﻿XII. 



A summary Account of the Life and 

 Writings of Avyar, a Tamul Female 

 Philosopher, 



BY THE REVEREND Dr. JOHN. 



The Malabar s, or more properly the Tamiilsy 

 boast of havino- produced the celebrated Avvar, 

 one of their antient moral philosophers. 



This Lady's writings contain good general ideas 

 grounded in the science of morality. 



She was a PolytJieist, and invokes the God Sup- 



PIRAMANIEN, Or PuLLEYAR, the Son of SiVEN *, 



who is held by the Hindoos to be the protector of 

 Learning and Science, as Mercury was amongst 

 the Greeks. 



Her origin and birth, as well as the ^ra in which 

 she flourished, are lost in fable. 



Some pretend she was a goddess, one of Brimha's 

 wives, and had been guilty of a trespass, for which 

 she had been driven from heaven to earth, where she 

 was condemned to remain till she had perlbrmed suf- 

 ficient atonement for her sin, by severe and long re- 

 pentance. On earth she composed her moral writ- 

 ings, for the benefit of mankind, and particularly 

 for 3'outh. On account of her divine origin, she is 

 therefore highly respected. 



Z 4 Others 



* This appears to be an oversight of the learned author. Soopra- 

 MANIEN is the Hindoo God of war, called ulso Ca'rtice'ya (Karte- 

 KEYA and ScANDA (compare As. Researches, Vol. J. p. 262, with Son- 

 nerat's Voyage, Vo!. 1. p. 325, Odavo edition.) And Polle'ar, or 

 Ganesa, who is generally invoked at the commencement of every un- 

 dertaking, is compared by Sir William Jones to the Roman Janus. 

 He is said to be the eldest, and the former the second son of Seeva. 

 The Kandapranam, quoted below, is probably the Scd7:da-purdnay as 

 the name is written by Capt. V/ilford. (As. Res. Vol. IV, 

 p. 36.3.) Compare As. Res. Vol. I, p. 22/, with Sonnerat's Travels, 

 Vol. 1. p. 323. 



tiote by the Secretary. 



