அறப்பால் ON VIRTUE. CHAP. 1. கடவுள்வாழ்த்து The praise ofGod. The literal meaning of the title of this Chapter is preserved in the translation. According to established rale all Tamil compositions ought and, with few exceptions, all do commence by an invocation of the Deity, varying according to the sect of the writer. Tiruvalluver has devoted the whole of this Chapter to this subject. I. அகரமுதல வெழுத்தெல்லாமாதி As ranked in every alphabet the first Th' eternal God is chief. (0) Literally As A is the first letter &c: the first of our vowels, when pronounced short, is here intended, which is actually the first letter in all alphabets and the meaning of the distich, therefore, is, that, as this letter, however varying in form, is the first in all alphabets, so the same Deity, however varying in his energies and attributes, governs all nature. By translating the word 55 எழுத்து letters instead of " alphabet" the sense of this couplet would be-As the vowel A stands first among the letters (of the Tamil alphabet) so the eternal God stands first in the world-and this in fact, is the meaning given to it in the Latin Commentary. The foregoing version, however, agrees with the reading of Parimèl-azhager, who commenting on it says-LSICCA Wa டவெழுத்திறகு முதலாதனோக்கியெழுததெல்லாமென றார் It is not confin. ed to the Tamil alphabet alone; secing it to be the first, also, in the Northern (or Sanscrit) Alphabet he says all alphabets. It must not be objected to this that the world is in the singular number, as this word like many similar terms in Tamil, bas frequently a plural and general signification, as in the 3rd Couplet of Chap. 3rd, where it means the inhabitants both of heaven and earth. Here, moreover, generality may more especially be attributed to it, the adjective & all being so placed in the sentence as to qualify both letters and 2 worlds; thus affording two readings, namely, அகரமுதல வெழுத்தெல்லாம as thic latter A is first in all alphabets, and எல்லாமாதிபகவன் முதற்றேயுலகு the eternal God is chief in all worlds: instances of such double application of a single term are not uncommon in Tamil. "So in all worlds'--The Hindus believe not only in a plurality of worlds but in a plurality of systems called of which the entire collection constitutes the the universe; this belief is thus alluded to in the Tiruvay-mozhi the words of the holy mouth, a translation of the substance of the Védam, according to the Vaishnavas, into Tamil. விண்மீதிரு ப்பாய்மலைமேனிற்பாய் கடல் சேர்வாய Thou art in the heavens, thou art above the mountains, thou dwellest in the ocean, Thou revolvest in the carth, but among all these, though every where present, thou art every where hid; Thou art among other worlds, among systems beyond the reach of thought, And thou sportest, also, in my soul wilt thou ever thus remain concealed without manifesting thy form? This verse involves philosophic ideas of no small importance, and to impress, therefore, the truth of my translation it may be right to analyze the original expressions. That translated “thou revolvest in the earth," which so immediately opposes the Puranic system of geography and astronomy and which is in itself so just, is in the original composed of the words A Man' the earth, P♫ mídu in, on, above, among, it must here have the first meaning because it takes the second in the first line and the others in the two last, were it otherwise the rhyme would be incorrect, and person singular of the future tense of the verb yanш uzhelvay the second yuzhelel to revolve, used according to idiom in a frequentative sense; the literal meaning, therefore, is thou continuest revolving &c. The line translated "Thou art among other worlds, among systems beyond the reach of the thought," is composed of the following words, En' thought, participle past of the verb incompanies, pura other, u midu above, Diyan da, the iyelel to become unite, or collected saw an'dattày, an appellative noun conjugated in the second person, derived from the Sanscrit word LD அண்டம், andam which literally signifies an egg, or any thing oval, here a sphere, a solar system; fan'dattan the first form of the appellative, according to the rules of Tamil grammar means either he who presides over, possesses, or inhabits a system of worlds; the whole sentence, therefore, might more literally be translated, Thou dwellest among other systems of worlds collected in companies beyond the reach of thought.-The notion of a plurality of worlds, which Fontenelle has in modern times made popular in Europe, seems to have been known and admitted in India in the earliest ages. "Th' eternal God"-The compound HIV, thus rendered, bears correctly that signification, but the literal meaning of the first member of it is the first, the begining; both the terms are of Sanscrit derivation, and the compound, which follows, therefore, the rules of that language, is the only instance of the kind that occurs in this division of the work, the letter A. the ac. sing. governed by the following verb.sa conjugated from of the noun the beginning, having the force of the third per. plu. pass. and meaning they begin by, commence wilh. —oys☺sway all lellers; the nom. governing the preceding word conjugated as a verb.-all, this term, as is usually the case, here follows the word with which it is compounded.-Quse a San. scrit compound from the first, the beginning, and your) Deily, the final syllable being shortened.the third per. sing. neu. 3G terminated by the emphatice, from and governed by the preceding terin, which, although in the masc. takes a verb in the neuter gender as all words signifying God may do.—2 the worlds, the universe the sing, used for the plu. and the nom, for the ac. governed by 5pm. II. கற்றதனாலாய பயனென்கொல் வாலறிவ (e) What is the fruit that human knowledge gives, Due reverence be not paid? This version is nearly literal and requires no explanation. The terms here used to designate the Deity he who is pure intelligence has immediate reference to us in the preceding distich, as have all similar phrases throughout this chapter. " If at his feet "-In this and the following couplets the words, the worshippers of his feet, to express reverence, and those who are united to his feet, to express obedience, are used in the original; such use probably originated in the practice of substituting in the act of worship a material image for the inmaterial idea. The sacred writers, however, do not reject similar phrases and they are no doubt employed by Tiruvalluver in a figurative sense, as the being he addresses in this chapter is evidently the Eternal One," to whom there is none similar;" whom no symbol can express and no form design. ❤❤§ from that which was learned; the 3d or instrumentive case of the neuter pronominal participle past of to learn.—Eu which comes; the contracted participle of s to become used for 2.- fruit, produce, profit; the nom. governing the substantive verb understood.-what the contracted form of the neuter interrogative pronoun எனவன்.-கொல a particle, sometimes, as here, expletive, sometimes like @ implying doubtful interrogation.—a purity, truth z here used adjectively and qualifying the following term.- HUT he who is knowledge, or he who possesses knowledge; the former is the moregeneral meaning of similar derivatives, thus means he who is a bowman, not merely the possessor of a bow, and when conjugated @or I am a bowman, thou art a bowman &c; an appellative conjugated in the 3d Per. masc. from knowledge, the nominative being used for the 6th or Genitive Case-, for good, sam a fool, the nom. used for the 2nd or ac. case, and sıyri, நல the final being lengthened by e, they who do not யிரளபெடை, revere; the negative participle in the masc. and fem. gender and plu. num. of sys to revere.—if said, the subjunctive form of தொழுதல் to say; it has here, however, simply the sense of if and, united with the preceding negative term, means unless they revere. III. மலர்மிசையேகினானமாண்டிசேர்ந்தார் நிலமிசை நீடுவாழ்வார் They who adore his sacred feet, whose grace High o'er the earth shall soar to endless joy. (12) The allusion in the original could not by any form of words be preserved so as to be intelligible to the European reader; in this version, therefore, the commentary rather than the text, is followed. ai from wis to blow as a ர்த flower means literally a full blown flower, and figuratively a glad heart, a rejoicing mind, thus of his mind or heart blew as a flower, that is rejoiced, un sosoviðûssıa he caused his heart to rejoice." The original, accordingly, is ¡LYFCW©TM he who passes suddenly over the full blown flower, that is, who passes suddenly over the rejoicing heart and it alludes to the sudden afflatus of the divine spirit into the mind of the favored devotee, which purifies him from sin, detaches him from all mundane affections, and exempts him from the misery of future birth; to the effects of that grace, which " passeth all understanding," which at onee converts unrighteousness into righteousness, and which is vouchsafed to the sinful Publicain while it is withheld from the sinless Pharisee. The passage is thus interpreted by Parimel-azhager அன்பானிணைவார் துள்ளக்கமல்த்தின் கண வர்றிவினந்தவடிவொடு விரைந்து சேற்கினேகினான which may be thus freely rendered, he who passes suddenly over the lotos-flower of the heart of those who think on him with affection, appearing to their mind's eye in that form in which their several systems of religious belief lead their imagination to represent him. He adds இதவிபைபூமேனடந்தானெனபதோர்திப் யர்பற்றிப்பிறிது கடவுட்கேற்றுவாருமுளர் They are some who applt/ |