96 



REV. G. U. POPE, D.D., ON 



tells US that all nature sympatliised with the suffering saint ; 

 sun, moon and stars withdrew their light, trees drooped, and 

 the whole creation languished. The sufferer in his prison 

 uttered lamentations, and made very touching appeals to the 

 god in whom he trusted. This part of the history is very 

 pathetic, and enjoys a great popularity among Tamilians. 



The second canto leaves him in prison, and the date of the 

 ];)romised arrival of the horses is at hand. 



§ 4. The " liorscsr 

 " It is the duty of the father to relieve the woes of his 

 children," and so (^ivan appears at the appointed time with 

 the promised horses. But here is seen the characteristic of 

 the god upon which all the Caiva writers delight to expatiate 

 — his sportive character : he deliglits to astonish, to bewilder, 

 even to delude the sons of men ! So everything in the 

 universe is the sport of (^iva. " He disports himself in 

 the universe and in the individual souls of men."* His 

 dance at Citliambaramf is the symbolic expression of 

 this. So in this case the god gathers together a vast 

 multitude of jackals from the forest around, converts them 

 into magnificent chargers, gives them into the charge of all 

 the inferior gods, who come disguised as grooms, while he 

 himself rides at the head of the troops disguised as the 

 merchant "vvho has brought the horses for sale from a distant 

 land. The tidings reach the king : " the purchased horses 

 have actually arrived! An innumerable host, they cover the 

 plains. The heavens are dark with the dust of their feet," 

 Of course the king sees how wrongly he has treated his 

 prime minister, who is at once released from prison, restored 

 to favour, and goes forth with the king to inspect and receive 

 the iDurchased horses. Wonderful indeed (and very prolix !) is 

 the Tamil poet's description of the cavalcade, and of the good 

 points of the horses. But the interest of the story centres in 

 the advent of Qiva, whom Manikka-Va^agar at once instinc- 

 tively recognises as his Master, but dares not openly worship, 

 since the deity willed to preserve his incognito. The 

 mighty divinity Himself stands before the Pandiyan king, 

 horsewhip in hand, and concludes the bargain; when it 

 appears that the horses delivered are Avortli four times the 



* "Khelati ande Khelati pinde." Comp. Tiru-Va^agam III, 121-141, 

 and Note I. 



t See Note VI, " Qithambaram." 



