Preface

“The Tamilians poured forth their intense love in their hymns, Tevaram and Nalayiram, the like of which is seen in no other language. Monotheism with all its moral grandeur shines ever resplendent in the Semitic languages. Law is the very breath of the Imperial Latin language. The Greek language is the embodiment of Art. The modern languages, the French, the German and the English march triumphantly along with the progress of Science. Philosophy is beautifully enshrined in the Sanskrit language. For a study of these higher aspects of life, one has necessarily to go to these languages. In a similar way one has to go to Tamil which stands supreme with its God-intoxicating and bone-melting hymns of intense love and light expressed in mellifluous numbers of exquisite beauty”.*

[*=Some Key words in Tamil Culture by Prof. T. P. Meenakshisundaram.]

If this is true, the study of the sacred hymns of the Shaivites known as Tevaram becomes of paramount interest. Shaivism has its best exposition as a living faith in these hymns.

The present work deals with the poems of Nampi Arurar, popularly known as Sundarar (Cuntarar), the last of the three Tevaram Saints, who modestly states that his verses repeat only the ideas of his predecessors Campantar and Tirunavukkaracar (Appar), a statement which we may translate as meaning that his hymns are the very quintessence of the other two great Tevaram poets. Nampi Arurar’s poems serve as a key to unlock the hidden treasures of Tevaram.

The Religion and philosophy of Nampi Arurar, as the message of this poet, have a greater value than any other aspect of his verses. But according to tradition his life itself is an expression of a great message. This necessitates a study of his life and fixing of his age. The verses sung by this poet being the main source of our study, the question of the number of verses sung by him has to be answered. The name Tevaram itself requires elucidation as well as the question of the age when this term came into use. The name Sundarar (Cuntarar) by which this poet is commonly known in modern times creates a problem, because it is not found in the earlier works.

There is again the question of the mythology of Arurar’s age. For a correct understanding of our poet’s references to mythology, apart from the Agamas and the Puranas, we have to search for some concrete representation of these stories. The phrase Virattdnam occurring in Tevaram shows us a way of grouping all the stories around that conception. The sculptures of Kailasanatha Temple at Kanci which belong to the age of Arurar according to the present writer, have to be studied with reference to the mythological allusions found in his own hymns. When it is remembered that Arurar’s language of mythology is one way of expressing his message, the importance of this study becomes clear.

All these are in one sense a study of the objective life of the poet. Philosophy as the spiritual message of the poet should be the crown of his inner personality or spiritual development. The verses have to be chronologically arranged so as to reveal to one the progress of his spiritual life. This requires a study of these verses from this point of view.

It is on the basis of these preliminary investigations that a study of the Religion and Philosophy of Arurar is attempted in the present work. All these points have not been discussed and solved in any previous essay or work though the present writer has received guidance from other authors whose writings he has quoted in several places.

In studying the Religion of Arurar the Thiruthondathogai, a hipnn giving the list of saints who appealed Arurar is considered by the present writer to be of great importance. The hymn, so to say gives a concrete picture of the Religion, our poet admired and revered. This hymn and the lives of the saints mentioned therein are studied so as to arrive at a conclusion about the extent of these stories which could have been in the mind of our poet. Periyapuranam, Inscriptions, other literary works in Kannada and Sanskrit and the representations of the lives of these saints in the famous Darasuram temple and elsewhere are brought together, probably for the first time to throw a flood of light on the refer-ences to these saints in the very poem of Tevaram waiters. The penultimate verse in that hymn is held as giving us a convenient and important classification of these saints and the conclusion is further verified by other classifications, if one may use that word found in the other hymns of Arurar. The nationalism of this hymn is emphasized in this essay as also our poet’s love of Tamil as the very form of the Lord, and the implications of this outlook are explained. Arurar’s theory of mantra and of the language of worship come in for study. This nationalism is next shown to be but a stepping stone for the universal outlook of our poet. This raises the question of the unhappy reference to other sects and it is shown here that these references do not run counter to our theory of Arurar s universalism. The details of worship have been interpreted and explained in terms of the Agamas, as all leading to a mystic experience of the Absolute.

Coming to the study of the Philosophy of this poet, his conception of Nature, Soul and God has been discussed from the point of view of mysticism. The importance of “Akattinai” poems or poems of bridal love, has been attempted to be brought out. The ethical point of view is also explained, as also the final goal of spiritual life as contemplated by our poet. To some it may be a disappointment that we could not label this poet as belonging to any particular creed or dogma. But the trend of the poems as studied by us leads us to only one conclusion that our poet was a mystic whose experience avoids all conflicts by its harmony.

The present writer does not remember that the subject has been approached from this point of view before, and he claims all the approaches and conclusions referred to above as his original contributions, subject to the sources which he has used and which he has acknowledged.

The Author is extremely thankful to all those* who offered their suggestions when preparing this work, viz., “The Religion and Philosophy of Tevaram with special reference to Sundarar”, and he offers his special thanks to the members of the Syndicate for having sanctioned the printing of the whole of his research work in four volumes.

[*= Prof. T. P. Meenakshisundaram Pillai, Prof. T. M. P. Mahadevan, Prof. P. Sankaranarayanan, Thiru. V. S. Chengelvaraya Pillai, Thiru. S. Soma-sundaram Pillai, Dr. D. Raghavan and Sri. S. Subrahmanya Sastri.]

The first volume viz., “Nampi Arurar’s Tevaram, His life and Age” was published and dedicated to the Vice-Chancellor of the Madras University on the day of his 71st birthday celebrations in January 1957. Now, volumes one and two are published as Book I, and volumes three and four which are in the press will be published as Book II in course of time.

The Author is thankful to the Vice-Chancellor for his having accepted the dedication and to the Professor of Tamil for his ready help and encouragement at all times and for his Foreword.

M. A. Dorai Rangaswamy,
Reader in Tamil, University of Madras.

15th August, 1958,
Madras.