had occasionally assisted him with fire for the performance of the rites of hospitality, eternal felicity. These fourteen house-holders, being of the Pancharatri sect of Vait'tan'aver, said," we will not seize on a branch of the brittle Murungei; we believe in Vittun'u only: gothou alone, O Azhwàr, to heaven.'' Then the A'zhwár having entreated Iswaren, he appeared in the form of the eagle-borne deity, bearing the sancu and chacram (the ensigns of Vishnu), and taking with him the fourteen house-holders to heaven, they attained to a high state of happiness. There was not any taken with them, who had forsaken the duties of domestic life, and, retiring from that state, had addicted themselves to the practice of religious austerities; therefore, it is said that the house-holder who dischargeth fully his domestic duties is superior to those who practise austere penance. In the 4th Canto of the 'Témbavan'i, பாலமாடசிப்படல்ம, Vira-mamuni introduces a controversy between the youthful Joseph, who, desirous of leading a life of devotion, had retired to wilderness, and an Angel in the form of an old-man, on the relative merits of seclusion and social life: from this the following extract is taken. நாடொறுஙகனிந்தசெந்தேனறகனியளித்தனன்றோ அநூலோரெனனவிளமபினானிளவலமாதோ காயொடு மரந்தந்தாற்போற்கடித்துறவருமைவெஃகி பெற்றறமணிந்தனல்லோய்பிறாமவினைவிளைத்தசெந்தீ யற்றறவோடித்தன்வீட்ழன்றதேபோலவேடகைப் பற்றறவுணாத்தியுளைம்பற்றியநசையில்வெந்தா றற்றவுறுதியெனனோவென்றனனரியசூசை தீதிலாவிடமே வேண்டிற் சேணுல கெய்தல்வேண்டுங் ரேதிலாதொழுகலுள்ளத்தியல்பினாலாகுமனறி "Is it preferable to present daily the honey-dropping fruits, or to offer at once the trce with all it's branches?" for, said the youth, “ the learned say that for the devotee to offer himself and all that he possesseth is perfect devotion," "O thou who art possessed of pure knowledge" said the old man, "whether as it preferable that a man, offering, as it were, the tree with all its fruits, should dwell alone in the wilderness, choaked with bambus, and attached only to the practice of austere penance, or that he should conduct others involved in sin, in the right path?" "Oexcellent man who art adorned by virtue," said the eminent Joseph, "is it right, that, while a man is instructing others to assuage the fire of passion he himself should be exposed to be consumed by it, like a man whose own house is burned while he runs to quench the flames which have caught his neighbour's house?" If thou art desirous of being where no sin is, thou must seek that place in heaven; even when retired to the wilderness, the assylum of innocence, the war of the passions may still rage; freedom from sin proceeds from strength of mind, not from difference of place, O my son!" replied the Sage. The argument is thus continued through many stanzas, the disguised Angel maintaining the superiority of domestic virtues and the youthful Saint extolling the virtue of retirement. It concludes with the following verses. பாற்கலந்திட்டதெண்ணீர்பால்குன்றும் பண்புமில்லால் மேற்கலந்தொளிர்ந்தவெய்யோன வெயிலுமுன்னெரித்ததீபம் பொறகல்நதிசைத்தமற்றப்புண்ணியந்துறவுவாய்ந்த மருட்டகுமியல்தீரமாட்சிமதியை மினசூழந்ததேபோற் Like milk mixed with water, which by deluting it decreases its natural properties, or like a lamp burning before the beams of the bright-rayed sun shining on high," said the youth, are all other virtues, which in truth are only sound, and can these, therefore, add any thing to the high eminence acquired by devotion? The Sage of lucid intellect tenderly embracing the youth Said; "As the stars surround the moon, may not benevolence, knowledge, affection, conS'ancy, forbearance, liberality and other unillusive virtues adorn devotion though it be practised in a Country abounding in every species of wealth. in the road of virtue; the loc. case of a way, road.4 causing to proceed regularly, that is causing others to be regular: the ger of the causal of gys to proceed regularly, to act according to rule. virtue.-year not slackening; this is the neg. ger. of @ss, which signifies primarily to pull, draw out, and, secon darily, to attenuate by pulling, slacken.- yes the householder; வாழ்க்கை this term is used personally for eran: many instances of similar substitutions occur in this work.-Ger than hermits, recluses; an appellative from G4 penance in the 5th case or abl. of penance, also the merit or virtue obtained by comparison. நோற்பாரின் religious exercises, either the act or the consequence of the act; it is a derivative from to be patient, to endure, whence, also, comes С Áпÿÿя to perform penance.-hath; the 3rd per: neu: நோற்றல் of உடை. VI. வைய வயத்து வாழ்வாங்கு வாழ்பவனவானு தெயவத்துள்வைக்கப்படும் Who in domestic joy thus lives on earth றையுந (10) May with the Gods, heaven's denizens, be ranked. "May with the Gods-be ranked"-Either because of the great felicity they actually enjoy, or because they are sure of being rewarded for the perfect discharge of their duties by being received into the celestial abodes among the Gods. Perimèl-azhager inclines to the latter interpretation- FLO யவ்வறப்பயனுகாதலொருதாையாககிறறெய்வத்துள் வைக்கப்படுமென றார As he will hereafter enjoy the fruit of his virtue as a God, the Author says he may be ranked among the Gods. s on the earth; the obl. the seventh or loc. case of a the earth.— domestic felicity. so; this term properly corresponds with there, in that place, but sometimes, as in the present instance, it has the meaning of guu so, in that manner. he who lives; the part. fu. masc. sing. of any , used indefinitely.- Heaven.- that frequent: the fu. part. of s to croud together, thicken, coagulate: emmän is here used fig. for மொய்த்தல் to swarm.-தெய்வத்துள் among the gods; the fifth or loc. case sing. used in a plu. or general sense and formed from the obl. by a with the sense of the pre. on, but signifying properly the interior. The sentence away, which cannot be translated literally, may be explained by the corresponding phrase கூடுறையுநதேனீகள் the bees which swarm in the hive, or தோப புறையுமாங்கள் the trees which cluster in the grove.-வைக்கப்படும் may be placed; the inf. of வைத்தல் to place, compounded with thethird pers. neu. fa. sing. of படுதல lo suffer, to form the passive voice. ILLUSTRATIONS. In adding the following illustrations, I cannot refrain from making an observation suggested by the fourth verse of the extract from the Cúrmapurán am, as immediately connected with the subject of the succeeding Chapter. The Indian moralists place the indulgence of the passion of love, abstractedly considered, among things wholly indifferent, and productive neither of vice nor virtue; they account it, consequently, in itself neither blameable nor praise worthy. In India, therefore, the feelings of nature have never been sacrificed on the altars of superstition, nor the primary command of the Creator to bis creatures annulled by human institutions: the preservation of the established order of society is regarded as the guiding principle in regulating the intercourse of the sexes, and hence, besides the variation of national custom, every separate tribe displays some difference in this respect.. Among all, however, celebacy is in no esteem ; on the contrary, when, it unhappily falls to the lot of an individual (as in the case of a betrothed virgin of a superior caste whose husband dies before consummation) it is considered the severest infliction of a retributive destiny. Terms equivalent to the word chastity, are here, therefore, confined to matronal chastity; thus in Tamil and in Sanscrit உதிவுதாவிச் a chaste woman, though not inapplicable to the unmarried, usually convey ideas of conjugal fidelity, not of" single blessedness." CA'SI-CA'N'DAM. றந்துளோரககுமிரவலரககுநதவித துறந்துளோர்கட்குந்துப்புரவீதலா ல்றந்தவாதுயரில்லறமாற்றுதல் சிறந்ததெனனவினிதுளந்தேறினான Fy affording due assistance to departed spirits, to the poor and to the devout, he determined in his mind that he would not swerve from virtue, but would discharge every duty of domestic life. டா பெற்றவே கொண்டருந்திப்பெறாதன் They who enjoy what they possess, and have divested their minds of covetousness for all they do not possess, not only perform with correctness their domestic duties, but excel every species of devotees. scdNDAM. ஆயிழையோடின்புறுமறத்தை முதலாற்று If, before thou hast fulfilled the pleasing duties of conjugal life, thou desirest to enter the excellent path of pure devotion, and if the poison of all deluding desire then infect thee, alas! can it be expelled even though fate itself should protect thee? துறந்தவர்கள் வேண்டியதோரதுப்புறவு நலகி யறம்பலவுமாறறிலிருந்தோம்புமுறையல்லாற To afford to devout men the assistance they require, duely to discharge the debt demanded by departed spirits, and, displaying all the virtues of the domestic order, to perform the duties of hospitality, is there in human life a greater degree of charity than this?· PAZHA-MOZHI, வேளாணமைசெய்து விருந்தோம்பிவெங்களத்து They who discharge munificently the duties of hospitality must be strong swordsmen in the field of battle, and, in no wise yielding to sloth, must be in continual practice, for without constant care the duties of domestic life cannot be maintained, BARADAM. ல்லையிற்றருமங்களுக்குட நதையாயத்தீமைக் கெல்லையற்றவச்சத்தினோடியனமகம்புரித றொல்லையேவிருந்தோம்புதல் பிறாதனந்தொடாமை யில்லறததிஞோர்செய்கையென்றருமறையிசைக்கும் ம To unite freely in fellowship with every virtue, but to fear with infinite dread to be in fellowship with vice; to discharge with exactitude the offices of religion; to practise hospitality in it's ancient purity; and on no account to touch the wealth of another: these the sacred Scriptures have declared to be the duties that those in a domestic state ought to perform. |