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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XIV. 



grammarians, it will be seen that his system is entirely different from 

 that of the Rig-Veda Prdtichdkhyas. The more scientific and refined 

 grammatical analysis of Panini and his technicalities will show that he 

 lived in a later age, when the science of grammar was far more 

 advanced. For more than 2,000 years the Pdniniyam has been 

 admired throughout India as a masterpiece revealed by divine grace. 

 The argument which I would draw from this is, that the Tamil 

 grammarian, when he deliberately set himself to model a system of 

 Tamil grammar on a Sanskrit prototype, would undoubtedly have 

 followed the unrivalled work of Panini in preference to the Aindra 

 Vyakarana, if the work of Panini had been known in his time. The 

 obvious inference is that the first Tamil grammarian, whether it be 

 Agattiyan or Tolkdppiyam who introduced the Aindra Vyakarana 

 system from Sanskrit into Tamil, lived prior to the age of Panini. So 

 much for internal evidence. 



As for external evidence, I will give one instance. According to 

 the Mahdwansa the celebrated teacher Anando, " who was a rallying 

 point, like a standard, to Tambapanne" had a disciple called Dipaii- 

 karo. This latter (who was apparently a Tamil) had obtained great 

 renown for learning in the land of the Tamils, and was the superin- 

 tendent of two religious houses there. It was he who composed " the 

 perfect Rupd-SiddhV The oldest compilation from KachchayancC s 

 grammar, according to Mr. Tumour, the translator of the Mahdwaiisa, 

 is acknowledged to be the Rupd-Siddhi. It seems, therefore, that even 

 in the early days of Buddhism the study of the science of grammar 

 was prosecuted in the land of the Tamils. 



I also agree with my honourable friend, the author of the Paper, in 

 thinking that the generally received chronology of Tamil literature 

 borrowed from Dr. Caldwell's Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian 

 Languages is very erroneous. In fact, the venerable author of the 

 Comparative Grammar had not sufficient materials before him at 

 the time he composed his work to draw up a correct chronology. Such 

 materials are, I fear, insufficient even now. I will give one instance 

 among many of the errors of Dr. Caldwell. 



According to Dr. Caldwell, the well-known Tamil work called 

 Mudurai was composed after the arrival of Europeans in India. The 

 only reason given for this startling statement is that the word 

 vdn-koli occurs in one of the stanzas ; and the word vdn-koli, accord- 

 ing to Dr. Caldwell, means " turkey," and as the turkey was introduced 

 into Europe from the New World after its discovery in the fifteenth 

 century, it must have been imported into India by Europeans. 

 But it seems to me that the translation of Dr. Caldwell of the word 

 vdn-koli into " turkey " is wrong. No doubt popularly the turkey is 

 called vdn-koli. But in classical Tamil vdn-koli does not mean the turkey. 

 It is applied to wild fowls, which are abundant in the forests of India 

 and Ceylon even at present. The word van in classical Tamil means 

 " wild," " uncultivated," and occurs in combination with other words. 

 Thus we meet with the combination van-pay ir, which means a " plant 

 which grows wild," or which requires no special cultivation. To draw 

 a conclusion about the date of an author from one single word, the 

 meaning of which has been misconceived, is, to say the least, very 

 misguiding. 



"While I am perfectly in accord with the author of the Paper in 

 admitting that the Tamils had a literature from very ancient times, I 



