328 



Ixeport on ihe Mac/iCi/z'f Mufinacri/its. 



[Am 11, 



Note.— It is entered in Des Cat. vol. i. p. 21^5, lul. xxxvii, as con- 

 taining stanzas in praise of Siia as the only supreme or Par«*»esvara.'' 



20. yaIadi-pa(Ia-urai,^o. dd~Co\u){cvn\A\]i 208. 



21. The ?ame work, No. 100— Coiintcmiark 209. 



These two mmiiscripts are copies of a moral work, the contents of 

 which relate to ihe duties proper to various ages of life, particularly 

 those of penance and alms-giving, on which latter subject there is much 

 said, and mu( h on the use, and abuse, of riches. Certain evils and 

 crimes, are denounced as leading to future punishment in Naracn. The 

 work is of s>aperior composition in quatriiins ; and as ea. h Hue is term- 

 ed in Tamil poetry ;» foot, hence seemingly came the title of N<tladiyar, 

 by which it is popularly, and respectfully, denoted that is *' the respect- 

 able four lined one." 



It is ascribed as regards authorship to the Sainanar {Bauddhists, ov 

 Jaiiias), and had the rare merit of being spared by the bigotted Brah' 

 mans, when they destroyed all other books of their opponents, by cast- 

 ing them into the Vaigai river at Madura ; after the triumph of the 

 Saivas in the reign of Kuna Pandiyan. The story is that, whereas all 

 the other books went down with the stream, this one ascended four 

 feet against the stream, by reason of which wonder it was taken out 

 and preserved. This tale is however merely symbolical. A better 

 reason may be its being free from sectarian peculiarities, and available 

 to the advantage of Bralimanism. In the same manner the Cural 

 passed the ^ra/tman-orde.il, for a similar reason ; but not without a 

 symbolical tale being invented to give a colour of reason, and to render 

 the acceptance of a Pariar^s work pardonable. 



Remark. — As a moral didactic work esteemed to possess high merit, 

 invested with the sanction of the Madura college and being of high 

 popular repute, a good translation of the Naladi-pada-ural, well 

 edited, would be an acc[uisition ; and I am happy to learn that such a 

 version is in progress in able hands. The poem does not easily admit 

 of being abstracted except in a brief indication. The two copies are 

 complete, and in tolerably good preservation. The first of the two is 

 the most recently written. They are entered in the Des. Cat. vol. i. 

 p. 246, art. Ixxii. 



