THE HERITAGE OF INDIA SERIES HYMNS OF THE TAMIL SAIVITE SAINTS BY
F. KINGSBURY, B. A. Madras United Theological College t Bangalore
AND G. E. PHILLIPS, B. A. Lond., M. A. Oxon. United Theological
College, Bangalore ASSOCIATION PRESS 5, RUSSELL STREET, CALCUTTA
LONDON OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK, TORONTO, MELBOURNE,
BOMBAY, CALCUTTA AND MADRAS 1921 By permission of the Director,
Colombo M SIVA NAT A RAJ A AUTHORS NOTE THIS book has gone through
the Press under un usually difficult circumstances. During most of
the time one of the authors has been in Mesopotamia, the other in
India. Partly from this cause, and partly through practical
difficulties of printing, there are a few minor inconsistencies in
the application of the system of transliteration. The authors would
have wished, had it been possible, to alter the note on stanza 17
p. 27, which is there treated as a case of intercession for others.
Fuller comparison of this hymn with other similar ones in Tamil
religious poetry convinces them that the she -in the hymn is none
other than the devotee, who compares himself to a love-sick women,
as in stanza 19. They would also like to acknowledge their indebted
ness to Dr. Farquhar, General Editor of the Series, for much hard
work done in the interests of this book also to Mrs. Phillips, Mr.
G. S. Duraiswarny, B. A., and the Rev. F. Goodwill, for valuable
help given with proof reading. The Wesleyan Mission Press, Mysore,
which does not usually print Tamil, has been good enough for the
sake of this book to undertake an unfamiliar task, which it has
carried through with unwearied patience. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . .
. . CHAP. PAGE I. SAMBANDAR AND HIS HYMNS STANZAS 124 .. 10 II.
APPARSWAMIAND HIS HYMNS STANZAS 25 64 .. 35 III. SUNDARAMURTI AND
HIS HYMNS STANZAS 65 79. . 70 IV. MANIKKA VASAHAR AND HIS HYMNS
STANZAS 80136 . . . . . . . . . . 84 APPENDIX I SHRINES MENTIONED
IN THE POEMS 128 APPENDIX II SYSTEM OF TRANSLITERATION AND
PRONUNCIATION . . . . . . . . 129 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . 131
ILLUSTRATIONS 1. SIVA NATARIJA . . . . . . Frontispiece 2.
SAMBANDAR . . . . . . . . Following page 8 3. APPARSWAMI . . . . .
. ., 34 4. SUNDARAR .. .... .. .. 68 5. MXNIKKA VASAHAR .. .. .. 84
NOTE. The bronze statuettes of the poets reproduced in this volume
are not historical portraits but imaginative figures, created in
accordance with popular traditions and used in the worship of the
temple and the home. INTRODUCTION A The Hymns and their
Significance THE voice of chanting and song, to the accompani ment
of unfamiliar instruments, floats out over the high wall of the
temple in the coolness of the evening or the dawn, making the
Western passer-by wonder what it is that is being chanted and sung.
If only he had a Hindu hymn-book he thinks he could learn from it.
the spirit of Hinduism as well as a non-Christian could learn
Christianity from Christian hymns. For the Tamil country at any
rate there is such a hymn book, and our present aim is to give
enough specimens from it for readers to know what the hymns are
like. Englishmen are wanting to understand India more than they
ever wanted before, for their debt to India is heavy. Indians are
wanting more than ever before to know the wonderful past of their
own country, and the wonder of it is all bound up with its
religion. At such a time these hymns are worth looking into, for
they are being sung in temples and homes throughout theTamil
country, and Tamil is the mother-tongue of more than eighteen
millions of people. For pious Saivites they equal in authority the
Sanskrit Vedas the mere learn ing of them by rote is held to be a
virtue, and devout Tamil parents compel their children to memorize
them in much the same way as Christian parents make children learn
the Psalms, 2 HYMNS OF TAMIL SAIVITE SAINTS The hymns here given
are specimens from the Devaram and the Tiruvachakam. The Devaram is
the first of the collections of works held as canonical by Tamil
Saivites...
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