works, though similar passages might be cited from many others treating either directly or indirectly on religious subjects. On them I shall make no remarks, as they will, to use a colloquial phrase, speak sufficiently for themselves. The works from which the first extracts are taken is the principal of those in the Tamil Language on which the tenets of the modern Vaishnava or Va'sistàd waita sect is founded in that to which the second belongs the Adwaita principles are maintained. The metaphysics of these sects are as opposite as those of Priestly and Berkeley; but, however different in their philosophical opinions, their religious belief and practice, which they both derive from the Véda, is nearly the same. TIRUVAY-MOZHI. நீராய் நிலனாயத்தீயாய்க்காலாயநெடுமவானாய்ச் மண்ணும ண்ணுமகிழக்குறளாயவலங்காட்டி மண்ணுமவிண்ணுங்கொணடமாய்வமமானெ Thou art the water, thou art the earth, thou art the fire, thou art the air thou art the extended ether, Thou art the two regulating lights, thouart 'Siva, thou art Ayen( Brahmà); To rejoice earth and heaven thou assumedst a dwafish form and displayedst thy power : O Father of the energy which supports the earth and heaven, I perceive thee by meditation and dance with delight, Thou wilt assuredly one day approach me in this world! னவனவன வனவன உயாவறவுயா நலமுடையவ Who but he possesseth in the highest degree the highest virtue ? Who but he vouchsafest clearness of understanding to dispel the fantasies of the world ? Who but he is the Lord of deities free from all afliction? Bow O my soul ! at his resplendent feet by which the miseries of the world are removed. He removeth the impurity of the mind and causeth the flower of purity again to blow ; His knowledge is eternal and immeasurable, but he is void of knowledge derived from the organs of sense; He is intelligence, he, is perfect goodness; by the past, the present or the future He is not affected; he, who is my life, hath no superiors. யாவையுமெவருந்தானாய்வரவாசமயந்தோறுந் தொய்வில்ன்புல்வனந்துக்குஞ்சொலப்படானுணாவினமூாத்தி ஆவிசேருயிரினுள்ளானயாதுமொரபற்றிலாத பாவணையவகை கூடில்வவனயுங்கூடலாடும He who is himself all things and all persons ; whom, as every sect Believe, is not connected with the five senses; who is the consecrated image of the mind, The life of the soul; even he may be attained by attaining the power of perfect devotion abstracted from all sublunary things. TIRUVASAGAM. அரைசனேயன்பர்க்கடியனேனுடையவப்பனேயாவியோடாக்கை புரைபுரைகனியப்புகுந்துநின்றுருக்கிப் பொய்யிருளகடிந்தமெய்ச்சுடரே திரைபொராமனனும் முதததெண்கடலே திருப்பெருந்துறையுறை சிவனே உரையுணாவிறந்துநின்ற தோருணாவேயானுன்னை யுரைக்குமாறுணாத தே உணர்நதமாமுனிவரும்பரோடொழிந்தா ருணாவுககுநதெரிவரும் பொரு ணங்கியவெல்லாவுயிரகடகுமுயிரேயெனப்பிறப்பறுக்குமெம்மருந் தே திணிந்ததோரிருளிறறெளிந்ததூயொளியே திருப்பெருந்துறையுறைசிவ குணங்கடானில்லாவினபமே நின்வனைக்குறுகினோாக்கினி யென்ன குறை யே ன குறைவிலா நிறைவேகோதிலாவமுதேயீறிலாககொழுஞ்சுடர்க்குன்றே மறையுமாய் மறையின் பொருளுமாய் வந்தெனமனத்திடை மன்னிய மன சிறைபெறாநீரபோற்சிந்தைவாய்ப்பாயுந் திருப்பெருந்துறையுறை சிவனே இறைவனே நீயென்னுடகிடங்கொண்டாயினி யுனவன் யென்னிர்ககே னே நதிரந்துருகவென்மனத்துள்ளேயெழுகின்றசோதியேயிமையோர் கிரந்தனிற் பொலியுங்கமலச்சேவடியாயதிருப்பெருந்துறையுறை சிவனே கிரந்தவாகாய நீர்வில்ந்தீகாலாயவையல்வலயாயாங்க கரந்ததோரருவேகளித்தனே னுனவனைக்கண்ணுறக்கண்டுகொண்டின்றே O Lord! O my Father! even mine who am the slave of those who love thee! thou art the light of truth which pervadeth my body and my soul, which melteth my heart and dispelleth the darkness of falsehood. Thou art a placid sea of honey agitated by no wave, O Siven of Tiruperundurei! Thou, who art pure intelligence requiring the aid neither of speech nor thought, O teach me the way in which I should speak of thee! Thou art not fully comprehended even by the contemplative sages, the gods, or any order of beings; Thou art the spirit which pervadeth all spirits; thou art the sure remedy against Pepeated' births; Thou art the pure light which shineth in the midst of expanded darkness, O Siven of Tiruperundurei! Thou art unqualified happiness,-what more can they require who are united to thee? Thou art the full weight without diminution, thou art unadulterated nectar, thou art a hill of unextinguishable, eternal light; Thou comest in the words and in the sense of the scriptures and art for Ever fixed in my mind; Like undummed water thou flowest into my thoughts, O Siven of Tiruperundurei! O Lord thou hast taken thy abode within me,—what more can I ask ? O Sun arisen in my mind that by continual solicitation I may propitiate thee! Thou art he whose lotos-feet are placed on the heads of the Gods, O Siven of Tiruperundurei ! The expanded ether, water, earth, fire and air, these thou art not, But without form art hidden among them; I rejoice that I have seen thee now with the eye of the mind. These quotations are from books generally considered orthodox, whether that, from which the following are made, is entirely so, may be doubted. The author of this work, the title of which signifies a discourse on God, eschews alike the figurative mythology of the Purán as and. the mystical philosophy of the Upanishats and A'gamas; denies the efficacy of all religious ceremonies, whether prescribed by the Smritis or invented in more recent times; derides the notion that the Almighty could have made an inherent difference in his creatures; and, finally, with the doctrine of the metempsychosis, rejects most of the dogmas believed by the various sects of Hindus. SIVA-VA'CYAM. பண்டுநானபறித்தெறிந்தபன மலர்களெத்தவன பாழிலே செபித்துவிட்டமந்திரங்களெத்தவன மிண்டனாயத்திரிந்தபோதிறைத்த நீர்கடுளத்தணை Formerly how many flowers have I gathered and scattered, While yel in the prime of my life, how much water have I poured out? And, moreover, how often have I encompassed the holy places of Siven, This I have left off, for the wise who know the true God, the Lord of heavenly beings, Believe not the Idol of the temples apparent to the eyes to be God, nor lift up to it their hands. நீரையளளிநீரில் விட்டு நீரநினைந்தகாரிய மாரையுன்னி நீரெல்லாம்வத்திலேயிறைக்கிறீர் வேரையுனனிவிததையுனனிவிததிலே முளைததெழுந்த While taking up the water and throwing it again into the water (in performing the sand,hya and other rites) what is the object on which you think? On whatsoever you think you have thrown all the water vainly : Think on the root, think on the seed, and on the benefit arising from that seed; When you are thus able to think, you may approach the feet of God. அரியுமல்லவரனுமல்ல்வயணுமல்ல்வப்புறங் கருமைவெண்மைசெம்மையுங் கடந்துநின்ற காரணம் It isnot Ari, it is not Aren, it is not Ayen ; Far beyond the black (the colour of Vishnu) the white (the colour of Siven) or the red (the colour of Brahma) soars the everlasting cause ; It is not great, it is not small, neither is it male, nor female : Beyond every state of corporeal being it is farther, farther, and farther still. NOTE. The Second line of this verse is, also, interpreted as alluding to the three gun'a, or special qualities proceeding from the union of matter and spirit, namely, satwam beneficence, rájasam passion, and támasam malignity. To explain precisely the term used in the last line, duryam, translated corporeal state, would require a dissertation on the five avestà, and thirty five tatwams, or incidents of material existence, and a display of the whole philosophy of the Agamas. சாதியாவதேதடாசலந்திரண்ட நீரல்லோ கா துவாளிகாறைகமபிசூட்கமபொனனொன்றலலோ சாதிபேதமோதுகின்றதன்மையென்ன தன்மையே What, Owretch, is caste? is not water an accumulation of fluid particles? Are not the five elements and the five senses one? Are not the several ornaments for the neck, the breast, and the feet equally gold? What then is the peculiar quality supposed to result from difference in caste? கறந்தபால்முலைப்புகாகடைந்தவெண்ணெயமோர்புகா வுடைந்தசங்கினோசையுமுயிர்களுமுடல்புகா வடிந்தவோரடையினியுதிர்ந்தபூமரம்புகா விறந்துபோனமானிடரினிபபிறப்பதில்லையே As milk once drawn cannot again enter the udder, nor butter churned be recombined with milk; As sound cannot be produced from a broken conch, nor the life be restored to its body; As a decayed leaf and a fallen flower cannot be reunited to the parent tree; So a man once dead is subject to no future birth. As a further exemplification of the success with which Víra-màmuni has imitated, not merely the expression, but the modes of thought of the previous Tamil writers, the following stanzas are selected from the Tembavan'i. In the poem which is added, though by no means intended emulate this author in perfection of language, a similar imitation of the style of these writers has been attempted; with what success the reader will judge. TEMBA'VAN'I அறக்கடனியேயருட கடனீயேயருங்கருணாகானியே றக்கடனியே திருக்கடனீயேதிருந்துளமொளிபட்ஞான கி நிறக்கடவியேநிகர்கடந்துலகினனிலையு நியுருநீகிலநான பெறக் கடனீயேதாயு நீயெனக்குபபிதாவு நீய வனத்துநீயன்றோ கார்த்திரளமறையாக்கட மூழகாக்கடையிலாதொளிர்பரஞ்சுடரே நீர்த்திரள்சுருட்டி மாறலையின் றிநிலைபெறுஞ்செல்வநற்கடலே போர்த்திரளபொருதககதுவிடாவரணே பூவனந்தாங்கியபொறையே சூர்த்திரள்பயக்குநொயத்திரள துடைத்துத்து கட்டுடைத்துயிரதருமமுதே Thou art the sea af virtue, thou art the sea of grace, thou art the most benevolent, Thou art the sea of power, thou art the sea of prosperity, thou art the sea of wisdom which enlighteneth the mind; Thou art the confirmation and the life of the world, to whom is no likeness ; Thou art the sea by which I am confirmed, thou art to me as a mother and father; art thou not all to me? Thou art the infinitely bright and heavenly Sun, which cannot be hidden by the assembled clouds and which sinketh not into the ocean; Thou art the sea of Constant felicity which hath neither swell nor wave ; |