroyed the first and second Academies may have been identical with that recorded on the opposite coast of Ceylon in the Mahavansa Ch. XXXI. as having occurred in the reign of Kelani Tissa (cir. 200 B.C.) and which,

THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA 129
according to the Rajavaliya, destroyed 'Ioo,0oo large towns, 97o fishers' villages and 4oo villages inhabited by pearl fishers.' This may be deemed an exaggeration, but the Meridian of Lanka of the Indian Astronomer, which was reputed to pass through Ravana's ancient capital in Ceylon, actually passes the Maldive Isles, quite 4oo miles from the present western limit of Ceylon. An earlier submersion in the reign of Panduwasa (cir. 5oo B.C.), is also recorded in the Rajavaliya.
Only the names of the poets of the first Academy and fragments of their works have come down to us, and one whole work of the second Academy composed in the earlier period, with extracts from a few works and the names of many others. The surviving work, Tholkappiyam, is a standard work on Grammar (a term covering a much wider range than in Western languages) and supplanted the Agasthiyam, the grammar of the first Academy. The Tholkappiyam still holds a position of pre-eminent authority, and is of peculiar interest to the antiquarian and historian by reason of the light it throws on the customs and institutions of the ancient Tamil land. Many works of a high order of merit are extant of the third Academy, including the well-known Kural of Tiruvalluvar (which has been translated into many Western languages) and the poem Tiru-muruk-drrup-padai a translation of which is given in this book.
The author Nakkirar lived about the first century, and was a member of the third Academy, which had its seat in the third Pandyan capital Madura, Ptolemy’s “royal Modoura of Pandion,' and still an important religious, literary and commercial centre. It was about this time that the first recorded embassy from the East reached imperial Rome. It came from a king of this line and is referred to by a contemporary writer Strabo (cir. I9 A.D.). In opening his account of India, he laments the scantiness of his materials and the

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lack of intercommunication between India and Rome; so few Greeks, and those but ignorant traders incapable of any just observation, had reached the Ganges, and from India but one embassy to Augustus, namely from one King Pandion or Porus had visited Europe (Geog. Indica XV, C.I. 73 et seq). The name Porus was apparently a reminiscence from the expedition of Alexander the Great. The embassy to Augustus Suetonious attributes to the fame of his moderation and virtue, which allured Indians and Scythians to seek his alliance and that of the Roman people (Augustus, C. 2I). Horace alludes to it in more than one ode. Addressing
Augustus, he says,
Te Cantaber non ante domabilis,
Medusque et indus, te profugus Scythes
Miratur, Otutela praesens
Italiae dominæque Rcmæ (Od. iv. I4).
“The Spanish tribes, unused to yield,
Mede, Indian, Scyth that knows no home Acknowledge, Sword at once and Shield,
Of Italy and queenly Rome.'
A similar reference is made in the Ode to Jupiter (Od. II2).
The Tiru-muruk-drrup-padai is a poem of the third Academy, and commences the anthology known as the Ten Lyrics (ugglU UiTG) and is in praise of god Muruka. It belongs to a class of poems known in classic Tamil as Arrup padai (gpi) g|Lil J60,L), literally "a guiding or conducting', from aru, way, and paduthu, to cause. Various kinds of this class of poem are mentioned in the Tholkdippiyam. A poet, musician, minstrel or dancer, on his way home with gifts from a patron, would direct others to him and make it the occasion for singing his praise. Or, as in this poem, one who has received from his patron-god many precious spiritual boons tells others of his good fortune and how they too may win it.
" If, striving for the wisdom that cometh of steadfastness in righteous deeds, thou with pure heart fixed upon His feet

THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA 3r
desirest to rest there in peace, then by that sweet yearningthe fruit of ancient deed-which spurneth all things else, thou wilt here now gain thy goal.' (v.v. 62-68).
This is the central idea of the poem. He is regarded as in his essence formless and beyond speech and thought, but assuming forms to suit the needs of his votaries and accepting their worship in whatever form, if only heartfelt. This is indeed the normal Hindu attitude in religious matters and accounts for its infinite tolerance. All regions are ways, i. short or long, to God. 'The nameless, formless one we will call and worship by a thousand names in chant and dance," the Psalmist Manikka-vachakar cries. God, under whatever name or form sought, comes forward to meet the seeker and help his progress onwards through forms suitable to his development. "They who worship other gods with faith and devotion, they also worship me,' it is declared in the Bhagavad Gita (IX, 2r). The merit claimed for the Hindu religious system is that it provides spiritual food and help for the soul in every stage of its development; hence it is significantly called the Ladder Way (Sopana marga).
The God Muruka has many shrines and modes of worship. Some of them are described in this poem, which thus serves, as its name indicates, as a "Guide to the Holy Muruka.' The shrines are all in Tamil land. The first shrine mentioned is Tirupparankunram, a hill about 5 miles south-west of Madura.
"He dwelleth gladly on the Hill west of the Clustered Towers- gates rid of battle, for the foe hath been crushed and the ball and doll defiantly tied to the high flag-staff are still, - faultless marts, Lakshmi's seats, streets of palaces.
"He dwelleth on the Hill where swarms of beauteous winged bees sleep on the rough stalks of lotuses in the broad stretches of muddy fields; they blow at dawn round the honeydripping neithal blooms and with the rising sun sing in the sweet flowers of the pool as they open their eyes.' (v.v. 67-77).

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The other shrines specifically named are "Alaivai (wave mouth v. I25), now known as Tiruchendur, a shrine on the southern coast about 36 miles from Tinnevelly; Avinankudi v.I76), now known as Palanimalai (Palni Hills), about the same distance from Dindigul and a well-known hill station; Tiru-Erakam (v. I89), now called Swamimalai, a hill about 4 miles from Kumbakonam. Each of the shrines with its appropriate incidents and associations is the subject of a little picture- making a sort of cameo or gem strung together in this poem forming a perfect whole (v.v. I-77, 78-I25, I26-176, I77-189). Three of the shrines are situated amid mountains and forests, for they are dear to Muruka. One section (v.v. I90-2I7) describes his "Sport on the mountains' and another (v.218 ad fin.) describes him as dwelling in "Fruit-groves' and worshipped by forest tribes. The shrine of Kataragama is understood to be included in the last. The poet enumerates many other places and ways in which the god manifests him self- festivals accompanied with goat sacrifices and frenzied dancers, groves and woods, rivers and lakes, islets, roadri junctions, village-meetings, the kadamba tree (eugenia, racemosa), etc., and lastly wherever votaries seek him in prayer (v.v. 28-225), recalling Jesus’ saying (Matth. XVIII, 2o) "where two or three are assembled in my name, there am I in the midst of them.'
Muruka would thus appear to be a deity in whom were amalgamated many legends and traditions, many aspects of religion and modes of worship, primitive and advanced, and to embody the Hindu ideal of God immanent in all things and manifesting himself whereever sought with love.
Muruka means tender age and beauty and is often represented as the type of perennial youth, sometimes as quite a child. There is in Waithiswaran temple near Tanjore an exquisite figure of the child-god. He is also worshipped in the form of a six-faced god, the legendary origin of which form I have

THE WORSHIP OF MURUKA OR SKANDA 133
already given (pp. II5). Verses 90-II.8 describe the part played by each face and each of his twelve arms and show that this form was a personification of various divine aspects and powers.
“One face spreadeth afar rays of light, perfectly lighting the world's dense darkness; one face graciously seeketh his beloved and granteth their prayers; one face watcheth over the sacrificial rites of the peaceful ones who fail not in the way of the Scriptures; one face searcheth and pleasantly expoundeth hidden meanings, illumining every quarter like the moon; one face, with wrath mind filling, equality ceasing, wipeth away his foes and celebrateth the battle sacrifice; one face dwelleth smiling with slender waisted Wedda maid, pure-hearted Walli.' He is thus worshipped as the god of wisdom by those who seek spiritual enlightenment, as the god of sacrifice and ritual by ritualists, as the god of learning by scholars, as the giver of all boons, worldly and spiritual, to his devotees. In punishing the Titans, his divine heart (according to the commentator) seemed for the moment to deviate from the feeling of equality towards all his creatures. But the punishment was really an expression of his fatherly love for his children. In the same way the wedding of Valli by the god was to set to mankind a pattern of family life and duty.

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6. திருச்சிற்றம்பலம்
திருமுருகாற்றுப்படை
க. திருப்பாங்குன்றம்
உலக முவப்ப வலனேர்பு திரிதரு பலர்புகழ் ஞாயிறு கடற்கண் டாஅங் கோவற விமைக்குஞ் சேண்விளங் கவிரொளி உறுநர்த் தாங்கிய மதனுடை நோன்ருட்
செறுநர்த் தேய்த்த செல்லுறழ் தடக்கை மறுவில் கற்பின் வாணுதல் கணவன் கார்கோண் முகந்த கமஞ்சூன் மாமழை வாள்போழ் விசும்பில் வள்ளுறை சிதறித் தலைப்பெயறலைஇய தண்ணறுங் கானத்
திருள்படப் பொதுளிய பராரை மராஅத் துருள்பூந் தண்டார் புரளு மார்பினன் மால்வரை நிவந்த சேணுயர் வெற்பிற் கிண்கிணி கவைஇய வொண்செஞ் சீறடிக் கணைக்கால் வாங்கிய நுசுப்பிற் பணைத்தோட்
கோபத் தன்ன தோயாப் பூந்துகிற் பல்காசு நிரைத்த சில்கா ழல்குற் கைபுனைந் தியற்றக் கவின்பெறு வனப்பி னவலொடு பெயரிய பொலம்புனை யவிரிழைச் சேணிகந்து விளங்குஞ் செயிர்தீர் மேனித்
துணையோ ராய்ந்த வினையீ ரோதிச் செங்கால் வெட்சிச் சீறிதழிடையிடுபு பைந்தாட் குவளைத் தூவிதழ் கிள்ளித் தெய்வ வுத்தியொடு வலம்புரி வயின்வைத்துத் திலகந் தைஇய தேங்கமழ் திருநூதன்
I34

25
30
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A GUIDE TO MURUKA I35
மகரப் பகுவாய் தாழமண் ணுறுத்துத் துவர முடித்த துகளறு முச்சிப் பெருந்தண் சண்பகஞ் செரீஇக் கருந்தகட் டுளப்பூ மருதி னெஸ்ளிண ரட்டிக் கிளைக்கவின் றெழுதரு கீழ்நீர்ச் செவ்வரும்
பிணைப்புறு பிணையல் வளைஇத் துணைத்தக வண்காது நிறைந்த பிண்டி யொண்டளிர் நுண்பூ ணகந் திளைப்பத் திண்காழ் நறுங்குற டுரிஞ்சிய பூங்கேழ்த் தேய்வை தேங்கமழ் மருதினர் கடுப்பக் கோங்கின்
குவிமுகிழிளமுலைக் கொட்டி விரிமலர் வேங்கை நுண்டா தப்பிக் காண்வர வெள்ளிற் குறுமுறி கிள்ளுபு தெரியாக் கோழி யோங்கிய வென்றடு விறற்கொடி வாழிய பெரிதென் றேத்திப் பலருடன்
சீர்திகழ் சிலம்பகஞ் சிலம்பப் பாடிச் சூரர மகளி ராடுஞ் சோலை மந்தியு மறியா மரன்பயி லடுக்கத்துச் சுரும்பு மூசாச் சுடர்ப்பூங் காந்தட் பெருந்தண் கண்ணி மிலைந்த சென்னியன்
பார்முதிர் பணிக்கடல் கலங்கவுள் புக்குச் சூர்முதறடிந்த சுடரிலை நெடுவே லுலறிய கதுப்பிற் பிறழ்பற் பேழ்வாய்ச் சுழல்விழிப் பசுங்கட் சூர்த்த நோக்கிற் கழல்கட் கூகையொடு கடும்பாம்பு தூங்கப்
பெருமுலை யலைக்குங் காதிற் பினர்மோட் டுருகெழு செலவி னஞ்சுவரு பேய்மகள் குருதி யாடிய கூருகிர்க் கொடுவிரற் கண்டொட் டுண்ட கழிமுடைக் கருந்தலை ஒண்டொடித் தடக்கையி னேந்தி வெருவர
வென்றடு விறற்களம் பாடித்தோள் பெயரா நிணந்தின் வாய டுணங்கை தூங்க

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I-6. Far-shining dazzling Light, as of the many praised Sun in the sea beheld, who riseth for the world's joy and goeth circling; mighty feet crushing folly, upholding them that cling to Him; strong arms that like thunder-bolt wipe out foes;-hath He, the Spouse of the bright-browed Lady of
A GUIDE TO MURUKA
இருபேருருவி னெருபே ரியாக்கை அறுவேறு வகையி னஞ்சுவர மண்டி அவுணர் நல்வல மடங்கக் கவிழினர்
மாமுதறடிந்த மறுவில் கொற்றத் தெய்யா நல்லிசைச் செவ்வேற் சேஎய் சேவடி படருஞ் செம்ம லுள்ள மொடு நலம்புரி கொள்கைப் புலம்புரிந் துறையுஞ் செலவுநீ நயந்தனை யாயிற் பலவுட னன்னர் நெஞ்சத் தின்னசை வாய்ப்ப இன்னே பெறுதிநீ முன்னிய வினையே செருப்புகன் றெடுத்த சேணுயர் நெடுங்கொடி வரிப்புனை பந்தொடு பாவை துரங்கப் பொருநர்த் தேய்த்த போரரு வாயிற்
றிருவீற் றிருந்த தீதுதீர் நியமத்து மாடமலி மறுகிற் கூடற் குடவயி னிருஞ்சேற் றகல்வயல் விரிந்துவா யவிழ்ந்த முட்டாட் டாமரைத் துஞ்சி வைகறைக் கட்கமழ் நெய்த லூதி யெற்படக்
கண்போன் மலர்ந்த காமர் சுனைமல ாஞ்சிறை வண்டி னரிக்கண மொலிக்குங் குன்றமர்ந் துறைதலு முரிய னதாஅன்று
A GUIDE TO MURUKA
(TRANSLATION)
CANTO I
THIRUPPARAM KUNRAM
perfect love.

A GUDE TO MURUKA 37
7-II. On His breast roll cool garlands of wheel-shaped Kadamba flowers of the broad-based tree that riseth aloft, darkening the cool balmy forest, where clouds big with draughts from the dark sea, scattering dense drops in the luminous sky, have just shed their first showers.
I2-44. On the sky-towering mountains where lofty cedars rise, gather awe-inspiring celestial maidens, far lands traversing; faultless bodies, little rosy lustrous feet with tinkling anklets circled, shapely legs, swaying waist, graceful arms, bright raiment of natural red, hips with strings of many gems adorned, beauty not made by art, bright ornaments of purest gold, pure petals of green-stalked Kuvalai imbedded among the little red-stalked Vetchi on the plaited hair, the Theyva and the Valampuri in their places, the Makarapakuvai on the fragrant forehead decked with Thilaka, the cool Champaka flower tucked in the well made back-knot on clusters of Marutha flowers of outer black petals and inner white and wreaths of buds, beauteous red above the water and green below, leaf-shoots of the bright Asoka hanging from the shapely ear to the jewelled breast, the beauteous paste of hardy, fragrant sandal like the sweet Marutha flower smeared on young breasts shaped like Konku buds, and over the paste the delicate pollen of the spreading Vengai strewn;- they pick the tender wood-apple leaves and on each other throw to their charms' increase, and chant in praise, "Long live the flag of the dauntless, ever victorious Chanticleer.' So in the groves they sing and dance and wake echoes on the mountains where, among the dense trees that the Sun knows not, stands the Kanthal whose flaming flowers untouched by bees wreathe His crown.
45-6I. The ever youthful Lord, wielder of the lance of flawless victory and measureless fame, the long resplendent leaf-shaped lance which, piercing and tossing the cold reefy sea, drew with dread pace unto the mighty two-named Form

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for its destruction, and slew the hero-leader, and for the undoing of the Titans' strength cut asunder the mango tree of drooping flower-clusters, while hideous she-devils, with parched hair, uneven teeth, big mouth, whirling eyeballs, green eyes, fierce looks, ears from which eye-protruding owls and furious snakes droop, pressing on the shoulder, rough belly, angry gait,-bearing in their big braceletted hands black, stinking heads of corpses, with bloody sharp-nailed fingers clawing the eyes and eating-they sing paeans on the dauntless murderous battlefield, and with mouths full of carrion fat and shoulders shaking, dance the Tunankai dance.
62-68. If, striving for the wisdom that cometh of steadfastness in righteous deeds, thou with pure heart fixed upon His feet desirest the way to rest there in peace, then by that sweet yearning-the fruit of former deed-which spurneth all things else, thou will here now gain thy goal.
68-77. He dwelleth gladly on the Hill west of the clustered towers-gates rid of battle, for the foe hath been crushed and the ball and doll defiantly tied to the high flag-staff are still, faultless marts, Lakshmi's seats, streets of palaces,- He dwelleth on the Hill where swarms of beauteous winged bees sleep on the stalks of lotuses in the broad stretches of muddy fields, and blow at dawn round the honey-dripping Neithal blooms, and with the rising Sun sing in the sweet flowers of the pool as they open their eyes.
NOTES LINEs I-6.
Beheld. As the sun's light removes the outer darkness for the physical eye, so the light of Lord Muruka removes the inner darkness of the mind that dwells on Him. Like the glorious ruddy sun rising on the blue green sea is Muruka riding his favourite charger, the pea-cock.
Him. He is the Lord of wisdom and ever present teacher and helper of His votaries.
Foes. He is the Lord also of war and destroyed the Titans (asuras), who peopled the Antarctic Continent of Lanka and

A GUIDE TO MURUKA I39
oppressed the world. Their rise and fall are recorded in the Skanda Purana.
Lady. His inherent energy is exoterically represented as his twin-consorts-Tevayanai Amman (here referred to and in line I75), the energy of action, and Valli Amman (referred to in line IoI), the energy of desire. Though himself free from all desire he deigned, says the commentator, to set the world a pattern of home life; for the discharge of its duties leads to God no less surely than a life of renunciation.
LINES 7-II.
Kadamba. Eugenia racemosa-a flower sacred to the God. Luminous sky. Literally, the sky whose darkness is hewn
by light (of sun, moon and stars).
LINIES I2-44.
Theyva, Makarapakuvai are various head ornaments.
Thilaka. A beauty spot placed between the eye-brows, symbol of the psychic opening in yogi.
Marutha. Terminalia aluta.
Chanticleer. Flag of Lord Muruka on which stood a cock. Kandal. Gloriosa superba.
LINES 45-6I.
Lance. The favourite weapon of Lord Muruka regarded as his energy of wisdom (gnanasakti). When hurled against the Titan, who bore the double name of Sura Padma, it sought him out in his concealment in the ocean and killed him and destroyed also his enchanted mango tree, which had the virtue of drawing away to him half the strength of his foes.
She-devils. These creatures are supposed to revel in the reeking blood and carrion of the battle fields.
Tunankai. This dance is described as a jerky walk with flabby arms bent and tossed.
LINEs 68-77.
Ball and doll. These were tied to the flag staff in challenge and derision of their foes and to tell them of their fate that awaited them as captives, of being condemned to women's games.
Lakshmi. The goddess of prosperity and consort of Vishnu.

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உ. திருச்சீரலைவாய்
வைந்நுதி பொருத வடுவாழ் வரிநுதல் வாடா மாலை யோடையொடு துயல்வரப் படுமணி யிரட்டு மருங்கிற் கடுநடைக் கூற்றத் தன்ன மாற்றரு மொய்ம்பிற் கால்கிளர்ந் தன்ன வேழ மேல்கொண் டைவே றுருவிற் செய்வினை முற்றிய முடியொடு விளங்கிய முரண்மிகு திருமணி மின்னுற Nமைப்பிற் சென்னிப் பொற்ப நகைதாழ்பு துயல்வரூஉம் வகையமை பொலங்குழை சேண்விளங்கியற்கை வாண்மதி கவைஇ அகலா மீனினவிர்வன விமைப்பத் தாவில் கொள்கைத் தந்தொழின் முடிமார்
மனனேர் பெழுதரு வானிற முகனே மாயிருண் ஞால மறுவின்றி விளங்கப் பல்கதிர் விரிந்தன் ருெருமுக மொருமுக மார்வல ரேத்த வமர்ந்தினி தொழுகிக் காதலினுவந்து வரங்கொடுத் தன்றே யொருமுக மந்திர விதியின் மரபுளி வழாஅ அந்தணர் வேள்வியோர்க் கும்மே யொருமுக மெஞ்சிய பொருள்களை யேமுற நாடித் திங்கள்போலத் திசைவிளக்கும்மே யொருமுகஞ் செறுநர்த் தேய்த்துச் செல்சம முருக்கிக்
கறுவுகொ ணெஞ்சமொடு களம்வேட் டன்றே யொரு குறவர் மடமகள் கொடிபோ னுசுப்பின் (முகங் மடவரல் வள்ளியொடு நகையமர்ந் தன்றே யாங்கம், மூவிரு முகனு முறைநவின் ருெழுகலி னரந் தாழ்ந்த வம்பகட்டு மார்பிற்
செம்பொறி வாங்கிய மொய்ம்பிற் சுடர்விடுபு வண்புகழ் நிறைந்து வசிந்துவாங்கு நிமிர்தோள் விண்செலன் மரபினையர்க் கேந்திய தொருகை யுக்கஞ் சேர்த்திய தொருகை (தொருை நலம்பெறு கலிங்கத்துக் குறங்கின்மிசை யசைஇய

A GUIDE TO MURUKA I4.
110 அங்குசங் கடாவ வொருகை யிருகை
ஐயிரு வட்டமொ டெஃகுவலந் திரிப்ப வொருகை மார்பொடு விளங்க வொருகை தாரொடு பொலிய வொருகை கீழ்வீழ் தொடியொடு மீமிசைக் கொட்ப வொருகை 115 பாடின் படுமணி மிரட்ட வொருகை
நீனிற விசும்பின் மலிதுளி பொழிய வொருகை வானா மகளிர்க்கு வதுவை சூட்ட வாங்கப், பன்னிரு கையும் பாற்பட வியற்றி அந்தரப் பல்லியங் கறங்கத் திண்காழ் 120 வயிரெழுந் திசைப்ப வால்வளை நரல
உரந்தலைக் கொண்ட வுருமிடி முரசமொடு பல்பொறி மஞ்ஞை வெல்கொடி யகவ விசம்பா ருக விரைசெலன் முன்னி உலகம் புகழ்ந்த வோங்குயர் விழுச்சீ 125 ரலைவாய்ச் சேறலு நிலைஇய பண்பே யதாஅன்று
CANTO I
THIRU-CHEER-ALAIVAI
78-88. Or borne aloft on elephant swiftly striding, irresistible as death, fleet as the risen wind, on whose brow, scarred deep with sharp goad, unfading wreaths and medals toss, and bells of alternate peal ring on either side,-beauteous gems of changing sheen flash like lightning on His crown, five shapes in one and wrought consummately; bright pendant ear-rings of varied work shine like stars clinging around the moon, shedder of light on far lands.
89-Io2. In the minds of sages who with unfaltering devotion follow their own life, visions arise of His glorious faces: one face spreadeth afar rays of light, perfectly lighting the world's dense darkness; one face with gracious love seeking, granteth the prayers of His beloved devotees; one face watcheth over the sacrificial rites of the peaceful ones

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who fail not in the way of the Scriptures; one face searcheth and pleasantly expoundeth hidden meanings, illumining every quarter like the moon; one face with wrath, mind filling, equality ceasing, wipeth away his foes and celebrateth the battle sacrifice; one face dwelleth smiling with slender waisted Vedda maid, pure-hearted Valli.
Io3-I26. Twice three faces thus each its part fulfill. On His shoulders erect-where rosy lines stretch from broad, beautiful medalled breast and where rest luminous weapons, glorious in His strength, having pierced the breasts of foes,- one arm is raised to guard the sires that move in the heavenly sphere; one arm wields the elephant-goad, one arm rests on well-clad thigh; two arms whirl the lance and beauteous, broad shield, one arm on the breast shines; one with garlands is decked, one arm with armlet decked is waved aloft; one arm tolls with double peal sweet bell; one arm sheds plenteous rain from the dark blue clouds; one arm crowns celestial maids with wedding wreaths; thus twelve arms their due parts performing, diverse celestial drums sounding, strong horns blowing loud, drum and white conch like thunder resounding, peacock of varied plumes from His victorious banner calling, He speedeth across the heavens to all-praised, beauteous Alai-Vai.
க. திருவாவினன்குடி
சீரை தைஇய வுடுக்கையர் சீரொடு வலம்புரி புரையும் வானரை முடியினர் மாசற விமைக்கு முருவினர் மானி னுரிவை தைஇய வூன்கெடு மார்பி
130 னென்பெழுந் தியங்கு மியாக்கையர் நன்பகற்
பலவுடன் கழிந்த வுண்டிய ரிகலொடு செற்ற நீக்கிய மனத்தின ரியாவதுங் கற்றே ரறியா வறிவினர் கற்றேர்க்குத் தாம்வரம் பாகிய தலைமையர் காமமொடு

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A GUIDE TO MURUKA I43
கடுஞ்சினங் கடிந்த காட்சிய ரிடும்பை யாவது மறியா வியல்பினர் மேவரத் துணியில் காட்சி முனிவர் முற்புகப் புகைமுகந் தன்ன மாசிறுவுடை முகைவா யவிழ்ந்த தகைகு ழாகத்துச் செவிநேர்பு வைத்த செய்வுறு திவ்வி னல்லியாழ் நவின்ற நயனுடை நெஞ்சின் மென்மொழி மேவலரின்னரம் புளர நோயின் றியன்ற யாக்கையர் மாவி னவிர்தளிர் புரையு மேனிய ரவிர்தொறும்
பொன்னுரை கடுக்குந் திதலையரின்னகைப் பருமந் தாங்கிய பணிந்தேந் தல்குன் மாசின் மகளிரொடு மறுவின்றி விளங்கக் கடுவொ டொடுங்கிய தூம்புடை வாலெயிற் றழலென வுயிர்க்கு மஞ்சுவரு கடுந்திறற்
பாம்புபடப் புடைக்கும் பல்வரிக் கொடுஞ்சிறைப் புள்ளணி நீள்கொடிச் செல்வனும் வெள்ளேறு வளவயினுயரிய பலர்புகழ் திணிதோ ளுமையமர்ந்து விளங்கு மிமையா முக்கண் மூவெயின் முருக்கிய முரண்மிகு செல்வனு
நூற்றுப்பத் தடுக்கிய நாட்டத்து நூறுபல் வேள்வி முற்றிய வென்றடு கொற்றத் தீரிரண் டேந்திய மருப்பி னெழினடைத் தாழ்பெருந் தடக்கை யுயர்த்த யானை எருத்த மேறிய திருக்கிளர் செல்வனு
நாற்பெருந் தெய்வத்து நன்னகர் நிலைஇய உலகங் காக்கு மொன்றுபுரி கொள்கைப் பலர்புகழ் மூவருந் தலைவராக எமுறு ஞாலந் தன்னிற் றேன்றித் தாமரை பயந்த தாவி லூழி
நான்முக வொருவற் சுட்டிக் காண்வரப் பகலிற் ருேன்று மிகலில் காட்சி நால்வே றியற்கைப் பதினெரு மூவரோ

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44 A GUIDE TO MURUKA
டொன்பதிற் றிரட்டி யுயர்நிலை பெறீஇயர் மீன்பூத் தன்ன தோன்றலர் மீன்சேர்பு 170 வளிகிளர்ந் தன்ன செலவினர் வளியிடைத்
தீயெழுந் தன்ன திறலினர் தீப்பட உருமிடித் தன்ன குரலினர் விழுமிய உறுகுறை மருங்கிற்றம் பெறுமுறை கொண்மா ரந்தரக் கொட்பினர் வந்துடன் காணத்
175 தாவில் கொள்கை மடந்தையொடு சின்ன
ளாவினன்குடி யசைதலு முரிய னதாஅன்று
CANTO III THIRU-AviNANKUDI
I26-176. Sages clad in barks of trees, hair beauteous white as the Valampuri conch, bodies stainless and bright, ribs rising conspicuous on lean chest, wrapped in deer-skin, breaking fast at intervals of many days, minds rid of guile and hate, wise beyond the wisdom of the learned, the limit and goal of the learned, free from anger and desire, knowing no pain, gracious of countenance, lead the way; while soft voiced Gandharvas with spotless and mist-like robes, their bodies decked with garlands of fresh open buds, hearts refined by the practice of the good yal of strings duly attuned with the aid of stops, play faultlessly on the sweet strings, with their wives of peerless beauty, bodies not subject to disease, rosy as the hue of the mango's tender shoots, beauty spots on their skin as of shining gold, and hips adorned with lustrous strands of gems; the Lord of the tall banner crowned with a falcon of striped curved wings that smite to death the fierce dread dragon of fiery, hiss and bright hollow teeth in poisonsac, the Lord whose duty is to guard the world bounded by the good cities of the four great gods; the mighty Lord of the white ox-banner reared on the battle field and of mighty shoulders adored by multitudes and of the unclosing triple eye, destroyer of the three citadels, at whose side is seated

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resplendent Lady Uma; He of the thousand eyes, ever victorious as the fruit of hundred sacrifices completed, who rideth in beauty on the neck of the white towering elephant of twice two tusks rearing aloft, majestic gait, mighty drooping trunk,-seeking to establish in his ancient duty the Fourfaced, deathless through aeons, who was born of the lotus that sprang on earth, and lay deluded, and to make the many praised Three lords again of their duties; accompanied by thrice thirty wise ones, classed as four, who appear different when differentiated but in themselves have no difference, and among the high hosts of twice nine classes, by those whose brightness is as of the stars, whose pace is as of the wind risen on the sea, whose might is as of wind-swept fire, whose voice is as the thunder;--wended their way through the heavens. In beauty. He dwelleth with the Lady of faultless purity and devotion in Avinankudi at times, seen and sought by sky wanderers for boons to help them to fulfill their great duties.
NOTES
Valampuri. A shell which turns to the right and is much valued.
Goal. Having exhausted all knowledge they (sages) are the goal of the learned students.
Knowing no pains. That is, pain of mind, though bodies are subjected to painful austerities.
Gracious of countenance. Looks without dislike (repulsion).
Soft-voiced. Refers to Gandarvas, the celestial choristers of Indra's heaven.
Mist like robes. Light and floating as vapour.
ச. திருவேரகம் இருமூன் றெய்திய வியல்பினின் வழாஅ திருவர்ச் சுட்டிய பல்வேறு தொல்குடி அறுநான் கிரட்டி யிளமை நல்லியாண்

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180 டாறினிற் கழிப்பிய வறணவில் கொள்கை மூன்றுவகைக் குறித்த முத்தீச் செல்வத் திருபிறப்பாளர் பொழுதPந்து நுவல ஒன்பது கொண்ட மூன்றுபுரி நுண்ஞாண் புலராக் காழகம் புலர வுடீஇ
185 உச்சிக் கூப்பிய கையினர் தற்புகழ்ந்
தாறெழுத் தடக்கிய வருமறைக் கேள்வி நாவியன் மருங்கி னவிலப் பாடி விரையுறு நறுமல ரேந்திப் பெரிதுவந் தேரகத் துறைதலு முரிய னதாஅன்று.
CANTO IV
THIRU-ERAKAM
I77-188. Scions of ancient many-branching house, in the six fitting duties unfailing, lineage on either side highesteemed, forty-eight good years of youth in duteous discipline spent, devoted ever to the reading of the Sacred Scriptures, rich in the wealth of the three sacrificial fires, wearing the triple thread delicate of nine strands, the twice born, knowing the due time of worship, clothes wet from the bath on their bodies drying, hands overhead in worship raised, uttering till sore tongued, the lore of holy Vedas in the six letters shrined, offering fragrant flowers, sing and glorify Him. . Thus praised, He dwelleth pleased in Erakam too.
NOTES
Six duties of brahmins. Teaching, causing to be taught, performing sacrifices, causing them to be performed, giving alms, receiving alms.
Discipline. The celibate student (brahmachari), at the conclusion of this rigorous discipline and study, entered the condition of the householder (grahasta) and discharged its duties with the faithful wife and having raised sons and daughters retired with his wife into a retreat for more unfettered religious practices and contemplation (Vanaprasta), preparatory to a life of complete renunciation (sanyasa) in which he sought and realised union with God.

A GUIDE TO MURUKA I47
The Sacrificial fires were kindled in three forms, square, triangular and bow-shaped and called respectively Ahavaniya, Dakshinagni or Anvahar yapacana, Grahapatya,
The twice-born. The three higher castes, Brahmins (priests), Kshattriyas (warriors) and Waysyas (merchants and farmers) who on their fifth year were, after the ceremony of Upanayana, invested with the sacred thread and regarded as then regenerated.
The six-letters. The sacred word of six-letters sacred to Lord Skanda and containing the essence of the Vedas.
டு. குன்றுதோருடல்
190 பைங்கொடி நறைக்கா யிடையிடுபு வேல
னம்பொதிப் புட்டில் விரைஇக் குளவியொடு வெண்கூதாளந் தொடுத்த கண்ணிய னறுஞ்சாந் தணிந்த கேழ்கிளர் மார்பிற் கொடுந்தொழில் வல்விற் கொலைஇய கானவர்
195 நீடமை விளைந்த தேக்கட் டேறற்
குன்றகச் சிறுகுடிக் கிளையுடன் மகிழ்ந்து தொண்டகச் சிறுபறைக் குரவை யயர விரலுளர்ப் பவிழ்ந்த வேறுபடு நறுங்காற் குண்டுசுனை பூத்த வண்டுபடு கண்ணி
200 இணைத்த கோதை யணைத்த கூந்தன்
முடித்த குல்லை யிலையுடை நறும்பூச் செங்கான் மராஅத்த வாலின ரிடையிடுபு சுரும்புணத் தொடுத்த பெருந்தண் மாத்தழை திருந்துகா ழல்குறிளைப்ப வுடீஇ
205 மயில்கண் டன்ன மடநடை மகளிரொடு
செய்யன் சிவந்த வாடையன் செவ்வரைச் செயலைத் தண்டளிர் துயல்வருங் காதினன் கச்சினன் கழலினன் செச்சைக் கண்ணியன்
குழலன் கோட்டன் குறும்பல் லியத்தன்

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210 றகரன் மஞ்ஞையன் புகரில் சேவலங்
கொடிய னெடியன் ருெடியணி தோள னரம்பார்த் தன்ன வின்குரற் ருெகுதியொடு குறும்பொறிக் கொண்ட நறுந்தண் சாயன் மருங்கிற் கட்டிய நிலனேர்பு துகிலினன்
216 முழவுறழ் தடக்கையி னியல வேந்தி
மென்றேட் பல்பிணை தழீஇத் தலைத்தந்து குன்றுதோ ருடலு நின்றதன் பண்பே யதாஅன்று
CANTO V
SPORTING ON THE HILL
I90-2I7. While cruel forest-men, slaughterers with the string bow, their breasts bright with the hue of the daubed, fragrant sandal paste, revel with their little hill-clan in the honey strained from combs ripened on the tall bamboos, and dance to the little Thondaka drum the Kuravai dance with their modest dames whose gait is as the pea-hen's, and round whose tresses are wound wreaths of bee-clustering buds from the deep pools with pistils of fragrance changed for being with finger opened, and whose waists are decked with masses of cool beauteous leaf, white clusters of redstemmed Kadamba amid consummate kullai and leafy scented flowers strung together for bees to feed;-the Lancer, wearing wreaths of wild jasmine and white Kuthalam mixed with scented berries of the green creeper and nutmeg, fair of hue, red-robed, cool tender leaves of the red-trunked Asoka hanging from His ears, skirts tucked, warrior-anklets on His feet, Vetchi wreaths on crown, blowing the horn, playing gentle notes, ram following, riding peacock, raising glorious banner of the chanticleer, growing at will (from childhood to youth), shoulders with armlets adorned, soft cool scented robes tied round the waist trailing along the ground, roving

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with bands of singers sweet voiced as the music of the lute strings, clasping in His hands big as the muzhavai arum, the hands of soft shouldered fawn-like maids,-He loves to sport upon the hills.
NOTES
Kuravai is a religious dance in a ring, the dancers holding each others' hands; it is supposed to secure success in love and war.
The Lancer. Muruka whose favourite weapon is the lance, the usual symbol of worship.
சு. பழமுதிர்சோலை
சிறுதினை மலரொடு விரைஇ மறியறுத்து வாரணக் கொடியொடு வயிற்பட நிறீஇ
220 ஊரூர் கொண்ட சீர்கெழு விழவினு மார்வல ரேத்த மேவரு நிலையினும் வேலன் றைஇய வெறியயர் களனுங் காடுங் காவுங் கவின்பெறு துருத்தியும் யாறுங் குளனும் வேறுபல் வைப்புஞ்
225 சதுக்கமுஞ் சந்தியும் புதுப்பூங் கடம்பு
மன்றமும் பொதியினுங் கந்துடை நிலையினு மாண்டலைக் கொடியொடு மண்ணி யமைவர நெய்யோ டையவி யப்பி யைதுரைத்துக் குடந்தம் பட்டுக் கொழுமலர் சிதறி
230 முரண்கொளுருவி னிரண்டுடை யுடீஇச்
செந்நூல் யாத்து வெண்பொரி சிதறி மதவலி நிலைஇய மாத்தாட் கொழுவிடைக் குருதியொடு விரைஇத் துவெள்ளரிசி சில்பலிச் செய்து பல்பிரப் பிரீஇச்
235 சிறுபசு மஞ்சளொடு நறுவிரை தெளித்துப்
பெருந்தண் கணவீர நறுந்தண் மாலை துணையுற வறுத்துத் தூங்க நாற்றி

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நளிமலைச் சிலம்பி னன்னகர் வாழ்த்தி நறும்புகை யெடுத்துக் குறிஞ்சி பாடி
இமிழிசை யருவியோ டின்னியங் கறங்க உருவப் பல்பூத் தூஉய் வெருவரக் குருதிச் செந்தினை பரப்பிக் குறமகண் முருகிய நிறுத்து முரணின ருட்க முருகாற்றுப் படுத்த வுருகெழு வியனக
ராடுகளஞ் சிலம்பப் பாடிப் பலவுடன் கோடுவாய் வைத்துக் கொடுமணி யியக்கி ஓடாப் பூட்கைப் பிணிமுகம் வாழ்த்தி வேண்டுநர் வேண்டியாங் கெய்தினர் வழிபட ஆண்டாண் டுறைதலு மறிந்த வாறே
ஆண்டாண் டாயினு மாகக் காண்டக முந்துநீ கண்டுழி முகனமர்ந் தேத்திக் கைதொழுஉப் பரவிக் காலுற வணங்கி நெடும்பெருஞ் சிமயத்து நீலப் பைஞ்சுனை ஐவரு ளொருவ னங்கை யேற்ப அறுவர் பயந்த வாறமர் செல்வ ஆல்கெழு கடவுட் புதல்வ மால்வரை மலைமகண் மகனே மாற்றேர் கூற்றே வெற்றி வெல்போர்க் கொற்றவை சிறுவ இழையணி சிறப்பிற் பழையோள் குழவி
வானேர் வணங்குவிற் றனைத் தலைவ மாலை மார்ப நூலறி புலவ செருவி லொருவ பொருவிறன் மள்ள அந்தணர் வெறுக்கை யறிந்தோர் சொன்மலை மங்கையர் கணவ மைந்த ரேறே
வேல்கெழு தடக்கைச் சால்பெருஞ் செல்வ குன்றங் கொன்ற குன்றக் கொற்றத்து விண்பொரு நெடுவரைக் குறிஞ்சிக் கிழவ மலர்புகழ் நன்மொழிப் புலவரேறே அரும்பெறன் மரபிற் பெரும்பெயர் முருக

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A GUIDE TO MURUKA I5I
நசையினர்க் கார்த்து மிசைபே ராள அலந்தோர்க் களிக்கும் பொலம்பூட் சேஎய் மண்டமர் கடந்தநின் வென்ற டகலத்துப் பரிசிலர்த் தாங்கு முருகெழு நெடுவேஎள் பெரியோ ரேத்தும் பெரும்பெயரியவுள்
சூர்மருங் கறுத்த மொய்ம்பின் மதவலி போர்மிகு பொருந குருசிலு மெனப்பல யானறியளவையி னேத்தி யானது நின்னளந்தறிதன் மன்னுயிர்க் கருமையி னின்னடி யுள்ளி வந்தனெனின்னெடு புரைகுநரில்லாப் புலமை யோயெனக் குறித்தது மொழியா வளவையிற் குறித்துடன் வேறுபல் லுருவிற் குறும்பல் கூளியர் சாறயர் களத்து வீறுபெறத் தோன்றி அளியன் ருனே முதுவா யிரவலன் வந்தோன் பெருமநின் வண்புகழ் நயந்தென இனியவு நல்லவு நனிபல வேத்தித் தெய்வஞ் சான்ற திறல்விளங் குருவின் வான்றேய் நிவப்பிற் றன்வந் தெய்தி அணங்குசா லுயர்நிலை தழீஇப் பண்டைத்தன் மணங்கமழ் தெய்வத் திளநலங் காட்டி அஞ்ச லோம்புமதி யறிவனின் வரவென அன்புடை நன்மொழி யளைஇ விளிவின் றிருணிற முந்நீர் வளைஇய வுலகத் தொருநீ யாகித் தோன்ற விழுமிய பெறலரும் பரிசினல்குமதி பலவுடன் வேறுபஃ றுகிலி னுடங்கி யகில்சுமந் தார முழுமுதலுருட்டி வேரற் பூவுடையலங்குசினை புலம்ப வேர்கீண்டு விண்பொரு நெடுவரைப் பரிதியிற் ருெடுத்த தண்கமழலரிருல் சிதைய நன்பல ஆசினி முதுசுளை கலாவ மீமிசை நீாக நறுமலருதிர யூகமொடு

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I52 A GUIDE TO MURUKA
மாமுக முசுக்கலை பனிப்பப் பூநுத R லிரும்பிடி குளிர்ப்ப வீசிப் பெருங்களிற்று
305 முத்துடை வான்கோடு தழீஇத் தத்துற்று
நன்பொன் மணிநிறங் கிளரப்பொன் கொழியா வாழை முழுமுதறுமியத் தாழை இளநீர் விழுக்குலை யுதிரத் தாக்கிக் கறிக்கொடிக் கருத்துணர் சாயப் பொறிப்புற
310 மடநடை மஞ்ஞை பலவுடன் வெரீஇக் கோழி வயப்பெடை யிரியக் கேழலொ டிரும்பனை வெளிற்றின் புன்சா யன்ன குரூஉமயி ரியாக்கைக் குடாவடி யுளியம் பெருங்கல் விடரளைச் செறியக் கருங்கோட்
315 டாமா நல்லேறு சிலைப்பச் சேணின் றிழுமென விழிதரு மருவிப் பழமுதிர் சோலை மலைகிழ வோனே.
CANTO VII
PAzHAMUTHIR SOLAI*
2I8-226. Besides, He is present at village-festivals wellcelebrated with offerings of millet and flowers laid, rams sacrificed, and the flag of the chanticleer installed; and in whatever places devotees seek Him, and at oracles where the lancer dances his frenzied dance; and in woods, groves, beautiful islets, rivers, lakes, diverse shrines, junctions where three or four roads meet, newly blossomed kadamba trees, village meetings, forums, and hallowed cotes.
227-248. In the wide, beautiful city where the mountain lass invokes Muruka to the consternation of infidels, with the chanticleer-flag well-decorated, besmearing mustard and ghee on her forehead, muttering mystic incantation, strewing flowers with an impassioned gesture, dressed in two clothes tied one over the other contrariwise, wearing a red band
The fruit-grove.

A GUIDE TO MURUKA I53
round the wrist, sprinkling fried rice, making offerings of pure white rice mixed with the blood of a strong-legged, fat ram, laying in many vessels offerings of several other grains, spraying sandal paste mixed with a little saffron, hanging fragrant festoons of equal length of cool, broad red oleanders, praying for the weal of the many villages on the slopes of the hills, burning incense, singing the melody of Kurinji, whilst musical instruments mingle their sweet notes with the roar of the water falls, strewing many kinds of lustrous flowers, spreading millet mixed with fiery blood, getting the Thondaka drum beaten; the while votaries worship that their hearts' desires may be fulfilled,-singing songs which resound all round the sanctuary, blowing several horns simultaneously, ringing a terrific-sounding bell, and praising the puissant Elephant and the Peacock;-here also doth. He dwell.
249-252. Whether in these places or anywhere else, wherever thou couldst see Him, worship Him with a bright expression on thy countenance, raising thy hands over thy head, prostrating thyself fully before Him, and praising Him thus:-
253-28o. Dearest, whom the cool blue waters of the pool on the mighty Himalaya's peak received from the beautious hands of Fire, the peerless one of the Five elements, and who in six forms nourished by the six Naiads became one Offspring of the God seated under the banyan tree, Scion of the daughter of the cedar-crowned mountain, Death of thine enemies, Child of the triumphant Korravai of battle fields, Babe of the well-decked ancient Goddess of the forests, Commander of the celestial forces who beareth the curved bow, Wearer of garlands on Thy breast, Seer versed in scriptures, Incomparable One in fight, Youth of victorious prowess, Treasure of gracious sages, Goal of the words of the Wise, Spouse of two consorts, Lion amongst the valiant, Possessor of infinite wealth, holding the lance in Thy powerful hand, Lord of the sky-contending mountains, who destroyed the

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I54 A GUIDE TO MURUKA
Krounia Hill with Thy unfailing might, Chiefest of the poets of wise words admired by many, Muruka of transcending glory hard to attain, Great-famed One who fulfilleth the wishes of Thy devotees, Helper of the persecuted, Divine child wearing golden ornaments that dangle on Thy breast victorious in the battle fields, tall, radiant, charming Deity who succoureth those that come begging to Thee, God of high renown worshipped by the great, Mighty Valour that destroyed the Titan root and branch, Redoubtable fighter of battles, Great Lord
28I-286. When thou hast praised Him thus, as I have taught thee, and otherwise, and expressed thy wish saying, 'Matchless Seer, I have come seeking Thy feet, as no soul can know Thee fully in all Thy attributes,' many dwarfish myrmidons of diverse shapes will appear on the festive scene with an air of majesty and usher thee in, saying "A man deserving Thy Mercy indeed, a poet of ripe wisdom drawn by Thy fame for munificence, hath come, O Lord, praising Thee in words sweet and choice.'
287-295. Then He of mighty divine-immanent form reaching up to the sky, will come, withholding His fiery, sublime loftiness, and manifesting His Divine-redolent Youth of old, and will speak words of love to thee saying, "I know of thy coming: Fear not," and will grant thee worthy boons, hard to obtain, that thou mightest shine in this world girt by the dark seas, as one without a second.
296-317. Swaying like divers flags flying, bearing logs of Akil, rolling whole trees of sandal, uprooting bamboos, rending their wavy branches full of blossoms, breaking the sun-shaped honey-combs redolent of cool flowers on the sky contending peaks, carrying the sweet, ripe pulp of many jack fruits, shaking the fragrant blossoms of Punnai trees on the top of the hills, blowing a cold spray which makes black apes and brown apes and elephants with freckled

A GUIDE TO MURUKA I55
foreheads shiver, eddying big pearly tusks of huge elephants with lustrous gold and gems, drifting alongside the banks dust of gold, washing away trunks of plantain trees, dashing against coconut trees, bringing down tender nuts, and sweeping aside blossomed creepers of black pepper-the while strong wild-hens with soft-gaited peacocks of speckled plumage flee in confusion, and boars with bent-backed bears of grisly hair black like rough scales of palmyrah barks, seek caverns in rocks, and dark-horned bucks bellow ;-thus fall many sounding cataracts from the heights of the fruit-grove mountain of which He is the Lord.

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STUDIES AND TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL
ODE TO A KING
(PURANANURU) மண்டினிந்த நிலனும் நிலனேந்திய விசும்பும் விசும்புதைவரு வளியும் வளித்தலைஇய தீயுந் தீமுரணியநீரும், என்றங் கைம்பெரும் பூதத் தியற்கை போலப் போற்றர்ப் பொறுத்தலுஞ் சூழ்ச்சிய தகலமும் வலியுந் தெறலு மளியு முடையோய் நின்கடற் பிறந்த ஞாயிறு பெயர்த்துநின் வெண்டலைப் புணரிக் குடகடற் குளிக்கும் யாணர் வைப்பி னன்னட்டுப் பொருந வான வரம்பனை நீயோ பெரும வலங்குளைப் புரவி யைவரொடு சினைஇ நிலந்தலைக் கொண்ட பொலம்பூந் தும்பை யீரைம் பதின்மரும் பொருதுகளத் தொழியப் பெருஞ்சோற்று மிகுபதம் வரையாது கொடுத்தோய் பாஅல்புளிப்பினும் பகலிருளினு நாஅல்வேத நெறி திரியினுந் திரியாச் சுற்றமொடு முழுதுசேண் விளங்கி நடுக்கின்றி நிலியரோ வத்தை யடுக்கத்துச் சிறுதலை நவ்விப் பெருங்கண் மாப்பிணை யந்தி யந்தண ரருங்கட னிறுக்கு முத்தீ விளக்கிற் றுஞ்சும் பொற்கோட் டிமயமும் பொதியமும் போன்றே
'O thou of like nature to the five great elements, Sand-compact earth, earth-o'erspreading ether,
ther-softly-rubbing air, air-thriving fire,
re-coping water-of long-suffering, wide judgment,
I56

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL 157
Might, destruction and mercy unto thy foes Warrior king of the good land of wealth ever new, In whose western sea of the white-headed ocean The sun born in thy sea laves Sky-bounded Lord Majestic one Who,-when, in wrath against the five heroes Of the horses of tossing mane, the ten times ten Battled, lusting after their land And crowned with golden tumpai flowerDidst without measure giye savoury food To either host till the ending of the war With ministers around thee who,-though milk Should sour, though the sun darken, though the way Of the Four Vedas change, -change not, Mayst thou for all time shine steadfast, Like unto Mount Potiya and golden-peaked Imaya on whose heights large-eyed does With wee-headed fawns slumber at even By the light of the triple fire Wherewith sages celebrate arduous rites'
A beautiful Tamil ode addressed by Mudinakarayar of Muranchior to king Chéraman perunchórru Utiyanchéralatan and to which I have added a literal translation in English.
In him, according to the poet, were united the qualities of the five elements. In dealing with his foes he was longsuffering as the earth. When compelled to action by their misdeeds, he was of judgment wide and comprehensive as the ether, powerful as the wind to chastise, destructive as fire, but quick to forgive and cooling and gracious as water. Such being his character to his enemies, what he was to his loyal subjects is left to be inferred. His empire was so great that the sun rose and set in his seas, which yielded him wealth ever new from their depths as well as from the ships
7. S. P. C. - 8272.

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158 STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL:
that visited his ports. Possessed of boundless resources, he was able, during the eighteen days' battle of Kurukshetra (near Delhi), described in the epic of the Mahabharata, between the Pandava and Kaurava princes for the throne of India, to undertake and carry out successfully the feeding of the vast forces on either side, and thus earned the title of the "Great Rice-Giver' (Perunchörfu).
The poet blesses him and wishes him a continuance for all time of his power and glory, of his noble character unchanged, though Nature herself should change, and firm as the mighty Himalayas and the Potiya Mountains (the latter situated in Tinnevelly District not far from Tuticorin). The allusion is not merely to their physical grandeur and stability but to their spiritual greatness as the abode of sages whose ideals were, amid all his wordly pomp and power, the ideals of the king.
The poem is taken" from an ancient Anthology called Pura Naintiru recently made accessible in print by the enterprise and scholarship of Sâminâtha Aiyar of the Kumbakonam College, and is a fair specimen of Tamil Classic poetry. It is impossible to reproduce in a translation the beauty of diction, the terseness and vigour, the music of the original. But even in a translation one cannot help noticing a marked characteristic of the poetry, its suggestiveness-charming pictures drawn with a few light touches, long trains of thought suggested by a word or a phrase.
It is interesting to compare the poem with similar odes of a nearly contemporary Latin poet, Horace, who, in the opinion of Quintilian, “ almost alone of lyrists is worthy to be read”, and whose odes, more than any other of his writings, display, as a later critic has said, the charm of "exquisite aptness of language and a style perfect for fulness of suggestion, com
It is No. 2 in the collection.

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL 159
bined with brevity and grace”. Take, e.g., the panegyrics addressed to the Emperor Augustus (Odes I4 and I5 of Book IV). Compare—
நின்கடற் பிறந்த ஞாயிறு பெயர்த்துநின் வெண்டலைப் புணரிக் குடகடற் குளிக்கும் யாணர் வைப்பினன்னுட்டுப் பொருந
"Warrior-king of the good land of wealth ever new in whose western sea of the white-headed ocean the sun born in thy sea laves," with
Latinum nomen et Italae Crevere vires famaque et imperi
Porrecta majestas ad ortus
Solis ab Hesperio cubili.
"The glory of Latium and the might of Italy grew and the renown and majesty of the empire was extended to the rising of the sun from his chamber in the west.'
"Wealth ever new', an allusion to the wealth yielded by the sea (pearls, fish, salt, &c.) and by commerce with foreign nations whose vessels frequented the king's ports.
"The white-headed ocean' flashes on the mind some such scene as described in the Iliad (IV, 422 et seq.).
ώς δ' ότι εν αιγιαλώ πολυηχεί κύμα θαλάσσης όρνυτ' επασσύτερον ζεφύρου υποκινήσαντος πόντω μέν τε πρώτα κορύσσεται, αυταρ έπειτα χέρσω ρηγνύμενον μεγάλα βρέμει, άμφι δέ τ’ άκρας κυρτον ιόν κορυφούται, αποπτύει δ' άλός άχνη».
"As when on the echoing beach the sea-wave lifteth up itself in close array before the driving of the west wind, out on the deep does it first raise its head, and then breaketh upon the land and belloweth loud and goeth with arching crest about the promontories and speweth the foaming brine
afar.

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60 STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL
JøyGOŠis&aTÜ qui GM60DLu6JG3g ITGB69&Og “ Wroth with the Five (heroes) of the horses of tossing mane: suggests horsemen in battle with a vividness combining that of Homer's
θείη πεδίοιο κροαι νων κυδιόων υψου δε κάρη έχει άμφι δε χαίται ώμοις αίσσονται.
"Speedeth at the gallop across the plain exulting, and holdeth his head on high and his mane is tossed about his shoulders' (Iliad VI, 5Io), with Horace's
Impiger hostium Vexare turmas et frementem
Mittere equum medios per ignes. "Swift to overthrow the enemy's squadrons and drive the neighing charger through the midst of the fires.'
The large-eyed does with their 'wee-headed fawns' slumbering peacefully on the mountains by the light and warmth of the hermits' fires-exquisitely beautiful as a picture-are suggestive of the confidence and security with which the king's subjects live under his rule.
The Tamil poet, moreover, strikes a higher spiritual note than Horace. While the Roman dwells on the glories of Augustus gained in the battle field and by the extension of his empire, and on his achievements as civil administrator and guardian of the public peace and morals, the other poet, touching on these, passes on to nobler graces of character, forgiveness of injuries and steadfastness in the pursuit of high ideals.
THE HOUSE OF GOD
A hymn sung by the Saint Manikka Wachakar in the temple at Chidambaram, probably the most revered shrine in South India and unique in combining the exoteric and esoteric aspects of Saivam. The hymn is the one called GasnuSpsfjobtusash

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL I6
("The Holy Chapter of the House of God') in the Tiruvachakam, the ancient and popular Psalm-book of Tamil-land,
Temples and churches, usually regarded as Houses of God, are but passages to the true House of God which is in man's heart "made beauteous by the flood of His Grace'. When He has taken his abode there, all distinctions of race, religion, caste, sex, &c., disappear-" who here is my kin? Who is not ? '-and there is naught save the splendour of the Lord.
The experience here recorded is the goal of the Bhakti-Yogi who seeks realization of God by the way of Love, increasing the circle of Love indefinitely till the One Universal Love is reached. This Yoga or temple-worship, with its services and prayers, is designed to foster, gradually purifying the heart and making it fit to be the ' House of God', His "great holy shrine' (Tirupperunturai), 'the City of Siva' or, in the language of Jesus, "the Kingdom of God', of which by the way, he too said "Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you'.
The hymns of the Tiruvichakam are difficult of translation, though couched in simple language. Their meaning is often beyond the apprehension of the learned. Learning, say the sages, is of little avail in matters of spritual experience. The translation here offered seeks to express the sense of the hymn as faithfully as I understand it, sacrificing elegance to fidelity. No translation can convey the linked sweetness of the original or its wonderful religious emotion which carries one away like a torrent.
The age in which the saintly author of these hymns lived has not been fixed. In South Indian religious history he is known as "the Hammer' of Jainism and Buddhism. Before he embraced a spiritual life, he was prime minister of a
*Also the name of the celebrated temple associated with the Saint's spiritual history.

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I62 STUDES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL
King of the Pandyan dynasty of Madura, a long and ancient line which ended about 8oo years ago. The Saint is believed to have lived anterior to Tirugnana Sambandha Swami, another celebrated Saiva Psalmist and Apostle, who is referred to in the 76th hymn of the Saundaryalahari of the great Sankaracharya, whose age has now been fixed at the second century after Christ.
Rev. Dr. Pope, the distinguished Tamil scholar and Missionary, has written an account of Manikka Vachakar in which he says:-
“Few of the world's biographies are more interesting than that of this man of rare genius; who, in his early youth, when he was the favourite and chief minister of the great King of Madura, met with and was converted by a Saiva Guru whom he then and always believed to be Siva himself; and became at once an utterly self-renouncing ascetic and Saiva mendicant; continuing instant in labours, patient in suffering, and constant in denial through the many years of his after life.'
கோயிற்றிருப்பதிகம் மாறிநின்றென்னை மயக்கிடும்வஞ்சப்
புலனைந்தின் வழியடைத்தமுதே யூறிநின்றென்னு ளெழுபரஞ்சோதி
யுள்ளவா காணவந்தருளாய் தேறலின்றெளிவே சிவபெருமானே
திருப்பெருந்துறை யுறைசிவனே யீறிலாப்பதங்க ளியாவையுங்கடந்த
வின்பமே யென்னுடையன்பே. (as)
O Supreme Splendour that rises within me welling forth as
ambrosia,
Having blocked the ways of the five traitor senses that ever
delude me.
Graciously show Thyself to me as Thou art

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL I63
Clearest of the clear, Lord Siva, Dweller in the great holy
shrine, O Bliss transcending all states without end, O my Love I (r)
அன்பினலடியே ஞவியோடாக்கை
யானந்தமாய்க் கசிந்துருக வென்பரமல்லா வின்னருடந்தா
யானிதற்கிலனெர் கைம்மாறு முன்புமாய்ப்பின்பு முழுதுமாய்ப்பரந்த முத்தனே முடிவிலாமுதலே தென்பெருந்துறையாய் சிவபெருமானே
சீருடைச் சிவபுரத்தரைசே, (o)
With love Thy servant's body and soul melting in bliss, Sweet grace, by me not deserved, Thou didst grant. For this I have naught to give in return. Thou that didst spread forth as all before and all after, Free
One, Substance eternal, Dweller in the great southern shrine, Lord Siva, King of the beauteous city of Siva. (2)
அரைசனேயன்பர்க் கடியனேனுடைய வப்பனே யாவியோடாக்கை புரைபுரைகனியப் புகுந்துநின்றுருக்கிப்
பொய்யிருள்கடிந்த மெய்ச்சுடரே திரைடொராமன்னு மமுதத்தெண்கடலே திருப்பெருந்துறை யுறைசிவனே யுரையுணர்விறந்துநின் றுணர்வதோருணர்வே
யானுன்னை யுரைக்குமாறுணர்த்தே. (Ia)
O King, Father to me that am the servant of those that lowe
Thee,
Light of Truth that, entering body and soul, hath melted all
faults, and driven away the false darkness,
Full, waveless, clear Ocean of Ambrosia, Siva, Dweller in the
great holy shrine,

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I64 STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL
O Knowledge" known there where speech and knowledget
are dead,
Make known unto me, how shall I speak of Thee? (3)
உணர்ந்தமாமுனிவரும்பரோடொழிந்தா
ருணர்வுக்குந் தெரிவரும்பொருளே யிணங்கிலியெல்லா வுயிர்கட்குமுயிரே
யெனேப்பிறப்பறுக்கு மெம்மருந்தே திணிந்ததோரிருளிற் றெளிந்தது?வெளியே
திருப்பெருந்துறை யுறைசிவனே குணங்கடாமில்லா வின்பமேயுன்னைக்
குறுகினேற்கினி யென்னகுறையே, (so)
Thou that art not to be known by the intelligence of great
sages, celestials and all others, Life of all diverse living things, Medicine that cures me of
birth, Pure Space that came forth from the dense darkness, Siva, Dweller in the great holy shrine, O Bliss ineffable, S What now is lacking to me who have neared Thee? (4)
குறைவிலாநிறைவே கோதிலாவமுதே
யீறிலாக்கொழுஞ் சுடர்க்குன்றே மறையுமாய்மறையின் பொருளுமாய்வந்தென்
மனத்திடை மன்னியமன்னே சிறைபெருநீர்போற் சிந்தைவாய்ப்பாயுந்
திருப்பெருந்துறை யுறைசிவனே யிறைவனேநீயென் னுடலிடங்கொண்டா
மினியுன்னையென் னிரக்கேனே. (@)
"Pure Intelligence, the Absolute, where there is no conscious differentiation of subject and object.
timpure Intelligence or differentiating consciousness.
Reincarnation to which the soul is subject until it becomes pure and fit for union with God.
SLiterally, 'without character or quality'.

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL I65
Perfect Fulness, flawless Ambrosia, Mountain of endless,
flaming Light, O King that camest unto me as the Vedas and the meaning
of the Vedas and didst fill my mind, Siva that, like torrent brooking not banks, rushest into the mouth of my heart, Dweller in the great holy shrine, Sovereign Lord, Thou has made my body thy abode. What more can I ask Thee? (5)
இரந்திரந்துருக வென்மனத்துள்ளே
யெழுகின்றசோதியே யிமையோர் சிரந்தனிற்பொலியுங் கமலச்சேவடியாய்
திருப்பெருந்துறை யுறைசிவனே நிரந்தவாகாய நீர்நிலந்தீகா
லாயவை யல்லையாயாங்கே கரந்ததோருருவே களித்தனனுன்னைக்
கண்ணுறக் கண்டுகொண்டின்றே. (air)
O Splendour that rises in my heart as asking, asking I melt Thou whose lily-feet grace the crowns of celestials, Siva,
Dweller in the great holy shrine, Who art all-pervading space and water and earth and fire and
air, Who art other than they, Whose form in them is hiddenI rejoice, having seen Thee this day. (6)
இன்றெனக்கருளி யிருள்கடிந்துள்ளத்
தெழுகின்ற ஞாயிறேபோன்று நின்றநின்றன்மை நினைப்பறநினைந்தே
னியலாற்பிறிது மற்றின்மை சென்றுசென்றணுவாய்த் தேய்ந்துதேய்ந்தொன்றந்
திருப்பெருந்துறை யுறைசிவனே யொன்றுநீயல்லை யன்றியொன்றில்லை
யாருன்னை யறியகிற்பாரே. (T)

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This day in Thy mercy unto me Thou didst drive away the
darkness and stand in my heart as the rising Sun.
Of this Thy way of rising-there being naught else but Thou,
-I thought without thought.
Nearer and nearer to Thee I drew, wearing away atom by
atom, till I was One with Thee, O Siva,
Dweller in the great holy shrine.
Thou art not aught in the universe. Naught is there save
Thou,
Who can know Thee? (7)
பார்பதமண்ட மனத்துமாய்முளேத்துப்
பரந்ததோர் படரொளிப்பரப்பே நீருறுதீயே நினைவதேலரிய
நின்மலாநின் னருள்வெள்ளச் சீருறுசிந்தை யெழுந்ததோர்தேனே
திருப்பெருந்துறை யுறைசிவனே யாருறவெனக்கிங் காரயலுள்ளா
ரானந்தமாக்குமென் சோதி. )ع(
Thou that, sprouting as the earth and all the spheres, spreadest
as matchless expanse of light, Fire water-laden, Pure One beyond the reach of thought, Sweetness that wells forth in the heart made beauteous by
the flood of Thy grace, Siva, Dweller in the great holy shrine, Who here is my kin? who is not ? O Splendour that makes me bliss (8)
சோதியாய்த்தோன்று முருவமேயருவா மொருவனே சொல்லுதற்கரிய
வாதியேநடுவே யந்தமேபந்த
மறுக்குமானந்த மாகடலே
தீதிலாநன்மைத் திருவருட்குன்றே
திருப்பெருந்துறை யுறைசிவனே

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL 167
யாதுநீபோவதோர் வகையெனக்கருளாய்
வந்துநின் னிணையடிதந்தே. (க)
Form of Splendour, Formless One, ineffable Beginning,
Middle and End,
Great Ocean of Bliss that destroys bondage,
Mountain of holy Grace and Goodness, Siva, Dweller in the
great holy shrine.
Wherefore now quittest Thou me? Graciously provide for
me, come,
Give me the refuge of Thy feet. (9)
தந்ததுன்றன்னைக் கொண்டதென்றன்னைச்
சங்கராவார் கொலோசதுர ரந்தமொன்றில்லர் வானந்தம்பெற்றே னியாதுநீபெற்ற தொன்றென்பாற் சிந்தையேகோயில் கொண்டவெம்பெருமான்
றிருப்பெருந்துறை யுறைசிவனே யெந்தையேயீசா வுடலிடங்கொண்டா
யானிதற்கிலனேர் கைம்மாறே. (а о)
It was Thyself Thou didst give and me Thou didst take. Beneficent Lord, who is the gainer ? Endless bliss have I gained. What hast Thou gained from
me? O Lord that hast made my heart Thy temple, Siva, Dweller
in the great holy shrine, O Father, Sovereign, Thou hast made my body Thy abode. For it I have naught to give in return. (Io)
THE PILGRIM's PROGRESS
This hymn from the Tiruvachakam of Manikkavichakar is entitled "GunfidjajScijalasaja)' or the holy Song of Praise, the greater part of it being devoted to the praise of God. I have omitted most of the praise, giving only a few specimen lines, and translated mainly the earlier part which

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I68 STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL,
describes the progress of the soul to God. The exigencies of the translation have compelled the use of the first personal pronoun somewhat oftener than in the original. The verses, though having a personal application to the Psalmist, are meant also to record an experience typical of that of every Soul in its progress to God-a pilgrimage not confined within the brief span of one human life, but extending over countless lives and even embracing the evolution of man out of the primordial elements.
The hymn recalls the sublime picture drawn by Walt Whitman, in harmony with modern scientific thought, of planetary development and the gradual emergence of life through its successive ages on our globe until it stands as a conscious human soul. "I am an acme of things accomplished, and I am an encloser
of things to be. Afar down I see the huge first Nothing-I know I was even
there; I waited unseen and always, and slept through the lethargic
mist, And took my time, and took no harm from the fetid carbon. Long I was hugged close-long and long. Immense have been the preparations for me, Faithful and friendly the arms that have helped me. Cycles ferried my cradle, rowing and rowing like cheerful
boatmen ; For room to me stars kept aside in their own rings; They sent influences to look after what was to hold me. Before I was born out of my mother, generations guided me. My embryo has never been torpid-nothing could overlay it For it the nebula cohered to an orb, The long, low strata piled to rest it on, Vast vegetables gave it sustenance,

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL I69
Monstrous sauroids transported it in their mouths and depo
sited it with care. All forces have been steadily employed to complete and
delight me; Now on this spot I stand with my robust soul."
To the Psalmist Manikka Vachakar 'the faithful and friendly arms that helped ' were those of the Lord who, having lovingly watched and guided his path through the aeons, came at last upon earth and ' held out a helping hand as "Brahmin Teacher of Truth' in the grove of Tirupperunturai, way-laying him on the king's errand and making him His "thrall'. How he became ripe for this crowning mercy is told in the hymn in language of intense love and emotion but faintly reproduced in the translation and characteristic of the Bhakti-yogi, whose goal and final experience were told in the hymn entitled “The House of God” (GBasíTuSgògót’ulu,Sasub). With this sturdy confidence in the security of the whole scheme of things, this imperturbable optimism and unrestricted faith,-the essence of all religions, -each of us may, in darkest hours, be sustained and exhilarated and feel his '' foot tenoned and mortised in granite,' for "My rendez-vous is appointed-it is certain; The Lord will be there, and wait till I come, on perfect terms, The Great Camarado, the lover for whom Ipine, will be there.'
போற்றித்திருவகவல் நான்முகன் முதலா வானவர் தொழுதெழ வீரடி யாலே மூவுல களந்து நாற்றிசை முனிவரு மைம்புலன் மலரப் போற்றிசெய் கதிர்முடித் திருநெடு மாலன் றடிமுடி யறியு மாதர வதணிற் கடுமுர ணேன மாகி முன்கலந் தேழ்தல முருவ விடந்து பின்னெய்த் தூழி முதல்வ சயசய வென்று

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I/o
STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL
வழுத்தியுங் காணு மலரடி யிணைகள் வழுத்துதற் கெளிதாய் வார்கட லுலகினில் யானை முதலா வெறும்பீருய வூனமி லியோனியி னுள்வினை பிழைத்து மானுடப் பிறப்பினுண் மாதா வுதரத் தீனமில் கிருமிச் செருவினிற் பிழைத்து மொருமதித் தான்றியி னிருமையிற் பிழைத்து மிருமதி விளைவி னெருமையிற் பிழைத்து மும்மதி தன்னு ளம்மதம் பிழைத்து மீரிரு திங்களிற் பேரிருள் பிழைத்து மஞ்சு திங்களின் முஞ்சுதல் பிழைத்து
மாறு திங்களினூறலர் பிழைத்து
மேழு திங்களிற் றழ்புவி பிழைத்து மெட்டுத் திங்களிற் கட்டமும் பிழைத்து மொன்பதில் வருதரு துன்பமும் பிழைத்துந் தக்க தசமதி தாயொடு தான்படுந் துக்க சாகரத் துயரிடைப் பிழைத்து மாண்டுக டோறு மடைந்தவக் காலை யீண்டியு மிருத்தியு மெனப்பல பிழைத்துங் காலை மலமொடு கடும்பகற் பசிநிசி வேலை நித்திரை யாத்திரை பிழைத்துங் கருங்குழற் செவ்வாய் வெண்ணகைக் கார்மயி லொருங்கிய சாய னெருங்கியுண் மதர்த்துக் கச்சற நிமிர்ந்து கதிர்த்து முன்பணத் தெய்த்திடை வருந்த வெழுந்து புடைபரந் தீர்க்கிடை போகா விளமுலை மாதர்தங் கூர்த்த நயனக் கொள்ளைமிற் பிழைத்தும் பித்த வுலகர் பெருந்துறைப் பரப்பினுண் மத்தக் களிறெனு மவாவிடைப் பிழைத்துங் கல்வி யென்னும் பல்கடற் பிழைத்துஞ் செல்வ மென்னு மல்லலிற் பிழைத்து நல்குர வென்னுந் தொல்விடம் பிழைத்தும் புல்வரம் பாய பலதுறை பிழைத்துந் தெய்வ மென்பதோர் சித்தமுண்டாகி

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL 17I
முனிவி லாததோர் பொருளது கருதலு மாறு கோடி மாயா சத்திகள் வேறு வேறுதம் மாயைக டொடங்கின வாத்த மான ரயலவர் கூடி நாத்திகம் பேசி நாத்தழும் பேறினர் சுற்றமென்னுந் தொல்பசுக் குழாங்கள் பற்றி யழைத்துப் பதறினர் பெருகவும் விரத மேபர மாகவே தியருஞ் சரத மாகவே சாத்திரங் காட்டினர் சமய வாதிக டத்த மதங்களே யமைவதாக வரற்றி மலைந்தனர் மிண்டிய மாயா வாத யென்னுஞ் சண்ட மாருதஞ் சுழித்தடித் தாஅர்த் துலோகா யதனெனு மொண்டிறற் பாம்பின் கலாபே தத்த கடுவிட மெய்தி யதிற்பெரு மாயை யெனைப்பல சூழவுந் தப்பா மேதாம் பிடித்தது சலியாத் தழலது கண்ட மெழுகது போலத் தொழுதுள முருகி யழுதுடல் கம்பித் தாடியு மலறியும் பாடியும் பரவியுங் கொடிறும் பேதையும் கொண்டது விடாதெனும் படியே யாகிநல் லிடையரு வன்பிற் பசுமரத் தாணி யறைந்தாற் போலக் கசிவது பெருகிக் கடலென மறுகி யகங்குழைந் தனுகுல மாய்மெய் விதிர்த்துச் சகம்பே யென்று தம்மைச் சிரிப்ப நானது வொழிந்து நாடவர் பழித்துரை பூணது வாகக் கோணுத லின்றிச் சதுரிழந் தறிமால் கொண்டு சாருங் கதியது பரமா வதிசய மாகக் கற்ற மனமெனக் கதறியும் பதறியு மற்றேர் தெய்வங் கனவிலு நினையா தருபரத் தொருவ னவனியில் வந்து குருபரனகி யருளிய பெருமையைச்

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சிறுமையென் றிகழாதே திருவடி யிணையைப் பிரிவினை யறியா நிழலது போல முன் பின்னகி முனியா தத்திசை யென்புநைந் துருகி நெக்குநெக் கேங்கி யன்பெனு மாறு கரையது புரள நன்புல னென்றி நாதவென் றரற்றி யுரைதடு மாறி யுரோமஞ் சிலிர்ப்பக் கரமலர் மொட்டித் திருதய மலரக் கண்களி கூர நுண்டுளி யரும்பச் சாயா வன்பினை நாடொறுந் தழைப்பவர் தாயே யாகி வளர்த்தனை போற்றி மெய்தரு வேதிய ஞகி வினைகெடக் கைதர வல்ல கடவுள் போற்றி யாடக மதுரை யரசே போற்றி கூட லிலங்கு குருமணி போற்றி தென்றில்லை மன்றினு ளாடி போற்றி யின்றெனக் காரமு தானுய் போற்றி மூவா நான்மறை முதல்வா போற்றி சேவார் வெல்கொடிச் சிவனே போற்றி மின்ன ருருவ விகிர்தா போற்றி கன்ன ருரித்த கனியே போற்றி காவாய் கனகக் குன்றே போற்றி யாவா வென்றனக் கருளாய் போற்றி படைப்பாய் காப்பாய் துடைப்பாய் போற்றி யிடரைக் களையு மெந்தாய் போற்றி யீச போற்றி யிறைவ போற்றி தேசப் பளிங்கின் றிரளே போற்றி யரைசே போற்றி யமுதே போற்றி விரைசேர் சரண விகிர்தா போற்றி வேதி போற்றி விமலா போற்றி யாதி போற்றி யறிவே போற்றி கதியே போற்றி கனியே போற்றி நதிசேர் செஞ்சடை நம்பா போற்றி யுடையாய் போற்றி யுணர்வே போற்றி

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL 173
கடையே னடிமை கண்டாய் போற்றி யையா போற்றி யணுவே போற்றி சைவா போற்றி தலைவா போற்றி குறியே போற்றி குணமே போற்றி நெறியே போற்றி நினைவே போற்றி வானேர்க்கரிய மருந்தே போற்றி யேனேர்க் கெளிய விறைவா போற்றி மூவேழி சுற்ற முரணுறு நரகிடை யாழா மேயரு ளரசே போற்றி தோழா போற்றி துணைவா போற்றி வாழ்வே போற்றியென் வைப்பே போற்றி முத்தா போற்றி முதல்வா போற்றி யத்தா போற்றி யரனே போற்றி யுரையுணர் விறந்த வொருவ போற்றி விரிகட லுலகின் விளைவே போற்றி யருமையி லெளிய வழகே போற்றி கருமுகி லாகிய கண்ணே போற்றி மன்னிய திருவருண் மலையே போற்றி யென்னையு மொருவ ஞக்கி யிருங்கழற் சென்னியில் வைத்த சேவக போற்றி தொழுதகை துன்பந் துடைப்பாய் போற்றி யழிவிலா வானந்த வாரி போற்றி யழிவது மாவதுங் கடந்தாய் போற்றி முழுவது மிறந்த முதல்வா போற்றி மானேர் நோக்கி மணுளா போற்றி வானகத் தமரர் தாயே போற்றி பாரிடை யைந்தாய்ப் பரந்தாய் போற்றி நீரிடை நான்காய் நிகழ்ந்தாய் போற்றி தீயிடை மூன்றயத் திகழ்ந்தாய் போற்றி வளியிடை யிரண்டாய் மகிழ்ந்தாய் போற்றி வெளியிடை யொன்ருய் விளைந்தாய் போற்றி யளிபவ ருள்ளத் தமுதே போற்றி கனவிலுந் தேவர்க் கரியாய் போற்றி நனவிலு நாயேற் கருளினை போற்றி

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யிடைமரு துறையு மெந்தாய் போற்றி கடையிடைக் கங்கை தரித்தாய் போற்றி யாரூ ரமர்ந்த வரசே போற்றி சீரார் திருவை யாரு போற்றி யண்ணு மலையெம் மண்ணு போற்றி கண்ணு ரமுதக் கடலே போற்றி யேகம் பத்துறை யெந்தாய் போற்றி பாகம் பெண்ணுரு வானுய் போற்றி பராய்த்துறை மேவிய பரனே போற்றி சிராப்பள்ளி மேவிய சிவனே போற்றி மற்றேர் பற்றிங் கறியேன் போற்றி குற்ரு லத்தெங் கூத்தா போற்றி கோகழி மேவிய கோவே போற்றி யீங்கோய் மலையெம் மெந்தாய் போற்றி பாங்கார் பழனத் தழகா போற்றி கடம்பூர் மேவிய விடங்கா போற்றி யடைந்தவர்க் கருளு மப்பா போற்றி யித்தி தன்னின் கீழிரு மூவர்க் கத்திக் கருளிய வரசே போற்றி தென்ன டுடைய சிவனே போற்றி யெந்நாட் டவர்க்கு மிறைவா போற்றி யேனக் குருளைக் கருளினை போற்றி மானக் கயிலை மலையாய் போற்றி யருளிட வேண்டு மம்மான் போற்றி யிருள்கெட வருளு மிறைவா போற்றி தளர்ந்தே னடியேன் றமியேன் போற்றி களங்கொளக் கருத வருளாய் போற்றி யஞ்சே லென்றிங் கருளாய் போற்றி நஞ்சே யமுதா நயந்தாய் போற்றி யத்தா போற்றி யையா போற்றி நித்தா போற்றி நிமலா போற்றி பத்தா போற்றி பவனே போற்றி பெரியாய் போற்றி பிரானே போற்றி

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL I75
யரியாய் போற்றி யமலா போற்றி மறையோர் கோல நெறியே போற்றி முறையோ தரியேன் முதல்வா போற்றி யுறவே போற்றி யுயிரே போற்றி மஞ்சா போற்றி மணுளா போற்றி பஞ்சே ரடியாள் பங்கா போற்றி யலந்தே னயே னடியேன் போற்றி யிலங்கு சுடரெம் மீசா போற்றி கவைத்தலை மேவிய கண்ணே போற்றி குவைப்பதி மலிந்த கோவே போற்றி மலைநா டுடைய மன்னே போற்றி கலையா ரரிகே சரியாய் போற்றி திருக்கழுக் குன்றிற் செல்வா போற்றி பொருப்பமர் பூவணத் தரனே போற்றி யருவமு முருவமு மாணய் போற்றி மருவிய கருணை மலையே போற்றி துரியமு மிறந்த சுடரே போற்றி தெரிவரிதாகிய தெளிவே போற்றி தோளா முத்தச் சுடரே போற்றி யாளானவர்கட் கன்பா போற்றி யாரா வமுதே யருளே போற்றி பேரா யிரமுடைப் பெம்மான் போற்றி தாளி யறுகின் ருராய் போற்றி நீளொளி யாகிய நிருத்தா போற்றி சந்தனச் சாந்தின் சுந்தர போற்றி சிந்தனைக் கரிய சிவமே போற்றி மந்திர மாமலை மேயாய் போற்றி யெந்தமை யுய்யக் கொள்வாய் போற்றி புலிமுலை புல்வாய்க் கருளினை போற்றி யலைகடன் மீமிசை நடந்தாய் போற்றி கருங்குரு விக்கன் றருளினை போற்றி

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யிரும்புலன் புலர விசைந்தனை போற்றி படியுறப் பயின்ற பாவக போற்றி யடியொடு நடுவீ ருனய் போற்றி நரகொடு சுவர்க்க நானிலம் புகாமற் பரகதி பாண்டியற் கருளினை போற்றி யொழிவற நிறைந்த வொருவ போற்றி செழுமலர்ச் சிவபுரத் தரசே போற்றி கழுநீர் மாலைக் கடவுள் போற்றி தொழுவார் மைய றுணிப்பாய் போற்றி பிழைப்பு வாய்ப்பொன்றறியா நாயேன குழைத்தசொன் மாலை கொண்டருள் போற்றி புரம்பல வெரித்த புராண போற்றி பரம்பரஞ் சோதிப் பரனே போற்றி போற்றி போற்றி புயங்கப் பெருமான் போற்றி போற்றி புராணகாரண போற்றி போற்றி சயசய போற்றி.
திருச்சிற்றம்பலம்.
Mighty Vishnu of luminous crown,--who
Mid prayers of four-faced Brahma and all The heavenly host, in two paces measured The triple world, the sages of the four quarters Raising their voice the while in praise and thanks, With joy their senses blossomingDid once in shape of fierce strong boar Pierce and cleave the erst blended spheres, Yearning to know Thy base and crown, Then in weariness cried "Victory to Thee, Universal Lord.' Even so he saw not Thy flower-feet, which easily that I might praise, Was I saved in faultless wombs

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL 177
On the sea-girdled earth, elephant's womb to ant's, Saved in womb of human mother, Saved from stroke of sterilizing worm. Saved in the meeting of the seeds in the first moon, Saved in their growth in the second moon, Saved in their struggle in the third, Saved in the great darkness of the fourth month Saved from the blight of the fifth moon, Saved from the mishaps of the sixth, Saved, looking earthwards, in the seventh, Saved in the straits of the eighth moon, Saved in the dangers of the ninth, Saved in the due tenth moon. Together with the mother in a sea Of agony struggling :- Then in the march of years saved, Saved sitting, moving and in countless ills, Saved in the morning excretions, In the fierce hunger of noon, the darkness of night, Saved at work, in sleep, in wayfaring, Saved from the havoc of darts from maidens' eyes, Dark locks, rosy lips, white teeth, peacock gait, Young breasts that rise in wanton pride to burst The bodice, and, sinking back weary and in pain, Swell and fill, leaving not a hair-breadth;
Elsewhere, in the hymn entitled Sivapurdinan, the Saint has sung
புல்லாகிப் பூடாய்ப் புழுவாய் மரமாகிப் பல்விருக மாகிப் பறவையாய்ப் பாம்பாகிக் கல்லாய் மனிதராய்ப் பேயாய்க் கணங்களாய் வல்லசுர ராகி முனிவராய்த் தேவராய்ச் செல்லா அநின்ற வித்தாவர சங்கமத்து ளெல்லாப் பிறப்பும் பிறந்திளைத்தே னெம்பெருமான். "Grass, herb, worm, tree, animal of sundry kind,
Bird, snake, rock, man, devil, angel, Titan Of evil might, sage, godlingThese and all else in this wide universe Have I been born, and I am weary, O Lord.'

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Saved from the furious elephant desire That roams through this wide world of mad men Saved from the multitudinous seas of learning, Saved from the dangers of wealth, Saved from the poison of poverty, Saved from the petty fetters Of divers customs and modes. There arose then the thought of God, And thinking of the Peaceful One, straightway Sixty million powers of delusion Each its prank began. In troops came The atheists and spake atheism Till their tongues were sore. Kinsmen crowded And clung like kine, calling and wailing bitterly. Priests pleasantly established from the scriptures That fasts and rites were God. Sectarians Fought shouting each his religion true. The hurricane of Idealism whirled And roared and raged. The fierce, bright snake Materialism spat its venom From amid the conflict of sciences. Thence delusions great and many circled me That I might not escape. But letting not go what had been grasped, Heart in prayer melting like wax in sight of fire, Weeping, trembling, dancing, shouting, Singing, praising, gripping like jaws of babe What was clutched; as a nail cleaves The tender plant, so with pure, ceaseless love Melting, overflowing, tossing sea-like, Heart auspiciously softening, body quivering, The world at me as a mad devil laughing, Lost to shame, the towns' ridicule my ornament Unswerving, of appearance heedless,

STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL 179
Mad with yearning to knowMy goal the Supreme WonderIn pain and wilderment like calf for its mother crying, Even in dream thinking not of other God, Making not light of the gracious coming on earth Of the Supreme Peerless One as Teacher, To His holy feet clinging like shadow Inseparable that goes before and after, Looking ever towards the Peaceful One, Bones melting, heart in agony of suspense, The stream of love its bank bursting (The senses made one), crying aloud, "O Lord', words faltering, hair standing on end, Hands clasped in worship, heart blossoming, Eyes filling with tears of joy, Daily fostering unfading love, - To such as these, O Lord, art Thou mother, And then Thou dost rear. Glory to Thee, Glory, O Lord that, in shape of Brahmin Teacher Of truth, to crush my karma didst hold out Helping hand. Glory, King of golden Madura, Glory, O Gem among Teachers that shonest in its courts, Glory, Dancer in the hall of Southern Tillai." This day unto me Thou hast become ambrosia, Glory, Lord of the Vedas that age not. Glory, Siva of the Victorious Ox-banner, Glory, Oripe fruit peeled from the rock. Save me, O mountain of gold. Alas, have mercy on me. Glory, Thou who makest, keepest, wipest away. Glory, O Father that rootest out danger. Glory, O Lord, Glory, O Sovereign.
*Chidambaram, where he is represented in the attitude of a dancer, the dance representing the operations of the universe. See pages 93 - 5

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I80 STUDIES & TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TAMIL,
Glory, O Friend, Glory, O Comrade, Glory, my Joy, my Treasure, Glory, Peerless One that art where speech and thought are
dead. Glory, Mountain of teeming holy grace. Glory, O Warrior, that madest a man of even me . And deigned to place Thy feet upon my head. Thou rubbest away pain from the hand that worshippeth
Thee, Glory, Ocean of Eternal bliss. Glory, Thou who art beyond death and birth. Glory, Bridegroom of the Gazelle-eyed. Glory, Mother of the celestials, Glory, Thou who spreadest as five in the earth, Glory, Thou who standest as four in water, Glory, Thou who shinest as three in fire, Glory, Thou who joyest as two in air, Glory, Thou who sproutest as one in space, Glory, Thou who art ambrosia in the hearts of the well-ripened
OneS Glory, Thou who artinaccessible evenin dream to the celestials. Glory, Thou who to me, a dog, in waking hours didst graciously
appear. Glory, O Father who art merciful to those that make Thee
their refuge. Glory, Destroyer of confusion and doubt in them that worship
Thee. Deign to accept this garland of tender words from me, an
ignorant dog. Glory, Ancient. One. Glory, O Source of things. Victory, Victory unto Thee.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
A REVEL IN BLISS
A translation of a poem of Tayumánavar, a saint who lived about 150 years ago. His verses imbued with high spiritual experience and of rare metrical beauty and melody, enjoy a wide popularity in Tamil-land, being on the lips of young and old.
This poem, which may be said to contain the cream of his writings, is, according to a fancy not uncommon with BhaktiYogis, cast in the form of a love-song-an idea familiar to students of the Bible. "Thy maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name . . . as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy god rejoice over thee.' Isaiah , , Ephesians . The Soul is the female lover and the Lord the beloved. The Soul, cleansed of all taint, rid of like and dislike, rid of "I' and "mine', blends with the Lord longsought, long-pined for. Transported with bliss, she gives vent to it in song and dance, -a 'Revel in Bliss', 607 fissat asaful, as the song is called, -in which she pours forth her supreme happiness to a sympathetic friend. The words in the refrain :--
"Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva
Sankara Sankara Sambhu ”
are names of the Lord, meaning that He is bliss and the cause. of bliss.
The song describes the final realization and experience in
much the same language as Mainikka Vichakar in the hymn
"The House of God' (Gasniustifiabiliusash). It also
shows how Bhakti Yoga or the Way of Love merges with I8.

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Gndina Yoga or the Way of Knowledge. The Soul, ripening in the path of Love, meets the Lord as Teacher and is initiated by him in the path of Knowledge (verses 8, 9, I4, 24 and 30). Tayumanavar's Teacher, whom he usually calls Mauna Guru, or the "Silent Teacher', is identified by him here as elsewhere with the Lord. It was the Lord-' the Light which is the beginning and has no beginning, which shines in me as Bliss and Intelligence '-the Eternal Formless One, who graciously revealed Himself in the form of "the Silent Teacher' (v. i), as of old He appeared as Dakshind Murti to the sages under the stone-banyan-tree (v. I2). Yet is the Lord free from all acts (v. I9). He is the absolute. It is His energy, the gracious Sakti, that acts.
The Soul and the Lord apparently distinct, but in fact non-dual, the Soul 'not even for the twinkling of an eye having intelligence of its own '' and owing its intelligence wholly to Him, and finally by His Grace merging in Him and standing there non-dual (v. 20), He, all the while remaining unaffected, as the magnet is unaffected by the iron which it energizes or as the sun by the flower which opens under the genial influence of its rays:-this is the doctrine of the Saivas' Siddhánta, the more ancient interpretation of the Vedanta than that which now passes as the Veddinta, the interpretation; in fact, by which Masters like Tayumanavar harmonize the seemingly conflicting positions of the modern Vedantic and Saiva Siddhantic schools (Vedanta Siddhanta Samarasa).
In the Siva-gnaina-bódham, which is the chief of the Saiva scriptures in Southern India, the Highest Love (Pará Bhakti) is based on the soul's recognition of the non-duality and of its debt to the Lord. He standing non-dual with the soul, enables it not only to know external objects but also to know itself and Him. “ Therefore must the soul place highest love in its benefactor.' " By unfading love that forgets not this non-duality will be reached the feet of the Lord.'

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR Ι83
This song of Tayumanavar is the expression of that Highest Love and of the bliss of the realization of that non-duality. Only such as he have attained 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity', and in a truer sense than is understood by those who talk of it in the West. To him there are no distinctions, for he seeth his Beloved everywhere.
கண்ணிற் காண்பதுன் காட்சிகையாற் ருெழில் பண்ணல் பூசை பகர்வது மந்திரம் மண்ணுெ டைந்தும் வழங்குயிர் யாவுமே யண்ண லேநின் னருள்வடி வாகுமே.
"Whatsoever the eye seeth is Thou. Whatsoever the hand doeth is Thy worship. What the mouth uttereth is Thy praise. The earth and other elements and all living things are Thy gracious forms, O Lord.'
ஆனந்தக்களிப்பு
A REVEL IN BLISS
சங்கர சங்கர சம்பு - சிவ சங்கர சங்கர சங்கர சம்பு.
ஆதி யணுதியு மாகி - எனக்
கானந்த மாயறி வாய்நின் றிலங்குஞ்
சோதி மெளனியாய்த் தோன்றி - அவன்
சொல்லாத வார்த்தையைச் சொன்னண்டிதோழி. (சங்.)
I. The Light which is the beginning and without beginning which shineth in me as Bliss, as Intelligence, appeared unto me as the Silent One" and spake, sister, words not to be spoken.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankama Sankara Sambhu.f
"Mauna Guru, "the Silent Teacher' was the name of the Saint's Guru.
tNames of God. Sankara, causing happiness; Sambhu, being for happiness, causing happiness; Siva, auspicious, happy.

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சொன்னசொல் லேதென்று சொல்வேன் - என்னைச்
சூதாய்த் தனிக்கவே சும்மா விருத்தி
முன்னிலை யேதுமில் லாதே - சுக
முற்றச்செய்தேயெனைப் பற்றிக்கொண்டாண்டி, (சங்.)
2. The words that he spake, how shall I say? Cunningly He seated me all alone, nothing before me. He made me happy, dear, he caught me, and clung to me.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
பற்றிய பற்றறவுள்ளே - தன்னைப்
பற்றச்சொன் னன்பற்றிப் பார்த்த விடத்தே
பெற்றதை யேதென்று சொல்வேன் - சற்றும்
பேசாத காரியம் பேசினன் தோழி. (Fš.)
3. "Away with other clingings, cling to me within,' He said. What I got as I clung to Him, how can I tell ? He spake things that should never be spoken," dear.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
பேசா விடும்பைகள் பேசிச் - சுத்தப்
பேயங்க மாகிப் பிதற்றித் திரிந்தேன்
ஆசாபிசாசைத் துரத்தி - ஐய
னடியிணைக் கீழே யடக்கிக்கொண்டாண்டி, (Fš.)
4. Speaking fearful things that should not be spoken, I wandered, jabbering just a devil-ridden body. The devil desire the Lord drove away and held me down at His feet, dear.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
'And confessedly great is the mystery of godliness' Saint Paul's first epistle to Timothy III, 6.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR Ι85
அடக்கிப் புலனைப் பிரித்தே - அவ
ஞகிய மேனியி லன்பை வளர்த்தேன்
மடக்கிக்கொண்டானென்னைத் தன்னுட் - சற்றும்
வாய்பேசா வண்ண மரபுஞ் செய்தாண்டி. (Frå.)
5. Holding down the senses, withdrawing then, I cherished love towards His person. Into Himself He bent me, sister. He blended with me so, I could not speak at all.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
மரபைக் கெடுத்தனன் கெட்டேன் - இத்தை
வாய்விட்டுச் சொல்லிடின் வாழ்வெனக் கில்லை
கரவு புருஷனு மல்லன் - என்னைக்
காக்குந் தலைமைக் கடவுள்காண் மின்னே. (சங்.)
6. Blending, my race He has ruined." I am undone. If I speak out, farewell to happiness. No leman is He, sister. Lo, He is my guardian God, the Supreme.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
கடலின் மடைவிண்ட தென்ன - இரு
கண்களு மானந்தக் கண்ணிர் சொரிய
உடலும் புளசித மாக - என
துள்ள முருக வுபாயஞ்செய் தாண்டி. (eriti.)
7. Like sea that hath burst its banks, my eyes shed tears of bliss, the hairs of body stand on end, my heart melteth, this the trick he hath played, my dear.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva
Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
The soul, losing its characteristic taint, has become divine. cf. Tiruvâchakam :-
சித்தமல மறுவித்துச் சிவமாக்கி யெனையாண்ட வத்தனெனக் கருளியவா ருர்பெறுவாரச்சோவே.
'' Graciously hath my Father my heart's taint cut out
And made me Himself. Who so blessed as I ?'

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*உள்ளது மில்லது மாய்முன்
னுணர்வது வாயுன் னுளங்கண்ட தெல்லாம் தள்ளெனச் சொல்லியென் னையன் - என்னைத்
தானுக்கிக் கொண்ட சமர்த்தைப்பார் தோழி: (சங்.) 8. 'Whatsoever thy heart seeth objectively as real or as unreal, cast away,' thus spake my Lord, and He made me Himself. So dear.
Sankara Sankara Samblnu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
பாராதி பூதநீயல்லை - உன்னிப்
பாரிந் திரியங் கரணீயல்லை யாரா யுணர்வுநீ யென்றன் - ஐய
னன்பா யுரைத்தசொல் லானந்தத் தோழி. (சங்.)
9. "The earth and the other elements thou art not.
Reflect. The sense-organs and act-organs thou art not, nor the inner organs. Thou art the Intelligence which seeketh and knoweth.'t The words that the Lord said in love are bliss indeed, sister.
Yogaschitta vritti nirodhah. "Yoga is the checking of the
ripples of thought.'
(Patanjali's Yoga Sutra). t Thou art not ''' the earth and other elements', i.e., the Sthula Sarira or gross body composed of flesh, bone, blood, &c., which are resolvable into these elements.
Thou art not (a) the organs of action or (b) of sense or (c) the inner organs, which together constitute the subtle body of Sukshma Sarira. (a) Organs of action (Karmendriya) are the brain centres of the hand, foot, organ of voice, organ of generation, organ of excretion.
(b) Organs of sense (Gndnendriya) are the brain centres of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
(c) "Inner organs' (antahkarana) are chitta, mind-stuff; manas, the vibration therein caused by the impact of external objects through the organs of sense; buddhi, the reaction following the vibration, the determinative faculty; and ahan-kdra, the idea of 'I' that flashes with the reaction, the I-making faculty.
(a), (b) and (c) together constitute what in English psychology is called "mind', but are understood in Hindu philosophy to be a subtle form of matter.
Thou art the Soul, Pure Intelligence or Spirit, which by the help of (a), (b) and (c) is able to know external objects and to experience pains and pleasures, and which stands apart as witness of all these experis ences in waking state, in dream, in deep sleep, and in the two further tates called Turiyan and Turiydititan.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 187
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva
Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
அன்பருக் கன்பான மெய்யன் - ஐய
ஞனந்த மோன னருட்குரு நாதன்
தன்பாதஞ் சென்னியில் வைத்தான் - என்னைத்
தானறிந்தேன்மனந் தானிறந் தேனே. (சங்.)
Io. To those who love Him, He is love, He is true, is my Lord. The blissful, silent One, the gracious Master, He placed on my head His foot. Lo, I knew myself. I died to thought.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva
Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
இறப்பும் பிறப்பும் பொருந்த - எனக்
கெவ்வணம் வந்ததென் றெண்ணியான் பார்க்கின்
மறப்பு நினைப்புமாய் நின்ற - வஞ்ச
மாயா மனத்தால் வளர்ந்தது தோழி. (சங்.)
II. Death and birth how came they to join me, I pondered. They grew, my dear, from the treacherous, delusive mind" which stands as thought and sleep.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva
Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
மனதேகல் லாலெனக் கன்றே - தெய்வ
மெளனகுருவாகி வந்துகை காட்டி
எனதாம் பணியற மாற்றி - அவ
னின்னருள் வெள்ளத் திருத்திவைத் தாண்டி. (சங்.)
I have for want of a better word translated manas as "mind', but it is hardly correct. When there is no vibration (i.e., thought) in the mind-stuff, deep sleep supervenes in ordinary mortals, in all save the Gndni. Therefore the manas is described as "standing as thought and sleep'.

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I2. O mind, was it mot for me that God came under the stone-banyan tree" as Silent Teacher and with dumb show of hand cured me of acts called my acts and placed me in the blissful flood of His Grace?
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
அருளா லெவையும்பா ரென்றன் - அத்தை
யறியாதே சுட்டியென் னறிவாலே பார்த்தேன்
இருளான பொருள்கண்ட தல்லாற் - கண்ட
வென்னையுங் கண்டில னென்னேடி தோழி. (சங்.)
I3. "By Grace behold all things,' He said. Not understanding, by my intelligence I beheld, differentiating. I saw but darkness. I saw not even me, the seer. What is this, sister p
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
என்னையுந் தன்னையும் வேரு - உள்ளத்
தெண்ணுத வண்ண மிரண்டற நிற்கச்
சொன்னது மோவொரு சொல்லே - அந்தச்
சொல்லால் விளைந்த சுகத்தையென் சொல்வேன். (சங்.)
I4. " Of me and thee think not in thy heart as of two. Stand undifferentiating.' This one word when He uttered, the bliss that straightway grew from that word how can I tell, my dear ?
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
விளையுஞ் சிவானந்த பூமி அந்த
வெட்ட வெளிநண்ணித் துட்ட விருளாங்
களையைக் களைந்துபின் பார்த்தேன் - ஐயன்
களையன்றி வேறென்றுங் கண்டிலன் தோழி. (&Får.)
"The manifestation of the Lord (known as-Dakshind-Murti) to the sages Sanaka, Sanatkumâra, &c.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR I89
I5. The field where grew the bliss of Sivam," that pure space I drew near. Weeding the weeds of darkness, I then looked. Save the Lord's splendour I saw naught, sister.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
கண்டார் நகைப்புயிர் வாழ்க்கை - இரு
கண்காண நீங்கவுங் கண்டோந் துயிருன் கொண்டார்போற் போனலும் போகும் - இதிற்
குணமேது நலமேது கூருய்நீ தோழி. (சங்.) I6. Life, the laughing-stock of all, with both our eyes we see it depart. It goeth away as in sleep. What good, wh merit, is there in it, say, sister ?
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva
Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
நலமேது மறியாத வென்னைச் - சுத்த
நாதாந்த மோனமா நாட்டந்தத் தேசஞ் சலமேது மில்லாம லெல்லாம் - வல்லான்
ருளாலென் றலைமீது தாக்கினன் தோழி. (சங்.) I7. Unto foolish me, who know not what is good, He granted to seek after the Stillness pure that is beyond the Vibration. He rid me of all unrest, sister, He the all powerful One, with His foot He struck my head.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva
Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
தாக்குநல் லானந்த சோதி - அணு
தன்னிற் சிறிய வெனைத்தன் னருளாற்
போக்கு வரவற் றிருக்குஞ் - சுத்த
பூரண மாக்கினன் புதுமைகாண் மின்னே. (சங்.)
I8. The blissful Light that assailed me, made me, -who am less than atom,-made me by His Grace, pure fulness that goeth not, nor cometh. Lo, how wonderful, dear
*See Note p. 183
8, S. P. C. - 8272

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19o SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu. ஆக்கி யளித்துத் துடைக்குந் - தொழி
லத்தனை வைத்துமெள் ளத்தனை யேனுந் தாக்கற நிற்குஞ் சமர்த்தன் - உள்ள
சாட்சியைச் சிந்திக்கத் தக்கது தோழி. (F#.)
I9. Making, maintaining, destroying, all these acts. He has, yet they touch Him not, the Mighty One -no, not so much as a grain of sesamum. On this true Witness 'tis meet to meditate, sister.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
சிந்தை பிறந்தது மாங்கே - அந்தச்
சிந்தை பிறந்து தெளிந்தது மாங்கே
எந்த நிலைகளு மாங்கே - கண்ட
யான்ற னிரண்டற் றிருந்தது மாங்கே. (சங்.)
20. There" thought was born, there thought died and became pure. All states are there. There, too, I the seer stand non-dual.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
ஆங்கென்று மீங்கென்று முண்டோ - சச்சி
தானந்த சோதி யகண்ட வடிவாய்
ஓங்கி நிறைந்தது கண்டாற் - பின்ன
ரொன்றென் றிரண்டென்றுரைத்திட லாமோ. (a Ši.)
2I. Is there a “there " or a “ here' when thou hast seen the splendour of the Sai-Chit-A'nandat rise infinite and fill everywhere. Can there be said to be then a 'one' or a 'two'?
i.e., in that 'true Witness', the Absolute, Sivam.
tGod who is Sat, the only Reality; Chit, pure intelligence; A'nanda, pure bliss. "Pure' in the sense of there being no distinction of subject and object.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAWAR Igr
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva
Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
என்று மழியுமிக் காயம் - இத்தை
யேதுக்கு மெய்யென்றிருந்தீருலகீர்
ஒன்று மறியாத நீரோ - யம
னேலைவந் தாற்சொல்ல வுத்தர முண்டோ. (சங்.)
22. Ever perishing is this body. Why took ye it for real, O ye of the world? Are ye quite fools? If the messenger of Death comes, have ye a reply ready?
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva
Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
உண்டோ நமைப்போல வஞ்சர் - மல
மூறித் ததும்பு முடலை மெய்யென்று கொண்டோ பிழைப்பதிங் கையோ - அருட்
கோலத்தை மெய்யென்று கொள்ளவேண்டாமோ (சங்.)
23. Are there such traitors as we? Alast taking for real this body soaked and flowing o'er with filth, can we here: be safe? Ought we not to take as real only the Lord's gracious Form?
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva
Sankara Sarıkara Sambhu.
வேண்டாம் விருப்பும் வெறுப்பும் - அந்த வில்லங்கத் தாலே விளையுஞ் சனனம்
ஆண்டா னுரைத்த படியே - சற்று
மசையா திருந்துகொள் ளறிவாகி நெஞ்சே (சங்.)
*As Guru or Teacher? Pure Intelligence (Personified Teacher)

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I92 SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
24. Away with like and dislike. From that bother comes birth." As the Lord said, be quite still, it be pure spirit, O mind.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
அறிவாரு மில்லையோ வையோ - என்னை
யாரென்றறியாத வங்கதே சத்தில்
வறிதே காமத்தீயிற் சிக்கி - உள்ள
வான்பொரு டோற்கவோ வந்தேனன் தோழி. (sÉ.)
25. Oh, is there none who knows? In this body, - this land where none knows who I am, -caught alas in the flame of desire, came I hither, sister, to lose the noble prize?
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
வந்த வரவை மறந்து - மிக்க
மாதர் பொன் பூமி மயக்கத்தி லாழும்
இந்த மயக்கை யறுக்க - எனக்
கெந்தை மெய்ஞ்ஞான வெழில்வாள் கொடுத்தான் (சங்.)
26. Forgetting wherefor I came hither, sunk in the delusion of woman and gold and earth, it was to cut off this delusion did my Father give me the beauteous sword of true wisdom.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva
Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
*cf. Tiruvalluvar.
அவாவென்ப வெல்லா வுயிர்க்கு மெஞ்ஞான்றுந் தவாஅப் பிறப்பீனும் வித்து. "Ever to all souls desire is the incessant seed of birth.'
fcf. the Psalms (in the Bible) XLVI. Io "Be still and know that I am God '--the truth of which was flashed on General Gordon in his wanderings in Palestine the year before his death at Khartoum (p. 248 of his Letters to his Sister).
Union with God.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR I93
வாளாருங் கண்ணியர் மோகம் - யம
வாதைக் கனலை வளர்க்குமெய்யென்றே
வேளானவனுமெய் விட்டான் - என்னின்
மிக்கோர் துறக்கை விதியன்ருே தோழி. (siä.)
27. The love of bright-eyed woman will assuredly feed the fire of hell,-thus thinking, even the god of love gave up his body." Ought not others too, then, to give it up, sister ?
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
விதிக்கும் பிரபஞ்ச மெல்லாம் - சுத்த
வெயின்மஞ்ச ளென்னவே வேதாக மங்கள்
மதிக்கு மதனை மதியார் - அவர்
மார்க்கந்துன் மார்க்கஞ்சன் மார்க்கமோ மானே. (சங்.)
28. All the created universe is but yellow sunshine, say the Vedas and Agamas. Those who think not so, their ways are evil ways, are they good ways, dear?
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
துன்மார்க்க மாதர் மயக்கம் - மனத்
தூயர்க்குப் பற்றது சொன்னேன் சனகன்
தன்மார்க்க நீதிதிட் டாந்தம் - அவன்
ருனந்த மான சதானந்த னன்றே. (oro.)
29. The fascination of evil woman clings not, I tell thee, to the pure in heart. The life of king Janaka is witness.S Was his not perfect, eternal bliss p
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
"Love is by Hindu poets represented as bodiless.
Sexual love. i.e., unreal.
Si.e., is proof that a man can live amid the luxuries and temptations of a magnificent court, and yet be wise and pure. King Janaka was resorted to by even great rishis for spiritual help.

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(94. SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
அன்றென்று மாமென்று முண்டோ - உனக்
கானந்தம் வேண்டி னறிவாகிச் சற்றே
நின்றற் றெரியு மெனவே - மறை
நீதியெம் மாதி நிகழ்த்தினன் தோழி. (சங்.)
3o. Is there a Yes or a No? If thou wilt have bliss, just stand as pure spirit and thou wilt know. So, sister, said our Lord that made the Vedas.
Sankara Sankara Sambhu Siva Sankara Sankara Sambhu.
GoD AND THE WoRLD
This poem of the Saint Tayumanavar, remarkable alike for beauty of ideas and of setting, and to which no translation can do justice, describes (as far as words can) God, the only reality, and by contrast the World, with its " Just of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life,' clinging to the pleasures of the senses as heaven and as real, only to find its mistake when in the throes of death and to learn too late that God is the only help and should have been the only goal. Not that the Saint altogether condemns sensuous enjoyments. He has elsewhere suggested the spirit in which they should be enjoyed and their evil effects warded off.
கொந்தவிழ்மலர்ச்சோலை நன்னீழல்வைகினுங்
குளிர்தீம்புனற்கையள்ளிக்
கொள்ளுகினுமந்நீ ரிடைத்திளைத்தாடினுங்
குளிர்சந்தவாடைமடவார் -
வந்துலவுகின்றதென முன்றிலிடையுலவவே
வசதிபெறுபோதும்வெள்ளை
வட்டமதிபட்டப் பகற்போலநிலவுதர மகிழ்போதும்வேலையமுதம்
விந்தைபெறவறுசுவையில் வந்ததெனவழுதுண்ணும்
வேளையிலுமாலைகந்தம்

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR I95
வெள்ளிலையடைக்காய் விரும்பிவேண் டியவண்ணம்
விளையாடிவிழிதுயிலினுஞ்
சந்ததமுநின்னருளை மறவாவாந்தந்து
தமியேனரகூைடிபுரிவாய்
சர்வபரிபூரண வகண்டதத்துவமான
சச்சிதானந்தசிவமே.
"Whether in grateful shade I dwell of groves Rich in clustered blooms, or cool sweet draughts I quaff from limpid stream, Or in its waters bathe and sport, Or, fanned by fragrant breezes fresh That like maidens in the court yard play, I revel in the full moon's day-like splendour, Or on dainties I feast wherein ocean's ambrosia Haply hath wondrous entered, or in garlands, Perfumes, betel I joy, or rest in sleep,- Thy Grace may I never forget This boon To me grant and from the world guard me, O Sivam, all-pervading, infinite, true, That art the one Reality, Knowledge Pure and Bliss's
வண்ணம்
அருவென் பனவுமன்றி உருவென் பனவுமன்றி
அகமும் புறமுமன்றி முறைபிறழாது குறியுங் குணமுமன்றி நிறைவுங் குறைவுமன்றி மறையொன் றெனவிளம்பவிமலமதாகி அசலம் பெறவுயர்ந்து விபுலம் பெறவளர்ந்து
சபலஞ் சபலமென் றுளறிவினர்காண
ஞானவெளியிடை மேவுமுயிராய்- (ளு)
அனலொன் றிடவெரிந்து புகைமண் டிடுவதன்று
புன லொன்றிடவமிழ்ந்துமடிவிலதாதை
சருவும் பொழுது யர்ந்து சலனம் படுவதன்று சமர்கொண்டழிவதன் றேரியல்பினதாகும்

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SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
அவனென் பதுவுமன்றி அவளென் பதுவுமன்றி
அதுவென்பதுவுமன்றியெழில்கொடுலாவும்
ஆருநிலையறியாதபடியே- (a)
இருளென் பதுவுமன்றி யொளியென் பதுவுமன்றி
எவையுந்தனுளடங்கவொருமுதலாகும் உளதென் பதுவுமன்றி யிலதென் பதுவுமன்றி
உலகந் தொழவிருந்த வயன்முதலோர்கள் எவருங் கவலைகொண்டு சமயங் களில்விழுந்து
சுழலும் பொழுதிரங்கி யருள்செயுமாறு
கூறரியசகமாயையறவே-- (வளு)
எனதென் பதையிகழ்ந்த வறிவின் றிரளினின்று
மறிவொன் றெனவிளங்குமுபயமதாக
அறியுந் தரமுமன்று பிறியுந் தரமுமன்று அசரஞ் சரமிரண்டி ஞெருபடியாகி
எதுசந் ததறிறைந்த தெதுசிந் தனையிறந்த தெதுமங் களசுபங்கொள்சுகவடிவாகும் யாதுபரமதைநாடியறிநீ- (ዳ»)
பருவங் குலவுகின்ற மடமங் கையர் தொடங்கு கபடந் தணில்விழுந்து கெடுநினைவாகி வலையின் புடைமறிந்த மறியென் றவசமுண்டு
வசனந் திரமுமின்றியவரிதமூறல் பருகுந் தொழிலிணங்கி யிரவும் பகலுமின்சொல்
பகரும் படிதுணிந்து குழலழகாக
மாலைவகைபலகுடியுடனே- (அளு)
பதுமந் தனையிசைந்த முலையென் றதையுகந்து
வரிவண் டெனவுழன்றுகலிலெனவாடுஞ் சிறுகிண் கினிசிலம்பு புனைதண் டைகண்முழங்கும் ஒலிநன் றெணமகிழ்ந்து செவிகொளநாசி பசுமஞ் சளின்வியந்த மணமுந் திடமுகந்து
பவமிஞ் சிடவிறைஞ்சி வரிசையினூடு
காலின் மிசைமுடிசூடி மயலாய்- (த)

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAWAR Ι97
மருளுந் தெருளும்வந்து கதியென் பதைமறந்து
மதனன் சலதிபொங்க விரணமதான அளிபுண்டனை வளைந்து விரல்கொண் டுறவளைந்து
சுரதஞ் சுகமிதென்று பரவசமாகி மருவுந் தொழின் மிகுந்து தினமுந் தினமும்விஞ்சி
வளரும் பிறைகுறைந்தபடிமதிசோர
வானரம தெனமேனிதிரையாய்- (தளு
வயதும் படவெழுந்து பிணியுந் திமிதிமென்று
வரவுஞ் செயலழிந்துளிருமலுமாகி அனமுஞ் செலுதலின்றி விழியுஞ் சுடர்களின்று
முகமுங் களைகளின்றுசரியெனநாடி மனையின் புறவிருந்த வினமுங் குலைகுலைந்து
கலகஞ் செயவிருண்டயமன்வரும்வேளை
ஏதுதுணைபழி காரமனமே- (as)
Not form nor formless, not in, not out,
swerving not from order, Not mark not quality, fulness nor defect,
declared by the Vedas to be One, pure, Rising aloft, spreading forth majestic,
seen inwardly by the wise To be gain, pure gain,
Life pervading Spirit-Space ; Not to be burned by fire nor whelmed by smoke,
drowned in water nor raised Nor moved by force of wind, nor
killed in battle; of nature ever one; Not he, not she, not it,
Walking in beauty, understood by none; Not darkness nor light, all-embracing substance,
not being nor not-being;
*cf. Bhagavad-Gita. II, 22-3.

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Piercing in pity the Mayá-universe, gracious to help what time Brahma and others the world adores
are tossed in care; In intelligences rid of 'I' and "Mine standing,
yet as One Intelligence shining, Not to be known as two, not to be sundered,
the same in lifeless and living things; Ever full, to thought dead;
Pure Bliss and Peace: what is that ? What is the Supreme 2
Seek thou THAT and know. In lovely woman's wiles fallen,
on evil thoughts intent, Caught like deer in toils, of speech unsteady, Ever sipping her lips, drinking
sweet prattle night and day, Decking her locks with varied wreaths,
to lotus-buds her breasts likening, on them doting, In the tinkle of her anklets delighting,
that like bees make music and dance around, Her sweet perfume enjoying,
worshipping her to thy ruin, Crowning thy head with her feet,
with delusion and darkness seized, Forgetting thy goal,
Cupid's sea overflowing, Rubbing the ripe sore with the finger,
saying "This is bliss, This is bliss," Mad acts of passion growing, intellect
daily waning like the waning moon.
*The Absolute becoming manifest,

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR (99
Body growing grey like an ape's,
years advancing, Diseases in hosts tramping,
coughing, coughing, Limbs not moving, food not eating,
eyes lacking light, face lacking lustre, Kinsfolk in hot haste arriving
and making uproar, "It is all up, all up,'- Thus when dread Death comes,
who will help thee, O Mind, you sinner?
அகவல்
திருவருண்ஞானஞ்சிறந்தருள்கொழிக்குங் குருவடிவானகுறைவிலாநிறைவே நின்றவொன்றேநின்மலவடிவே குன்றப்பொருளேகுணப்பெருங்கடலே ஆதியுமந்தமுமானந்தமயமாஞ் சோதியேசத்தேதொலைவிலாமுதலே சீர்மலிதெய்வத்திருவருளதனற் பார்முதலண்டப்பரப்பெலாநிறுவி அண்டசமுதலாமெண்டருநால்வகை எழுபிறவியிற்றழாதோங்கும் அனந்தயோனியினினம்பெறமல்க அணுமுதலசலமானவாக்கையுங் கணமுதலளவிற்கற்பகாலமும் கன்மப்பகுதித்தொன்மைக்கீடா இமைப்பொழுதேனுந்தமக்கெனவறிவிலா ஏழையுயிர்த்திரள்வாழவமைத்தனை எவ்வுடலெடுத்தாரவ்வுடல் வாழ்க்கை இன்பமென வேதுன்பமிலையெனப் பிரியாவண்ணமுரிமையின்வளர்க்க ஆதரவாகக்காதலுமமைத்திட் கேமின்றியேதேகநானென அறிவுபோலறியாமையியக்கிக்

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காலமுங்கன்மமுங்கட்டுங்காட்டியே மேலுநரகமுமேதகுசுவர்க்கமும் மாலறவகுத்தனையேலும்வண்ணம் அமையாக்காதலிற்சமயகோடி அறம்பொருளாதிதிறம்படுநிலையிற் குருவாயுணர்த்தியொருவர்போலனைவரும் தத்தநிலையேமுத்திமுடிவென வாததர்க்கமும்போதருளல்களும் நிறைவிற்காட்டியேகுறைவின்றிவயங்க அங்கங்குநின்றனையெங்குமாகிச் சமயாதீதத்தன்மையாகி இமையோர்முதலியயாவருமுனிவருந் தம்மைக்கொடுத்திட்டெம்மையாளென எசற்றிருக்கமாசற்றஞான நலமுங்காட்டினைஞானமிலேற்கு நிலையுங்காட்டுதனின்னருட்கடனே.
A SUPPLICATION
O Perfect Fulness that in shape of Teacher, beauteous with
holy grace and knowledge, showerest grace
Thou that ever stoodst as One, O Pure Form, never-waning
Substance, great Ocean of Goodness!
O Splendour that art the Beginning and the End and very
Bliss, O Truth, Wealth imperishable
Thou didst of Thy great and divine grace set the earth and
all the spheres of this wide universe,
So that the countless kinds of living things may grow and thrive, which, born in egg and womb, root and dirt, pass unceasing through the seven orders."
*Gods, men, quadrupeds, birds, creeping things, aquatic things, trees. ـ

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 20
For that helpless souls may prosper, which not even for the twinkling of an eye have intelligence of their own,
Thou didst according to their deeds of old cause bodies, from atom to mighty mountain, to be, and time from an instant to measureless aeons.
Thou didst lovingly give unto each soul desire, that whatsor ever body it took, it may regard life in it to be happiness not pain, and may rear it as its own and inseparable.
Thou didst make ignorance seem as wisdom, the undiscerning
soul saying “ This body is II.”
To cure the delusion Thou didst make time and act, institu
tion and rule, hell and heaven.
Thou didst fittingly, of Thy limitless love, for the stablishing of virtue and wealth, pleasure and freedom, inspire as Teacher millions of religions.
Thou didst in each religion, while it like the rest showed in splendid fullness of treatises, disputations, sciences, eachar its tenet to be the truth, the final goal.
*The four classes into which human acquisitions may be divided, and which have been pithily explained by a great Tamil poetess, Auvaiar, as follows :-
ஈதலறந் தீவினைவிட் டீட்டல்பொரு ளெஞ்ஞான்றுங் காத லிருவர் கருத்துறவைத்-தாதரவு பட்டதே யின்பம் பரனேநினைந் திம்மூன்றும் விட்டதே பேரின்ப வீடு.
"Giving is Virtue; what is acquired without wrong-doing is Wealth; the devotion of two lovers living ever heart-united is Pleasure; the giving up of these three for the Supreme is the great bliss of Freedom.'
Her definition of Wealth is one after the heart of Ruskin, and reconciled two thousand years ago the conflict which modern Economists have in vain endeavoured to reconcile between Ethics and Economics. Compare it with a definition given by Mr. Goschen in his address on Ethics and Economics and which is unsatisfactory enough. ' Human energies, faculties, and habits, physical, mental and moral which directly contribute to make men industrially efficient and therefore increase their power of producing wealth. Manual skill and intelligence are included in the personal wealth of the nation.'

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Thou didst stand in each religion, yet of a nature beyond all
religions."
And when the celestials, sages and others gave themselves up to thee and cried, " Take us, O Lord, for Thy thralls” and stood still, their acts over, Thou didst grant them even the flawless boon of Wisdom.
To me too that boon to grant of Thy grace it is meet.
ODE To SAKTI, UNIVERSAL MOTHER
When the Absolute becomes manifest, it is as Force, Sakti, of which the universe is the product, being from cycle to cycle evolved by Force from cosmic substance (akasa) and again involved. ' ' All the choir of heaven and the furniture of the earth' are the transitory forms of parcels of cosmic substance, wending along the road of evolution from nebulous potentiality, through endless growths of sun and satellite, through all varieties of matter, through infinite diversities of life and thought, possibly through modes of being of which we neither have any conception nor are competent to form any, back to the indefinite latency from which they arose.'
Not brute and blind, but full of intelligence and grace is the Power which thus makes and unmakes, and which by the Sages of India is accordingly regarded as the Universal Mother, and being inseparably inherent in God, is also called the Consort of God.
அகிலாண்ட கோடியீன்ற வன்னையே பின்னேயுங் கன்னியென மறைபேசு
மானந்த ரூபமயிலே.
*cf. Tennyson :-
'Our little systems have their day,
They have their day and cease to be. They are but broken lights of Thee, And Thou, O Lord, art more than they."
tHuxley' Evolution and Ethics."

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 203
"Mother of millions of world-clusters, yet Virgin by the
Vedas called."
This Holy Spirit has been described by Chidambara Swami.
மலர் விரையுங் கதிரொளியு முமிருடலு மணியின்
வளர்தேசு முருநிழலு மலிபொருளோ டுரையும் நிலவுதல் போனிட் களத்தைப் பிரியாது மருவி
நிகழ் சகளத்தப் பதிக்கு நிறைமனேயாய் மன்னி உலகுயிர் மைந்தர்கள் பிறவிப் பசிகெட வெந்நாளு மோவாதாநந்த வமுதுரட்டி யவ்வீட்டிருத்தும் திலகநுதற் சிவகாம சுந்தரியார் பாதச்
செங்கமலந் தலைமீதிற்றிகழுற வைத்திடுவாம்."
"My head I crown with lily feet of Sivakama Sundari Who with the Absolute inseparably is blended As flower and scent, as sun and ray, as life and body, As gem and lustre, form and shadow, word and meaning, Who to the manifested Lord as Consort shines, Who cures the life-hungert of her children, all living things, With ceaseless bliss ambrosial feeding And in Freedom's mansion establishing.'
What do we see or know save this Power ? The opening rose bud, its form, scent, colour, the lark "at break of day from sullen earth arising and singing hymns at Heaven's gate,' the leaf rotting on the highway, Bill Sykes on his burglarious errand, the hardness of the coal-scuttle that makes his shins tingle, the loving soul that toils among the lepers and seeks a leper's grave, the scer proclaiming the truth" till the world is wrought to sympathy with hopes and fears it heeded not,'-all, all is Force, the Divine Emanation.
* Panchadhikaravilakkam.' (பஞ்சதிகார விளக்கம்).
tLiability of the soul to reincarnation, until it becomes pure and fit
for union with God.

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The various manifestations of Force are grouped by the Saiva Siddhanta school under five heads which are deemed the principal aspects of the Great Mother. Evolution (srishti), maintenance (sthiti), involution- (samhära), obscuration (tirobhava), grace (anugraha). The evolving Sakti (Brahma) evolves for each soul according to its deserts a body (tanu), organs of knowledge (karana), pains and pleasures (bhoga), and spheres (bhuvana) to experience them in. The maintaining or preserving Sakti (Vishnu) maintains them for a time and enables the soul to experience them. The involving or destroying Sakti (Rudra) withdraws them and makes them disappear. The obscuring Sakti (Mahes'a) entangles the soul in them, so that, unable to distinguish the real from the unreal, it identifies itself with its fictitious envelopments calling the body and organs of knowledge 'I' and the pains and pleasures and spheres “ mine.” The Gracious Sakti (Sadas'ivam) enlightens the soul, delivers it from its delusion and bondage, and establishes it in union with God, the ultimate goal.
The earliest manifestations of Sakti are Vibration (Nâda) and the Word. Among the later manifestations the most venerated in India is gentle, benign Uma, beloved of Siva (Siva-Kami). "Mother that yields all the heart desireth.' According to an ancient tradition she appeared in response to the prayers of a Himalayan king as an infant floating in a golden-lily lake and was thence taken and reared by the king until given in marriage to the Lord Siva who came to claim her.
Hence the refrain of the Ode,
"Lady Uma who lovest mountain haunts and wast born
Dear to the Mountain-king as the apple of his eye."
In this character of the Highland Maid, under the name of Malaivalar Kâtali (uroðav6JGMTiffa5 Tg5 Gó) she is worshipped

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 205
at Tevai' (near Ramnad in the Madras Presidency) where the Saint Tayumanavar sang this beautiful hymn which recalls the choral odes of Sophokles and, I think, excels them. The translation which I have added does scant justice to it.
மலைவளர்காதலி
பதியுண்டு நிதியுண்டு புத்திரர்கண் மித்திரர்கள்
பக்கமுண் டெக்காலமும் பவிசுண்டு தவிசுண்டு திட்டாந்த மாகயம
படரெனுந் திமிர மணுகாக் கதியுண்டு ஞானமாங் கதிருண்டு சதிருண்டு
காயசித் திகளுமுண்டு கறையுண்ட கண்டர்பா லம்மைநின் ருளிற்
கருத்தொன்று முண்டாகுமேல் நதியுண்ட கடலெனச் சமயத்தை யுண்டபர
ஞானவா னந்தவொளியே நாதாந்த ரூபமே வேதாந்த மோனமே
நானெனு மகந்தை தீர்த்தென் மதியுண்ட மதியான மதிவதன வல்லியே
மதுசூதனன்றங்கையே வரைராசனுக்கிருகண் மணியா யுதித்தமலை
வளர்காத லிப்பெணுமையே.
Mansion and wealth, children and friends around, Splendour ever and throne, the certainty That Death's dark messengers draw not nigh, Wisdom's light, purity, wondrous powers, - All these are mine, so with Thy feet
"The city of the Lady" from Tevi (Sansk. Devi).

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Mythought be one,* O Mother that hast Thy seat beside the dark-throated Lord lif Light and Bliss of Knowledge Supreme, that Swallowest religions as ocean rivers O Stillness, the Vedas' goal, Thy form seen where vibration ends OWisdom, consumer of me and thought Lady beauteous as the moon Madusudana's S sister, Uma who lovest mountain haunts and wast born Dear to the Mountain-king as the apple of his eyel (III)
தெட்டிலே வலியமட மாதர்வாய் வெட்டிலே
சிற்றிடையிலேநடையிலே சேலொத்த விழியிலே பாலொத்த மொழியிலே
சிறுபிறை நுதற்கீற்றிலே s பொட்டிலே யவர்கட்டு பட்டிலே புனைகந்த
பொடியிலே யடியிலேமேல் பூரித்த முலையிலே நிற்கின்ற நிலையிலே
புந்திதனை நுழையவிட்டு நெட்டிலே யலேயாம லறிவிலே பொறையிலே
நின்னடியர் கூட்டத்திலே நிலைபெற்ற வன்பிலே மலைவற்ற மெய்ஞ்ஞான
ஞேயத்தி லேயுனிருதாண்
*"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.' (St. Mathew, VII, 33).
Siva, also called Nilakanta (dark throated), from his throat having been stained with a dread poison which he is said to have swallowed in order to save the celestials from imminent destruction by it.
Literally, 'Moon (uds)--faced lady, who is Wisdom (Les) that hath eaten up my mind (upg), having rid me of the sense of I.' The sense of I, and thought with its correlative sleep or forgetfulness, have to be consumed by the Holy Spirit (Sakti) for the attainment of the knowledge of God.
SVishnu.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 207
மட்டிலே மனதுசெல நினதருளு மருள்வையோ
வளமருவு தேவையரசே
வரைராசனுக்கிருகண் மணியா யுதித்தமலை
வளர்காத லிப்பெணுமையே. (e)
Maidens' wiles, repartees, slender waist, Witching eyes, gait, honeyedt speech, Eyebrows like the crescent moon, Beauty-spots, silk robes and scents, shapely feet, Full breasts erect, ravishing pose, - In these my curious mind not to enter And wander dazed, but in wisdom's search And self-restraint and Thy servants' company Enduring love and knowledge pure and truth, Thy feet alone to seek, wilt Thou gracious Grant to me, Queen of fertile Tevai? Lady Uma who loves mountain haunts and wast born Dear to the Mountain-king as the apple of his eye
பூதமுதலாகவே நாதபரியந்தமும்
பொய்யென் றெனைக்காட்டியென போதத்தி னடுவாகி யடியிறு மில்லாத
போதயூ ரணவெளிக்குள் ஏதுமற நில்லென் றுபாயமா வைத்துநினை
வெல்லாஞ்செய் வல்லசித்தாம் இன்பவுரு வைத்தந்த வன்னேயே நின்னையே
யெளியேன் மறந்துய்வனே வேதமுதலானநல் லாகமத் தன்மையை
விளக்குமுட் கண்ணிலார்க்கும் மிக்கநின் மகிமையைக் கேளாத செவிடர்க்கும்
லீறுவா தம்புகலும்வாய்
Literally "like the sél-fish.' Lit. "milk-like.'

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2O8 SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
வாதநோயாளர்க்கு மெட்டாத முக்கனுடை
மாமருந்துக்கமிர்தமே
வரைராசனுக்கிருகண் மணியா யுதித்தமலை
வளர்காத லிப்பெணுமையே. (AR)
From the elements to Vibration Thou showedst To me as false: myself to me unveiledst. In the core of my intelligence standing, "Stand still, free" in Spirit-space all-filling, Without beginning, without end,' Thou saidst, And skilfully establish'dst me, O Mother, Who vouchsafest pure knowledge and bliss, Yielding all the heart desireth. Forgetting Thee can I, poor wretch, live? Darling of the three-eyed Lord, it of all ills The panacea, beyond the reach of them That lack the inner eye which illumineth The Vedas and excellent Agamas, Beyond the deaf who hear not the praise of Thy might, Beyond the stricken with the plague of controversy Lady Uma who lovest mountain-haunts and wastborn Dear to the Mountain-king as the apple of his eye (3)
மிடியிட்ட வாழ்க்கையா லுப்பிட்ட கலமெனவு
மெய்யெலா முள்ளு டைந்து
வீறிட்ட செல்வர்தந் தலைவாயில் வாசமாய்
வேதனைகளுற வேதனும்
துடியிட்ட வெவ்வினையை யேவினன் பாவிநான்
தொடரிட்ட தொழில்க ளெல்லாம்
i.e., free from thought and sleep: a state of "pure consciousness.'
Siva. The third eye is the eye of wisdom, located between the eyebrows and closed except in the Jnani. Its site is indicated by the spot of sandal or other paste which Hindus usually wear on their forehead to remind them of the latent power of vision which it should be their endeavour to awaken and master.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 209
துண்டிட்டசாண்கும்பி யின்பொருட்டாயதுன்
ருெண்டர்பணி செய்வ தென்றே வடியிட்ட செந்தமிழினருமையிட்டாரூரி
லரிவையோர் பரவை வாயில் அம்மட்டு மடியிட்டு நடைநடந் தருளடிக
ளடியிது முடியி தென வடியிட்ட மறைபேசு பச்சிளங் கிள்ளையே
வளமருவு தேவை யாசே வரைராசனுக்கிருகண் மணியா யுதித்தமலை
வளர்காத லிப்பெணுமையே. (g)
Body all broken inwardly with life Of affliction, like salt-filled pot, Spending my days in pain at the gates of the proud rich,-- Brahma thus my cruel fate hath ordered.' All I do and toil, poor wretch, Is for a ragged span belly's sake. When, oh when, Thy servants shall I serve? Green,t gentle parrot whom the Vedas pure Declare to be the base and crown Of the Lord who at A'rur gracious pacedį The peerless woman Paravai's door, To pity melted by His servant's strains Of rare, pure Tamil Queen of fertile Tevai, Lady Uma who lovest mountain haunts and wast born Dear to the Mountain-king as the apple of his eye (4)
"Hardly to be taken literally, for the poet was an honoured prime minister blessed with nearly all the good things mentioned in the first stanza. The allusion is to the troubles and distractions of political and court life, usually fatal to spiritual growth.
f Exoterically the Sakti is represented as of dark green colour.
Siva is said in the " Periapurána to have acted as an intermediary to effect a reconciliation between his devotees Sundaramurti and Paravai (husband and wife). For the Lord is 'the servant of His servants.' Much more then should others serve His servants.

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20 SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
பூரணி புராதநி சுமங்கலை சுதந்தரி
புராந்தகி த்ரியம்பகி யெழிற் பங்கவி விளங்குசிவ சங்கரி சகஸ்ரதள
புட்பமிசை வீற்றிருக்கும் நாரணி மஞதித நாயகி குணுதீத நாதாந்த சத்தி யென்றுன் நாமமே யுச்சரித் திடுமடியர் நாமமே
நானுச் சரிக்க வசமோ ஆரணி சடைக்கடவு ளாரணியெனப்புகழ
வகிலாண்ட கோடி யீன்ற அன்னையே பின்னையுங் கன்னியென மறைபேசு
மாநந்த ரூப மயிலே வாரணியு மிருகொங்கை மாதர்மகிழ் கங்கைபுகழ்
வளமருவு தேவை யரசே வரைராசனுக்கிருகண் மணியா யுதித்தமலை
வளர்காத லிப்பெணுமையே. (5)
“ All-filling, Ancient, Auspicious, Independent, Destroyer of the Triple city, Three-eyed, Beauteous, Excellent, Blissful, Causing bliss Nārani on thousand-petalled lotus throned,
*Three strongholds of Asuras (Titans), enemies of the celestials. The triple city is symbolic of the soul's three bodies (gross, subtle and causal. See note v. 9, ' Revel in Bliss) which must be overcome by the Lord's Grace before the soul can be established in Him.
tAccording to the Raja Yogi, there runs through the spinal cord a canal called the Sushumna, at the base of which is a plexus called the Muddhdra (basic) and at the crown in the brain the plexus called the Sahasrasra (thousand-petalled lotus). In the basic plexus is stored the cosmic energy, an infinitesimal fraction of which is distributed throughout the body by the sensory and motor nerves, and mainly by the two columns of nerves called ida and Pingala on either side of the Sushumna canal. This canal, though existing in all animals, is closed except in the Yogi. He dispenses with sensory and motor nerves, opens the canal, sends through it all mental currents, makes the body a gigantic battery of will, and rouses the vast coiled up power (usually called the Kundalini) from the basic plexus to the thousand petalled lotus in the brain. As the power travels up the canal, higher and more wonderful powers of vision and knowledge are gained till the goal is reached of union with God.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 2II
Sovereign Lady beyond the ken of thought, Cosmic Force transcending quality, ' - Manifest there where Vibration ceaseth : '-. Of Thy servants who thus chant Thy names Am I worthy even to utter their names 2 As Mistress of the Vedas hailed by Him Whose locks are wreathed with a 'tti flowerMother of millions of world-clusters, Yet Virgin by the Vedas called ! O Swant whose form is bliss Fertile Tevai's Queen, Praised of Ganga in whose waters maidens sport Lady Unma who lovest mountain haunts and wast born
Dear to the Mountain-king as the apple of his eye (5)
பாகமோ பெறவுனைப் பாடவறியேன்மல
பரிபாகம் வரவு மனதிற் பண்புமோ சற்றுமிலை நியமமோ செய்திடப்
பாவியேன் பாப ரூப தேகமோ திடமில்லை ஞானமோ கனவிலுஞ்
சிந்தியேன் பேரின்பமோ சேரவென் ருற்கள்ள மனதுமோ மெத்தவுஞ்
சிந்திக்கு தென்செய்குவேன் மோகமோ மதமோ குரோதமோ லோபமோ
முற்றுமாற் சரிய மோதான் முறியிட் டெனைக்கொள்ளு நிதியமோதேடவெனின்
மூசுவரி வண்டுபோல மாகமோ டவும்வல்ல னெனையாள வல்லையோ
வளமருவு தேவை யரசே வரைராசனுக்கிருகண் மணியா யுதித்தம)ை
வளர்காத லிப்பெணுமையே. (4)
Siva
tLiterally "pea-hen."

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22 SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
To qualify for thee Thy praise I cannot sing. To be ripe for Thy Grace, taint all washed away, My mind hath not one jot of goodness. To make it pure this wretched sinful body Hath not the strength. I think not of Wisdom Even in dream. To seek the infinite Bliss My wicked mind ponders much and vacillates. Alas ! What shall I do? Lust, pride, avarice, Hatred, envy, of these I am the bond-slave. In search of wealth the whole world I dare traverse Like bee ever on the wing. Wilt Thou not me Thy vassal enrol, Queen of fertile Tevai? Lady Uma who lovest mountain haunts and wast born Dear to the Mountain-king as the apple of his eye (6)
துரளேறு தூசுபோல் வினையேறு மெய்யெனுந்
தொக்கினுட் சிக்கிநாளும் சுழலேறு காற்றினிடை யழலேறு பஞ்செனச்
குறையிட் டறிவையெல்லாம் நாளேற நாளேற வார்த்திக மெனுங்கூற்றி
னட்பேற வுள்ளு டைந்து நயனங்களற்றதோ ரூரேறு போலவே
நானிலந் தனிலலையவோ வேளேறு தந்தியைக் கனதந்தி யுடன்வென்று
விரையேறு மாலைசூடி விண்ணேறு மேகங்கள் வெற்பேறி மறைவுற
வெருட்டிய கருங்கூந்தலாய் வாளேறு கண்ணியே விடையேறு மெம்பிரான்
மனதுக் கிசைந்த மயிலே வரைராசனுக்கிருகண் மணியா யுதித்தமலை
வளர்காத லிப்பெணுமையே. (a7)
With the accummulating dust of deeds In this body choking--intelligence Daily ravaged like bale of cotton

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 23
Whereon wind-fed fire hath seized, - Death-demon, old age, more and more Affectionate daily growing, -shall I Wander this earth a blind ownerless bull ? Lady, whose dark locks wreathed with fragrant flower Excel the blackness of night, Cupid's charger, And drive rain-clouds to hide in shame Over the mountain-tops ! Bright-eyed. UmaNear to the heart of our Lord" that rideth the Ox,- Who lovest mountain haunts and wast born Dear to the Mountain-king as the apple of his eye (7)
பூதமொடு பழகிவளரிந்திரிய மாம்பேய்கள்
புந்திமுதலானபேய்கள் போராடு கோபாதி ராக்ஷசப் பேய்களென்
போதத்தை யூடழித்து வேதனை வளர்த்திடச் சதுர்வேத வஞ்சன்
விதித்தானி வல்லலெல்லாம் வீழும் படிக்குனது மெளனமந்த்ராதிக்ய வித்தையை வியந்தருள்வையோ நாதவடி வாகிய மஹாமந்த்ர ரூபியே
நாதாந்த வெட்டவெளியே நற்சமய மான பயிர் தழையவரு மேகமே
ஞானவா னந்தமயிலே வாதமிடு பரசமயம் யாவுக்கு முணர்வரிய மகிமைபெறு பெரியபொருளே வரைராசனுக்கிருகண் மணியா புதித்தமலை
வளர்காத லிப்பெணுமையே. (ጭ)
The devils, organs of sense and action, Comrades of the five elements,
"Siva vhorideth the Ox (pasu, also-the soul) and is called Pasu pati, Lord of Souls.
tThe organs of sense and action (Jnanendriya and Karmendriya) -not the visible organs but the brain-centres (see note to v. 9. "Revet in Bliss')-spring, according to Hindu psychologists, as do the grass elements (Sthula bhuta) from the subtle elements (Sukshma bhuta): hence called their comrades.

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24 SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
The devils, mind-organs, The furious warring demons, anger and the rest, Have bred woe, my intelligence destroying. . Thus hath Brahma willed. Toend this woe, wilt Thou vouchsafe The knowledge of Thy Word of Silence, Thou whose form is Vibration and the great Word? O Pure Space there where Vibration ceaseth O Rain-cloud that maketh true religion thrive Mighty Substance beyond the ken Of brawling religions Swan" of wisdom and bliss Lady Uma who lovest mountain haunts and wastborn Dear to the Mountain-king as the apple of his eye
Lit. " Pea-he"

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR (UNREVISED)
1. அங்கிங் கெனதபடி யெங்கும் ப்ரகாசமா
யானந்த பூர்த்தி யாகி யருளொடு நிறைந்ததெது தன்னருள் வெளிக்குளே
யகிலாண்ட கோடி யெல்லாந் - தங்கும் படிக்கிச்சை வைத்துயிர்க் குயிராய்த்
தழைத்ததெது மனவாக்கி னிற் றட்டாம னின்றதெது சமயகோ டிகளெலாந்
தந்தெய்வ மெந்தெய்வ மென் றெங்குந் தொடர்ந்தெதிர் வழக்கிடவு நின்றதெது
வெங்கணும் பெருவ ழக்கா - யாதினும் வல்லவொரு சித்தாகி யின்பமா
யென்றைக்கு முள்ள தெதுமேற் கங்குல்பக லறநின்ற வெல்லையுள தெதுவது
கருத்திற் கிசைந்த ததுவே கண்டன வெலாமோன வுருவெளிய தாகவுங்
கருதியஞ் சலிசெய்குவாம். What is that which is not here, not there, but shineth everywhere full of bliss, of Grace? What is that which wills millions of worlds to rest in the space of its grace, and thrives as the life of every life? What is that to which thought reacheth not, nor speech ? Or what is that, which standeth still, while millions of religions everywhere in ceaseless strife cry, "my God', 'my God'? What is that Intelligence of peerless might, which is bliss, which lasteth for ever ? What is that which is there where day is not, nor night. ?/o
That is agreeable to my mind. Knowing all things to be the manisfested forms of that Stillness, to that I bow in
worship.
2I5

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26 SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
2. ஊரனந் தம்பெற்ற பேரனந் தஞ்சுற்று
முறவனந் தம்வி னையின லுடலனந் தஞ்செயும் வினையனந் தங்கருத்
தோவனந் தம்பெற் றபேர் சீரனந் தஞ்சொர்க்க நரகமு மனந்தநற்
றெப்வமு மனந்த பேதந் திகழ்கின்ற சமயமு மனந்தமத னன் ஞான
சிற் சத்தி யாலு ணர்ந்து காரனந் தங்கோடி வருவித்த தெனவன்பர்
கண்ணும் விண்ணுந் தேக்கவே கருதரிய வானந்த மழைபொழியு முகிலைநங்
கடவுளைத் துரியவடிவைப் பேரனந் தம்பேசி மறையனந் தஞ்சொலும்
பெரிய மெளனத்தின் வைப்பைப் பேசரு மனந்தபத ஞானவா னந்தமாம் பெரிய பொருளைப் பணிகுவாம்.
Countless are the lands of my birth, countless the names I have borne, countless my kinsmen, countless the bodies I have experienced as the fruit of my deeds countless my deeds, countless my thoughts, countless the fame and prosperity I have enjoyed, countless too the heavens and hells I have passed through, countless the good Gods I have worshipped, countless my religions.
Then by the divine energy of wisdom knowing, I bend in obeisance to God, who like countless millions of clouds together joined raineth down unthinkable bliss filling the eyes of his beloved and all space: To the form of Turiyam", the treasure locked in the great casket of Silence, called by the Vedas by countless names and declared in countless ways; to the great Substance which is the state of wisdom and bliss ineffable-I bend in obeisance.
* துரியம்=ஞான சிற் சக்தி.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 27
3. அத்துவித வத்துவைச் சொற்ப்ரகாசத்தணியை
யருமறைகண் முரச றையவே யறிவினுக் கறிவாகி யானந்த மயமான
வாதியை யநாதி யேக தத்துவ சொரூபத்தை மதசம்ம தம்பெருச்
சாலம்ப ரகித மான சாசுவத புட்கல நிராலம்ப வாலம்ப சாந்தபத வ்யோம நிலையை நித்தநிர் மலசகித நிஷ்ப்ரபஞ் சப்பொருளை
நிர்விஷய சுத்த மான நிர்வி காரத்தைத் தடத்தடிாய் நின்ருெளிர்
நிரஞ்சன நிராம யத்தைச் சித்தமறி யாதபடி சித்தத்தி னின்றிலகு
திவ்யதே சோம யத்தைச் சிற்பர வெளிக்குள்வளர் தற்பரம தானபர தேவதையை யஞ்சலி செய்குவாம்.
I worship the Substance non-dual, peerless, self-effulgent, proclaimed by the Great Vedas to be the intelligence of all intelligence, the beginning whose form is bliss, the beginningless, the One, the Truth-above the clash of creeds, independent, eternal, perfect, supportless, the support of all things, Peace, the state of heaven (Vyoma), unchanging, pure, without extension, without differentiation, without attachement, without passion, without pain, the divine splendour which unknown to the heart shines in the heart, the Supreme God cradled in the ether of the heart and who is the Self, I worship.
பரிபூாளுனர்தம் 4. வாசா கயிங்கரிய மன்றியொரு சாதன
மனேவாயு நிற்கும் வண்ணம் வாலாய மாகவும் பழகியறி யேன்றுறவு
மார்க்கத்தி னிச்சை போல நேசானு சாரியாய் விவகரிப் பேனந்த
நினைவையு மறந்த போது

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நித்திரைகொள் வேன்றேக நீங்குமென வெண்ணிலோ
நெஞ்சந் துடித்த யருவேன். பேசாத வானந்த நிட்டைக்கு மறிவிலாப்
பேதைக்கும் வெகுது ரமே பேய்க்குண மறிந்திந்த நாய்க்குமொரு வழிபெரிய
பேரின்ப நிட்டை யருள்வாய் பாசா டவிக்குளே செல்லா தவர்க்கருள்
பழுத்தொழுகு தேவ தருவே பார்க்குமிட மெங்குமொரு நிக்கமற நிறைகின்ற
பரிபூர ணனந் தமே.
PERFECT BLISS It is with me but lip service. I have not learnt the habit whereby to still the breeze of thought. I profess a mighty love of renunciation. When that ideal is forgotten, I fall asleep. When I think that this body and I will part, I start in anguish and faint. Great indeed is the gulf between the ineffable bliss of Nishtai (Luminous Sleep) and this fool. Knowing my devilish qualities, graciously grant unto this dog the supreme bliss of Nishtai (Luminous Sleep), O divine tree that sheddest ripe fruits of Grace to those who enter not the wilderness of Pasam, O perfect Bliss that without break fillest all space whithersoever the eye turneth.
5. தெரிவாக ஆர்வன நடப்பன பறப்பன
செயற்கொண் டிருப்பன முதற் றேகங்க ளத்தனையு மோகங்கொள் பெளதிகஞ்
சென்மித்த வாங்கி றக்கும் விரிவாய பூதங்க ளொன்றேடொன் ருயழியு
மேற்கொண்ட சேடமதுவே வெறுவெளி நிராலம்ப நிறைசூன்ய முபசாந்த
வேதவே தாந்த ஞானம் பிரியாத பேரொளி பிறக்கின்ற வருளருட்
பெற்றேர்கள் பெற்ற பெருமை பிறவாமை யென்றைக்கு மிறவாமை யாய்வந்து
பேசாமை யாகு மெனவே

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 2I9
பரிவா யெனக்குநீ யறிவிக்க வந்ததே
பரிபாக கால மலவோ பார்க்குமிட மெங்குமொரு நீக்கமற நிறைகின்ற
பரிபூர ணனந் தமே. The diverse bodies of all things that creep, walk, fly, are fixed etc., are of the elements by Maya made. They die as they are born. One in another the elements perish. What then remaineth is It-pure Space without support; Voidall full, Peace, Wisdom, that is the Vedas and the end of the Vedas, Grace, the birth place of the inseparable, supreme splendour, the greatness of them that have attained Grace; -no birth, no death-Stillness. Thus when Thou graciously camest to teach me, was that not my time of ripeness? O perfect Bliss that without break fillest all space whithersoever the eye turneth ?
6. ஆராயும் வேளையிற் பிரமாதி யானுலு
மையவொரு செயலு மில்லை யமைதியொடு பேசாத பெருமைபெறு குணசந்த்ர
ராமென விருந்த பேரு நேராக வொருகோப மொருவேளை வரவந்த
நிறைவொன்று மில்லா மலே நெட்டுயிர்த் துத்தட் டழிந்துளறு வார்வசன
நிர்வாக ரென்ற பேரும் பூராய மாயொன்று பேசுமிட மொன்றைப்
புலம்புவார் சிவராத் திரிப் போதுதுயி லோமென்ற விரதியரு மறிதுயிற்
போலே யிருந்து துயில்வார் பாராதி தனிலுள்ள செயலெலா முடிவிலே
பார்க்கினின் செயலல் லவோ பார்க்குமிட மெங்குமொரு நீக்கமற நிறைகின்ற
பரிபூர ஞனந் தமே. When you probe into it, Brahma and the rest have no act of their own. The peaceful, silent, mighty spirits of Grace, when anger seizes them lose their serenity, gasp and pant and jabber; masters of guarded speech, speaking careful of

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one thing, will blurt something else; those vowed to sleepless fast on Siva's night will drop off as if in sleep of yoga.
Are not all the acts in this world thy acts in truth, Operfect Bliss that without break fillest all space whithersoever the eye turneth?
7. அண்டபதி ரண்டமும் மாயா விகாரமே யம்மாயை யில்லா மையே யாமெனவு மறிவுமுண் டப்பாலு மறிகின்ற
வறிவினை யறிந்து பார்க்கி னெண்டிசை விளக்குமொரு தெய்வவருளல்லாம
லில்லையெனு நினைவு முண்டிங் கியானென தறத்துரிய நிறைவாகி நிற்பதே
யின்பமெனு மன்பு முண்டு கண்டன வெலாமல்ல வென்றுகண் டனைசெய்து
கருவிகர ணங்க ளோயக் கண்மூடி யொருகண மிருக்கவென் ருற் பாழ்த்த
கர்மங்கள் போராடு தே பண்டையுள கர்மமே கர்த்தாவெனும் பெயர்ப்
பகூடிநா னிச்சிப்ப ஞே பார்க்குமிட மெங்குமொரு நீக்கமற நிறைகின்ற
பரிபூர னனந் தமே.
I know that the countless worlds of the Universe are differentiations of Maya and that Maya is nothing. Then when I think of the Intelligence whereby I know, there is naught else save the Grace of God which illuminates the eight quarters; I know, and lovingly cling to it, that to stand free from 'I' and 'mine', in the fulness of Turiyam, is bliss. Yet when rejecting as false all visible things, I try to sit with eyes closed and with the organs of sense, action, and mind stilled, oh my devilish Karma fights with me. Am I then to lean to the doctrine that ancient Karma is the Lord? O all-filling Bliss, that whithersoever eye turneth fills without intersticel

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 22辽、
8. வாரா தெலாமொழிய வருவன வெலாமெய்த
மனது சாசுழிய தாகவே மருவ நிலை தந்ததும் வேதாந்த சித்தாந்த
மரபு சமரச மாகவே நீராய மாயுணர வூகமது தந்ததும்
பொய்யுடலை நிலையன் றெனப் போதநெறி தந்ததுஞ் சாசுவத வானந்த
போகமே வீடென் னவே நீராள மாயுருக வுள்ளன்பு தந்தது நின்னதரு வின்னு மின்னு நின்னையே துணையென்ற வென்னையே காக்கவொரு
நினைவுசற் றுண்டா கிலோ பாராதி யறியாத மோனமே யிடைவிடாப்
பற்ருக நிற்க வருள்வாய் பார்க்குமிட மெங்குமொரு நீக்கமற நிறைகின்ற
பரிபூர னனந் தமே. It was thy Grace that granted unto me to cling to the state wherein the heart stands as witness while things come that should come and things that should not come do not; it was thy Grace that granted me the intelligence to understand fully the reconciliation of the Vedanta and Siddhanta; it was thy Grace that granted me to know that this false body is not lasting; it was thy Grace that granted me to know that the realization of the Eternal Bliss is freedom, and to melt with love and yearning for it. Still, still to thee I cling as my only help. O that just a thought may rise in thee to protect met O stillness beyond the ken of the Earth and all Elements, graciously grant unto me that I may never cease to cling to thee. O all-filling Bliss, that whithersoever eye turneth, fillest all things without interstice
9. ஆழாழி கரையின்றி நிற்கவிலை யோகொடிய
வாலமழு தாக விலையோ வக்கடலின் மீதுவட வனனிற்க வில்லையோ
வந்தரத் தகில கோடி தாழாம னிலைநிற்க வில்லையோ மேருவுந்
9. S. P. C. - 8272

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தனுவாக வளைய விலையோ சப்தமே கங்களும் வச்ரதர னணையிற்
சஞ்சரித் திடவில் லையோ வாழாது வாழவே யிராமனடி யாற்சிலையு
மடமங்கை யாக விலையோ மணிமந்த்ர மாதியால் வேண்டுசித் திகளுலக
மார்க்கத்தில் வைக்க விலையோ பாழான வென்மணங் குவியவொரு தந்திரம்
பண்ணுவ துனக் கருமையோ பார்க்குமிட மெங்குமொரு நீக்கமற நிறைகின்ற
பரிபூர ஞனந் தமே. Do not the deep Oceans stand without banks ? Did not the dire poison become Ambrosia? Does not the raging fire stand in the Ocean 2 Do not millions of world-clusters rest in space? Did not Mount Meru bend as a bow ? Do not the seven clouds live under the sway of Indra ? Did not the rock under the foot of Rama become a maiden (rid of her curse)? IDoes thou not maintain wonderful powers (siddhies) by gems, mantras etc.? Is it difficult for thee to still my cursed mind? O all filling bliss, that whithersoever eye turneth, fillest all things without interstice
பொருள் வணக்கம் 10. நித்தியமாய் நிர்மலமாய் நிட்களமாய் நிராமயமாய்
நிறைவாய் நீங்காச் சுத்தமுமாய்த் தூரமுமாய்ச் சமீபமுமாய்த் துரியனிறை
சுடரா யெல்லாம் வைத்திருந்த தாரகமா யானந்த மயமாகி
மனவாக் கெட்டாச் சித்துருவாய் நின்றவொன்றைச் சுகாரம்பப் பெரு
வெளியைச் சிந்தை செய்வாம். Eternal, free from stain, from pain, from disease; all filling, inseparable, pure, far, yet near-fulness of splendour in Turiyam-holding and supporting all things as its form of Bliss and intelligence beyond the reach Ever One: On it, on the wide ether which is bliss, we meditate.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 223
11. யாதுமன நினையுமந்த நினைவுக்கு நினைவாகி
யாதின் பாலும் பேதமற நின்றுயிருக் குயிராகி யன்பருக்கே
பேரானந்தக் கோதிலமு தூற்றரும்பிக குணங்குறியொன் றறத்தன்னைக்
கொடுத்துக் காட்டுந் தீதில் பரா பரமான சித்தாந்தப் பேரொளியைச்
சிந்தை செய்வாம். The thought of every thought which the mind thinks, impartially present in all things--the life of every life, only to its beloved oozing forth in flawless flood of bliss and yielding Itself up and showing Itself without mark or quality, blessed, supreme, glorious splendour there where thought is dead. On It we meditate.
12. பெருவெளியா யைம்பூதம் பிறப்பிடமாய்ப் பேசாத
பெரிய மோனம் வருமிடமாய் மனமாதிக் கெட்டாத பேரின்ப
மயமாய் ஞானக் குருவருளாற் காட்டிடவு மன்பரைக்கோத் தறவிழுங்கிக்
கொண்டப் பாலுந் தெரிவரிதாய்க் கலந்ததெந்தப் பொருளந்தப் பொரு
ளினையாஞ் சிந்தை செய்வாம்.
What is that which is limitless space, which is the birthplace of the five elements? The place where comes the mighty stillness that speaks not-which is mighty bliss beyond the reach of thought, etc., which when pointed out by the grace of the wise Teacher draws in and swallows its beloved and which even then mingles with things hard to know. On that we meditate.
13. இகபரமு முயிர்க்குயிரை யானெனதற் றவருறவை
யெந்த நாளுஞ் சுகபரி பூரணமான நிராலம்ப கோசரத்தைத்
துரிய வாழ்வை

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யகமகிழ வருந்தேனை முக்கனியைக் கற்கண்டை
யமிர்தை நாடி மொகுமொகென விருவிழிநீர் முத்திறைப்பக் கரமலர்கண்
முகிழ்த்து நிற்பாம். The life of every life and hereafter, the friend of those who are rid of 'I' and mine, ever full of bliss, the blessing of Turiyam, the honey which comes to delight the heart, the three fruits, sugarcandy, Ambrosia,--That seeking, shedding flood of tears, joining hands in worship, we stand.
சின்மயானந்த குரு 14. காரிட்ட வாணவக் கருவறையி லறிவற்ற
கண்ணிலாக் குழவி யைப்போற் கட்டுண் டிருந்தவெமை வெளியில்விட் டல்லலாங்
காப்பிட் டதற்கி சைந்த பேரிட்டு மெய்யென்று பேசுபாழ்ம் பொய்யுடல்
பலக்கவிளை யமுத மூட்டிப் பெரியபுவ னத்தினிடை போக்குவர வுறுகின்ற
பெரியவிளை யாட்ட மைத்திட் டேரிட்ட தன்சுருதி மொழிதப்பி னமனை விட்
டிடருற வுறுக்கி யிடர்தீர்த் திரவுபகலில்லாத பேரின்ப வீட்டினி
லிசைந்து துயில்கொண்மி னென்று சீரிட்ட வுலகன்னை வடிவான வெந்தையே
சித்தாந்த முத்தி முதலே சிரகிரி விளங்கவரு தகழின மூர்த்தியே
சின்மயானந்த குருவே.
TEACHER THAT ART THE BLISS OF THE PURE SPIRIT
From the womb of dark ignorance (Anava) wherein I lay bound and prisoned, a blind, brute fetus, Thou feedest me. With the seal of sorrow thou sealedst me and thou gavest me a fitting name. To this false fleeting thing that men call body, thou gavest nourishing food to make it strong. In the great world thou settest me the big game of Go and Come.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 225
When I failed in thy gracious law thou didst send the angel of Death to frighten and punish me. Ridding me at last of pain and sorrow thou didst rock me to sleep in the hall of freedom and bliss eternal where night is not nor day, O father in guise of Mother of the Universe! O Lord of freedom that standest at the end of thought, O Dakshinamurthi that sheddest lustre on Sira, O teacher that art the Bliss of the Pure Spirit
கருணுகாக் கடவுள்
15. நிர்க்குண நிராமய நிரஞ்சன நிராலம்ப
நிர்விஷய கைவல்ய மா நிஷ்கள வசங்கசஞ் சலரகித நிர்வசன
நிர்த்தொந்த நித்த முக்த தற்பரவிஸ் வாதீத வ்யோமபரி பூரண
சதானந்த ஞான பகவ சம்புசிவ சங்கர சர்வேச வென்றுநான்
சர்வகா லமுநி னைவனே வற்புத வகோசர நிவர்த்திபெறு மன்பருக்
கானந்த பூர்த்தியான வத்துவித நிச்சய சொரூபசா சுஷ்ாத்கார
வனுபூதி யனு குதமுங் கற்பனை யறக்காண முக்கனுடன் வடநிழற்
கண்ணுராடிருந்த குருவே. கருதரிய சிற்சபையி லானந்த நிர்த்தமிடு
கருணுகரக் கடவுளே. &
GOD-OCEAN OF MERCY
Characterless, painless, passionless, self-supporting, unattached, independent, formless, detached, sorrowless, ineffable eternal, free, It, beyond the Universe, pervading all space, ever-blissful, O Lord of wisdom, O auspicious Siva, Sankara, O Lord of all-thus shall I always think on thee. O threeeyed Teacher that under the shade of the stone-banyan tree showedest thyself in thy essence apart from all fictions, as

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all pervading bliss, non-dual, true, actually realized, to thy beloved ones who gained the wonderful freedom beyond words, O God, ocean of Mercy, that dancest the dance of bliss in the hall of Pure consciousness beyond the plane of thought.
16. மண்ணுதி யைந்தொடு புறத்திலுள கருவியும்
வாக்காதி சுரோத்ரா தியும் வளர்கின்ற சப்தாதி மனமாதி கலையாதி
மன்னு சுத்தாதி யுடனே தொண்ணுாற்ருெ டாறுமற் றுள்ளளவு மெளனியாய்ச்
சொன்னவொரு சொற்கொண் டதே துவெளிய தாயகண் டானந்த சுகவாரி
தோற்றுமதை யென்சொல்லு வேன் பண்ணுரு மிசையினெடு பாடிப் படித்தருட்
பான்மைநெறி நின்று தவருப் பக்குவ விசேஷராய் நெக்குநெக்குருகிப் பணிந்தெழுந் திருகை கூப்பிக் கண்ணுறு கரைபுரள நின்றவன் பரையெலாங்
கைவிடாக் காட்சியுறவே கருதரிய சிற்சபையி லானந்த நிர்த்தமிடு
கருணுகரக் கடவுளே.
The earth and other external categories, the voice and other organs of action, the ear and other organs of sense, the rising sound and other objects of sense, mind-stuff and other inner organs 526) etc., Giggsub etc.—all these ninety-six categories and all else, melted into pure space the moment the one word of the Silent Teacher was realised, and how shall I tell the infinite Ocean of health and bliss that then rose? O Friend that lettest not go the hand of thy devotees who singing thy praise in melodious verse, clinging ever to the way of Grace, have ripened, and, melting, melting, bending, rising, stand with hands clasped in worship, rivers of tears overflowing O God, Ocean of mercy, that dancest the dance of bliss in the hall of Pure Intelligence beyond the plane of thought.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 227
17. எல்லாமு னடிமையே யெல்லாமு னுடைமையே
யெல்லாமு னுடைய செயலே யெங்கணும் வியாபிநீ யென்றுசொலு மியல்பென்
றிருக்காதி வேத மெல்லாஞ் சொல்லான் முழக்கியது மிக்கவுப காரமாச்
சொல்லிறந்தவரும் விண்டு சொன்னவையு மிவைநல்ல குருவான பேருந்
தொகுத்த நெறிதானு மிவையே யல்லாம லில்லையென நன்ற வறிந்தே
யறிந்தபடி நின்று சுகநா னகாத வண்ணமே யிவ்வண்ண மாயினே
னதுவு நின தருளென்னவே கல்லாத வறிஞனுக் குள்ளே யுணர்த்தினை
கதிக்குவகை யேது புகலாய் கருதரிய சிற்சபையி லானந்த நிர்த்தமிடு
கருணுகரக் கடவுளே. All are thy vassals, all thy belongings, all thy acts, thou pervadest everywhere-so the Rig and other vedas proclaim thy nature. So the seers who had died to speech, did declare again speaking for the great help of the world. Nought else did they say who came as gracious Teachers. All this I know well. Yet I stand not by what I know, nor gain health, but am in this state. This too is thy grace : So thou didst inwardly make known to this poor fool. Tell me the way to freedom, O God, ocean of Mercy, that dancest the dance of bliss in the hall of Pure Consciousness beyond the plane of thought.
18. பட்டப் பகற்பொழுதை யிருளென்ற மருளர்தம்
பகூடிமோ வெனது பக்ஷம்
பார்த்தவிட மெங்கனுங் கோத்தநிலை குலையாது
பரமவெளி யாக வொருசொற்
றிட்டமுடன் மெளனியா யருள்செய் திருக்கவுஞ்
சேராம லாரா கநான்
சிறு வீடு கட்டியதி னடுசோற்றை யுண்டுண்டு
தேக்கு சிறியார்கள் போல

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I will not offer thee worship. If I am to worship thee in any form, I see thou standest in the heart of every flower, and I cannot think of picking the dewy-flower (to offer to thee). As to clasping my hands (in worship of thee) they shrink, for thou standest in my heart and when I worship with my hands joined, it is but half worship for thee.
Therefore is it fitting for me to worship 2 O space, O elements, O Natham (vibration), O Vedas, O goal of the Vedas, O Excellent teaching, O seed planted in the soil of the teaching, O Sprout from that seed, O sight, O thought, O number, O letter, O shape of silence that leads to Freedom, O God, O ocean of Mercy that dancest the dance of bliss in the unthinkable hall of Intelligence.
21. துள்ளுமறி யாமனது பலிகொடுத் தேன்கர்ம
துஷ்டதே வதைக ளில்லை துரிய நிறை சாந்ததே வதையா முனக்கே
தொழும்பனன் பபிஷேக நீ ருள்ளிறையி லென்னவி நைவேத்தியம் ப்ராண
னேங்குமதி தூப தீப மொருகால மன்றிது சதாகால பூசையா வொப்புவித்தேன் கருணை கூர் தெள்ளிமறை வடியிட்ட வமுதப் பிழம்பே
தெளிந்ததே னேசி னியே திவ்யரச மியாவுந் திரண்டொழுகு பாகே
தெவிட்டாத வானந்தமே கள்ளனறிவூடுமே மெள்ளமெள வெளியாய்க்
கலக்கவரு நல்ல வுறவே கருதரிய சிற்சபையி லானந்த நிர்த்தமிடு
கருணுகரக் கடவுளே. I have sacrificed the frolicking goat, my mind. The evil spirits of Karma are no more. I am devotee of thee alone, Lord of Peace that fills the Turiya state. My love is the water wherewith to wash thee. My life within me is the food offering to thee, my breadth and my thought are incense and lights. I offer them to you not as one stated service

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVARs, 23.
for the day, but as day-long service. Have mercy on me. Oflood of Ambrosia strained thorugh the Vedas, Opure honey O sugar, O liquid overflowing with all excellent tastes, O bliss that never cloys, O good friend that slowly and slowly drawest near to later in-weave even the heart of this thief, O God, ocean of mercy that dancest the dance of bliss in the hall of pure Consciousness beyond the reach of thought.
சச்சிதானந்த சிவம் 22. பாராதி ககனப் பரப்புமுண் டோவென்று படர்வெளிய தாகி யெழுநாப் பரிதிமதி காணுச் சுயஞ்சோதி யாயண்ட
பகிரண்ட வுயிரெ வைக்கு நேராக வறிவா யகண்டமா யேகமாய்
நித்தமாய் நிர்த்தொந்த மாய் நிர்க்குண விலாசமாய் வாக்குமண மணுகாத
நிர்மலா னந்த மயமாய்ப் பேராது நிற்றிரீ சும்மா விருந்துதான்
பேரின்ப மெய்தி டாமற் பேய்மனதை யண்டியே தாயிலாப் பிள்ளைபோற்
பித்தாக வோமனதை நான் சாராத படியறிவி னிருவிகற் பாங்கமாஞ்
சாசுவத நிஷ்டை யருளாய் சர்வபரி பூரண வகண்டதத் துவமான
சச்சிதா னந்த சிவமே.
SIVAM-THAT IS CHAT-CHIT-ANANDAM
Spreading forth as space so vast 'tis a question if earth there be and wide expanse of ether; self-luminous splendour that the seven-tongued fire and sun and moon know not : Intelligence of every life in all the world-clusters; Infinite, One, Eternal, detached, characterless; Pure Bliss beyond the reach of word or thought; Thou standest unmovable, and I powerless to be still and attain the great bliss, ever hugging the elf mind, shall I wander distracted like a motherless child? Graciously grant unto me that to the mind I

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may not cling but be ever 'stablished in pure undifferentiating consciousness. O all-filling, infinite, blessed One, who art the truth, the Only Reality, who art pure Intelligence and Bliss
23. இனியே தெமக்குனருள் வருமோ வெனக்கருதி
யேங்குதே நெஞ்ச மையோ வின்றைக் கிருந்தாரை நாளைக் கிருப்பரென்
றெண்ணவோ திடமில் லையே யணியாய மாயிந்த வுடலைநா னென்றுவரு
மந்தகற் காளாக வோ வாடித்திரிந்துநான் கற்றதுங் கேட்டது
மவலமாய்ப் போதனன்றே கனியேனும் வறியசெங் காயேனு முதிர்சருகு
கந்தமூ லங்க ளேனுங் கனல்வாதை வந்தெய்தி னள்ளிப் புசித்துநான்
கண்மூடி மெளனி யாகித் தனியே மிருப்பதற் கெண்ணினே னெண்ணமிது
சாமிநீ யறியாததோ சர்வபரி பூரண வகண்டதத் துவமான
சச்சிதா னந்த சிவமே.
My heart, alas, faints with suspense, thinking "Will Thy grace be granted to me ever?” "Alive today, alive tomorrow' is not certain. Insanely taking this body to be myself, shall I to hurrying Death become bondsman? What with endless toil and tramp I learned, is it meet to perish in vain? With fruit ripe or unripe, with dropping, withered leaf, with root: and bulb, to quench the fire of hunger when it springeth, to sit still alone, with eye closed, was my wish, Lord knowest thou not my desire? O thou that fillest all things, infinite, blessed One, who art the Truth, the Only Reality, who art pure Intelligence and Bliss

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 233.
தேசோ மயானந்தம் 24. மருமலர்ச் சோலைசெறி நன்னீழன் மலையாதி
மன்னுமுனி வர்க்கே வலாய் மந்த்ரமா லிகை சொல்லு மியம நிய மாதியா
மார்க்கத்தி னின்று கொண்டு கருமருவு காயத்தை நிர்மலம தாகவே
கமலா சஞதி சேர்த்துக் காலைப் பிடித்தனலை யம்மை குண் டலியடிக்
கலைமதியி னூடு தாக்கி யுருகிவரு மமிர்தத்தை யுண்டுண் டுறங்காம
லுணர்வான விழியை நாடி யொன்றே டிரண்டெனச் சமரச சொரூப சுக
முற்றிடவென் மனதின் வண்ணந் திருவருண் முடிக்கவித் தேகமொடு காண்பனே
தேடரிய சத்தாகியென் சித்தமிசை குடிகொண்ட வறிவான தெய்வமே
தேசோ மயானந் தமே.
THE GLORY OF LIGHT AND BLISS
To serve the saints that haunt the cool shade of mountains and groves and flowers-to stand firm in the way of Yama, Nyama and the rest, told in the series of Mantra scripturesfor the purifying of this womb-clinging body, to use the lotus and other postures, to capture the breadth, to dash the flame on the bright moon at the foot of Mother Kundali, to feast on the Ambrosia that melting drippeth, and, ever awake, to seek the eye of wisdom, to gain the bliss of Equality that is "not one' 'not two' and to my heart's wish fulfil the holy Spirit-Oh, will this be granted to me to see in this body ! O thou that art the One Reality, hard to find, O God who as pure Consciousness, dwellest in my heart, O Glory of light and bliss.
25. இப்பிறவி யெனுமோ ரிருட்கடலின் மூழ்கிநா னென்னுமொரு மகர வாய்பட் டிருவினை யெனுந்திரையி னெற்றுண்டு புற்புத
மெனக் கொங்கை வரிசை காட்டுந்

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Sinking in the dark sea of life, caught in the mouth of the shark 'I', tossed by the waves of the good and evil deeds, dashed again and again by the hurricane of love of womans's rosy-lips, lotus breasts, the river of ceaseless desire rushing, roaring as though the celestial river had overflowed, the ship deserted by its master, wisdom, in agony of perplexity, shedding fountains of tears in fear of the coming of the pirates of death, Oh wilt thou have mercy on poor me that I may reach the shore of freedom, Oh Thou that art the One Reality, hard to find, O God who as pure Consciousness dwellest in
SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
துப்பிதழ் மடந்தையர் மயற்சண்ட மாருதச்
சுழல் வந்து வந்த டிப்பச் சோராத வாசையாங் கானறு வானதி சுரந்ததென மேலு மார்ப்பக் கைப்பரிசு காரர்போ லறிவான வங்கமுங்
கைவிட்டு மதிம யங்கிக் கள்ளவங் கக்காலர் வருவரென் றஞ்சியே
கண்ணருவி காட்டு மெளியேன் செப்பரிய முத்தியாங் கரைசேர வுங்கருணை
செய்வையோ சத்தாகி யென் சித்தமிசை குடிகொண்ட வறிவான தெய்வமே
தேசோ மயானந் தமே.
my heart, O Glory of light and bliss?
26.
தந்தைதாய் தமர்தார மகவென்னு மிவையெலாஞ்
சந்தையிற் கூட்ட மிதிலோ சந்தேக மில்லைமணி மாடமா விகைமேடை
சதுரங்க சேனை யுடனே வந்ததோர் வாழ்வுமோ ரிந்த்ரசா லக்கோலம்
வஞ்சனை பொருமை லோபம் வைத்தமன மாங்கிருமி சேர்ந்தமல பாண்டமோ
வஞ்சனையி லாத கனவே யெந்தநா ளுஞ்சரி யெனத்தேர்ந்து தேர்ந்துமே
யிரவுபக லில்லா விடத் தேகமாய் நின்றநின் னருள்வெள்ள மீதிலே
யானென்ப தறவு மூழ்கிச்

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 235
சிந்தைதான் றெளியாது சுழலும்வகை யென்கொலோ
தேடரிய சத்தாகியென்
சித்தமிசை குடிகொண்ட வறிவான தெய்வமே
தேசோ மயானந் தமே.
Father, mother, wife, child, kinsmen and the rest are people meeting at a fair, -of this there is no doubt.
Gems, storied palaces, armies of horse and foot, elephant and car, all this pomp and splendour, are a juggler's show.
A sickening dream is this filthy body, vessel of deceit, envy, covetousness, with thought-worms crawling.
"All is well ever', this I have not realised. In the Ocean. of thy grace which standeth One, where day is not nor night, I have not drowned 'I' and made pure my heart.
Why? Oh why, do I thus whirl and toss? O God that art the One Reality, hard to find and dwellest in my heart as pure Intelligence, O Glory of light and bliss
கினைவொன்று 27. நினைவொன்று நினையாம னிற்கினக மென்பார்
நிற்குமிடமே யருளா நிஷ்டையரு ளொட்டுந் தனையென்று மறந்திருப்ப வருள்வடிவா னதுமேற்
றட்டியெழுந் திருக்குமின்பந் தன்மயமே யதுவாம் பினையொன்று மிலையந்த வின்பமெனு நிலயம்
பெற்றரே பிறவாமை பெற்றர் மற்றுந்தான் மனையென்று மகவென்றுஞ் சுற்றமென்று மசுத்த
வாதனையா மாசையொழிமன்னெருசொற் கொண்டே.
If every thought is shed and stilled, that is the self (oyash). Its seat is grace (2)(bait). In that established state (56.260L) Grace clings. Forgetting ever thy self on the form of Grace rises forth bliss. It is That (the soul in that state becomes God, gain or Tat). There is naught else. They alone who have won this blissful state have won freedom from rebirth. All else, wife and son and kin, is impure desire. Away with it holding fast the one Great Word.

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பொன்னமாதரை 28. கண்ணிற் காண்பதுன் காட்சிகை யாற்ருெழில்
பண்ணல் பூசை பகர்வது மந்திரம் மண்ணுெ டைந்தும் வழங்குயிர் யாவுமே யண்ண லேநின்னருள்வடி வாகுமே.
Whatsoever the eye sees is Thou. Whatsoever the hand does is Thy worship. Whatsoever is spoken is Thy praise. The earth and other elements and all living things are Thy gracious forms, O Lord.
29. உற்றவேளைக் குறுதுணை யாயிந்தச்
சுற்றமோ நமைக் காக்குஞ்சொ லாய்நெஞ்சே கற்றை வார்சடைக் கண்ணுதல் பாதமே பற்றதாயிற் பரசுகம் பற்றுமே.
O mind, is it thy kinsmen that will help and guard thee in the hour of danger ? If thou clingest to the feet of Him of the brow-eye and plaited hair, thou wilt gain supreme happiness.
சிவன் செயல் 30. மறமலியுலக வாழ்க்கை யேவேண்டும் வந்து நின்னன்பர்
தம்பணியா மறமது கிடைக்கினன்றி யானந்த வற்புத நிட்டையி
னிமித்தந் துறவது வேண்டு மெளனியா யெனக்குத்தூய நல்லருடரி
னின்னம் பிறவியும் வேண்டும் யானென திறக்கப்பெற்றவர் பெற்
றிடும்பேறே.
Life in this dread world I want if to me 'tis granted to serve those who love thee. To renounce the world I want, in order to be established in the bliss wonderful. If stillness and pure grace be granted to me, again and again I want to be born. O then alone they gain who have gained death to "I' and 'mine'.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 237
பாயப்புலி 31. பாயப்புலி முன்மான் கன்றைக் காட்டும் படியகில
மாயைப்பெரும் படைக்கே யிலக்காவெனை வைத்தனையோ நீயெப்படிவகுத்தாலு நன்றே நின் பெருங்கருணை தாயொத்தடியர்க்கருள் சச்சிதானந்த தற்பரமே. Has thou made me a mark for the dread weapon of the World-maya, like a fawn before a leaping tiger? Whatsoever thou has prescribed is good. To thy servant thou art
gracious. Thy great love is like unto a mother's, O state Absolute, the one reality, Pure Bliss and Intelligence.
உடல் பொய்யுறவு
32. அப்பொருளு மான்மாவு மாரணறுால் சொன்னபடி
தப்பிலாச் சித்தொன்றஞ் சாதியின-லெப்படியுந்
தேரிற்று விதஞ்சிவாகமமே சொல்லு நிட்டை
யாருமிடத்தத்து விதமாம்.
That (One) Reality (God) and the Soul are, as the Vedas
say, the Eternal Spirit, One in kind. The Sivagamas, if you examine them, declare Duality. In the fulness of the experience of the established Spirit there is non-duality.
பெரியநாயகி விருத்தம்
33. காற்றைப் பிடித்துமட் கரகத் தடைத்தபடி
கன்மப் புனற்கு ரூறுங் கடைகெட்ட நவவாயில் பெற்றபசு மட்கலக்
காயத்து ளெனேயி ருத்திச் சோற்றைச் சுமத்திநீ பந்தித்து வைக்கத் துருத்திக்குண் மதுவென் னவே துள்ளித் துடித்தென்ன பேறுபெற் றேனருட்
டோயநீ பாய்ச்சல் செய்து நாற்றைப் பதித்ததென ஞானமாம் பயிரதனை
நாட்டிப் புலப்பட் டியு நமணன தீப்பூடு மணுகாமன் முன்னின்று
நாடுசிவ போக மான

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பேற்றைப் பகுந்தருளி யெனையாள வல்லையோ
பெரிய வகிலாண்டகோடி
பெற்றநாயகிபெரிய கபிலை மா நகர் மருவு
பெரிய நாயகி யம்மையே.
Like wind caught and prisoned in an earthen vessel thou hast set me within his body, a pot of wet earth, with nine vile openings and oozing with the waters of Karma, and hast put on me a load of food and kept me in fetters. Like a bee in a water-bay I have darted and jumped and what have I gained ? Canst thou not irrigate with the flood of thy grace, plant the plant of wisdom, standing guard and keep off the inroads of the sense-cattle and the tares of death, and grant me the rich harvest of Sivam, for which my soul yearneth, O great mother of millions of world-clusters, mighty Queen who dwellest in Kapilai city.
பெற்றவட்கே 34. பெற்றவட்கே தெரியு மந்த வருத்தம் பிள்ளை
பெருப்பேதை யறிவாளோ பேரானந்த முற்றவர்க்கே கண்ணிர் கம்பலை யுண்டாகு முருதவரே கன்னெஞ்சமுடையராவார். A mother alone knows the pains of child-birth. Does the barren woman know? Who have tasted the great Bliss,
to them alone come tears and trembling. Stone-hearted are the rest.
35. ஆவாவென்றழுது தொழுங் கையராகி யப்பனே யானந்த வடிகளே நீ வாவா வென்றவர்க்கருளுங் கருணை யெந்தாய் வன்னெஞ்சர்க்கிரங்குவ தெவ்வாறு நீயே. Who weep and worship and cry, 'O Father, Lord of Bliss
Come, Come', to them art thou gracious, loving mother. How wilt thou pity the hard of heart?

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 239
கல்லாலின்
36. பொருந்து சகமனைத்தினையும் பொய்பொய்யென்று
புகன்றபடி மெய்யென்றே போதருபத் திருந்தபடி யென்றிருப்ப தன்றேயன்றே வெம்பெருமான் யான் கவலையெய்தாக்காலம்.
UNDER THE ROCKY BANIAN TREE. 'All this universe is false is false', Realizing this word to be true, when, Oh when, shall I stand established for ever in the Spirit 2 Then indeed, O Lord, will be the time of freedom from care.
பராபரக்கண்ணி
37. சீராரும்தெய்வத் திருவருளாம் பூமி முதற்
பாராதி யாண்ட பதியே பராபரமே.
GARLAND OF PARAPARA BLOSSOMS (Liu Tudub, Supreme Diety, first and last, most high) O Lord that rulest all the spheres from earth to beautious Spirit space divine (głGU537 Tubuń=Jgy (1567 TasITulb) O Supreme.
38. கண்ணுரக்கண்டோர் கருப்பொருள் காணுமலருள்
விண்ணுராடிருந்த வின்ப வெற்பே பராபரமே. O mountain of bliss in Spirit-Space, which having seen clearly they see not again a mother's womb, O Supreme.
39. சித்தித்த வெல்லhமென் சிந்தை யறிந்தேயுதவ
வந்த கருணை மழையே பராபரமே.
O rain-cloud of mercy that knowest all my heart's desire and camest to grant me blessed boons, O Supreme.
40. ஆராவமுதே யரசே யானந்தவெள்ளப்
பேராறே மோனப் பெருக்கே பராபரமே. O nectar never cloying (guitougpg), O king, O mighty stream of bliss, O flood of Silence, O Supreme.

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41. ஆரறிவாரென்ன வனந்த மறையோலமிடும் பேரறிவே யின்பப்பெருக்கே பராபரமே.
"Who knoweth thee", cry the great Vedas, O infinite Wisdom, O flood of bliss, O Supreme.
42. உரையிறந்தவன் பருளத்தோங் கொளியாயோங்கிக்
கரையிறந்த வின்பக் கடலே பராபரமே.
In the stillness of thy lovers' heart thou risest in glorious splendour, O shoreless Ocean of joy, O Supreme.
பைங்கிளிக்கண்ணி 43. அந்தமுடனதியளவா மலென்னறிவிற்
சுந்தரவான் சோதிதுலங்குமோ பைங்கிளியே.
The supremely beautiful, the infinite Glory, without beginning, without end, will it shine in my soul, birdie dear?
44. அகமேவு மண்ணலுக் கென்னல்லலெல்லாஞ் சொல்லிச்
சுகமான நீபோய்ச்சுகங்கொடுவா பைங்கிளியே.
Go, happy bird, tell all my woes to the Lord of my heart and bring me happiness.
45. ஆவிக்குளாவியெனு மற்புதஞர், சிற்சுகந்தான்
பாவிக்குங் கிட்டுமோ சொல்லாய் நீ பைங்கிளியே. The wondrous One is the life of every life-His bliss of the Spirit, will it ever be mine, ah wretched me-tell me birdie dear ?
46. ஆருமறியாமலெனை யந்தரங்கமாகவந்து
சேரும்படி மிறைக்குச் செப்பிவா பைங்கிளியே. Go, parrot dear, say unto my king to come in secret and in secret clasp me.
47. ஆருண கண்ணிர்க்கென்னங்க பங்கமானதையுங்
கூருத தென்னே குதலை மொழிப் பைங்கிளியே.
Prattling bird dear, why hast thou not told him that by a river of tears my body hath been wasted ?

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 24.
48. இம்பருள வாடையழுக்கேறு மெமக் கண்ணல் சுத்த
வம்பரமா மாடை யளிப்பானே பைங்கிளியே. To me robed in this world's filthy rags, parrot dear, will my Lord grant the pure robe of the Spirit 2
49. உன்னம லொன்றிரண்டென் ருேராமல் வீட்டுநெறி
சொன்னன் வரவும்வகை சொல்லாய்நீ பைங்கிளியே. 'Think not ; Differentiate not one and two'. Thus freedoms way he declared: Tell me parrot dear, how may he come to me?
50. ஊருமிலார் பேருமிலாருற்றர் பெற்றருடனே
யாருமிலாரென்னை யறிவாரோ பைங்கிளியே.
No country hath he, no name, no parents, no kinsmen, nor any else-will he know me, parrot dear?
51. ஊரைப் பாராமலெனக்குள்ளகத்து நாயகனர்
சீரைப் பார்த்தாற் கருணை செய்வாரோ பைங்கிளியே. If I look not outwards but gaze within at the loveliness of my heart's Lord, then will he be gracious unto me, parrot dear ?
52. என்று விடியு மிறைவா வோவென் றென்று
நின்ற நிலையெல்லா நிகழ்த்தாய் நீ பைங்கிளியே. Tell him how I stand crying, "when, Oh when will it dawn, O Lord,' tell him all, parrot dear?
53. எந்த மடலூடுமெழுதா விறைவடிவைச்
சிந்தை மடலாலெழுதிச்சேர்ப்பேனே பைங்கிளியே.
The Lord's form that on no canvas" can be painted-Shall I paint it on my heart and send it unto Him, parrot dear?
54, கண்ணுண் மணிபோ லின்பங் காட்டி யெனைப்பிரிந்த
திண்ணியரு மின்னம்வந்து சேர்வாரோ பைங்கிளியே.
The mighty one, dear as the pupil of my eye, gave me a taste of bliss and then he quitted me. Will he come to me again, parrot dear?
*Lit, palm-leaf.

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55. வடார்மலர் சூடேனெம்பெருமான் பொன்னடியாம்
வாடா மலர்முடிக்கு வாய்க்குமோ பைங்கிளியே. With opening buds I will not wreath my hair; will those unfading flowers, the feet of my Lord, be granted to crown my head, parrot dear?
66. கல்லேன்மலரேன் கனிந்தவன்பே பூசையென்ற
நல்லோர் பொல்லாவெனையு நாடுவரோ பைங்கிளியே. The good One who said, "what need of stone or flower ? Heart-melting love is worship,' will he seek wicked me, parrot dear?
57. கண்டதனைக்கண்டு கலக்கந் தவிரெனவே
விண்டபெருமானையு நான் மேவுவனே பைங்கிளியே. The Lord who said 'Behold the self, the seer, and be rid of perplexing doubts'-shall I gain Him, parrot dear?
58. காணுத காட்சி கருத்துவந்து காணுமல்
வீணுள்கழித்து மெலிவேனே பைங்கிளியே. Shall I spend my days in vain and fade away, not seeing in my heart the vision that is beyond sight, parrot dear?
59. காந்த மிரும்பைக் கவர்ந்திழுத்தா லென்ன வருள்
வேந்தனெமையிழுத்து மேவுவனே பைங்கிளியே.
Will the king of Grace draw and embrace me as the magnet doth iron, parrot dear?
60. காதலால்வாடினதுங் கண்டனையே யெம்மிறைவர் போதரவாயின்பம் புசிப்பேனே பைங்கிளியே.
Thou seest me pining with love. Shall I taste the bliss of my Lord's love, parrot dear?
61. சின்னஞ் சிறியேன்றன் சிந்தை கவர்ந்தாரிறைவர்
தன்னந்தனியே தவிப்பேனே பைங்கிளியே.
My poor little heart hath the Lord stolen. All alone shall I pine, birdie dear?

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 243
62. சொல்லிறந்து நின்ற சுகரூபப்பெம்மானை
யல்லும் பகலு மணைவேனே பைங்கிளியே.
He standeth where speech is dead. His form is bliss. Shall I clasp Him day and night, birdie dear?
63. தற்போதத்தாலே தலை கீழதாக வைய
னற்போத வின்பு வர நாட்செலுமோ பைங்கிளியே. By differentiating thought I am topsy turvy. Will it be long before I win the bliss of the Lord's pure intelligence, birdie dear ?
64. தன்னையறியுந் தருணந் தனிற்றலைவ
ரென்னை யணையாதவண்ண மெங்கொளித்தார் பைங்
இளியே.
When to know himself I am ripe, where doth my Lord hide, not clasping me, birdie dear?
65. தூங்கிவிழித் தென்னபலன் றுங்காமற்றுங்கிநிற்கும்
பாங்கு கண்டாலன்றே பலன் காண்பேன் பைங்கிளியே.
What availeth me to sleep and wake? To sleep unsleeping if the way is seen, Oh then I see it availeth me.
66. நானே கருதின் வரநாடார் சும்மா விருந்தாற்
ருனே யணைவரவர் தன்மையென்னே பைங்கிளியே. If I think of Him, he will not come. If I am still he will come unsought and embrace me. What is his nature, Birdie dear ?
67. நெஞ்சகத்தில்வாழ்வார் நினைக்கின் வேறென்றணையார்
வஞ்சகத்தாரல்லரவர் மார்க்கமென்னே பைங்கிளியே. He dwelleth in my heart. But if I think of Him he will
stand apart and not embrace me. If He be not a trickster, what dost thou call his ways, Birdie dear?
68. மண்ணுறங்கும் விண்ணுறங்குமற்றுளவெலாமுறங்குங்
கண்ணுறங்கேனெம்மிறைவர் காதலாற் பைங்கிளியே.
The Earth sleeps, the skies sleep, all things else sleep. My eyes sleep not, for love of my Beloved, Birdie dear?

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69. மெய்யினேய் மாற்றவுழ்த மெத்தவுண்டெம்மண்ணறந்த
மைய னேய்தீர்க்க மருந்துமுண்டோ பைங்கிளியே. To heal the ills of the body, there are cures in plenty; to heal the love sickness that my Lord hath wrought, is there a cure?
எக்காட் கண்ணி
70. நீர்பூத்தவேணி நிலவெறிப்ப மன்ருடுங்
கார்பூத்த கண்டனையான் காணுநாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I see the dark-throated Lord that
dances in the Hall of Child-Ambaram, shedding moonlight from his locks, where-in rests the river (Ganges)?
71. பொன்னருமன்றுண்மணிப் பூவைவிழி வண்டுசுற்று
மென்னரமுதினல மிச்சிப்பதெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I wish for Him, my sweet Ambrosia
round whom hover the bees, the beauteous eyes, of my Lady (Parasakti), in the golden Hall (of Chid-Ambaram) 2
72. நீக்கிமலக் கட்டறுத்து நேரே வெளியிலெம்மைத்
தூக்கிவைக்குந்தாளேத் தொழுதிடு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I worship the feet that rid me of the fetters of Malam, that raised me up and placed me in the Pure Space (of Chid-Ambaram) 2
73. கருமுகங்காட்டாமலென்றுங் கற்பூரம் வீசுந்
திருமுகமே நோக்கித் திருக்கறுப்ப தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I cease to show myself in the womb, but beholding the Holy Face that ever sheds fragrance be rid of my deceit?
74. வெஞ்சே லெனும்விழியார் வேட்கை நஞ்சுக் கஞ்சினரை
யஞ்சே லெனுங்கைக் கபயமென்ப தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I take refuge in the hands that say "Fear not to those who fear the dread poison, the desire kindled by woman's cruel eyes?

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 245
75. ஆறுசமயத்து மதுவதுவாய் நின்றிலங்கும்
வீறுபரை திருத்தாண் மேவு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I reach the holy feet of the glorious Lady (Parasakti) who in each of the countless' religions resplendent stand appropriate to each?
76. பச்சைநிறமாய்ச்சிவந்த பாகங்கலந்துலகை
மிச்சையுடனின்ருஃாயாங் காண்ப தெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when shall I see Her who, of greenish hue, united with the red of Siva, and to the Universe gave loving birth ?
77. ஆதியந்தங்காட்டா தகண்டிதமாய் நின்றுணர்த்தும்
போதவடிவானடியைப் போற்று நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I praise the feet of Him whose form is Intelligence, the Infinite one without beginning or end, who stands in all souls and gives them Intelligence?
78. கங்கை நிலவுசடைக்காட்டானைத் தந்தையெனும்
புங்கவெண்கோட்டானைபதம் புந்திவைப்ப தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I set my heart on the feet of the
Elephant of tall white tusks who calls as Father Him who shows the Ganges and the Moon in his locks?
79. அஞ்சுமுகங்காட்டாம லாறுமுகங்காட்டவந்த
செஞ்சரணச்சேவடியை சிந்தைவைப்ப தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I set my heart on the beauteous
feet of Him who showed six faces instead of five 2 (Subramaniya)
80. தந்தையிருதாடுணரித்துத் தம்பிரான் ருள்சேர்ந்த
வெந்தையிருதாளிணைக்கே யின்புறுவ தெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I love the feet of my Father (Chan
deswara) who hewed the two feet of his father and joined the feet of the Lord?
"-epi-six or numerous like river. tGanesa.

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மாதரைப்பழித்தல் 81. மெய்வீசுநாற்றமெல்லா மிக்கமஞ்சளான்மறைத்துப்
பொய்வீசும்வாயார் புலையொழிவ தெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I be rid of the impurity of the lying
mouths of those (women) who hide with much perfume the foul smell of their bodies?
82. திண்ணியநெஞ்சப்பறவை சிக்கக்குழற்காட்டிற்
கண்ணிவைப்போர்மாயங் கடக்கு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I overcome the wiles of those who
in the forest of their locks set a snare to entangle the bird, mind?
83. கண்டுமொழிபேசிமனங் கண்டுகொண்டு கைவிலையாக்
கொண்டுவிடுமானர்பொய்க் கூத்தொழிவ தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I be rid of the false antics of the
gazelle-like women who having by conversation learned one's disposition, make him their slave?
அருளியல்பு 84. ஈனந்தருநாடிது நமக்குவேண்டாமென்
ருனந்த நாட்டிலவதரிப்ப தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I say "None of this degrading land for me' and be born in the land of bliss
85. பொய்க்காட்சியான புவனத்தைவிட்டருளா
மெய்க்காட்சியாம்புவன மேவு நாளெந்நாளோ.
When, Oh when, shall I leave the false shows of this world and win the true world of Grace?
86. ஆதியந்தங்காட்டாம லம்பரம்போலே நிறைந்த
தீதிலருட்கடலைச் சேரு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I reach the pure ocean of Grace
which like space without beginning, without end filleth all things p

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 247
87. எட்டுத்திசைக் கீழ்மேலெங்கும் பெருகிவரும்
வெட்டவெளிவிண்ணுற்றின் மெய்தோய்வ தெந்தாளோ,
When, Oh when, shall I bathe, in the heavenly river of
pure Space which overflows the eight quarters of the sky, above and below 2
88. சூதானமென்று சுருதியெல்லா மோலமிடு
மீதானமான வெற்பை மேவு நாளெந்நாளோ,
When, Oh when, shall I reach the Excellent Mountain which the Vedas proclaim to be Safety? w
89. வெந்துவெடிக்கின்ற சிந்தை வெப்பகலத்தண்ணருளாய்
வந்துபொழிகின்ற மழை காண்ப தெந்நாளோ.
When, Oh when, shall I see the cooling shower of Grace
which drives away the heat of the burning crackling heart 2
90. சூரியர்கள் சந்திரகடோன்ருச் சொயஞ்சோதிப் பூரணதேயத்திற் பொருந்து நாளெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I reach the perfect repose of selfluminous splendour where suns and moons show mot ?
91. கன்றுமனவெப்பக் கலக்கமெலாந்தீரவருட் டென்றல் வீசுவெளிசேரு நாளெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I join the space where the gentle
South-wind of Grace blows and cures the heart and agitation of the oppressed heart?
92. கட்டு நமன் செங்கோல் கடாவடிக்குங்கோலாக
வெட்டவெளிப்பொருளை மேவு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I join the substance in pure space
and turn to a shepherd's crook the baton of Yama who seizes and ties dying souls 2
93. சாலக்கபாடத்தடைதீர வெம்பெருமா
னேலக்க மண்டபத்துளோடு நாளெந்நாளோ.
When, Oh when, shall I pass the barriers of many doors and run into the hall of our Lord's presence?

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94. விண்ணவன்ருளென்னும் விரிநிலா மண்டபத்திற்
றண்ணிரருந்தித் தளர்வொழிவ தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I cure my thirst of faintness by drinking water in the Moon-lit hall, the feet of the Lord 2
95. வெய்ய புவிபார்த்து விழித்திருந்த வல்லலறத்
துய்யவருளிற்றுயிலு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I rid of the angush of looking, ever sleepless, upon the dread world, sleep in pure Grace?
96. வெய்ய பிறவிவெயில் வெப்பமெலாம் விட்டகல
வையனடி நீழலணையு நாளெந்நாளோ.
When, Oh when, shall I, delivered from the heat of the Sun of dread birth, reach the shade of the Lord's feet?
97. வாதைப்பிறவிவளைகடலை நீந்தவையன்
பாதப் புணை யிணையைப்பற்று நாளெந்நாளோ,
When, Oh when, shall I seize the raft of the Lord's feet and swim the ocean of birth and pain 2
98. ஈனமில்லா மெய்ப்பொருளை மிம்மையிலே காணவெளி
ஞானமெனும் மஞ்சனத்தை நான்பெறுவ தெந்நாளோ.
When, Oh when, shall I obtain the magic of pure wisdom in order to behold the life of the One Reality?
99. எல்லாமிறந்த விடத்தெந்தை நிறைவாம் வடிவைப்
புல்லாமற்புல்லிப்புணரு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I embrace, without embracing and unite with the all-filling form of the Lord, which manifests itself there where all things are dead?
100. சடத்துளுயிர் போலெமக்குத் தானுயிராய் ஞான
நடத்துமுறைகண்டு பணிநாம் விடுவ தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I abandon my acts realising how wisdom energizes me as soul, like life does matter?

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 249
101. எக்கணுமாந்துன்ப விருட்கடலை விட்டருளா
மிக்க கரையேறி வெளிப்படுவ தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I cross the sea of darkness and pain
which is on every side and reach the other shore and be delivered ?
பொருளியல்பு 102. கைவிளக்கின் பின்னேபோய்க் காண்பார்போன்
மெய்ஞ்ஞான மெய்விளக்கின்பின்னேபோய் மெய்காண்ப தெந்நாளோ.
NATURE OF THE SUBSTANCE When, Oh when, shall I, like those who follow a hand lamp
and see by its light, follow the lamp of true wisdom and see the Truth?
103. கேடில் பசுபாசமெல்லாங் கீழ்ப்படவுந்தானேமே
லாடுஞ்சுகப் பொருளுக் கன்புறுவ தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I love the substance blissful which dances on the prostrate soul and its fetters ?
104. ஆணவத்தை நீக்கி யறிவூடே யைவகையாக்
காணவத்தைக் கப்பாலைக்காணு நாளெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I be rid of the darkness of ignorant
self-conceit, and behold in the Intelligence, that which is beyond the five states ?
105. நீக்கப்பிரியா நினைக்கமறக்கக் கூடாப்
போக்குவரவற்ற பொருளணைவ தெந்நாளோ.
When, Oh when, shall I join the substance inseparable, unthinkable, unforgettable, that neither goes nor comes?
106. அண்டருக்குமெய்ப்பில் வைப்பாரமுதை யென்னகத்திற் கண்டுகொண்டு நின்று களிக்கு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I rejoice beholding within myself
the Ambrosia which even to the celestials is treasure reserved for adversity ?

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107. காட்டுந்திருவருளே கண்ணுகக்கண்டுபர
வீட்டின்ப மெய்ப்பொருளை மேவு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I behold with the sacred eye of
Grace and join the Truth and Bliss of the gracious House Beyond 2
108. நானனதன்மை நழுவியே யெவ்வுயிர்க்குந்
தாஞன வுண்மைதனைச்சேரு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall Islip off the sense of "I" and gain the true sense that I am the self of every life?
109. சிந்தைமறந்து திருவருளாய் நிற்பவர்பால்
வந்தபொருளெம் மையுந்தான் வாழ்விப்பதெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I too be blessed with that substance which comes to those who, rid of thought, stand as Grace?
110. எள்ளுக்குளெண்ணெய் போலெங்கும் வியாபகமா
யுள்ள வொன்றையுள்ளபடி யோரு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I know in its true nature that One
thing which is and which prevades all things as oil pervades the sesamum seed ?
111. அருவுருவமெல்லா மகன்றது வாயான
பொருளெமக்கு வந்து புலப்படுவ தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, will the Substance which is free from form and formlessness, but is Itself, become intelligible to me?
112. ஆரணமுங்காணு வகண்டிதாகாரபரி
பூரணம் வந்தெம்மைப் பொருந்து நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, will the infinite Fulness that is beyond the reach of the Vedas come and join me?
113. சத்தொடுசித்தாகித் தயங்கிய வானந்தபரி
சுத்தவகண்ட சிவந்தோன்று நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, will the blissful, pure, infinite Sivam
that manifests itself as Be-ness and Intelligence, appear unto me ?

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAUAR 25I
114. எங்கெங்கும் பார்த்தாலு மின்புருவாய் நீக்கமின்றித் தங்குந்தனிப் பொருளைச்சாரு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I reach the peerless substance
which remains everywhere, inseparable, as bliss, whichever side you look?
115. அடிமுடிகாட்டாத சுத்தவம்பரமாஞ்சோதிக்
கடுவெளிவந்தென்னைக் கலக்கு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, will the pure space, which is beginningless, endless Pure Splendour, mingle with me?
118. ஒன்றனையுங்காட்டா வுளத்திருளைச் சூறையிட்டு நின்றபரஞ் சோதியுடனிற்கு நாளெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I stand one with the Supreme Splen
dour, that remains after destroying the dense darkness of the heart which shows naught 2
117. எந்தச்சமய மிசைந்து மறிவூடறிவாய்
வந்தபொருளே பொருளா வாஞ்சிப்ப தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I thirst, as for the only Reality, for
that Substance which harmonizing with every religion is the intelligence within each intelligence?
118. எவ்வாறிங்குற்றுணர்ந்தார் யாவரவர் தமக்கே
யவ்வாருய்நின்ற பொருட் கன்புவைப்ப தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I love that Substance which is to each exactly as he conceives it?
119. பெண்ணுணலியெனவும் பேசாமலென்னறிவின்
கண்ணுாடே நின்றவொன்றைக் காணு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I behold the One who stands in the heart neither male nor female nor hermaphrodite?
120. நினைப்பு மறப்புமற நின்ற பரஞ்சோதி
தனைப்புலமா வென்னறிவிற் சந்திப்ப தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I meet in my heart plainly the Supreme Splendour which stands where there is neither thought nor forgetfulness?

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252. SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
ஆனக்தவியல்பு 121. பேச்சுமூச்சில்லாத பேரின்ப வெள்ளமுற்று
நீச்சுநிலைகாணுமனிற்கு நாளெந்நாளோ,
NATURE OF BLISS When, Oh when, shall I stand merged, speechless, breathless, out of my depth, in the flood of bliss?
122. சித்தந்தெளிந்தோர் தெளிவிற் றெளிவான
சுத்தசுகக்கடலுட்டோயு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I bathe in the ocean of pure bliss
which is the purified extract of the purity of the pure in heart?
123. சிற்றின்ப முண்டூழ் சிதையவனந்தங் கடல்போன்
முற்றின்ப வெள்ளமெமை மூடு நாளெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I, having experienced the petty
pleasures of the world be rid of Karma and be covered by the flood of perfect bliss as by countless ocean
124. எல்லையில் பேரின்பமய மெப்படியென்றேர் தமக்குச்
சொல்லறியாவூமர்கள்போற் சொல்லு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I tell, like a dumb person ignorant of speech to those who ask what is the infinite bliss like?
125. அண்டரண்டகோடியனைத்து முகாந்தவெள்ளங்
கொண்டதெனப் பேரின்பங்கூடு நாளெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I join the great bliss like unto the deluge at the end of Aeons overwhelming millions of worlds? .
126. ஆதியந்தமில்லாத வாதியநாதியெனுஞ்
சோதியின்பத்தூடே துளையு நாளெந்நாளோ.
When, Oh when, shall I bathe in the bliss of the Splendour without beginning, without end ?
127. சாலோகமாதி சவுக்கியமும் விட்டநம்பான்
மேலானஞான வின்பமேவு நாளெந்நாளோ.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 253
When, Oh when, shall we who have left the comforts of Saloka and other heavens, attain the transcendent bliss of Wisdom ?
128. தற்பரத்தினுள்ளேயுஞ் சாலோகமாதியெனும்
பொற்பறிந்தானந்தம் பொருந்து நாளெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I understanding ( and discarding) the beauty of Saloka and other heavens, attain bliss in the Self?
29. உள்ளத்தினுள்ளே தானுறுஞ்சிவானந்த
வெள்ளந்துளைந்து விடாய் தீர்வதெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I quench my thirst in the flood of Bliss of Sivam which wells forth of itself within in the heart?
130. கன்னலுடன்முக்கனியுங் கற்கண்டுஞ் சீனியுமாய்
மன்னுமின்பவாரமுதை வாய்மடுப்ப தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I taste the Ambrosia of bliss which shows as the three fruits, as sugar candy, as sugar 2
131. மண்ணுாடுழன்ற மயக்கமெல்லாந் தீர்ந்திடவும்
விண்ணுரடெழுந்த சுகமேவு நாளெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I be cured of all the delusion of toiling on earth and attain the bliss of heaven?
132. கானற்சலம்போன்ற கட்டுழலைப் பொய்தீர
வானமுதவாவி மருவு நாளெந்நாளோ.
When, Oh when, shall I be rid of the Mirage-like delusion of the world and reach the tank of celestial Ambrosia?
133. புண்ணியபாவங்கள் பொருந்தா மெய்யன்பரெல்லா
நண்ணியபேரின்ப சுகநாமணைவ தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I gain the great health and bliss gained by the true devotees to whom good and evil cling not ?

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254 SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
t கிற்கு 134. பண்ணினிசைப்போலப் பரமன்பானின்றதிற
னெண்ணியருளாகி யிருக்கு நாளெந்நாளோ,
When, Oh when, shall I realise that (the soul) stands in the
Supreme as the words in a tune and shall I (merging in Him) stand as Grace?
135. அறிவோடறியாமை யற்றறிவினுடே
குறியிலறிவுவந்து கூடு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I be rid of knowing and not knowing
(i.e., thought and sleep) and in the intelligence (of the soul) be united to undifferentiating Intelligence?
136. சொல்லான்மனத்தாற் ருெடராச்சம்பூரணத்தி
நில்லாநிலையாய் நிலைநிற்ப தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I stand established while not (cons
ciously) standing in the fulness beyond the reach of word and thought?
137. செங்கதிரின்முன்மதியம் தேசடங்கினின்றிடல்போ
லங்கணனர் தாளிலடங்கு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I stand suppressed in the feet of the
gracious-eyed Lord, as the light of the moon pales before the bright Sun ?
138. வானுடடங்கும் வளிபோலவின்புருவாங்
கோனுடடங்குங் குறிப்பறிவ தெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I know how to be suppressed in the Lord who is of the form of bliss, as the mind dies in space?
139. செப்பரியதன்கருணைச் சிற்சுகஞர்பூரணத்தி
லப்பினிடையுப்பாயணையு நாளெந்நாளோ, When, Oh when, shall I melt in the fulness of bliss and intelligence of His ineffable Grace, as salt melts in water?

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 255
140. தூயவறிவான சுகரூப சோதிதன்பாற்
றியினிரும் பென்னத்திகழு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I shine in the splendour of blissful form of pure Intelligence, as iron in fire?
141. தீதணையாக் கற்பூர தீபமெனநான்கண்ட
சோதியுடனென்றித் துரிசறுவ தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I be rid of impurity, and become one with the Infinite splendour like a good camphor light?
142. ஆராருங்காணுதவற்புதஞர் பொற்படிக்கீழ் நிரோர் நிழல்போனிலாவு நாளெந்நாளோ,
When, Oh when, shall I, like shadow on water, be at the golden feet of the wondrous One whom none hath seen ?
143. எட்டத்தொலையாத வெந்தைபிரான் சன்னிதியிற் பட்டப்பகல் விளக்காய்ப் பண்புறுவ தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I become like lamp-light in noon-day,
in the presence of the Lord and Father who is beyond the reach of thought 2
144. ஒன்றிரண்டு மில்லதுவா யொன்றிரண்டு முள்ளதுவாய்
நின்றசமத்து நிலைநேர் பெறுவ தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I reach that equal state where one and two are not ?
145. பாசமகலாமற் பதியிற்கலவாமன்
மாசில்சமத்து முத்திவாய்க்கு நாளெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I, not wholly free from the bond
(of original taint) not wholly merged in the Lord, gain the freedom of pure equality ?
146. வாடாதேநானவாய் மாயாதே யெங்கோவை
நாடாதேநாடி நலம்பெறுவ தெந்நாளோ. When, Oh when, shall I cease to faint and lose myself in the
manifold (Universe) and in seeking seek the Lord and win the boon? i.e., cease to be objective and become pure subject.

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25ნ SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR
147. ஆடலையேகாட்டியெம தாடலொழித்தாண்டான் பொறில்
ருடலைமேற்குடித் தழைக்கு நாளெந்நாளோ. His dance he showed us--and our dance he ended and made us his vassals with golden feet: when, O when, shall we crown our heads and thrive?
பாடுகின்ற பனுவல்
148. பாடுகின்ற பனுவலோர்க
டேடுகின்ற செல்வமே நாடுகின்ற ஞானமன்றி லாடுகின்ற வழகனே. O Treasure by poets sought, O beauteous Dancer in the Hall of wisdom
149. அத்தனென்ற நின்னையே
பத்திசெய்து பனுவலாற் பித்தனின்று பேசவே வைத்தனென்ன வாரமே. How great thy loving kindness that thou hast granted unto me to love thee my Father, and madest me madman as I am, ever to sing thy praise ?
150. சிந்தையன்பு சேரவே
நைந்து நின்னை நாடினேன் வந்து வந்துளின்பமே தந்திரங்கு தானுவே. In pain I have sought thee that my heart may gain thy love. O pillar and stay of the Universe, have pity, enter, enter my soul, grant me bliss.
151. அண்டரண்டம் யாவு நீ
கொண்டு நின்ற கோலமே தொண்டர் கண்டு சொரிகணிர் கண்டநெஞ்சு கரையுமே.

SELECTIONS FROM TAYUMANAVAR 257
All the countless worlds are the form thou hast taken. The tears shed by thy servants who have beheld thee, will melt the hearts of all beholders.
152. அன்னைபோல வருண்மிகுத்து மன்னுஞான வரதனே யென்னையே யெனக்களித்த நின்னையானு நினைவனே. O giver of the eternal boon of wisdom, whose exceeding
love is like a mother's, ever will I think of thee who hast given myself to me.

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THIRUKOVAAR
(Unrevised Translation)
திருக்கோவையார்
காட்சி
சிற்றின்பக் கிளவி-மதிவாணுதல் வளர்வஞ்சியைக்
கதிர்வேலவன் கண்ணுற்றது. பேரின்பக் கிளவி :-குருவின் றிருமேனி காண்டல்.
திருவளர் தாமரை சீர்வளர் காவிக ளிசர் தில்லைக்
குருவளர் பூங்குமிழ் கோங்குபைங் காந்தள் கொண்
டோங்குதெய்வ
மருவளர் மாலையோர் வல்லியி னெல்கியன நடைவாய்ந்
துருவளர் காமன்றன் வென்றிக் கொடிபோன் ருெளிர்
கின்றதே.
VISION.
Love-lore: Vision of the Beloved. Mystic-lore: Vision of the Master.
A wreath of heavenly fragrance, twined with lotus,
Lakshmi's shrine, lovely lilies blue, jasmines bright from the Lord's Tillai's grove, Kongu' buds and Kantal
fresh
So as a creeper it swayeth, with a swan's gait moveth and like the beauteous Love-God's triumphant banner
showeth.
258

THIRUKOVAIAR 259
NOTES
I. Goddess of beauty and prosperity, whose abode is the lotus.
2. Chidambaram, sacred shrine of Siva. 3. Silk-cotton. 4. Gloriosa superba.
The vision is an embodiment of all beauty and goodness in the universe. This is indicated by the five flowers. They belong to the five kinds of land, lotus to the arable land, lily to the maritime land, jasmine to woodland, Konku to the desert, Kantal to the mountain,
2
88шиѣ போதோ விசும்போ புனலோ பணிகளது பணியோ யாதோ வறிகுவ தேது மரிதி யமன் விடுத்த தூதோ வனங்கன் றுணையோ விணையிலி தொல்லைத்தில்லை மாதோ மடமயி லோவென நின்றவர் வாழ்பதியே.
DOUBT.
The lotus or heaven, water or the Naga world, I know not which is the abode of her who standeth here as Death's Messenger or Cupid's trusty ally or maid of peerless, ancient Tillai or pea-hen shy.
NOTE
I. Dragon-race. Their women are described as of surpassing beauty and their world as abounding in gold and gems.
3
தெளிதல் பாயும் விடையரன் றில்லையன் னுள்படைக் கண்ணிமைக்குந் தோயு நிலத்தடி தூமலர் வாடுந் துயரமெய்தி யாயு மனனே யணங்கல் லளம்மா முலைசுமந்து தேயு மருங்குற் பெரும்பணைத் தோளிச் சிறுநுதலே.

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260 THIRUKOVAIAR
CLEARING OF DOUBT.
The javelin eyes move of her that is like unto Thillai of
Aran of the prancing bull, her feet touch the earth, her flowers fade.
O aching, prying heart, no celestial is she of the slender brow, shapely arms and waist that faints under the weight of those ample breasts.
NOTES
I. Sansk. Hara (destroyer) i.e., Siva. He rideth a bull and is Pasu-pathi, Lord of Souls (pasu-soul as well. as cattle).
2. Human beings are said to be distinguished from celestial beings by winking of eyes, by feet touching earth, and by fading of flowers they wear.
Lit. bamboo : smooth and round as a bamboo.
5
உட்கோள்
அணியு மIழ்து மென்னவியு மாயவன் றில்லைச்சிந்தா மணியும் பராரறி யாமறை யோனடி வாழ்த்தலரிற் பிணியு மதற்கு மருந்தும் பிறழப் பிறழமின்னும் பணியும் புரைமருங் குற்பெருந்தோளி படைக்கண்களே.
UNDERSTANDING.
My pearl, ambrosia, my life, Tillai's wishing-gem, the hidden Lord, whom the celestials know not-like unto the sickness of them that praise not His feet and unto the cure thereof are the quivering lance-eyes of her of shouders broad, and waist unto lightning and serpent like.

THIRUKOVAIAR 26
6
தெய்வத்தை மகிழ்தல்
வளைபயில் கீழ்கட னின்றிட மேல்கடல் வானுகத்தின் துளைவழி நேர்கழி கோத்தெனத் தில்லைத் தொல்லோன்
கயிலைக் கிளைவயி னிக்கியிக் கெண்டையங் கண்ணியைக் கொண்டு
தந்த விளைவை. யல்லால் வியவே னயவேன் றெய்வ மிக்கனவே,
THANKSGIVING.
No God praise I save only Fortune that hath parted this lady of lovely eyes like the Kendai's from her train at Kailas mount of the ancient Lord of Tillai and brought unto me, even as a cord cast on the shell-haunted Eastern Sea entereth the eye of a plough tossing in the water-main.
NOTE
I. A fish to whose flashing movements a woman's eyes are often compared.
10
கிளவிவேட்டல்
அளவியை யார்க்கு மறிவரியோன் றில்லை யம்பலம்போல் வளவிய வான்கொங்கை வாட்டடங் கண்ணுதன் மாமதியின் பிளவியன் மின்னிடை பேரமை தோளிது பெற்றியென்ருற்
கிளவியை யென்னே வினிக்கிள்ளை யார்வாயிற் கேட்
கின்றதே.
YEARNING FOR HER SPEECH.
Round as Tillaihall of Him whose measure none knoweth are her beauteous breasts, her long eyes are as a sword, her forehead is a section of the moon, her waist is the lightning, arms goodly bamboo--such being her nature, what need to hear the utterance of this dear parrot ?

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11 கலம் புனைந்துரைத்தல் கூம்பலங் கைத்தலத் தன்பரென் பூடுருகக் குனிக்கும் பாம்பலங் காரன் பரன்றில்லை யம்பலம் பாடலரிற் றேம்பலஞ் சிற்றிடை யீங்கிவ டீங்கனி வாய்கமழு மாம்பலம் போதுள வோவளி காணும் மகன்பனையே.
PRAISE OF HER. Ye bees, in your spacious fields are there lilies that smell as sweet as the dear sweet mouth of my lady of the slender waist that languisheth like them that sing not the praise of Tillai-hall of the serpent-adorned Lord, who danceth melting to the very bone his lovers that adore him with folded palms ?
12 பிரிவுணர்த்தல் சிந்தாமணி தெண்கட லமிர்தந் தில்லை யானருளால் வந்தா லிகழப் படுமே மடமான் விழிமயிலே யந்தா மரையன் னமேநின் ஃாயானகன் ருற்றுவனே சிந்தா குலமுற் றென்னே வென்னை வாட்டந்திருத்துவதே.
HINT OF PARTING. Dear love with fawn's shy eyes, if by the grace of the Lord of Tillai the Wishing-gem came and the pure ocean nectar, would I scorn them, dear?
Lotus-dweller Lakshmi, lonely swan, can I from thee part and live? Wherefore grievest thou, saddening me?
20 பாங்கன் விகுதல்
சிறைவான் புனற்றில்லைச் சிற்றம் பலத்துமென் சிந்தை
யுள்ளு முறைவானுயர்மதிற் கூடலி னய்ந்தவொண் டீந்தமிழின் றுறைவாய் நுழைந்தனை யோவன்றி யேழிசைச் சூழல்
புக்கோ விறைவா தடவரைத் தோட்கென்கொ லாம்புகுந் தெய்தி
யதே.

THIRUKOVAAR 26ვ
FRIEND's INQUIRY. The realms of sweet luminous Tamil that in high ramparted Kudal is fostered-Kudal of Him that hath His abode in the wisdom-hall of Tillai and eke within my heart —, hast thou, O Prince, penetrated those realms, or hast thou entered the pale of the seven scaled notes ? What has happened to bend thy broad, mighty shoulders ?
29 இயலிடங் கூறல்
விழியாற் பிணையாம் விளங்கிய லான்மயி லாமிழற்று
மொழியாற் கிளியா முதுவா னவர்த முடித்தொகைகள்
கழியாக் கழற்றில்லைக் கூத்தன் கயிலைமுத் தம்மலைத்தேன்
கொழியாத் திகழும் பொழிற்கெழி லாமெங்குல
தெய்வமே.
REPLY. Her eyes are the fawn's, her splendid gait the peacock's,
her soft speech the parrot's, -the guardian goddess of my race, she is the glory of the grove-where the mountain honey drips from the court of Kailas of Tillai's Dancer, whose feet are beyond reach of the crowned heads of ancient celestial hosts.
32 குறிவழிக்காண்டல் வடிக்க ணவைவஞ் சியஞ்சு மிடையிது வாய்பவளந் துடிக்கின்றவாவெற் பன்சொற்பரிசேயான் ருெடர்ந்துவிடா வடிச்சந்த மாமல ரண்ணல்விண் ணுேர்வணங் கம்பலம்
போற் படிச்சந் தமுமிது வேயிவ ளேயப் பணிமொழியே.
HE COMETH UPON HER. These the eyes of mango dice. This the waist that creepers fear. These lips like coral quiver. How apt the highland chieftain's words! The Lord whose feet of fragrant flowers are my unceasing quest,-like unto His hall, by celestials adored, is this indeed. Verily she is that gentle maid, though other-seeming.

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52 வேழம் விஞதல் இருங்களி யாயின் றியானிறு மாப்பவின் பம்பணிவோர் மருங்களி யாவன லாடவல்லோன்றில்லை யான்மலையீங் கொருங்களி யார்ப்ப வுமிழ்மும் மதத்திரு கோட்டொருநீள் கருங்களி யார்மத யானையுண் டோவரக் கண்டதுவே.
INQUIRING FoR ELEPHANT.
Have you seen come hither a proud dark elephant with two long tusks and must trickling to the hum of swarmy bees from the mountain of Him who danceth amid fire graciously
granting me bliss that this day l may swell with pride among his servants?
67
பிறை தொழுகென்றல்
மைவார் கருங்கண்ணி செங்கரங் கூப்பு மறந்து மற்றப்
பொய்வா னவரிற் புகாதுதன் பொற்கழற் கேயடியே
னுய்வான் புகவொளிர் தில்லை நின்றேன் மேலதொத்துச்
செவ்வா னடைந்த பசுங்கதிர் வெள்ளைச் சிறுபிறைக்கே.
BIDDETH HER WORSHIP THE CRESCENT MOON.
Dark eyed maid, thy fair hands in worship fold unto
the little white crescent soft-rayed moon that in the twilight sky sheweth like to the crescent on the matted looks of Him that standeth in glory in Tillai, His golden feet a refuge
for my safety and a guard against seeking, even unawares, other and false Gods.
68 வேறுபடுத்துக் கூறல் அக்கின்ற வாமணி சேர் கண் டம்பல வன்மலயத் திக்குன்ற வாணர் கொழுந்திச் செழுந்தண் புனமுடையா ளக்குன்ற வாறமர்ந்தாடச்சென் றளங்க மவ்வவையே யொக்கின்ற வாறணங் கேயினங் காகு முனக்கவளே.

THIRUKOVAIAR 265
FEINGING TO BE ANOTHER.
Our lass,the glory of the tribe that dwellon this mountain of the Lord whose throat is clasped by rudraksha beads of beauty rare, -she that watcheth this rich cool millet field, hath gone to yon mountain stream to bathe. Verily hers are thy limbs, each and each so like, O fancy nymph : she alone is thy peer.
69 சுனையாடல் கூறிககைத்தல் செந்நிற மேனிவெண் ணிறணிவோன்றில்லை யம்பலம்போ லந்நிற மேனிநின் கொங்கையி லங்கழி குங்குமமு மைந்நிற வார்குழன் மாலையுந் தாதும் வளாய்மதஞ்சே ரிந்நிற மும்பெறின் யானுங் குடைவ னிருஞ்சுனையே.
RALLIES HER ABOUT THE MOUNTAIN BATH.
If the red perfumed paste rubbed off thy breasts in that body, hued as Tillai Ambalam of Him who on rosy body weareth holy ashes white, if the flowers wreathed in thy dark locks and the pollen, all mingled, and this frenzied colour of thine, are to be granted, I too will plunge in the great mountain pool.
71 மதியுடம்படுதல் காகத் திருகண்ணிற் கொன்றே மணிகலந் தாங்கிருவ ராகத்து ளோருயிர் கண்டனம் யாமின்றி யாவையுமா மேகத் தொருவ னிரும்பொழி லம்பல வன்மலையிற் (అల్ట్ தோன்றற்கு மொன்றப் வருமின்பத் துன்பங்
ձ5Ա56IT -
UNDERSTANDETH THEIR PERFECT LOVE. Like the one apple common to the crow's two eyes, I see today one life in their two bodies. The peerless one in whom is the One (Spirit) which becometh all things, the Lord of the grove circled Hall,-on. His mountain, to the Prince and the Lady, pleasures and pain come as one.

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82 குறிப்பறிதல்
தாதேய் மலர்க்குஞ் சியஞ்சிறை வண்டுதண் டேன்
பருகித் தேதே யெனுந்தில்லை யோன்சே யெனச்சின வே
லொருவர் மாதே புனத்திடை வாளா வருவர்வந் தியாதுஞ்
சொல்லார்
யாதே செயத்தக் கதுமது வார்குழ லேந்திழையே.
A FEELER.
Like unto the son (Skanda) of Him of Tillai (Siva). wherein beauteous winged bees dip fresh honey from the hairs of pollened flowers and chant "Lord, Lord' (Gas Gas) -a lancer bold cometh to our highland fields without rhyme or reason, my dear, -and having come, he speaketh not a word. What doth it befit us to do, lady of balmy locks and jewels rare?
83 மென்மொழியாற் கூறல்
வரிசேர்த் தடங்கண்ணி மம்மர்கைம் மிக்கென்ன மாயங்
கொலோ வெரிசேர் தளிரன்ன மேனிய னிர்ந்தழை யன்புலியூர்ப் புரிசேர் சடையோன் புதல்வன்கொல் பூங்கணை வேள்கொ
லென்னத் தெரியே முரையான் பிரியா னெருவ னித்தேம்புனமே.
A GENTLE SPEECH.
Lady of large mottled eyes, how passing strange and grievous Form like floaming buds, fresh leafy branch in hand, is he perchance the son of Him of Tiger-town with matted locks, or is he Cupid with arrow flowers-I know not. He speaketh not nor quitteth this fragrant dale, the singular creature.

THIRUKOVAIAR 267
90 தழைகொண்டு சேறல் தேமென் கிளவிதன் பங்கத் திறையுறை தில்லையன்னிர் பூமென் றழையுமம் போதுங் கொள்ளிர் தமியேன்புலம்ப வாமென் றருங்கொடும் பாடுகள் செய்துநூங் கண்மலராங்
காமன் கணைகொண் டலைகொள் ளவோமுற்றக்
கற்றதுவே.
BROUGHT HER A NOSEGAY.
Ye maidens like unto Tillai where dwelleth the Lord of whom the Lady (Uma) of gentle honey speech is own part, ye will not my beauteous flowers and tender leaves accept. Have ye learned only with calculated cruelty to wound and torture me with Cupid's arrows, your flower-eyes, and make poor me weep?
99
நீயே கூறென்று மறுத்தல் அந்தியின் வாயெழி லம்பலத் தெம்பர னம்பொன்
வெற்பிற் பந்தியின் வாய்ப்பல வின்சுளை பைந்தே னெடுங்கடுவன் மந்தியின் வாய்க்கொடுத் தோம்புஞ் சிலம்ப மனங்கனிய முந்தியின் வாய்மொழி நீயே மொழிசென்றம் மொய்
குழற்கே.
Chief of the Highlands where, amid the mountain range of the golden peak of our dear Lord of Ambalam, beauteous as the evening twilight, who transcendeth all things, the male ape with luscious fruit of jak and honey lovingly feedeth the mouth of his mate, do thou hasten to thy Beloved" and say sweet words to her to melt her heart.
Lit, her of the luxuriant locks.

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100 குலமுறைகூறி மறுத்தல் தெங்கம் பழங்கமு கின்குலை சாடிக் கதலிசெற்றுக் கொங்கம் பழனத் தொளிர்குளிர் நாட்டினை நீயுமைகூர் பங்கம் பலவன் பரங்குன்றிற் குன்றமன்ன மாபதைப்பச் சிங்கந் திரிதரு சிறுார்ச் சிறுமியெந் தேமொழியே.
Thou art of the cold land where coconuts fall, dashing areca clusters and crushing plantain trees, and lie on the pollen strewn in the beauteous fields; my sweet voiced one is a child of the little hamlet where the lion wanders to the terror of the elephant which is like unto the mountain Parankunram of the Lord of Sittambalam who hath for glorious partner Lady Uma.

KALLADAM
கல்லாடம்
கணபதி து கி திங்கண்முடி பொறுத்த பொன்மலை யருவி கருமணி கொழித்த தோற்றம் போல இருகவுள் கவிழ்த்த மதநதி யுவட்டின் வண்டினம் புரளும் வயங்கு புகர்முகத்த செங்கதிர்த் திரளெழு கருங்கடல் போல முக்கண்மேற் பொங்கும் வெள்ளமெறி கடத்த பெருமலைச் சென்னியிற் சிறுமதி கிடந்தெனக் கண்ணரு ணிறைந்த கவின்பெறு மெயிற்ற ஆறிரண் டருக்க ரவிர்கதிர்க் கனலும் வெள்ளைமதி முடித்த செஞ்சடை யொருத்தன் உடலுயி ராட வாடுறு மணலமும் தென்கீழ்த் திசையோன் தெருதனு தீயும் ஊழித் தீப்படர்ந் துடற்றுபு சிகையும் பாசக் கரகம் விதியுடை முக்கோல் முறிக்கலைச் சுருக்குக் கரம்பெறு முனிவர் விழிவிடு மெரியுஞ் சாபவாய் நெருப்பும் நிலைவிட்டுப் படராது காணியி னிலைக்கச் சிறுகாற் றுழலு மசைகுழைச் செவிய ஆம்பன்முக வரக்கன் கிளையொடு மறியப் பெருங்காற்று விடுத்த நெடும்புழைக் கரத்த கருமிடற்றுக் கடவுளைச் செங்கனி வேண்டி இடங்கொண் ஞாலத்து வலங்கொளும் பதத்த குண்டுநீ ருடுத்த நெடும்பா ரெண்ணமும் எண்ணு விலக்கமொடு நண்ணிடு துயரமும் அளந்துகொடு முடித்த னின்கட னதலின்
269
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27o KALLADAM
வரியுடல் சூழக் குடம்பைநூ றெற்றிப் போக்குவழி படையா துள்ளுயிர் விடுத்தலின் அறிவுபுறம் போய வுலண்டது போலக் கடற்றிரை சிறுக மலக்குதுயர் காட்டும் உடலெனும் வாயிற் சிறைநடுவு புக்குப் 30 போகா துணங்குறும் வெள்ளறி வேமும் ஆசணம் போற்றுநின் காலுற வணங்குதும் கான்முக மேற்ற தொளைகொள்வாய்க் கறங்கும் விசைத்தநடை போகுஞ் சகடக் காலும் நீட்டிவலி தள்ளிய நெடுங்கயிற் றுாசலும் 35 அலமரு காலு மலகைத் தேரும் குறைதரு பிறவியி னிறைதரு கலக்கமும் என்மனத் தெழுந்த புன்மொழித் தொகையும் அருள்பொழி கடைக்கண் டாக்கித் தெருளுற வைய முடிப்பையின் றெனவே. 40
Invocation to Ganapathi
Lord, on whose spotted face bees roll on the steam of bliss from either cheek like sapphires floating down waterfalls from moon-crowned golden mountain:
From whose triple eye rolls flood of joy like waves of dark blue ocean lit by rising suns:
Whose gracious face with beauteous tusk adorned like the young moon on the mountain crest:
Whose ears, with pendent rings decked, raise agentle breeze which keepeth within its limits the fierce glowing heat of twice six suns: the fire wherein to the dread panic of all living things the peerless One danceth whose matted locks are crowned with the white crescent moon : the fire with which the God of the South-east burns and flaming fire which at the end of the universe and of time o'er spreadeth and destroyeth : the fire from the eyes and the maledictory mouths of ascetics who bear in their hands rope-swung vessel and triple staff and knotted rag enjoined in the scriptures:
As Thine the task to know and fulfil the thoughts of men on this wide sea-girt earth and end the countless woes that

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assail them, we bow unto Thy feet that the Vedas praisewe simple silly folk who, like the stupid spider that encaseth its striped body with its own thread and making no outlet dieth within-suffer, imprisoned in this body, woes more numerous than the waves of the sea. We bow unto Thee in hope that thou, O Lord, will look graciously upon us and end the terrors and confusions of this life exceeding far the wind-swallowing hollow-mouthed weather-vane, the fleet cart wheel, the vigorously pushed long rope swing, the whirlwind, the devil's chariot (the mirage) and fulfil my heart's petty longings in verse.
1. அமுதமுந் தருவும் பணிவரப் படைத்த உடலக் கண்ண னுலகுகவர்ந் துண்ட களவுடை நெடுஞ்சூர்க் கிளைகளம் விட்டொளித்த அருணிறைந் தமைந்த கல்விய ருளமெனத் தேக்கிய தேனுட னிருன்மதி கிடக்கும் s எழுமலை பொடித்த கதிரிலை நெடுவேல் வள்ளிதுணைக் கேள்வன் புள்ளுடன் மகிழ்ந்த கறங்குகா லருவிப் பரங்குன் றுடுத்த பொன்னகர்க் கூடற் சென்னியம் பிறையோன் பொதியப் பொருப்பன் மதியக் கருத்தினைக் 10 கொங்குதேர் வாழ்க்கைச் செந்தமிழ் கூறிப் பொற்குவை தருமிக் கற்புட னுதவி என்னுளங் குடிகொண் டிரும்பய னளிக்கும் கள்ளவிழ் குழல்சேர் கருணையம் பெருமான் மலர்ப்பத நீங்கா வுளப்பெருஞ் சிலம்ப 15 கல்லாக் கயவர்க் கருநூற் கிளைமறை சொல்லினர் தோமெனத் துணைமுலை பெருத்தன. பலவுடம் பழிக்கும் பழியூ லுணவினர் தவமெனத் தேய்ந்தது துடியெனு நுசுப்பே கடவுட் கூரு ருளமெனக் குழலும் 20 கொன்றைபுற வகற்றி நின்றவிருள் காட்டின சுரும்பு படிந்துண்ணுங் கழுநீர் போலக்

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கறுத்துச் செவந்தன கண்ணிணை மலரே ஈங்கிவை நிற்க சிறுர் பெறுந்தமர் இல்லிற் செறிக்குஞ் சொல்லுடன் சின்மொழி 25 விள்ளுந் தமியிற் கூறினர் உள்ளங் கறுத்துக் கண்செவந் துருத்தே.
Highland chief whose heart ever clingethto the flower feet of Him that weareth on His crest the crescent moon and dwelleth in Kudal, city of golden halls, girt by the great hill of roaring water-falls (Parankunram) where fleeing from battle hid the crafty brother of Sura, victor of many eyed Indra's world that hath for ornament ambrosia and the tree ofplenty:
where too with his feathered tribe sported Valli's lover and peer, whose mighty lance, leaf-shaped, glorious, shattered the seven fold mountain, wherein hangeth the moon-comb full laden with honey as the hearts of the learned with love and humility: the feet of our gracious Lord and consort of Her of the fragrant locks, -who in chaste Tamil verse (Qé5íTü(953,95ff 6)JTybd:604) declared the secret thought of the King of Pothia Mount and lovingly granted the golden prize to Tarumi and hath made my heart his abode and granteth me high boons.
Like the faults of those who declare the sacred mystery to the unlearned and base, her breasts have swelled: like the austerities of them that eat the scorned flesh of slaughtered bodies, her waist has shrunk: like the hearts of those who praise not God, her locks, putting to shame the Konrai, show depth of blackness: like the water lily in which bees dip and drink, her eyes have grown dark and red. Nay more. The village talks petty gossip; her parents, hearts black and eyes red with rage, have spoken among themselves to imprison her in the house.
Notes
Konrai. Black seeds of the Cassia fistula.
Many eyed Indra. The legend of 2 LaDai S6507600T667 perhaps symbolises the sky studded with stars. Compare Argos Panoptes, all-seeing, having a hundred eyes; appointed by

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Hera to guard the cow into which Io had been metamorphosed; and on being killed by Hermes at Zeus' command, his eyes were transplanted by Hera to the tail of her favourite bird, the peacock.
2 பூமணி யானை பொன்னென வெடுத்துத் திங்களும் புயலும் பருதியுஞ் சுமந்த மலைவருங் காட்சிக் குரிய வாகலி னிறையுடைக் கல்வி பெருமதி மாந்த ரீன்றசெங் கவியெனத் தோன்றிநணி பரந்து பாரிடை யின்ப நீளிடைப் பயக்கும் பெருநீர் வையை வளைநீர்க் கூட லுடலுயி ரென்ன வுறைதரு நாயகன் கடுக்கைமலர் மாற்றி வேப்பலர் சூடி யைவாய்க் காப்புவிட் டணிபூ னணிந்து O விரிசடை மறைத்து மணிமுடி கவித்து விடைக்கொடி நிறுத்திக் கயற்கொடி யெடுத்து வழுதி யாகி முழுதுல களிக்கும் பேரரு ணுயகன் சீரருள் போல மணத்துடன் விரிந்த கைதையங் கானத் 15 தோடா வென்றிப் பொலம்பூட் குரிசில் சின்னங் கிடந்த கொடிஞ்சி மாத்தேர் நொச்சிப் பூவுதிர் நள்ளிரு ணடுநாள் விண்ணஞ் சுமந்து தோற்றஞ் செய்தெனத் தன்கண் போலு மென்க னேக்கிக் 2O கள்வரைக் காணு முள்ளம் போலச் செம்மனந் திருகி யுள்ளந் துடித்துப் புறன்வழங் காது நெஞ்சொடு கொதித்தனன் மாறக் கற்பி னன்னை கூரு மதியத் திருநுதற் கொடியே. 25 Gentle lady, brow beauteous as the crescent moon, thy most pure hearted mother looked at me-dear as her eyes,
as on a thief, her love changed, heart quivering, aflame, speechless, thinking :-

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'In darkest midnight, when nochchi flowers drop, the victorious chieftain's high car, gold decked, whose crest supports the skies, hath left its mark on the seashore where fragrant screw-pines bloom like the mercy of the great Lord who dwelleth, as life in body, in Kudal city, circled by the broad waters of the Vaikai that, like the precious poems of bards full of virtue, learning and wisdom, is seen with its source in mountain on which rest sun and moon and clouds and bearethin its stream flowers and gems, gold and elephants and spreadeth happiness over the earth far and wide,-the Lord who renouncing cassia for margosa wreaths, five mouthed serpent bracelet for ornaments of gold and gems, hiding his flowing matted locks under jewelled crown, lowering bull-banner and raising that of the carp, graciously appeared as Pandiya king to save the world."
Notes
Lady. Literally creeper.
Pure hearted. Of unchanging purity and loyalty.
Flowers, gems, etc. The poems usually begin with auspicious words, e.g., flowers, gems, sun, elephant, etc.
6 நிணமுயி ருண்ட புலவு பொருது தலையுட லசைத்துச் சாணவாய் துடைத்து நெய்குளித் தகற்று நெடுவேல் விடலை அந்தண ருகுநீர்க் கருட்கரு விருந்து கோடா மறைமொழி நீடுறக் காணுங் s கதிருடல் வழிபோய்க் கல்லுழை நின்றேர் நெருப்புருத் தன்ன செருத்திறல் வரைந்த வாசகங் கண்டு மகிழ்ந்தது மிவணே துணைவிளக் கெரியும் நிலைவிழிப் பேழ்வாய்த் தோகைமண் புடைக்குங் காய்புலி மாய்க்க 10 வாய்செறித் திட்ட மாக்கடிப் பிதுவே செடித்தலைக் காருட லிடிக்குரற் கிராதர் மறைந்துகண் டக்கொலை மகிழ்வுN யிந்நிலை

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தவநதி போகு மருமறைத் தாபதர் நன்னர்கொ ளாசி நாட்டிய திவ்வுழை s கறையணற் புயங்க னெரிதழல் விடத்தை மலைமறை யதக மாற்றிய வதுபோற் கொடுமறக் கொலைஞ ராறிடை கவர வெண்ணுது கிடைத்த புண்ணெழு செருநிலைக் கைவளர் கொழுந்து மெய்பொடி யாகவென் 20 சிற்றிடைப் பெருமுலைப் பொற்றெடி மடந்தைதன் கவைஇய கற்பினைக் காட்டுழி யிதுவே குரவஞ் சுமந்த குழல்விரித் திருந்து பாடலம் புனைந்தகற் பதுக்கையில் விடனே யொட்டுவிட் டுலறிய பராரைநெட் டாக்கோட்டு 25 உதிர்பறை யெருவை யுணவூன் றட்டி வளைவாய்க் கரும்பருந் திடைபPத் துண்ணக் கண்டுநின் றுவந்த காட்சியு மிதுவே செம்மணிச் சிலம்பு மரகதப் பொருப்புங் குடுமியந் தழலும் மவணிருட் குவையு 30 முளைவரும் பகனு மதனிடை மேகமுஞ் சேயிதழ் முளரியுங் காரிதழ்க் குவளையும் ஒருழைக் கண்ட வுவகைய தென்ன வெவ்வுயிர் நிறைந்த செவ்விகொண் மேனியில் அண்டப் பெருந்திரள் அடைவீன் றளித்த 35 கன்னிகொண் டிருந்த மன்னருட் கடவுள் மலையுருக் கொண்ட வுடல்வாள் அரக்கர் வெள்ளமும் சூரும் புள்ளியற் பொருப்பு நெடுங்கடற் கிடங்கு மொருங்குயிர் பருகிய மணிவேற் குமரன் முதனிலை வாழுங் 40 குன்றுடுத் தோங்கிய கூடலம் பதியோன் ருடலை தரித்த கோளினர் போல நெடுஞ்சுர நீங்கத் தங்கா லடுந்தழன் மாற்றிய காற்குறி மிவனே. This is the spot where the Chieftain, (whose tall lance impatient of the carrion smell of slaughtered foes shook its
head and frame, wiped its mouth on whet stone and in melted butter laved and was made whole) rejoiced reading the

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inscription which tells the victory glorious as incarnate fire on the battle field of heroes who stand in stone, having pierced through the Sun who, conceiving grace in the holy waters offered by saintly men, bringeth forth the mystic word for ΘVθΤ.
This is the great staff he thrust with murderous aim into the mouth of the furious tiger with eyes flaming as twin lamps, gaping mouth and earth-lashing tail. This is the place where the wild men of the woods, shaggy haired, black of body, and thunder-voiced, lurking beheld that slaughter and rejoiced.
This is the spot where holy men of the rare Vedas stood, on their way to sacred streams, and on him bestowed their blessing.
This is the place where mylass of ample breasts and golden bracelets reduced to ashes,-like balm hidden in the mountains destroyeth the fiery venom of the dark-jawed serpent-the bodies of the cruel men armed with murderous weapons who waylaid her with reckless aim on her purity.
This is the rock where she sat and unloosed her hair casting away kurava flowers and decking it with pathala flowers.
This is where she rejoiced to see the black falcon of curved beak on the branch of the high achcha tree strike and eat the meat from the mouth of the hawk of dropping feathers.
This the mark of her feet seeking to be rid of the burning heat of the great desert, like Yogis who crown their heads with the feet of the Lord of everlasting mercy who hath on His left side, as though were seen together in one spot, a ruby mountain and an emerald mount, or beautiful flaming fire and mass of darkness or the rising sun and a cloud between, or rose petalled lotus and dark lily, -the Virgin who duly conceived and bore the great host of worlds in her beautiful body which filleth every life-the lord of fair Kudal city, girt by the greathill where chiefly dwelleth the ever-youthful God (Skanda) with the beautiful lance which at one stroke drank the lives of the Titan hosts, equipped with bodies like mountains and with swords, and of Sura and the great ocean depths.

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16
குரவ மலர்ந்த குவையிருட் குழலி மிருவே மொருகா லெரியத ரிறந்து விரிதலைத் தோன்முலை வெள்வா யெயிற்றியர்க் கரும்புது விருந்தெனப் பொருந்திமற் றவர்தரு மிடியுந் துய்த்துச் சுரைக்குட மெடுத்து நீணிலைக் கூவற் றெளிபுன லுண்டும் பழம்புற் குரம்பை யிடம்புக் கிருந்து முடங்கத ஞறுத்த முகிணகை யெய்தியு முடனுடன் பயந்த கடலொலி யேற்று நடைமலை யெயிற்றி னிடைதலை வைத்து 10 முயர்ந்தவின் பதற்கின் றுவம முண்டெனின் முலைமூன் றணந்த சிறுநுதற் றிருவினை யருமறை விதிக்கத் திருமணம் புணர்ந்து மதிக்குலம் வாய்த்த மன்னவ னகி மேதினி புரக்கும் விதியுடை நன்ன 15 ண்ைடுவூர் நகர்செய் தடுபவந் துடைக்கு மருட்குறி நிறுத்தி யருச்சனை செய்த தேவ நாயகன் கூடல்வா ழிறைவன் முண்டக மலர்த்தி முருகவி பூழிருதா ளுறைகுந ருண்ணு மின்ப 20) மறைய லன்றி மற்றென்று மடாதே.
Lady of locks black as massed night with kuravai flowers blooming! We two one day wandering on a fiery desert path, chanced to be received as guests rare by wild women with shaggy hair, pale mouths and pendant breasts in their grass thatched huts; and smiling at the skins they spread for us, we ate the flour meal they provided, and drank clear water we drew with gourd pitchers from the deep well, and listened to the ceaseless roar of the sea and lay, resting our heads on elephant tusks.
We enjoyed bliss supreme, to which there is no peer. But if peer there be, none other may be compared save the bliss of those who with lotus hearts opening under the radiance

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of His fragrant feet rest in Him, (the Lord who dwelleth in Kudal where Indra, king of the celestials, erected a temple, and set up His gracious token that destroyeth rebirth), on that good day when as king of the Lunar race. He wedded with holy rites performed by mighty Brahma the beautiful Lady of narrow brow and triple breast and ruled the wolid.
17
நண்ணிய பாதி பெண்ணினர்க் கமுத மடுமடைப் பள்ளியி னடுவவ தரித்தும் திருவடி வெட்டினு ளொருவடி வாகியும் முக்கணி லருட்கண் முறைபெற முயங்கியும் படியிது வென்ன வடிமுடி கண்டும் புண்ணிய நீறெனப் பொலிகதிர் காற்றியும் நின்றன பெருமதி நிற்ருெழு தேற்கு நன்னரிற் செய்குறு நன்றியொன் றுளதால் ஆயிரந் தழற்கரத் திருட்பகை மண்டிலத் தோரொரு பனிக்கலை யொடுங்கிநின் றடைதலிற் 10 கொலைநுதி யெயிறென் றிருபிறை முளைத்த புகர்முகப் புழைக்கை யொருவிசை தடிந்தும் மதுவிதழ்க் குவளையென் றடுகண் மலர்ந்த நெடுஞ்சுனை புதையப் புகுந்தெடுந் தளித்தும் செறிபிறப் பிறப்பென விருவகை திரியும் நெடுங்கயிற் றுசல் பரிந்துகலுழி காலை முன்னையிற் புனைந்து முகம னளித்தும் தந்தவெங் குரிசி றனிவந் தெமது கண்ணெனக் கிடைத்தெங் கண்ணெதிர் நடுநாட் சமயக் கணக்கர் மதிவழி கூரு 20 துலகியல் கூறிப் பொருளிது வென்ற வள்ளுவன் றனக்கு வளர்கவிப் புலவர்முன் முதற்கவி பாடிய முக்கட் பெருமான் மாதுடன் தோன்றிக் கூடலு னிறைந்தோன் தன்னைநின் றுணர்ந்து தாமுமொன் றின்றி 25 யடங்கினர் போல நீயும் ஒடுங்கிநின் றமைதி யிந்நிலை யறிந்தே.

KALLADAM 279
My Lord who once cut asunder the perforated trunk of the charging elephant, spot faced with sharp and deadly tusks like unto two crescent moons; and leaped in and saved me as I sank in the big tarn with its murderous eyes feigned as blossoms of honey-petalled lilies; and mended it as before and uttered words of comfort when my long roped-swing that moves to and fro like unceasing death and birth, broke and I cried,—when on this midnight he cometh alone to me, like unto sight restored, O great moon who at the churning of the ocean wert born as ambrosia for the half female Lord (Arddha-narisa, a name of Siva), who art one of His eight holy manifestations, who of His three eyes, as eye of grace duly shone, who beheld His peerless crown and feet, who sheddeth rays of light in abundance, purifying as the holy ashes,--to me, thy worshipper, there is a boon thou couldst gracious grant.
As each Kalai of thine shrinks and emerges in the thousand fire-rayed solar spear like as great men suppress all sense of I, and become meek and humble, who know the threeeyed Lord that uttered the first stanza in praise of saintly Valluvar, when following not the way of the philosophers he declared before the great assembly of poets (Sangam) the duties of this world and the essential meaning of life-Hin that in Kudal sheweth himself with the Lady and pervadeth all things-so too do thou suppress thyself.
NOTE Kalai. One-sixteenth part of the moon's splendour.
23 நெடுவளி யுயிர்த்து மழைமத மொழுக்ெ யெழுமலை விழுமலை புடைமணி யாக மீன்புகர் நிறைந்த வான்குஞ் சரமுகம் வால்பெற முளைத்த கூன்கோ டானும் பேச நிண்ட பன்மீ னிலைஇய

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வானக் கடலிற் றேணிய தானுங் கொழுநர்க் கூடுங் காம வுததியைக் கரைவிட வுகையு நாவா யானுங் கள்ளமர் கோதையர் வெள்ளணி விழவி 2லங்கணைக் கிழவன் காட்சியுண் மகிழ O விழைத்து வளைத்த கருப்புவில் லானு நெடியோன் முதலாந் தேவர் கூடி வாங்கிக் கடைந்த தேம்படு கடலி னமுதுடன் றேன்றிய வுரிமை யானு நின்றிரு நுதலை யொளிவிசும் புடலி 15 லாடிநிழற் காட்டிய பீடது வானும் கரையற வணியு மானக் கலனுட் டலைபெற விருந்த நிலைபுக ழானு மண்ணக ம?னத்து நிறைந்தபல் லுயிர்கட் காயா வமுத மீகுத லானும் 20 பாற்கட லுறங்கு மாயவன் போலத் தவள மாடத் தகன்முதுகு பற்றி நெடுங்கார் கிடந்து படும்புனல் பிழியுங் கூடல்வீற் றிருந்த நாடகக் கடவுள் பொற்சுடர் விரித்த கொத்தலர் கொன்றையும் 25 தாளியு மறுகும் வாலுழை யெருக்கமுங் கரந்தையும் வன்னியு மிடைந்த செஞ்சடையி லிரண்டைஞ் ஒாறு திரண்டமுக மெடுத்து மட்புல னகழ்ந்து திக்குநிலை மயக்கிப் புரியாக் கதமோ டொருபா லடங்குங் 30 கங்கையிற் படிந்த பொங்கு தவத்தானு மந்நெடு வேணியிற் கண்ணியென விருந்து தூற்றுமறு வொழிந்த வேற்றத் தானு மணிவான் பெற்றவிப் பிறையை பணிவாய் புரிந்து தாமரை மகளே. 35
Dear daughter of the lotus (thou who art like Lakshmi lotus-born), bend in loving worship unto this crescent moon that sheweth in the beauteous sky.

KALLADAM 281
For it is the pure white curved tusk on the face of the star-studded sky-elephant, whose breath is the blowing wind, whose trickling must is the rain, whose side bells are the rising of the setting sun: for it is the boat on the celestial sea crowded with star fish beyond count: for it is the ship by which maidens cross the sea of love to join their Beloved: for it is the sugar-cane bow that Cupid, Lord of the five arrows, makes and bends to gladden maidens' hearts: to it was granted to be born with ambrosia in the milky sea when churned by Mal (Vishnu) and other Gods with all their might: it hath the high honour of reflecting in the heavens, as in a mirror, the lustre of thy lovely brow.
For it (the crescent moon) hath merit exceeding great, of bathing in the Ganges which, with twice five hundred mouths scooping the earth and with wrath unprecedented carrying confusion on every side, rests suppressed in the beautiful matted locks wreathed with golden clusters of Konrai (Cassia) and tali and aruku and white petalled erukkam, karanthai, and vanni-of the Lord of the Dance throned in Kudal, where like Vishnu sleeping on the milky sea big dark clouds spread over white palaces and send down rain in showers.
For it hath been exalted to be a flower bud on His high Crown of matted locks and so rid of its shame and stain.
Daughter of the lotus, bend in loving worship unto the Crescent moon.
NOTE
The Ganges, originally a celestial river-the milky way, was in answer to a devotee's prayer brought down on earth by Shiva who broke the destructive force of its fall which would have destroyed the world, by receiving it on His matted locks. The snow-clad mountains of the Himalayan source of the Ganges, crowned with forests over which hangs the crescent moon, presented a spectacle of sublime grandeur to the Hindus and were personified in Shiva with matted locks on which rested the crescent moon and the Ganges, whose descent in the earliest geological period is suggested in the legend.

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26
கண்ட் காட்சி சேணின் குறியோ வென்னுழி நிலையா வுளத்தின் மதியோ குர்ப்பகை யுலகிற் றேன்றினர்க் கழகு விதிக்கு மடங்கா வென்பன விதியோ வென்னுடைக் கண்ணு முயிரு மாகி யுண்ணிக பூழின்ப முள்ளா ளொருத்தி மலைக்குஞ் சரத்தின் கடக்குழி யாகி நெடுமலை விழித்த கண்ணே யாகி யம்மலைத் திருநுதற் கழியா தமைத்த வெள்ளைகொள் சிந்துர நல்லணி யாகித் தூர நடந்த தாளெய்ப் பாறி யமுதொடு கிடக்கு நிறைமதிப் பக்க மொருபாற் கிடந்த துணைமதி யாகி யருவி வீசப் பறவைகுடி போகி விண்டுநற வொழுக்கும் பண்டி லிருலா மிளமை நீங்காது காவல்கொ ளமுதம் வரையர மாதர் குழுவுட னருந்த வாக்கியிடப் பதித்த வள்ளமு மாகி
யிடைவளி போகாது நெருங்குமுலைக் கொடிச்சியர்
சிறுமுகங் காணு மாடி யாகிச் சிறந்தன வொருசுனை யிம்மலை யாட வளவாக் காதல் கைமிக் கணைந்தன ளவளே நீயா யென்கண் குறித்த தெருமர றந்த வறிவுநிலை கிடக்கச் சிறிதுநின் குறுவெயர் பெறுமணங் காறி யொரு கண நிலைக்க மருவுதி யாயி " னிந்நிலை பெயர வுன்னுமக் கணத்திற் றுண்டா விளக்கி னிண்டவ ரூதவு மவ்வுN யுறவு மெய்பெறக் கலந்தின் ருெருகட லிரண்டு திருப்பயந் தாங்கு வளைத்த நெடுங்கார்ப் புனத்திரு வீரு மணிநிறை யூச லணிபெற வுகைத்துங் கருங்காற் கவணிடைச் செம்மணி வைத்துப்
10
20
30

KALLADAM 283
பெருந்தே னிருலொடு குறிவிழ வெறிந்தும் வெண்டுகி னுடங்கிப் பொன்கொழித் திழியு 35 மருவி யேற்று முழைமலை கூஉயும் பெருஞ்சுனை விழித்த நீலங் கொய்துங் கொடுமரம் பற்றி நெட்டிதண் பொலிந்துந் தினைக்குர லறையுங் கிளிக்கணங் கடிந்தும் வெள்ளி யிரும்பு பொன்னெனப் பெற்ற 40 மூன்றுபுரம் வேவத் திருநகை விளையாட் டொருநாட் கண்ட பெருமா னிறைவன் மாதுட னென்றி யென்மனம் புகுந்து பேணு வுள்ளங் காணுது நடந்து கொலைகள வென்னும் பழுமரம் பிடுங்கிப் பவச்சுவ ரிடித்து நெஞ்சமண் டபத்துப் பாங்குடன் காணத் தோன்றியுண் ணின்று பன்மலர்ச் சோலை விம்மிய பெருமல ரிமையோர் புரத்தை நிறைமணங் காட்டுங் கூடலம் பதியகம் பீடுபெற விருந்தோ 50 னிருதாள் பெற்றவர் பெருந்திருப் போல மருவிய பண்ணை யின்பமொடு விளைநலஞ் சொல்லுட னமரா தீங்கு வில்லுடன் பகைத்த செந்திரு நுதலே.
Lady whose lovely brow vieth with the bow!
There is a lass who is my eye, my life and owneth all the happiness of my heart. With measureless love overflowing, she hath gone to bathe in the mountain tarn, which is the rut-hole of the mountain-elephant, the high mountain's wakened eye, the lovely white tilak-spot that for ever adorns the brow of the goddess of beauty-the mountain, the twin of the full ambrosial moon on a side lying and resting her feet worn with long journeying, honey-comb round whence the bees having departed, honey floweth like a waterfall, a chalice guarded by mountain nymphs to hold the ambrosia they quaff to keep their perpetual youth, the mirror wherein highland maidens with breasts so close-pressing that the

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breeze has no room to enter, see their little faces.
Is it the light of thee from afar, or the imagining of my unruly breast or is peerless beauty, nature's gift to those born in the world of Sira's foe (Skanda to whom the mountains are sacred)? Apart from the confusion of my eyes that see thee as her, if thou wilt agree to wait a moment to recover from the fatigue that maketh thee sweat, at the moment thou thinkest to depart, she will arrive bright as a lamp that ever burneth untrimmed.
Then ye two in friendly intimacy like two Lakshimis born of the milky ocean, will together drive the gem-set swing in the spacious field, throw from the swing gems to bring down the honey-comb with its abounding honey, which fluttering like a white sheet rushes down with golden sands following the mountain caves, pick blue lilies that have opened in the big lake, climb the high lofts with ladders, drive away the parrot swarms that call to each other in the flowering green plots. The Lord who enjoyed the sport of burning with his smile the three far famed cities of silver, gold and iron together with the Lady entered my heart, unseen by me, who heeded Him not, rooted out the old trees, murder and theft, destroyed the walls of birth, stood manifest in the hall of my heart, like the prosperity gained by those who have attained the feet of Him that standeth as the goal of freedom in the city of Kudal, the flowers in whose abounding groves fill with perfume the region of the celestials.
41
கொடிய கோலினன் செருமுகம் போலக் கனைகதிர் திருகிக்கல் சேர்ந்து முறைபுகப் பதினெண் கிளவியூர் துஞ்சியபோற் புட்குலப் பொய்கைளாய் தாழ்க்கொள்ள வேள்சரத்துடைகு நர்கோல நோக்கி யிருண்மகள் கொண்ட குறுநகை போல முல்லையு மெளவலு முருகுயிர்த் தவிழத் தணந்தோருளத் திற்காமத் தீப்புக

KALLADAM 285
மணந்தோர் நெஞ்சத்தமுத நீர்விட வன்றில் புற்சேக்கை புக்கல் குபெடையணைய O வந்தண ரருமறை யருங்கிடை யடங்க முதுகனிமூல முனிக்கண மறுப்பக் கலவையும் பூவுந்தோண் முடிகமழ விரிவலை நுலையர் நெய்தலேந்தித் துத்தங் கைக்கிளை யளவையின் விளைப்ப 15 நீரரமகளிர் செவ்வாய்க் காட்டிப் பசுந்தாட் சேக்கொளாம் பன்மலரத் தோளுமிசையுங் கூறிடுங்கலையு மருட்டிரு வெழுத்தும் பொருட்டிரு மறையும் விரும்பிய குணமுமருந் திருவுருவு 20 முதலென் கிளவியும் விதமுடனிரையே யெட்டு மேழுஞ் சொற்றனவாறு மைந்து நான்குமணி தருமூன்றுந் துஞ்சலி லிரண்டுஞ் சொல்லரு மொன்று மாருயிர் வாழவருள்வர நிறுத்திய 25 பேர்ருட் கூடற் பெரும்பதி நிறைந்த முக்கட் கடவுண் முதல்வனை வணங்கார் தொக்கதீப் பெருவினை சூழ்ந்தன போலவுந் துறவா லறனற் பெறலின் மாந்தர் விள்ளாவறிவு முள்ளமு மென்னவுஞ் 30 செக்கர்த் தீயொடு புக்கநன்மாலை யென்னுயிர் வளைந்த தோற்றம்போல நாற்படை வேந்தன் பாசறை யோர்க்கு முளையோ மனத்திற னேதுகவே.
Like battle-front of wielder of crooked sceptre, the sun's glory, changed and shrunk, hath duly set behind the hills.
Groups of birds on the lakes seek rest, as in cities divers tongues of men are lulled.
The mullai and the wild jasmine, shedding fragrance around their petals open, as Smiles the Lady of the Night, seeing the manner of maidens reeling under Cupid's arrows.

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The fire of love enters the hearts of parted lovers; in the hearts of the wedded, ambrosia swells.
The nightingale, entering his roost on the palmyrah palm, bills and fondles his mate.
The chants of the holy Vedas are hushed in the Brahmim. choir.
The hermits decline, offerings of ripe fruit and roots.
The net-casting fishermen, with flowers and myrrh on breast and crown, raise on sea-drum rhythmic notes of tuttam and Kaikkilai.
The red-lily, green-stalked, hath bloomed like waternymphs opening their lips.
Dear twilight that comest with train of rosy light, tell me thy heart's thought. Showest thou unto the four-fold army's King and to the dwellers in his camp, even as thou showest unto me, rounding and taking capture of my soul like hosts of sin encompass them that worship not the threeeyed Lord Supreme who filleth with His Divine Grace the great city of Kudal (where for the hapiness of all living things He hath lovingly established mighty powers and harmonizes divers sciences and the sacred letters of mystic Grace and the holy Vedas of Spirit lore and qualities detectable and forms of beauty rare, and the eight chief words in due order, eight and seven and six and five and four and the beauteous three and the deathless two and the one beyond words) and like unto the hearts of men who have not by life of renunciation or by duties of home, blossomed in wisdom and gained the goal.
NOTES Mullai. Jasmine. Nightingale. 9637gla). Offerings, which are untimely, being past meal hours. Myrrh.. so 6061, a perfumed mixture.
Tuttam and kaikilai. Second and third notes of the gamut.

KALLADAM 287
68
இருநிலந் தாங்கிய வலிகெழு நோன்மைப் பொன்முடிச் சயிலக் கணவற் புணர்ந்து திருவெனுங் குழவியு மமுதெனும் பிள்ளையு மதியெனு மகவு மமருலகறியக் கணனெடு முத்தங் கலுழிந்துடல் கலங்கி 5 வாய்விட்ட லறிவயிறு நொந்தீன்ற மனனெழு வருத்தம துடையை யாதலிற் பெருமய லெய்தா நிறையினளாக வென்ஞெரு மயிலு நின்மகளாக் கொண்டு தோன்றிநின் றழியாத் துகளறு பெருந்தவ 10 நிதியெனக் கட்டிய குறுமுனிக் கருளுடன் றரளமுஞ் சந்துமெரி கெழுமணியு முடங்குளை யகழ்ந்த கொடுங்கரிக்கோடு மகிலுங் கனகமு மருவி கொண்டிறங்கிப் பொருநையங் கன்னிக் கணியணி பூட்டுஞ் 15 செம்புடற் பொதிந்த தெய்வப் பொதியமு முவட்டாதணையா துணர்வெனும் பசியெடுத் துள்ளமுஞ் செவியு முருகிநின் றுண்ணும் பெருந்தமி ழமுதம் பிரியாது கொடுத்த தோடண கடுக்கைக் கூடலெம் பெருமா 20 னெவ்வுயிரிருந்து மவ்வுயிரதற்குத் தோன்ரு தடங்கிய தொன்மைத் தென்ன வார்த்தெழு பெருங்குர லமைந்துநின் ருெடுங்கிநின் பெருந் தீக்குணனு மொழிந்துளங் குளிருறு மிப்பெரு நன்றியின் றேற்குதவுதி 25 யெனிற்பதம் பணிகுவலன்றே நன்கமர் பவளவாயுங் கிளர்பச் சுடம்பு நெடுங்கயல் விழியு நிறைமலை முலையு மாசறப் படைத்து மணியுட் னிறைத்த பெருமுகில் வயிறள வூட்டித் 30 திருவுலகளிக்குங் கடன்மட மகளே.

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Lady of the sea, perfectly endowed with beauteous coral lips, body of lustrous green, long Kayal eyes and high mountain-breasts, who feedest to their bellies' measure big clouds bright with hues of gems and unto the world yieldest plenty, mating with thy husband (Mandara), Mount of earth-sustaining might and great golden crest.
Thou didst, with tossing frame, cries loud and deep and pearl tear-drops, bring forth, as the world knoweth, Beauty's goddess and ambrosia and the moon, and best knowledge of suffering.
Wherefore take as thy own my only child that from illusion free, she may become in all good things perfect.
Our Lord of Kudal, wearer of shell ear-rings and cassiawreath, did unto the Dwarf-sage-layer up of the treasure of mighty penance that destroyeth the evil cause of birth, life and death,-graciously grant in fee for ever divine Potiya, copper-bodied, who descending beareth in water-falls pearls sandal and eagle-wood, curved elephant tusks by lions wrenched, flashing gems and gold, to deck his maiden daughter Porunai, and the precious ambrosia Tamil which heart and ear, for wisdom hungering, eat in ecstasy melting and are not cloyed :-
Even as He (the Lord of Kudal) from of old dwelleth in every soul, sheweth not Himself, but remaineth hidden to all, so do thou still thy loud roar and thy vices shed, and this boon to me grant rejoicing my heart, and unto thy feet I will in worship bow.
NOTES
Kayal. A fish to which women's eyes are likened from their flashing movements.
Beauty's Goddess. The ocean churned by the celestials and Titans with Mount Mandara, yielded Lakshmi (Goddess of Beauty), ambrosia and the moon.
Dwarf-sage. Agastya, a sage with mystic powers and the first grammarian of the Tamil Language, said to live on Mount Potiya (in Tinnevelly District), the source of the copper river, Tamraparni or Porunai.

THE DHAMMAPADA
(Introduction to Mr. Woodward's translations.)
The Dhammapada, of which a metrical translation by Mr. Woodward is here presented, is a precious Buddhist Scripture which deserves to be widely known. The Theosophical Society is to be congratulated on securing so competent and sympathetic a translator and on publishing it in a popular form.
The Dhammapada is a part of the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Buddhistic Canon and consists of about 420 stanzas in the sloka metre. Every fully ordained bhikkhu' is expected to know the book by heart, and its verses are often on the lips of pious laymen. The beginner of Buddhist studies can have no better introduction to Buddhism and must go back to it again and again to enter into the spirit of Buddha and his apostles.
The Scriptures of the Buddhist Canon are known collectively as the Ti-pitaka (Sansk. Tri-pitaka), "the Three Baskets of Treasuries'. These divisions correspond to the two Testaments of the Christian Bible and contain (excluding repetitions) more than twice as much matter. They are known
* Usually but erroneously translated “priest”, ignoring a fundamental difference between Buddhism and other religions. Buddhism recognises no priesthood. By ' priest' one understands a mediator between God and man, a vehicle of divine grace, a person with delegated authority from God to administer the sacraments of religion to admit into the faith or eject from it, to absolve from sin, etc. Such an institution can have no place in Buddhism. Bhikkhu (literally, a 'beggar' and etymologically the same word) is one of a brotherhood of men trying to live as Buddha lived, to purify and discipline themselves, earnest pilgrims on the road reaching unto deliverance (Nirvana). The layman demands from the bhikkhu no assistance in heavenly, no interference in wordly, affairs, but only that he should live as becomes a follower of the great Teacher. The nearest English equivalent of bhikkhu is “ mendicant friar”.
289

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separately as the Vinaya pitaka, Sutta pitaka and Abhidhamma pitaka, the Basket of Discipline, the Basket of Discourses and the Basket of Metaphysics. These scriptures are regarded with the utmost veneration by Buddhists as containing the word of Buddha (Buddha-vacanam), and are reputed to have been recited at the first Council held, according to tradition, at Rajagaha immediately after Buddha's death circa 54o B.C.
It seems more probable that they grew up gradually and did not receive their final shape till about three centuries later, at the Council held under the auspices of the Emperor Asoka at Pataliputra circa 247 B.C. The account given of the First Council in the closing chapter of the Culla vagga seems to indicate that the Basket of Metaphysics was then unknown or unrecognised, and that the scriptures were then a Dvi-pitaka (Two Baskets) rather than a Ti-pitaka (Three Baskets).
If the Culla vagga account is accepted, it would appear that at this Council, expressly held by the Emperor for the consecrative settlement of the holy texts, the five Nikāyas or divisions which constitute the second Basket formed the subject of discussion between the President Kassappa and Buddha's favourite pupil Ananda. The Dhammapada is a book of the fifth Nikāya. The Mahdivansa (Ch. v., 68) carries it back a few years earlier than the Council, to the time of the Emperor's conversion to the Buddhist faith, for on that occasion his teacher, Nigrodha, is said to have explained to him the Appamada-vagga, which is the second chapter of the work. It was, therefore, known in the middle or early part of the third century B.C.
It seems to be an Anthology, prepared for the use of the faithful, of verses believed to be the real words of Buddha, short improvisations in which he expressed striking thoughts and embellished his preaching. They were current among

THE DHAMMAPADA 29I
the early Buddhists, and have been Culled from the other scriptures as of high ethical and spiritual value. The importance of the Dhammapada for a critical study of Buddhism is thus considerable.
For a thorough understanding of the work and of the orthodox Buddhist view of it, it should be studied with the valuable commentary of Buddha-ghosa. Buddhism owes a profound debt to this great man, and has recognised it in the name by which he is known in the Buddhist world. Says the Mahavansa (Ch. xxxvii, I74): "Because he was as profound in his eloquence (ghosa) as Buddha himself, they conferred on him the appellation of Buddha-ghosa (the Voice of Buddha), and throughout the world he became as renowned as Buddha." He was an Indian Brahmana and a great Vedic scholar and apostle. On his conversion to Buddhism he became a not less ardent champion of the new Faith. He came to Ceylon from the cradle of Buddhism, “ the terrace of the great Bo-tree' in Buddha Gaya, in the beginning of the fifth century, i.e., nearly a thousand years after Buddha's death. He came in search of the old commentaries on the Tripitakas. The commentaries had been brought to Ceylon by the Emperor Asoka's son, the apostle Mahinda, and by him translated into Sinhalese. They continued to be orally transmitted until reduced to writing, in the reign of the Ceylon king, Vattagamini (88-76 Bc.), at a convocation of learned bhikkhus at the cave-temple of Alu Vihare in the Matale district.
The original Pali version having perished in India, Buddhaghosa, during his residence in the Malha-vihare at Anuradhapura, re-translated it from Sinhalese to Pali. His version supplanted the Sinhalese (since lost) and is now the only record remaining of the ancient tradition. He also wrote elaborate commentaries (Attha katha)* on almost
* Sansk. Artha Kathdi.

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every part of the Tripitaka and composed the Visuddhmagga, an extensive and systematic treatise on Buddhist doctrine, a veritable cyclopaedia of Buddhist theology. His writings are regarded as absolute authorities in the interpretation of the Buddhist scriptures, and he is regarded as the second founder of Buddhism in Ceylon. He is held in high reverence also in Burma as the founder of Buddhism in that country (450 of the Christian era), having taken the Buddhist scriptures there from Ceylon.
Buddhaghosa's commentary on the Dhammapada mentions the occasions on which, and the audiences to whom, most of the verses were addressed by Buddha when, as an itinerant preacher, he went with his followers through the landmid-Ganges valley and sub-Himalayan tract in the modern provinces of Agra, Oude and Behar; his watchwords-not wealth, fame or dominion, but peace, happiness, deliverance from the burden of sorrow and death, and his message : "Open ye your ears, the deliverance from death is found.'"
When he first attained enlightenment under the Bodhitree (at Buddha Gaya), a descendant of which still flourishes in Anuradhapura, the oldest historical tree in the world, Buddha is said to have broken out into a song of triumph which is included in the anthology of the Dhammapada (I53-4) and has been spiritedly rendered by Mr. Woodward :
Through many a round of birth and death Iran, Nor found the builder that I sought. Life's stream Is birth and death and birth with sorrow filled. Now house-holder, thou'rt seen no more shalt build Broken are all thy rafters, split thy beam
* Mahā-vagga, i, 6-III o seg. The message continues : “ I teach you, I preach the Law. If ye walk according to my teaching, ye shall be partakers, in a short time, of that for which noble youths leave their homes and go into homelessness, the highest end of
religious effort : ye shall even in the present life apprehend the Truth itself and see it face to face.'

THE DHAMMAPADA 293
All that made up this mortal self is gone; Mind hath slain craving. I have crossed the stream
The way that he claimed to have discovered is known as the Middle Way (Maihind Patipada), equally removed from an ignoble life of pleasure and a gloomy life of mortification, and consists in a realisation of the Four Great Truths (catari ariya saccini) of suffering, its origin, its end and the path thereto. All existence, he declares, is suffering, its origin is desire, its end is the extinction of desire, to be attained by the Eightfold Path (affhangiko maggo) of right belief, right resolve, right speech, right act, right occupation, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration and tranquility." The exposition and illustration of the Truths and the Way fill numerous tomes of the Buddhist scriptures.
It is these ideals of self-control, self-culture and heroic endeavour, the graces of wisdom, purity and love, the eternal law of Karma, or causality and moral retribution-under which every deed, good or bad, comes back most to the doer and yields fruit, helping or marring his progress-that are enshrined in the Dhammapada in luminous, pithy verse which lingers in the memory as a fountain of noble inspiration. They are almost too ethereal for human nature's daily food, and it is granted to few to realise in actual life these counsels of perfection unaided.
Buddha failed to make allowance for the weakness of humanity. His stoic agnosticism and self-reliant courage ignored God, denied the soul, repudiated worship and prayer and made man the master of his fate. This line of thought was not new to India, however stamped with his own personality. But human needs and aspirations have asserted themselves, and Buddhism has been compelled to absorb
* (II) Sammã dițțhi, (2) Sammã sankappo, (3) Sammā vāca, (4) Sammā kam manto, (5) Sammā ājīvo, (6) Sammā vāyāmo, (7) Sammā sati, (8) Sammā samādhi.

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elements of doctrine and practice which he condemned. This has happened, especially, in the countries where the doctrine of the Mahdiyana (the Great Vehicle) prevails.
In China, Amitābha (Boundless Light), of whom Gautama Buddha is held to be an incarnation, and Kwanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, have laid great hold on the affections of the Buddhist population. Kwanyin (Sansk. Kanya the Virgin), is the gracious Sakti (Cosmic Power) of the Hindus.
Mother of millions of world-clusters, Yet Virgin by the Vedas called.
In Japan, Amitabha is the Eternal one who is the Light, the Way, and the Life, and took human form to open the door of salvation to all. Kwanyin shares with him the sovereignty of Heaven. In Tibet are worshipped these and other emanations of heavenly beings-Manju Sri, the personification of wisdom, Avalokitesvara, 'the Lord who looketh down '' on the world with mercy to help and protect, Vajrapana, and others, with a host of minor deities.
In Ceylon, which claims to belong to the purer faith. Buddhism is interwoven with the worship of the popular. gods of the Hindus and with animism and demonology, Under Mahāyānist influence Buddha has become a God. greater than others, but worshipped less fervently, for (as Robert Knox' found during his twenty years' residence in the Island in the seventeenth century) the popular mind looks to Buddha for the soul, to the gods for the things of this world. His own doctrine remains a dream of philosophers.
* Shipwrecked off Trincomalee in I66o, he remained an unwilling but favoured guest of King Raja Sinha II. for twenty years. Escaping to Europe, he wrote his excellent Historical Relation of the Island of Ceylons, published I68.

THE DHAMMAPADA 295
Fifty years ago Buddhism was at one of the lowest ebbs in its history in the Island. The arrival of Madame Balvatsky and Colonel Olcott, the founders of the Theosophical Society, and their zealous propaganda, materially helped the efforts of the saintly Sri Sumangala to stem the tide, and there arose a renaissance which has had far-reaching effects. Colonel Olcott, by his speechand writings, did much to remove the prevailing ignorance and indifference, and recalled Buddhists to a sense of the value of their Faith." He laid the foundation of that educational activity which has filled many parts of the Island with Buddhist schools and colleges.
Mr. Woodward is one of the noble band of Theosophists who have carried on Colonel Olcott's mission in Ceylon, and is perhaps the greatest of them all. Not being a Theosophist or Buddhist, I can speak of him more freely. Selfsacrificing zeal and devotion are commonplace words to use of him. They are often said of men, good and zealous in their way, who have had the compensations of good incomes and creature comforts, congenial friends and efficient fellowworkers. Mr. Woodward (or, to call him by his Sanskrit name, Vanapala) was little favoured in these respects. His was a life of ascetic simplicity and self-denial and strenuous well-doing. An English gentleman of the best type, he combined in a rare degree the culture of the West and East, combined also the active spirit of the West with the mysticism of the East. He belongs to the roll of the great apostles of Mahayanist Buddhism who carried its message and its culture over the mountains and deserts of Asia to the Pacific
It was uphill work for Colonel Olcott, but his magnificent courage and enthusiasm prevailed over every obstacle. I was then a Magistrate in the Kalutara district of the Western Province, and remember that well-known Buddhists, appearing as witnesses, would not acknowledge their Faith and swore on the Bible rather than affirm. The Portuguese and Dutch Governments had persecuted them, and
the English Government, though it did not persecute, continued for years many disabilities.

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Ocean. The Mahinda College, Galle, of which he was the mainstay for nearly twenty years, is a shining memorial of him. But who can estimate the gracious influence of his personality? The memory of it will be a cherished possession to his friends, young and old, and an inspiration to them all, and their gratitude and good wishes follow him unstintingly to his Tasmanian home.

A TRANSLATION OF THE SUTRAS OF
SIVAGNANA BHODHAM.
1. அவனவ ளதுவெனு மவைமூ வினைமையில் தோற்றிய திதியே யொடுங்கி மலத்துளதாம் அந்த மாதி யென்மஞர் புலவர்.
Inasmuch as the things called he, she, it (the universe) have the threefold act (appearance, continuance, disappearance), they stand evolved. From that into which they are involved (53ris) they by innate taint (Loadh, malam) are (again in like manner) evolved. The Last is the First, say the wise.
2. அவையே தானே யாயிரு வினையில் போக்கு வரவு புரிய வாணையில் நீக்க மின்றி நிற்கு மன்றே. Being those things (i.e., he, she, it=the universe) and Himself (i.e.; other than the universe), while by His Sovereign
power (g2600), according to their twofold deed, (souls) come and go, inseparable. He stands from of old.
3. உளதில தென்றலி னெனதுட லென்றலின் ஐம்புல னெடுக்க மறிதலிற் கண்படில் உண்டிவினை யின்மையி னுணர்த்த வுணர்தலின் மாயா வியந்திர தனுவினு ளான்மா.
Soul there is in the mdiya-machine, the body, for that we say "no, no' ('I am not the gross body, not the organs of action, not the organs of sense, etc.), for that we say, "This is my body', for that we know the five senses at work and at rest, for that in sleep there is no food (experience) or action, for that we know when made to know.
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298 A TRANSLATION OF THE SUTRAS
4. அந்தக் கரண மவற்றினென் றன்றவை
சந்தித்த தான்மாச் சகசமலத் துணரா தமைச்சர சேய்ப்பநின் றஞ்சவத் தைத்தே.
Not one of the inner organs (intellect, etc.) is the soul with them it is united. By innate taint (Fass, Ln6) b) it knoweth not. Like King and his Ministers, it standeth in the five; states (waking, dreaming, deep sleep, turiyam and beyond turiyam).
5. விளம்பிய வுள்ளத்து மெய்வாய் கண்மூக்
களந்தளந் தறியா வாங்கவை போலத் தாந்த முணர்வின் றமியருள் காந்தங் கண்ட பசாசத் தவையே.
By the (power of the) aforesaid soul, the body (i.e., skin)
mouth (tongue), eye, nose (and ear) know each (its appropriate object, touch, taste, etc.), but know not (each itself or the soul). Like them, (the soul) by the peerless Grace (of the Lord) knows (objects and pains and pleasures), but knows not itself (or Him). It (the working of Grace) is like iron in the presence of the magnet (i.e., God energizes the soul but remains unaffected).
6. உணருரு வசத்தெனி னுணரா தின்மையின்
இருதிற னல்லது சிவசத் தாமென இரண்டு வகையி னிசைக்குமன் னுலகே.
If He is a form knowable (by the senses or intellect, etc.) He is not real (i.e., is subject to change and is not lasting); if He is not knowable (in any way), He is not (i.e., hath no existence, like a hare's horns). Therefore neither as the one nor as the other, but as the Blessed Reality (SalfgS) in two ways the wise declare Him (i.e., not knowable by the senses, intellect, etc., but knowable by His Grace or Holy Spirit. அருள்).
7. யாவையுஞ் சூனியஞ் சத்தெதி ராதலிற்
சத்தே யறியா தசத்தில தறியா திருதிற னறிவுள திரண்டிலா வான்மா.

A TRANSLATION OF THE SUTRAS 299
In the presence of the one Reality (Sat) all things are nothing (sinyam). The Real knows not them. The Unreal hath no existence and knows not (the Real). The Soul which is neither one nor the other, knoweth both.
8. ஐம்புல வேடரி னயர்ந்தனை வளர்ந்தெனத்
தம்முதல் குருவுமாய்த் தவத்தினி லுணர்த்தவிட் டந்நிய மின்மையி னரன்கழல் செலுமே.
The soul's Lord, by reason of its meritorious acts (asaith, in past lives) appears even as Teacher and declareth: "Growing up among wild men, the five senses, thou hast forgotten (thy true nature)." Then the soul, quitting (them), wins oneness with the feet of Hara.
9. ஊனக்கண் பாசமுணராப் பதியை ஞானக் கண்ணினிற் சிந்தை நாடி உராத்துனைத் தேர்த்தெனப் பாச மொருவத் தண்ணிழலாம் பதிவிதி யெண்ணுமஞ் செழுத்தே.
The Lord, whom the eye of the flesh and of the mind (unsub, literally, "fetters') knoweth not, seek thou in thy heart with the eye of the spirit (65.7607&asatol) and when the universe (unish, 'fetters, mind and its creature, the universe,) drops off like the riderless chariot (mirage), cool, refreshing shade will be the Lord. (Till then) duly meditate on the five Letters.
10. அவனே தானே யாகிய வந்நெறி
எகனகி யிறைபணி நிற்க மலமாயை தன்னெடு வல்வினை யின்றே.
When He (the Lord) and itself (the soul) become one and its acts become His acts, there is no taint of malam (6007@uub), of mdiya or of deed of power (aud 65%07=ågåmya).
11. காணுங் கண்ணுக்குக் காட்டு முளம்போற்
காண வுள்ளத்தைக் கண்டு காட்டலின் அயரா வன்பி னரன்கழல் செலுமே.

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As to the seeing eye, 'tis the soul that (standing as one with it) shows and makes it see (itself and Him), therefore by unfading love (that never forgets its Benefactor) will be reached the feet of Hara.
12. செம்மலர் நோன்ருள் சேர லொட்டா
அம்மலங் கழிஇ யன்பரொடு மரீஇ மாலற நேய மலிந்தவர் வேடமும் ஆலயந் தானு மரனெனத் தொழுமே.
Washing oft the impure taint (Logoth) that keeps (the soul) from union with the beautifulgracious Lotus feet (of the Lord), consorting with His devotees, offer worship unto the guise of those who, free from delusion, are filled with love (of Him) and unto His temples as unto Hara himself.

MANDŪKYA UPANISHAD Translated into English and Tamil
MANTRA I.
Aumityetadaksharam idam sarvam tasyopavyâkhyânan bhatam bhavad bhavishyaditi sarvam aumkara eva
Yachchanyat trikalatitam tadapyaumkara eva.
Aum is that word. All this its setting forth is. What was, what is, what will be, all is but Aum. Whate'er else, beyond triple time, that too is Aum.
ஓமவ் வெழுத்திவையனைத்து மதனுரை. சென்றது, திகழ் வது, வருவது வோமே. முக்காலத்தப் பாலது மோமே.
MANTRA II.
Sarvam hyetad brahmayamatma brahma soyam. Atml chathushpât.
All this is verily Brahm. This self is Brahm. This self is fourfold (footed).
இஃதனைத்தும் பிரம மிவ்வான்மா பிரம மிவ்வான்மா நாற்காலது.
MANTRA III.
Jâgaritasthâno bahish prajñah saptânga ekonavimsati mukhah sthûlabhugvaisvânarah prathamah pâdaha.
Wake-seated, outward knowing, seven-limbed, nineteen. mouthed, gross eating-Vaisvanara is step the first.
நனவிடத்தன் புறவறிவ னேழுறுப்பனிரொன்பதோடொரு வாயன் றுலவுணவன் வைஸ்வானரன் முதற்கால்.
3OI

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MANTRA IV.
Svapnasthânontah prajñah saptânga ekonavimsati mukhah praviviktabhuk tayaso dvitîyahpâdaha.
Dream-seated, inward knowing, seven-limbed, nineteen mouthed, subtle-eating-Taijasa is step the second.
கனவிடத்தனுள்ளறிவனேழுறுப்பனிரொன்பதோ டொரு வாய னுண்ணுன் றனியுணவன் றைஜச னிரண்டாங்கால்.
MANTRAV.
Yatra supto na kanchana kamam kamayate na kanchana svapnam pasyati tat sushuptam.
Sushuptasthâna ekibhutah prajñana ghana evâ mandamayo hyânandabhuk chetômukhah prâjnastritîyah pâdah
Where the sleeper desireth not any desire, seeth not anydream, that is sleep.
Sleep-seated at-oned, mass-knowing, all-bliss, blisseating, thought-mouthed, -Prăjia is step the third.
துயில்வோ னென்று மவாவான் கனவொன்றுங் காணுஞ
யினது துயில்,
துயிலிடத்த ஞென்றனன் மொத்தவறிவ ஞனந்தமய
ஞனந்த வுணவன்,
நினைவு வாயன் பிராஞ்ஞன் மூன்றங்கால்.
MANTRA VI.
Esha sarvesvara esha sarvajjña esho’ ntaryâmyesha yonih sarvasya prabhavâpyayauhi bhûtânâm.
"This is the lord of all, all-knowing this, the inner ruler this, this the womb of all, the source and end of all beings."
சர்வேஸ்வரனிவன் சர்வஞ்ஞ னந்தர்யாமி எப்பொருட்கும் யோனி யெவ்வுயிர்க்கும் பிறப்பிறப்பிவனே.
MANTRAVII.
Nântah prajñam na bahish prajñam nobayatahprajñam na prajnana ghanam naprajñam naprajnam.

MANDÚKYA UPANISHAD 303
Adrishtamavyavahâryamagrâhyam alakshanam achintyam avyapa desyamekatma pratyayasaran prapanchopasamam sântam Sivamadvaitam chaturtham manyate sa åtmå sa vijneyaha.
Not inward knowing, not outward knowing, not both ways knowing, not mass-knowing, not knowing, not unknowing, not to be seen, not to be imagined, not to be grasped, characterless, not to be thought not to be described the essence of the knowledge of the self alone the world's end, peace, bliss, the non-dual, is deemed the Fourth. He is the Self: 'tis He that must be known.
உள்ளறியாப் புறவறியா விரண்டுமறியா மொத்தமறியா வறிவறியாமையிலாக் காணப் பாவிக்கச் சுட்டப் பற்ற வொண்கு மனேவாக்குக் கப்பாலாய்த் தானென்றேயன்றி மற்றில்லே யெனு முறுதிசார முலகமிறுதி சாந்தஞ் சிவமத்துவைத நாலாந் துரீயமென்ப ரவனுன்மா வவனறியத்தகுமே.
MANTRA VIII. Soyam âtmâdhyaksharam aumkâlâ dhi mâtram pild mâtrâ mâtrâscha pâdâ akâra u kâro makâra iti.
This is that Self as to the letters, is Aum as to the parts states parts, parts states: the A, the U, the M.
இவ்வான்மா எழுத்து மாத்திரையோம் மாத்திசைகால், கால்மாத்திரை, அகார உகார மகாரமாம்.
MANTRA IX.
Jagaritasthāno vaisvānarokārah prathamā mātrāpterádimatvadvápnoti ha vai sarván kámán ádischa bhavati ya
evam veda.
"Wake-seated, Vaisvánara, letter A, part the first, from pervading, from being the first. Who knoweth this, he
verily winneth all desires and becometh first."
நனலிடத்தன் வைஸ்வானா னகாரமுதல் மாத்திரை யியை
தலின் முதன்மையின னிவ்வாறறிவோன் வேண்டுவதெல்லா
மடைவனே முதல்வனுமாவன்.

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MANTRAX Svapnasthānas taijasa akäro dviliyā mitrotkarshād
ubhayatvâdvotkarshati ha vai jnâna santatim samânascha bhavati nâsyâ brahmavit kule bhavati ya evam veda.
"Dream-seated, Taijasa, the letter U, part the second. from being better or between the two. Who knoweth this, he surely increaseth his wisdom-range, he becometh equal, in his clan is born none who knoweth not Brahm'.
கனவிடத்தன் றைஜச னுகார மிரண்டா மாத்திரை மேன் மையி னடுமையி னிவ்வாறறிவான் ஞானப்பரப்பை விரிப்பன் சமமாவா னவன் குடியில் பிரமவித்தல்லான் பிறவானே.
MANTRAX.
Sushuptasthānah prājna makāras tritiyā mātrā miterapîtervâ minote ha vâ idam sarvam apîtischabhavati ya evam veda.
Sleep-seated, Prajna, letter M, part the third, from measuring, from being the dissolution. Who knoweth this, he surely measureth all this and becometh the dissolution thereof.
துயிலிடத்தன் பிராஞ்ஞன் மகார மூன்ரு மாத்திரை யளத் தலி னெடுக்கலி னிவ்வா றறிவா னிவையனைத்து மளப்ப னெடுக்கமு மாவனே.
He is regarded in same light by friends and foes and regardeth them
equally. t i.e., penetrateth into the nature of the universe.
i.e., becometh the cause of the universe. Cf. Sivajnana Bodham:-
அவனவளது வெனு மவை மூவினைமையிற்
ருேற்றிய திதியே யொடுங்கி மலத்துளதா மந்தமாதி யென்மனர் புலவர்.

MANDÚKYA UPANISHAD 305
MANTRA XII. Amatras chartho vyavaharyah prapanchopasamah
sivodvaita evam onkâra âtmaiva sannvisatyâtmanâtimânâm ya evam veda ya evam veda.
The partless Fourth, ineffable, the end of the world, Siva (benign), non-dual. Aum such as this is Self indeed. By Self he enters Self, who knoweth this, who knoweth this.
மாத்திரையில்லா நாலாந்துரிய னபாவ னுலகமிறுதி சிவ மத்துவைத மித்தகைய வோ மான்மாவே யிவ்வாறறிவா னிவ் வாறறிவா னன்மாவா லான்மாவை யடைவனே.

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Reprinted by the Department of the Ministry of Regional
Lanka, in commemoration ( Uniwersal Adult Franchise a Tid Conference,

of Hindu Affairs
Development, Sri f Fifty Years of | the World Hindu
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