m ■ 
 
 w 
 
 m 
 
 
 '■ 
 
 Oi m n r - '- 
 
 
 
 SOUTHERN INDIA 
 
 ^aAk^Vfakii^hmukan^ii^u^tmncrivianWvwnMi^^it^tbintn 
 

THE FOLK-SONGS 
 
 OF 
 
 SOUTHERN INDIA, 
 
 BY 
 
 CHAELES E. GOVEK, 
 
 MEMBBR OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY AND OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS, 
 FELLOW OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 L^L 
 
 
 MADRAS: 
 
 HIGGIJN BOTHA! AND CO., 
 
 1871. 
 
&£3 0S- 
 
 7 
 
 PRINTED AT THE LAWRENCE ASYLUM PRES8, MOUNT ROAD, BY WM. THOMAS. 
 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 THE FOLK-SONGS OF SOUTHERN INDIA ... 1 
 
 CANARESE SONGS 15 
 
 BADAGA SONGS 63 
 
 COORG SONGS 101 
 
 TAMIL SONGS 147 
 
 THE CURAL '. 201 
 
 MALAYALAM SONGS 246 
 
 TELUGU SONGS ... 261 
 
 274537 
 
INTKODUCTION. 
 
 About half of the songs in the following pages were 
 collected and translated for the Royal Asiatic Society, 
 and were read before that learned body about two 
 years ago. The essays containing them were thought 
 worthy of publication in the journal of the society, 
 but have not yet been issued, as the journal cannot 
 keep pace with the more valuable demands upon its 
 space. A few have also appeared in The Cornhill Maga- 
 zine, Beyond this the present publication is original. 
 
 Looking to the mode in which the book has been 
 composed, it may be said that it consists of "Essays 
 written in intervals of business." The portions re- 
 presented by the papers read before the Royal Asiatic 
 Society were written and their materials collected 
 during occasional sick or other leave, and the pleasant 
 labor thus involved added fresh zest to the enjoyment 
 which a holiday always brings to an overworked 
 Indian official. The remaining portions have been 
 written at times when arduous occupation made change 
 of work a necessity. These facts are not mentioned 
 as a plea ad misericordiam, for no author has a right to 
 inflict a bad book on the public on the ground that he 
 is not able to write a good one, but to explain the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 About half of the songs in the following pages were 
 collected and translated for the Royal Asiatic Society, 
 and were read before that learned body about two 
 years ago. The essays containing them were thought 
 worthy of publication in the journal of the society, 
 but have not yet been issued, as the journal cannot 
 keep pace with the more valuable demands upon its 
 space. A few have also appeared in The Cornhill Maga- 
 zine. Beyond this the present publication is original. 
 
 Looking to the mode in which the book has been 
 composed, it may be said that it consists of " Essays 
 written in intervals of business." The portions re- 
 presented by the papers read before the Royal Asiatic 
 Society were written and their materials collected 
 during occasional sick or other leave, and the pleasant 
 labor thus involved added fresh zest to the enjoyment 
 which a holiday always brings to an overworked 
 Indian official. The remaining portions have been 
 written at times when arduous occupation made change 
 of work a necessity. These facts are not mentioned 
 as a plea ad misericordiam, for no author has a right to 
 inflict a bad book on the public on the ground that he 
 is not able to write a good one, but to explain the 
 
vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 unequal character of the renderings of the songs and 
 account for certain sudden breaks in the narrative. 
 
 Two great objects have been kept in view through- 
 out. First, to exhibit irrefragable evidence of the real 
 feelings of the mass of the people, and thus enable 
 Europeans to see them as they are. Second, to draw 
 public attention to a great body of excellent vernacular 
 literature, in the hope that other persons, far better 
 qualified for the task than myself, will follow the 
 enquiry and publish critical editions and translations 
 of the great ethical works of the Dravidian Augustan 
 period. It is almost impossible now to obtain a 
 printed copy of any early Tamil book that has not 
 been systematically corrupted and mutilated, to meet 
 the views of those whose livelihood depends on the 
 rejection by the public of Dravidian literature and 
 its acceptance of the Puranic legends. 
 
 The first principle is of vital importance in connec- 
 tion with a subject that has never been thoroughly 
 examined — the race to which the Dravidian nations 
 belong. Since the learned book by Dr. Caldwell — 
 " Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian languages" — 
 was issued, it has been taken for granted that the 
 Tamils, &c, are a Turanian people. The progress of 
 philological enquiry, and the new means of analysis 
 furnished by the great German writers on language 
 have shown the error of this classification. Driven at a 
 very early period into the extreme south, and cut off 
 by vast oceans from intercourse with other peoples, 
 the Dravidian nations have preserved with singular 
 
INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 purity the vocabulary they brought with them ; and it 
 is probably not extravagant or untrue to say that 
 there is not one true Dravidian root common to the 
 three great branches, Tamil, Telugu and Canarese, 
 that cannot be clearly shown to be Aryan. As an 
 interesting example both of the true character of the 
 language and the linguistic progress made since the 
 publication of Dr. Caldwell's book, it may be noted 
 that the learned doctor gives an appendix containing 
 a considerable number of Dravidian words which he 
 asserts to be Scythian, and most efficient witnesses 
 to prove the Turanian origin of the language. It is 
 now known that every word in this list is distinctly 
 Aryan, although some of them have representatives 
 in the Finnish group of Turanian tongues — the group 
 which has been most constantly exposed to Aryan 
 influences. The greater portion of them are included 
 in Fick's Indogermanischen Grundsprache as Aryan 
 roots, although Fick does not appear to have seen 
 Caldwell's work. 
 
 This however is a digression. The songs do not 
 touch the question of roots or derivatives. On another 
 side of the same argument their evidence is decisive. 
 It has always been noted that the true Turanian 
 peoples are inferior to the Aryan in everything con- 
 nected with the moral nature of man. One recent 
 writer lays it down as a rule that the Turanian peoples 
 display "an utter want of moral elevation." Mr. 
 Farrar, the learned and eloquent author of " Families 
 of Speech," asserts (page 155) — "We may say ge- 
 
viii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 nerally that a large number of them (the Turanian 
 peoples ; — he has previously stated that the exceptions 
 are the Chinese, Finns, Magyars and Turks.) belong 
 
 to the lowest palceozoic strata of humanity peoples 
 
 whom no nation acknowledges as its kinsmen, whose 
 languages, rich in words for all that can be eaten or 
 handled, seem absolutely incapable of expressing the 
 reflex conceptions of the intellect or the higher forms 
 of the consciousness, whose life seems confined to the 
 glorification of the animal wants, with no hope in the 
 future and no pride in the past. They are for the 
 most part peoples without a literature and without a 
 history, and many of them apparently as imperfectible 
 as the Ainos of Jesso or the Veddahs of Ceylon, — 
 peoples whose tongues in some instances have twenty 
 names for murder, but no name for love, no name for 
 gratitude, no name for God." 
 
 This is but a fair description of the class to which 
 are said to belong the writers and learners of the songs 
 this book contains. It will be seen that the Dra- 
 vidian peoples possess one of the noblest literatures, 
 from a moral point of view, the world has seen. 
 Compare with the above, the remarks of the Rev. P. 
 Percival, in his excellent book — " The land of the 
 Veda" — " Perhaps no language combines greater force 
 with equal brevity ; and it may be asserted that no 
 human speech is more close and philosophic in its 
 expression as an exponent of the mind.... the language, 
 thus specific, gives to the mind a readiness and clear- 
 ness of conception, whilst its terseness and philosophic 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 idiom afford equal means of lucid utterance." The 
 Rev. W. Taylor, the well known Dravidian scholar, 
 declares of Tamil, the representative Dravidian tongue, 
 — " It is one of the most copious, refined and polished 
 languages spoken by man." And again in his Catalogue 
 Baisonnee of Oriental 3ISS. (vol. I. p. v.) " It is 
 desirable that the polish of the Telugu and Tamil 
 poetry should be better known in Europe : that so 
 competent judges might determine whether the high 
 distinction accorded to Greek and Latin poetry, as if 
 there were nothing like it in the world, is perfectly 
 just." Dr. Caldwell asserts — " It is the only vernacular 
 literature in India which has not been content with 
 imitating the Sanscrit, but has honorably attempted 
 to emulate and outshine it. In one department, at 
 least, that of ethical epigrams, it is generally maintain- 
 ed, and I think must be admitted, tliat the Sanscrit 
 has been outdone by the Tamil." Three such witnesses, 
 added to the hundred this book contains, suffice to 
 show that, whether as regards literature or morals, 
 the Dravidian people are deserving of and entitled 
 to the honor of omission from the Turanian family. 
 
 This is no unimportant matter. Looking to the 
 necessity that the governing race should not be dis- 
 qualified from performing its noble task by laboring 
 under a complete mistake as to the nationality, as- 
 pirations, feelings and errors of the people it rules : 
 seeing that the Dravidian peoples distinctly claim 
 unity of race and origin with the yet more cultivat- 
 ed Sanscrit nation that has settled among them : 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 knowing that Orientals look as much to points of 
 etiquette, which require in their observer an accurate 
 knowledge of popular social ideas, as to matters of 
 stern fact — would as soon be robbed as lose a title : 
 it is indisputable that there can scarcely be a more 
 serious and interesting question than that which would 
 enquire of the true character and position of the subject 
 nation. All this is over and above that interest and 
 value which is everywhere inherent in all attempts to 
 learn the true life and the inner feelings of any portion 
 of the great human brotherhood. 
 
 To show how a simple error in such matters may 
 lead to gigantic mistakes, and because the subject has 
 a close connection with the question under discussion, 
 it will be profitable to examine one feature of the 
 theory started by Dr. Caldwell regarding the South 
 Indian demonolatry. He shows truly enough that the 
 Shanars worship malignant beings, pure devils, and 
 proceeds to note that there is ample proof that the 
 Shanars, and the argument includes the Tamils also, 
 cannot be related to the Sanscrit race. He says — 
 "Every word used in the Tamil country relative to 
 the Brahmanical religions, the names of the gods and 
 the words applicable to their worship, belong to the 
 Sanscrit, the Brahmanical tongue ; whilst the names 
 of demons worshipped by the Shanars in the South, 
 the common term for " devil," and the various words 
 used with reference to devil-worship are as uniformly 
 
 Tamil The words used with reference to devil- 
 
 worship being exclusively Tamil, we are obliged to 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 assign to this superstition a high antiquity, and refer 
 its establishment in the arid plains of Tinnevelly -and 
 amongst the Travancore jungles and hills, to a period 
 long anterior to the influx of the Brahmans and their 
 civilization of the primitive Tamil tribes." 
 
 The most important word thus noted is Pe or as 
 Ziegenbalg correctly writes it Pey. It means a devil. 
 The places of worship are called Pe-Coils. Another 
 form of the word in Tamil is penam, a devil. Now let 
 us follow up this word. It appears in Khond as Pennu, 
 the name of the deity. But the object of worship is 
 the sun or the light, Macpherson says — " There is 
 one Supreme Being, self-existing, the source of good, 
 and Creator of the universe. " This divinity is some- 
 times called " the God of Light," by others " the Sun- 
 God, and the sun and the places from which it rises 
 beyond the sea, are the chief seats of his presence." 
 Again Macpherson says — a The Supreme Being and 
 sole Source of Good is styled the God of Light." It 
 is true there are other gods to whom the name Pennu 
 is generically given, and even the sun-god takes a pre- 
 name and is known as Bella Pennu, literally the " light 
 of the sun." But this, it is clear, does not touch the 
 question, for there are kinds of light which require an 
 adjective for definition. Then subordinate deities arose, 
 to whom, though not representing light, the name was 
 attached. This has happened everywhere. The San- 
 scrit word " deva" means the deity. But there are Siva 
 Deva, Vishnu Deva, Agni Deva and so on. Pennu ex- 
 actly corresponds with Deva and both mean "the light." 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 But how came Pennu or its root form Pey to be 
 reduced till it means a devil ? Macpherson again gives 
 the answer. He distinctly states that this worship 
 of light is "common to all the tribes." But the 
 Khonds are divided into north, middle, and south con- 
 federations. The former has degraded its worship 
 into a demonolatry. The deity exhibits nothing but 
 "pure malevolence towards man, and they believe 
 that while no observances or course of conduct can 
 change her malignant aspect into benignity, her male- 
 volence may still be placed in partial or complete 
 abeyance by the sacrifice of human life, which she has 
 expressly ordained." He describes the rites of this 
 horrid superstition, and they are the exact counterpart 
 of the Shanar devilry, where, by the way, the male 
 god has also been changed into a female devil. The 
 Khonds of the middle region have maintained the true 
 and earlier doctrine. Macpherson says of their deities, 
 the same as those worshipped in the north — "No 
 malevolence towards mankind is ascribed to them. On 
 the contrary they are merciful and benign towards 
 those who observe their ordinances and discharge their 
 rites. Instead of delighting in cruel offerings, they 
 abhor the inhuman ritual of the northern, southern and 
 western districts ; and they would resent with detesta- 
 tion any semblance of participation in it by their 
 worshippers." 
 
 This teaches us two things. First, that demonola- 
 try may surround deities that were originally good, 
 — human passions and fears may change a good 
 
INTRODUCTION. xill 
 
 into an evil spirit. Second, that the true meaning 
 of the word Pey or Pennu is not " devil" but " light." 
 
 But Dr. Caldwell asserts that the word is neither 
 Sanscrit nor related to Sanscrit. This is a strange 
 error. Before Caldwell wrote, it had been frequently 
 noted that the Dravidian Pe or Pey is identical with 
 the root of the Sanscrit pi-saeka, meaning a devil, a 
 malevolent being. The words are interchangeable. 
 There is no reason to suppose that the Tamil word is 
 derived from Sanscrit or vice versa, yet the roots are 
 identical. But Sanscrit authorities ascribe pisacha 
 to a root pis, to adorn, and this, as given by Benfey, 
 has the parallel form pimsa from the root pirns to 
 shine. This exact coincidence in both Dravidian 
 and Sanscrit forms proves their identity beyond a 
 doubt. The Sanscrit forms just quoted probably 
 belong to the great cluster of important roots that 
 has its centre in Bhd, to shine. Thus the Tamil Pey 
 and the Khond Pennu find their exact equivalents 
 in the Greek phab and phaino, from the root pha. 
 The same derivative appears in the gods Phanos and 
 Phaethon. 
 
 But the Dravidian tongues do not need these foreign 
 analogies to show that pey, a devil, comes from a root 
 meaning light. In Madi pey-al, in Butluk piy-al, in 
 Madia biy-ar, in Tamil pag-al, in Tuluva pag-il, all 
 mean day, the light time. Al and il are merely sub- 
 stantive terminations. In ancient Tamil pi-rei was the 
 moon, and in modern vey-il is the sunlight. In another 
 dialect peymoro is the light. A hundred other ex- 
 
xiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 amples might be given, proving beyond doubt that the 
 Tamil pey originally meant the bright one, that is, the 
 deity. As some Khond tribes made Pennu the god of 
 light a devil, so some of the Tamils, when cut off 
 from the better teaching of the fathers of their race, 
 degenerated in their worship and degraded their deity 
 to match their superstition. 
 
 It has always been easy to change a god into a 
 devil. The last word used is an illustration, for devil 
 is a clear derivative from deva, and is closely related 
 to "deity?" Opposing nations have ever called the 
 gods of their adversaries devils. But enemies are 
 not needed for this change. Ignorant sinful man 
 must ever look upon God as a being to be propi- 
 tiated rather than loved, and when such propitiation 
 becomes an instrument in the hands of ignorant and 
 poor but greedy priests, it pays well to make the 
 deity as dreadful as possible, that offerings may be the 
 more readily made to appease it. Out of Hinduism 
 came the devilry of Sakti. Kali the protector and 
 avenger is now Durga the devil. 
 
 The name of the devil-god of Tinnevelly, when thus 
 carefully examined, proves the exact opposite of what 
 Dr. Caldwell would learn from it. He asserts — 
 "of elementary worship there is no trace whatever 
 
 in the usages of any portion of the Tamil people," 
 
 The word shows, in reality, that the demonolatry is 
 corrupted from an early worship of the element light. 
 In the Khond country all the elements are worship- 
 ped. Caldwell asserts that the Tamils are not related 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 to the Aryan race, and adduces the name and worship 
 of devils as evidence. The name proves that the deity 
 is Aryan, and there is every reason to believe the 
 worship to be but one example of a process that hap- 
 pened in many Aryan races. Caldwell employs the 
 facts under notice to prove the Turanian origin of the 
 people. Their evidence is entirely on the other side, 
 though by no means conclusive either way. 
 
 The composers, teachers and, generally, the singers 
 of the songs belong to a distinct class in Hindu 
 society. The better castes will seldom sing, although 
 most liberal in their treatment of the professional 
 singers. Women will sing to their children, boys will 
 in their lightness of heart hum the more popular 
 melodies both in the street and at home, and there are 
 merry housewives who are fond of exercising their 
 sweet voices while performing their ordinary domestic 
 duties. As a rule, however, and invariably in public, 
 the singers belong to the religious mendicant frater- 
 nities, who make their chants subservient to their 
 fortunes, and sing for the scanty livelihood which falls 
 to the beggar's lot in a land where beggars are plentiful 
 as blackberries in Epping Forest. 
 
 The greater part of the singers now-a-days belong to 
 the anomalous class called nattuvan, the sons of dancing 
 girls, knowing nothing of their fathers and, therefore, 
 of the caste to which they should belong. Formerly 
 they were rigorously shut out of the Hindu body 
 politic, yet, as their mothers, they were not despised 
 or treated as outcastes. They were the property of 
 
Xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the God, bound to his service, entitled to a share in 
 his offerings. They grew up as musicians, as lighters 
 of lamps, as stewards and general servants in the 
 pagodas. In modern times the English law has made 
 a vast difference in their condition. If the mother be 
 well-to-do and can give her son a good education, she 
 tacks the caste title " Moodelliar" after his name and 
 sends him away from the place of his birth to a district 
 where his antecedents are not known. In his new 
 position none can deny that he is a Vellala. If he 
 become rich none would wish to refuse him the 
 privilege. Choosing the daughter of some poor Vellala 
 who finds it prudent to ask no questions, he marries 
 into his assumed caste. The issue of the marriage are 
 as good Vellalas as those who came in the train of 
 Agastya. In this way the sons of the temple women 
 are constantly absorbed. 
 
 Formerly such things could not be done. The 
 nattuvan found himself an outsider, civilly treated it 
 is true, but yet without a privilege and almost without 
 a right. Their numbers were constantly increased. 
 Wives were always ready to their hands in the female 
 offspring of the dancing girls that were not well favor- 
 ed enough to follow the profession of their mothers. 
 Thus the race was perpetually recruited. Things might 
 have gone badly both for them and the caste people 
 had not a door been open for their entrance into decent 
 life. There has always existed a class of devotees 
 named dasas or slaves to the deity. A man in deep 
 trouble vowed that if God should spare him he would 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 devote himself to God's service. Sick men in fear of 
 death vowed themselves to the life of a dasa if they but 
 recovered. Women longing for children vowed their 
 first-born to the deity that would give them issue. 
 Rebels in imminent danger of a horrible death fled to 
 the temple to find sanctuary in the life of a slave. Brah- 
 mans who had infringed the laws of their caste found 
 a safe haven and an accustomed life in the same state. 
 No questions of caste entered into the matter. Any 
 man might become a dasa, and any woman might 
 enter the ranks of the dasi. The dasa's duty was to 
 serve God at all hazards, at all loss. The Sanyassi 
 was a dasa, the Yogi was a dasa, but the class included 
 many who had small claim to sanctity. They must 
 have no worldly occupation but begging, *hey could 
 have no home but the fore'st or the pyalls of houses in 
 the villages. Their service was, first of all, poverty ; 
 secondly, singing ; thirdly, forgetfulness of caste. 
 Their reward lay in human honor and the certainty of 
 a living. None dared to despise the " slave of God," 
 none could refuse him a handful of rice or a couple of 
 oppams or chupatties. At weddings and feasts, at 
 fasts and funerals, at sowing and harvest, at full moon 
 and sankranti (the passing of the equator as the sun 
 changed its tropic,) the dasa must be invited, listened 
 to, and rewarded. At weddings, he must sing of 
 Krishna ; at burnings, of Yama ; before maidens, of 
 Kama ; before men, of Kama. As he begs he sings of 
 right and duty ; when he hears the clink of copper in 
 his shell, of benevolence and charity. 
 
XVU1 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Here then was the centre to which the nattuvan 
 converged, where he stood shoulder to shoulder with 
 Brahmans, Vellalas and Chetties. If he loved liberty 
 he left wife and child to live as an ascetic. If he loved 
 ease he set up as poojari or director of some wayside 
 shrine to Hanuman, Vighneswara, or Krishna. If he 
 loved profit he learned to read the Puranas and some- 
 times even the Vedas, and came before the world as a 
 pundit skilled in logic and perfect in ritual and 
 sacrifice. In either case he became the bard of his 
 neighbourhood, emphatically "the singer." If such 
 men be worshippers of Vishnu they are called Satani 
 or Chatali, and, in the Tamil country, Tadan. If they 
 adore Siva they are known as Pandarams ; while if 
 they belong to the uncompromising reformers known 
 as Yira Saivas or Lingayets they receive the title of 
 Jangams. 
 
 There can be few more pleasant scenes than when, 
 in the cool of the evening, the dasa enters some quiet 
 country village to find and earn his food and quarters 
 for the night. Marching straight to the mantapam or 
 many-pillared porch of the pagoda he squats on the 
 elevated basement, tunes his vina, places before him 
 his huge begging shell. The villagers are just return- 
 ing from the fields, weary with their labors, anxious 
 for some sober excitement. The word is quickly passed 
 round that the singer has come, and men, women and 
 children turn their steps towards the mantapam. 
 There they sit on the ground before the bard and 
 wait his pleasure. He begins by trolling out some 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 praise to Krishna, Vishnu or Pillaiyarswami. Then 
 he starts with a pada or short song such as those 
 with which this book commences. There is chorus to 
 every verse. If the song be well known, before the 
 bard has finished the long-drawn-out note with which 
 he ends his verse, the villagers have taken up their 
 part and the loud chorus swells on the evening breeze. 
 If the song be new they soon learn the chorus, and 
 every fresh verse bears a louder and louder refrain. 
 Then the shell is carried round and pice are showered 
 into it. When darkness closes in, the headman of the 
 village invites the singer to his house, gives him a full 
 meal and then leaves him with mat, vina and shell to 
 sleep on the pyall. In busy towns the singer squats 
 by the roadside and soon collects a crowd to hear his 
 song. The chorus here is less frequently heard. The 
 people cannot stay, their children are at home, they 
 hear a little and then pass on. 
 
 The contents of the following pages will give 
 samples of almost every kind of songs that thus catch 
 the public ear and dwell in the national heart. The 
 only exceptions of which I am aware are the episodes 
 of the great epics and the erotic chapters which I dare 
 not translate. Neither belong to our subject, for both 
 are purely Brahmanic, entirely foreign to the Dravidian 
 literature and mind. The word " samples" is advisedly 
 used. There is a great mass of noble writing ready to 
 hand in Tamil and Telugu folk literature, especially 
 in the former. Total neglect has fallen upon it. 
 Overborne by Brahmanic legend, hated by the 
 
XX 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Brahmans, it has not had a chance of obtaining the 
 notice it so much deserves. The people cling to 
 their songs still, and in every pyall-school the pupils 
 learn the strains of Tiruvalluva, Auveiyar, Kapila, 
 Pattunatta and the other early writers. 
 
 To raise these books in public estimation, to exhibit 
 the true products of the Dravidian mind, would be a 
 task worthy of the ripest scholar and the most en- 
 lightened government. I would especially draw atten- 
 tion to the eighteen books that are said to have 
 received the sanction of the Madura College, and are 
 among the oldest specimens of Dravidian literature. 
 Any student of Dravidian writings would be able to 
 add a score of equally valuable books. If these were 
 carefully edited they would form a body of Dravidian 
 classics of the highest value. If the syndicate of the 
 university could be persuaded to lend themselves to a 
 task so noble, they could with ease ensure that pub- 
 lication should meet with a demand sufficiently ex- 
 tensive to pay for the cost of editing. In the Rev. 
 P. Percival, Madras, has a scholar of remarkable 
 powers who yet has vigor and leisure enough to 
 accomplish a task so great, 
 
 It may not be considered a digression to protest 
 against the Christian mutilation to which the Tamil 
 classics are now liable, an offence not inferior in demerit 
 to that Brahmanic mutilation which has been so fre- 
 quently referred to in the text. A school of Christians 
 has arisen so forgetful of what is due to the great laws 
 of right as to be desirous of compelling a Tamil author 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 to run in a Christian groove. They object to that 
 most praise-worthy act by which the author of a Dxar 
 vidian book dedicates his book to the god he serves. 
 Men who learnt Juvenal at college and who send 
 their sons to England to become learned in all the 
 wisdom and vice of Greece and Rome : who are proud 
 when their sons gain prizes for proficiency in Ovid or 
 Terence : are so unconscious of the puerility and incon- 
 sistency of their acts as to think it a sin to read and 
 explain the humble dedication of his work to his god 
 by some poor Hindu. Would to God that Christians 
 were equally mindful of the duties they owe their 
 Maker ! A learned and estimable missionary has been 
 publicly condemned because he would faithfully trans- 
 late a noble poem without a really impure thought 
 in it, and was, therefore, compelled to commit the 
 awful crime of likening a woman's bosom to a pome- 
 granate. Aye, condemned by men who read the song 
 of Solomon in their families and from their pulpits. 
 
 A mere conventionality has tabooed all verbal 
 reference to matters that enter into the life of every 
 sentient being. It is perhaps well that it should be 
 so, but nothing is more absurd than to carry such 
 conventionalities into our estimation of foreign lite- 
 ratures, where such rules are unknown. This princi- 
 ple is always borne in mind with regard to the 
 European classics, but is forgotten when Indian classics 
 are in question. A large portion of modern Dravidian 
 literature carries freedom into license, but of such 
 books we need know nothing. In the early literature 
 
xxii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 there is little that so sins, and it is unpardonable 
 that Christians, who ought to be above fashionable 
 conventionalities and free from any suspicion of wrong- 
 doing, should deliberately mangle a fine work of art 
 because it will not fit modern English proprieties or 
 modern narrow-minds. 
 
 At the risk of unduly extending this preface, it will 
 be well to prove this point by quoting the following 
 from the " Classified Catalogue of Tamil printed 
 books" by that laborious, energetic and wandering 
 genius; Dr. Murdoch, whom to know is to respect. 
 
 "The Vedas have never been translated into Tamil; the 
 writings of Auvaiyar, Tiruvalluvar, and other poets, form the 
 real moral and religious code. They are taught in every 
 native school, and their dicta are received as infallible truth. 
 The bulk of the verses are unobjectionable ; some of them are 
 of great beauty and excellence. There are, however, inter- 
 mingled passages, inculcating idolatry and superstition of vari- 
 ous kinds. The following may be quoted as specimens from 
 the edition of the Tamil Minor Poets, printed at the Public 
 Instruction Press for use in Government Schools : — 
 
 Invocations. — " Milk, sweet honey, syrup, and grain, these 
 four mixed together, to thee will I give. Do thou majestic 
 noble, elephant-faced one, thou holy jewel, grant me the three 
 kinds of Tamil common in the world." — p. 28. 
 
 " Let us ornament our heads with the wonderful flower, the 
 foot of the five-handed glorious one, who is the mystic syllable, 
 Om."— p. 14. 
 
 Worship of Vishnu. — " Serve Vishnu." — p. G. 
 
 Worship of Siva. — " To those who medidate on Si-va-ya-na- 
 ma, there will be no suffering at any time : this is the way of 
 
INTRODUCTION. XX111 
 
 overcoming the decree of destiny; this is true wisdom; but 
 fate will be the cause of all other occurrences to men." — p. 31. 
 
 Rubbing of Sacred Ashes.— -" The forehead without sacred 
 ashes is void of beauty." — p. 31. 
 
 Pantheism. — " He will not make any distinction saying, 
 * This is good and this is bad,' ' I did this and he did that,' 
 ' This is not and this is ;' but in his state of perfection, it will 
 be true of him that ' he himself is that,' " (meaning God.) 
 —p. 36. 
 
 Fatalism and Transmigration. — " Each must enjoy the 
 fruits of his actions done in former births according to what 
 Brahma has written (on the forehead.) Oh king, what shall 
 we do to those who are angry with us ? Though the whole 
 town together be opposed to it, will destiny be frustrated ?" — 
 p. 34. 
 
 Although in these days of religious indifference, the worship 
 of " Jehovah, Jove, or Lord," may be regarded with equal eye, 
 every right-minded Christian will shudder at countenancing 
 in the slightest degree the crime of high treason against the 
 God of heaven. The British Government rightly puts down, 
 with a strong hand, rebellion against itself; it forbids the 
 teaching in its schools of the blessed words, " Believe in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved ;" yet in Govern- 
 ment school-books youths are taught to worship the gods of 
 the Hindu pantheon, and to believe that their foreheads are 
 void of beauty unless they bear the mark of rebellion against 
 their Creator." 
 
 In the extracts given by Dr. Murdoch, we have the 
 worst he could find, and there is not one that is in the 
 slightest degree objectionable, remembering that we 
 read Tamil authors. There is not a word that can be 
 compared with the impropriety of the "Christian" 
 paragraph with which Dr. Murdoch closes. Such 
 
xx i v INTRODUCTION. 
 
 forgetfulness of charity is always next door to mis- 
 representation. He would have it that, because Hindu 
 boys are required in school to read a Hindu book 
 embodying certain phrases, they are "taught to 
 believe that their fore-heads are devoid of beauty 
 ^unless they bear the mark of rebellion against Christ." 
 This is just as true as a similar assertion that, because 
 in school we read the Metamorphoses of Ovid, we 
 are thereby taught to believe that Proteus or Jove 
 is the true God, and that their disguises are true in- 
 carnations of the deity. 
 
 I candidly profess that I can see no difference in 
 guilt or folly between those who would modify Siva- 
 vakyer in a Christian direction, and those who would 
 make him speak Puranism. There is no better way of 
 perpetuating evil, or what is deemed evil, than to treat 
 it evilly, and the expurgated and improved editions of 
 some missionaries only lead Hindu enquirers to rush 
 to the genuine book and seek for the suppressed 
 passages. Every man of ordinary experience knows 
 that the very best mode of advertising a thing, be 
 it good or bad, is to cause it to be suppressed. Thus 
 " improved" editions seldom gain their end. 
 
 It was at first intended to issue w T ith this book the 
 vernacular originals of certain of the songs. This 
 design has been abandoned for the following reasons : 
 
 1st. — It was deemed of primary importance to make 
 the selection of songs as wide as possible, so as to cover 
 the greater part of the Dravidian peoples. This made 
 it necessary to occupy the whole book with English 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 renderings* Not only so, but the book is now consider- 
 ably larger than was at first intended and announced. 
 
 2nd. — So many languages are represented that few 
 readers would be able to follow more than a small 
 portion of the originals, and the rest would be so much 
 waste paper, 
 
 3rd. — It is hoped that an attempt will be made to 
 issue the genuine critical editions referred to on page 
 xx., and it will be better in every way to have com- 
 plete series of the songs and poems of which specimens 
 only have been given in this book, than to allow an 
 important literature to continue represented by a few 
 examples. 
 
 It remains to speak of the great assistance with 
 which I have been favored. No mention is made in 
 the text of the help to which I am so much indebted 
 with regard to the Canarese songs. It was intended 
 to speak in this place of the kindness which has been 
 so bountifully exhibited in the collection and trans- 
 lation of the songs generally ; but, while the book was 
 passing through the press, a discussion arose in the 
 English press regarding the best mode of expressing 
 the obligations due to friendly aid in literary work. It 
 was there decided that such obligation should be ac- 
 knowledged in the text where it is exhibited. From 
 the Badaga songs onwards, the help afforded me has 
 been gratefully acknowledged. I regret that one 
 amendment is necessary, with regard to the Coorg 
 songs and explanatory text. I have spoken strongly 
 and justly of Mr* Richter's kindness, but now learn 
 
XXVi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 (from an article and letter in the Madras Times) that 
 Mr. Bichter had himself employed the language of an 
 eminent missionary, Dr. Moegling, to whom therefore 
 my first thanks are due. Dr, Moegling's book con- 
 tains the whole of the explanatory prose inserted as 
 quoted from Bichter's Manual, but does not contain a 
 line of any of the songs. The unfortunate mistake 
 made by Mr. Bichter will not invalidate any one of 
 the many services he has rendered to Coorg. 
 
 Of the Canarese songs it is necessary to speak at 
 greater length. I owe the originals to the kindness 
 of two excellent and able missionaries, the Bevs. A. J. 
 O, Lyle and S. Dalzell. They followed in the foot- 
 steps of the Bevs. T. Hodson and J. Stephenson, and 
 thus a considerable body of the Dasarapadas has been 
 collected. The two gentlemen first named gave me 
 literal translations of most of the sonijs, and these I ren- 
 dered as they now appear. I am not aware that they 
 have ever before been translated into English, except 
 that some five or six, put into metre by the Bev. 
 Messrs. Stephenson and Greenwood, appeared in a 
 magazine now extinct, the "Harvest Field." After 
 the first paper for the Boyal Asiatic Society was sent 
 home, I learnt through Mr. Eggeling, the secretary 
 of the society, that Dr. Moegling had previously pub- 
 lished the text and a German translation of many of 
 the songs in Vols. 14 and 18 of the Journal of the 
 German Oriental Society. Before this I had come 
 across a rare Canarese text of twenty-four songs litho- 
 graphed by Dr. Moegling. It is a pleasure to ascribe 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXV11 
 
 to Dr. Moegling the credit of having first drawn atten- 
 tion to this very interesting literature, and to follow in 
 his footsteps. Lest however he should be held responsi- 
 ble for such errors as may have crept into these pages, it 
 is necessary to state that the only portion of Dr. 
 Moegling's labors that has been before me is the litho- 
 graphed Canarese text above referred to, and this not 
 till the greater part of my renderings were complete. 
 
 For the text of the Malayalam songs I am indebted 
 to my brother, A. G. Gover, Esq., Barrister -at-Law, who 
 was kind enough to make diligent search at my re- 
 quest. Some of the Tamil songs, and much aid through- 
 out, I owe to a young native friend, Mr. T, Davaraju 
 Pillai, b. a., to whom my warm thanks are due. 
 
 It would be wrong to conclude without publicly and 
 gratefully acknowledging how much of whatever merit 
 this book may possess is owing to the kind encourage- 
 ment of the Lord Napier, k.t., who has taken the 
 greatest interest in the work from its commencement, 
 and whose suggestions and criticism have been of 
 material benefit. But for the liberal subscriptions of 
 His Lordship and of the Madras Government, the book 
 would not have been published, nor would the col- 
 lection of songs have been so complete. The Madras 
 Government has shown of recent years a most earnest 
 desire to obtain and publish all available information 
 concerning the condition and wants of the great people 
 it rules, and if this work should throw any light on so 
 important a subject the pleasant labor of its composi- 
 tion will not have been in vain. 
 
XXV1U INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Nor must I omit to mention the generous aid of 
 Colonel Meade, the Chief Commissioner of Mysore, 
 and of Sir Seymour Fitzgerald, the Governor of 
 Bombay. Both gentlemen have, on the part of their 
 respective governments, done all that lay in their 
 power to forward an enquiry which cannot fail to 
 be interesting and may be productive of very impor- 
 tant results. 
 
 November 15th, 1871. 
 
THE FOLK SONGS 
 
 OF 
 
 SOUTHERN INDIA. 
 
 It has often been said that there is no better way of 
 discovering the real feelings and ideas of a people than 
 that afforded by the songs that pass from lip to 
 lip in their streets and markets. None know from 
 whence they come. Verses are added to or sub- 
 tracted from them as new ideas come in or old ones pass 
 away. Thus they keep up to date, as it were, the 
 expression of those inner feelings which never rise to 
 the surface of a set literature, but are in reality the 
 very essence of popular belief. Their satire is often 
 sharp, and never fears to attack shams, however vener- 
 able they may be. Such satire is often the only means 
 left to the illiterate and obscure of showing that the 
 priestcraft, the outer polish, the grosser abuses as well 
 as the showier fabrics, which to outsiders seem to be the 
 life of the nation, are in no sense the life or even a 
 portion of the life of the millions who in reality form 
 the mass of the nation, but who are far too often utter- 
 ly forgotten by those who judge a people by its upper 
 ten thousand. A lengthened residence in India has 
 shown that the' Dravidians or Hindus of Southern 
 
THE FOLK SONGS OF 
 
 India, and probably all others, are not what ordinary 
 descriptions of Hinduism would make them out to be. 
 With the exception of a few monographs like Hunter's 
 Rural Annals, and occasional descriptions of village life, 
 almost all books that have come before the public pro- 
 ceed upon the assumption that, as are the Brahmans, 
 so are the Hindus. They are filled with descriptions of 
 Brahman ceremonial. They comprehend only Brahman 
 literature. The vices and the virtues of the priesthood 
 are ascribed to the nation as a whole. There seldom 
 seems to dawn upon the mind a single suspicion that 
 perhaps so exclusive a caste, so jealous of contact with 
 the impure masses around, so determined to keep to 
 itself all the religious books, so pertinacious in main- 
 taining its own essential superiority, is not a fair 
 representative of the masses it despises, and with 
 whom it will have no dealings. As a matter of fact 
 the Brahmans are as different from the people in social 
 habit, religious practice, and mode of thought, as the 
 Greek philosophers from the vulgar crowd in Thessaly 
 or Sicily, who plodded in their fields sublimely indif- 
 ferent to the wrangles of Epicurean and Stoic, Peripa- 
 tetic and Platonist. 
 
 Even in religious Hinduism the same truth holds 
 good. The modern representative Brahman scorns the 
 service of the temples, and looks upon the actual 
 priests as a lower caste. In hundreds of pagodas the 
 poojari is not a Brahman at all ; and the church- 
 wardens, under the system recently introduced by the 
 Indian Government, are seldom Brahmans, even in the 
 
SOUTHERN INDIA. 
 
 larger and more sacred shrines. While the lower 
 castes flock to the temple festivals, the Brahman dis- 
 courses in his house upon the Vedanta, or criticizes the 
 doctrines of Sancaracharya, Raman uj a and Madhva- 
 charya — systems in which idolatry and polytheism have 
 as small a share as in the works of Berkely, Mill, or 
 Spinosa. Even the purohita, formerly the highest 
 dignitary in the Aryan economy, is now degraded into 
 an inferior, — one who must minister to the ignorance 
 and superstition of the crowd. 
 
 The Brahmans of Southern India are divided into 
 three great sects— those who believe that there is but 
 one soul, in short, that everything is God, (adwaita) — 
 those who believe that there are two souls, God and 
 Man, (dwaita) — and those who take a medium course 
 and believe that there is but one soul, which in man 
 and created things is somewhat different from the 
 divine soul, (visishta adwaita). To those who are not 
 Brahmans these philosophical distinctions are almost 
 unknown, and men worship a being to whom they 
 give the puranic names of Vishnu and Siva, Krishna 
 and Hanuman. While so many names are given and 
 acknowledged by every Hindu, as if each referred to a 
 separate deity, each person acknowledges but one as 
 his own God and ascribes to him all the attributes of 
 the Godhead. 
 
 It will be seen, however, that while the philosophy 
 of the schools is unknown to the crowd, the strong 
 tendency of the popular mind is towards monotheism 
 of a character not unlike that of the Visishta Adwaita 
 
THE FOLK SONGS OF 
 
 school. Vishnu and Siva are, according to books, 
 members of a triad of equal Gods, but in popular 
 theology the worshipper of either scorns the others. 
 One of the songs that follow condemns as utterly foolish 
 the man who honors Siva when his professed God 
 is Vishnu. In social life and act the worshipper of 
 Vishnu acknowledges but one god. He speaks of 
 Vishnu as if there were no other god. So with the 
 devotee of Siva, even in a greater degree. He transposes 
 the name into the neuter, Sivam ; and expresses thus 
 his belief that his deity is the one great essence, 
 without sex or corporeal shape. 
 
 This distinction has been abundantly and accurately 
 explained by many great writers. Yet the truth has 
 never come home to the European mind, because, as 
 such works went through the press, they were accom- 
 panied, and much more than out-numbered, by other 
 books on India — chiefly written by missionaries. The 
 latter dilated upon the enormities of vulgar Hinduism, 
 its millions of deities, the obscenities, quarrels, defeats, 
 and victories of the gods themselves. Clubbing these 
 together under the shade of the old proverb — " as are 
 their gods so are the people" — these authors have 
 ascribed utter abominations to the mass of the people, 
 until it has become the general idea that all under the 
 ranks of the higher Brahmans is one seething mass of 
 impurity, polytheism, and the grossest superstition. 
 Far be it from me to reflect upon the self-denying and 
 able men who have done so much to renovate India. 
 The greater the earnestness with which such men as 
 
SOUTHERN INDIA. 
 
 Ward, Arthur, Heber, Ziegenbalg, Duff and a host 
 of worthy compeers, applied themselves to their great 
 work, the more were they driven to abhor the religious 
 system that stood in their way, that is, the puranic 
 ritual of the pagodas. They naturally looked to the 
 priests and temples as representing Hinduism. The 
 temple Brahmans, excluded from the society of their 
 more intelligent brethren, have undoubtedly given 
 ample cause for every reproach. The traditions of the 
 gods as repeated in the temples are, to the present day, 
 too often hideous beyond conception. The literature 
 floated by the same class is obscenity itself. The gods 
 are viler than devils elsewhere. 
 
 But it has not been noticed how great is the gulf 
 between even the low class Brahmans and the higher 
 members of the Sudra caste. The Sudra hears these 
 stories in the temples, receives them without a blush 
 and passes them on to his sons ; but, out of the temple, 
 he is another man. The Brahman cannot come to his 
 house except to perform certain religious ceremonials, 
 may not eat with him, may not even touch him, dares 
 not speak to the women who are moulding the next 
 generation, does not even see him again until he goes 
 to some festival, which may not come for another 
 month. Meanwhile the Sudra lives, works, rules his 
 house, performs his daily devotions. He sees wherever 
 he goes, and in whatever he does, that truth and 
 chastity, honesty and industry, and all those other 
 virtues that the gods despise, are the keys of peace and 
 happiness. He knows that obscenity at home will 
 
THE FOLK SONGS OF 
 
 only bring ruin, and keeps his wife almost under lock 
 and key. He soon learns that, however it may be 
 among the gods, industry and skill are better things 
 than idleness and begging. He is as sure as he is of 
 his life that he cannot do business, cannot provide for 
 his family, unless he keep his promise and meet his 
 bond. If such be the case, there can be no hesitation 
 in his choice — the gods perhaps have a different rule of 
 life, because they are gods ; but that is their look-out. 
 As for him he will listen to and applaud the amorous 
 tricks of a Krishna and the thefts of other divinities, 
 but they must not shape his life. 
 
 But these Vaisyas and Sudras form the people. 
 The Brahman s, all told, are not more than a fraction 
 of the population. Even in Madura, a stronghold of 
 the faith, they are but one to fifty of the other castes. 
 In Northern India they are much more numerous, but 
 in the North-west Provinces they are only one in 
 seven. Everywhere it is the other castes that form 
 the working population, and it is they that have the 
 right to be considered the people of India. Close 
 observation for several years, and the extended friend- 
 ship with Hindus with which I have been honored, 
 have long shown that in all matters of daily life the 
 popular Hinduism of the priests is not found among 
 the lower castes. If such an illustration may be per- 
 mitted it might be said that modern Hindu life in 
 Southern India much resembles that of Europe just 
 before the Reformation. Instead of ascendancy on 
 the side of the priest and deference on the part of the 
 
SOLTHEltX INDIA. 
 
 people, there was antagonism, not only in act but 
 much more in thought and word. The priests were 
 necessary evils, not to be got rid of, but existing as 
 the mark of satire, and a vast proof that religion and 
 morals need not coincide. Church festivities became 
 fairs rather than times of worship, and even the very 
 churches were given over to a Lords of Misrule f while 
 the most sacred mysteries of religion were made the 
 means of murder and the sport of those who were most 
 bound to revere them. Yet everywhere there was the 
 feeling that, after all, the church was something that 
 at times ought to be dreaded. A man might live 
 scorning the priests, but he dared not die without abso- 
 lution. He might break every commandment when it 
 suited him, but he must be prepared for penance or 
 pilgrimage when his sins made him uncomfortable. 
 Such is really popular Hinduism now, and so has it 
 been for many generations past. 
 
 It will be said that such a state of things could not 
 continue ; that the Reformation was the necessary result 
 of the time of Erasmus ; and that some such movement 
 must have happened in India had the above description 
 been true. Precisely, and just such a revolution, 
 modified by nation and locality, has taken place ; except 
 that it has worked itself out so silently that few Europe- 
 ans have been aware of its existence. Religious Hindu- 
 ism in Southern India is now a thing of sects, each 
 under its own guru. It requires the acuteness and 
 learning of a Colebrooke to describe the bearings and 
 specialities of each sect. Every Hindu below the 
 
THE FOLK SONGS OF 
 
 Brahman caste chooses his sect, distinguished by certain 
 marks and signs. He promises unhesitating obedience 
 to the guru, who is seldom a Brahman, and gives him 
 divine honors. Every year he pays a certain proportion 
 of his income for the maintenance of his guru, and the 
 support of the sect. Occasionally the guru travels in 
 great state through the districts which contain the 
 most of his adherents. Everywhere he collects his 
 dues, receives offerings and gifts, teaches the peculiar 
 doctrines of the sect, initiates new members and, in 
 short, performs in an Indian fashion the functions of a 
 Pope. Very little is known of the inner workings of 
 these sects, but as a general rule it may be accepted as 
 a fact that while they do not absolutely reject the 
 ordinary puranic system — that is, the Brahmanic tra- 
 ditional system described above — their general tendency 
 is to import the results of the philosophical systems of 
 the higher Brahmans, and present a scheme, more 
 moral than religious, in which idolatry is unknown, and 
 the divinity is always spoken of as the great soul of 
 the universe, one and indivisible. There has been no 
 open breach between the old and the new systems, and 
 few members of a sect will condemn the most flagrant 
 instances of immorality exhibited in the temples. Nor 
 will they refuse to join in the ordinary temple services. 
 The excuse always given is that these things are fit 
 for the vulgar crowd, and it is not right to depart from 
 the customs of their sires. This silent revolution has 
 been, as far as can now be seen, altogether independent 
 of European influence and agency. In fact, by giving 
 
SOUTHERN INDIA. 
 
 to the people a more refined system of religious 
 thought, it has greatly tended to hinder the spread of 
 Christianity. It had begun long before the rise of the 
 British power. 
 
 All this points to the fact, with which we started, 
 that the people of India are not accurately described . 
 from Brahman sources ; and that in thought and habit 
 they are, in a marked sense, different from the sacred 
 caste. This has often been noticed ; but there has 
 always been a great lack of material for proving it to 
 those who have not lived in India or, having lived there, 
 took their knowledge from Brahmans. It is necessary 
 that the proof should be really popular and purely 
 indigenous. The dramas published by the Bev. J. 
 Long have done much to reveal local feeling in Bengal, 
 but Madras has not been so fortunate as to possess an 
 enquirer of like character. The following pages con- 
 tain the result of an attempt to fathom the real feel- 
 ings of the masses of the people, by gathering and 
 collecting the folk songs of each family of the great 
 Dra vidian nation. It has been the pleasant labor of 
 years to make this collection — in the plains where 
 dwell the Tamil and Telugu peoples : on the Mysore 
 plateau, the home of Canarese : among the hills and 
 valleys of the Neilgherries and the Western Ghauts, 
 sheltering the stalwart tribes of Coorg and the humble 
 Badagas of Ootacamund : along the narrow strip of 
 low -lying coast that parts the sea from the "Western 
 Ghauts and gives a home to the Malayalim tongue. 
 
 It would be unwise to describe the songs beforehand, 
 
 2 
 
10 THE FOLK SONGS OF 
 
 when the reader will find them for himself in the pages 
 that follow. It is, however, permitted to point out the 
 more salient features that mark them all. First and 
 foremost we see deep aversion to the lower Brahmanic 
 system, and a vigorous clinging to the love and goodness 
 of the deity. I say the deity, for there is no trace of a 
 plurality of gods. Vishnu, Purandala Vithala, Brahma, 
 Yama may be named, yet they are but epithets for the 
 one God and his minister, death. The temple stories 
 find no place here except, now and then, like Jannes 
 and Jambres in the New Testament epistle, as refer- 
 ences to a popular legend, legend really. 
 
 No one can fail to be struck with the sadness that 
 prevails. The world and every soul in it are so sinful, so 
 full of all evil, that man should give up all to save his 
 life ; and even then can hardly hope to succeed. " How 
 to cross the sea of sin ?" becomes the great question. Its 
 current is so strong, its waves so high, its hidden rocks 
 so many, that none but a strong swimmer can dare to 
 hope to reach the other side. Even he is so battered by 
 storm and rock, so exhausted by the contest or worn 
 by exertion, that when he seems able to touch the 
 shore his strength may fail, his heart grow weak, and 
 he sink back into the roaring tide. If things be so 
 with the vigorous manful few, how can the feeble 
 trembling many ever hope to see the golden feet of 
 the god whose help they crave ? It is inexpressibly 
 saddening again and again to note such songs as these, 
 and know that they represent the inmost feelings of the 
 better part of a great nation. 
 
SOUTHERN INDIA. 11 
 
 It is not hard to find the cause of so much sorrow. To 
 the great mass of the nation there is positively no way- 
 open towards religious peace, except in that hardest of 
 all courses — abstract faith in an abstract deity. Virtue 
 is its own reward, it is true ; but sin has its pleasures as 
 well, and they are near. Who knows what is virtue's 
 reward in a Hindu country ? Brahmanism has little hold 
 of the national mind in Dravida. The Brahmans are 
 foreigners, their doctrines or rather legends, as taught 
 in the temples, are repulsive or else vicious, and no man 
 can rest a troubled heart in them. The philosophical 
 systems of the thoughtful Brahmans are jealously kept 
 from the masses. "What then have they ? 
 
 Many of the songs would seem to show that the crowd 
 lean tenderly towards the Buddhist doctrines of absorp- 
 tion and annihilation. " It is better to die than live," 
 — better to die and never again know life, than to run 
 the risk of a new birth that may only produce fresh 
 sorrow, increased pain, and plunge the soul into another 
 series of births 'each worse than the last. If to live is 
 but to suffer such fears, doubts, and pangs as man has, 
 it is better not to live, — better to forfeit the possibility 
 of one day entering into the higher life, than to meet 
 the certainty of what seems a never-ending cycle of 
 forfeitures and penalties induced by that omnipresent 
 sin which not one out of a million can successfully 
 resist. But future nothingness, though better than 
 constant pain, is not a hopeful prospect. It is an escape 
 to be grateful for, not a pleasure to be proud of. To be 
 merely free from pain is but a very low goal for the 
 
12 THE FOLK SONGS OF 
 
 human soul to aspire to, and cannot give that zest and 
 glory to life which are required to make a man joyous 
 while he suffers, peaceful when surrounded by anxie- 
 ties, triumphant when he dies. He who would live 
 righteously in this present life is driven back on every 
 side. No repentance opens his way to pardon. A par- 
 don bought by offerings to despised priests and 
 immoral shrines will give no peace when Death draws 
 nigh. The sorrowing man is too ignorant to fathom 
 the philosophy of the schools, and too old to begin to 
 learn. 
 
 The songs divide into several classes. 1st, Moral 
 songs, dealing with the subjects described in the last 
 para. 2nd, Proverbial philosophy. This is a very large 
 class. 3rd, Songs representing the Adwaita system, 
 filled with high morality but strongly pantheistic, and 
 hence exhibiting the most curious paradoxes regard- 
 ing human conduct. 4th, Ancient Tamil songs of the 
 period when Dravidianism and Brahmanism were 
 struggling for the mastery — when men like Tiruvalluva 
 and Sivavakyer used their tongues and pens in favor 
 of deism and against the ceremonial polytheism of the 
 Brahmans, — when the best men poured out what are 
 distinctly called u songs of sorrow," and were very 
 Jeremiahs in weeping over the corruptions that surged 
 upon the land. 5th, Theological chants of considerable 
 length that can scarcely be called songs at all, contain- 
 ing as they do regular ethical essays. 6th Ceremonial 
 songs, belonging chiefly to the Hill tribes. The Badaga 
 and Coorg songs of this class are especially worthy of 
 
SOUTHERN INDIA. 13 
 
 attention. Interesting examples will appear in the 
 following pages. 7th, Labor songs, only met with 
 among the working classes. They are generally com- 
 posed in the vulgar dialect, and scorn the restraints of 
 grammar and the nice rules of poesy. 8th, Mothers' 
 songs, composed for and sung to children. There are 
 many such, but it is not easy for a European to gather 
 them. All of these classes are represented in the 
 following pages. 
 
 There is another class of songs, or rather chanted 
 poems, which has not come within the sphere of this 
 book — the episodes from the Bhagavatam, Mahab- 
 harata, Eamayana and the Puranas, which form so 
 large a portion of the public amusements. These are 
 distinct Brahman importations and are in no sense 
 indigenous. They are eagerly listened to, and form the 
 chief means by which the Brahmans plant in the 
 national mind the evidences of their own greatness. 
 Many writers, and notably Mr. Griffiths of Benares, 
 have given attention to and translated them. They do 
 not represent pure Dravidian feeling and therefore do 
 not belong to this subject. 
 
 It is the common remark of all who study Dravidian 
 literature that the older it is the purer it is. The fact 
 is induced by the growing influence of the Brahmans. 
 At first warmly repelled, because of the pretensions of 
 the priesthood, it gradually forced its way to the 
 front, as the influence of an educated and closely united 
 class ever will, mainly because it embraces all the 
 higher literature. For a while the fight was evenly 
 
14 THE FOLK SONGS OF 
 
 maintained, but the foreign element progressed till 
 almost the whole written literature of the country 
 became Brahmanic. Indigenous poetry fell into 
 undeserved contempt or, where that was not possible, 
 was edited so unscrupulously, that the original was 
 hidden under a load of corruption. Take for example 
 the songs of Sivavakyer. Purely deistical and strongly 
 opposed to idolatry and cumbrous ceremonial, they 
 were so vigorous as poetry, so fervid in expressing the 
 inmost feelings of every honest heart, and took such a 
 hold upon the people, that they could not be burked. 
 What followed ? The Brahmans have corrupted what 
 they could not destroy. The editing of all books gradu- 
 ally fell to them, because they alone had the leisure 
 and knowledge that literary labor required. To the 
 public demand for Sivavakyer they responded by issu- 
 ing " expurgated and improved" editions . Each editor 
 added new names and references to Siva or Vishnu, 
 left out further verses from the original, and softened 
 still more the many vigorous phrases. This process 
 was continued till it became almost impossible to dis- 
 cover the original. The Mackenzie MSS. contain but one 
 mutilated copy of a decently pure collection. The only 
 copies that I have been able to purchase are as obscure 
 and overloaded with puranic superstition as the legend 
 of any pagoda. The same thing has occurred with all the 
 best Dra vidian poetry. The Gnana Yenba cannot be 
 obtained at all, though in the 15th century it was one 
 of the most popular of books. The Tiruvalluva Charitra 
 has been remodelled till it appears that every early 
 
SOUTHERN INDIA. 15 
 
 Dravidian writer was a Brahman, although the very 
 object of the book was to show that Tiruvalluva and 
 his fellows were pariahs. . Still the book is looked upon 
 as something almost heretical, and this because it seems 
 to show that Brahmans could marry even Pariah 
 women in past ages without loss of caste, and that 
 early literature was chiefly cultivated by the indigenous 
 races. 
 
 In the Malayalim country, where Brahmanic influ- 
 ence is most powerful, the greater part of the popular 
 songs have perished without leaving a trace of their 
 existence. Even in the temple services translations 
 from Tamil puranic chants are constantly used. At the 
 other extreme of the social scale, where Brahmanism is 
 only now forcing its way, the hill tribes are musical 
 with ballad, lyric and dirge . They have songs for every 
 event in life . They cut the first sheaves of harvest to 
 a song. They come into life, are married, and die to 
 the music of some chant, song or requiem . 
 
 As far as my information extends at present, ballads 
 proper do not exist, except among the hill-tribes . By 
 ballads I understand songs containing a story, in 
 which the catastrophe or triumph is the key to the 
 whole piece. The tendency of the national mind is 
 ethical. The Brahmanic importations are usually vio- 
 lently amorous, or extravagantly wild. In neither case 
 is there room for the simple pathetic ballad. Modern 
 Dravidian literature (poetic) is almost confined to the 
 three classes of amorous poems, pagoda sthalams or the 
 legends on which the temples claim sanctity or honor, 
 
16 THE FOLK SONGS OF 
 
 and songs or rather poems in praise of a particular per- 
 son or deity. The second class is very numerous, and 
 the demand for them is great. Each pagoda has a grand 
 day or days, the anniversary of the event that is sup- 
 posed to have led to its foundation, and on these occa- 
 sions the legend is publicly recited or sold for a few 
 pice to the crowd. Now and then plays are published, 
 and there is now living a Tamil author whose works 
 are very popular. But they are so dreadfully long, 
 requiring several days for their representation, that 
 they cannot possibly be brought within the class of 
 songs. The Tahsildar Natakam (Natakam-play, drama) 
 is the most admired of this class. 
 
 But it is now time that the songs should speak for 
 themselves. They are arranged in order of language 
 and subject. As my first introduction to this literature 
 was through the Canarese " Dasarapadas," I give 
 them first, Pada is our English word pad, Latin ped- is, 
 and means a foot, corresponding with the English term 
 of the same meaning. It means a song or poem, 
 because it is composed of feet or goes by paces. Dasa 
 means a servant or slave, and is the name given to 
 those who devote themselves or are devoted by their 
 parents to the service of God, They are usually 
 attached to some pagoda or temple and perform all 
 menial duties there. In process of time the Dasas or 
 Dasara have become a singing caste and have traditions 
 and customs as other castes. Those not attached to a 
 pagoda usually obtain a livelihood by begging. Not 
 that they are despised or counted disreputable. Ear 
 
THE NEARNESS OF DEATH. 17 
 
 from it. To be a mendicant in the Puranic system is 
 to serve God in the most acceptable method possible. 
 The first three or four songs describe the attacks of 
 death and the uncertainty of life. The next point out 
 that inward purity is required by God rather than 
 outward service. The third class contain outpourings 
 against the sorrows of life, its pain v and darkness, 
 Lastly are several collections of proverbs. 
 
 THE NEARNESS OF DEATH. 
 
 1. " Oh ! what is food to me ! Death stands so near ! 
 
 Morn, noon and night his angels close appear. 
 In one short day they snatched, as past they ran, 
 My friend, my foe, the young, the grey -haired man. 
 Their wealth doth stay behind, although so dear. 
 There is no joy for me, my life is drear." 
 
 Chorus. — How near is death ! Mercy he cannot bring. 
 
 Then, oh my heart, cease from the world, and cling 
 With all thy power to tender Lakshmi's* king. 
 
 2. " Two days ago the marriage feast was mine, 
 
 And only yesterday I bought milch kine 
 Wherewith to start my modest home. My field 
 Is bright with corn, with gold my coffers yield, 
 I cannot die." While yet thou speakest, fool, 
 Dread Yama'sf step comes near. Farewell, vile soul. 
 
 Chorus. — How near is death ! &c. 
 
 * Lakshmi the goddess of beauty and wife of Vishnu, 
 f Yama, the god of the regions of the dead — the agent employed by the 
 higher Gods for carrying mortals away from earth to Hades. 
 
 :; 
 
18 THE NEARNESS OF DEATH. 
 
 3. " My house is newly built. E'en now they say 
 
 The mantras* that have power to drive away 
 All evils from my home. My wife is great 
 With child. The day that weds my son we wait. 
 Life is so good, I cannot, will not, die." 
 Vain fool ! Death's hand now shades thy glazing eye. 
 Chorus. — How near is death ! &c. 
 
 4. t% To-day the milk boils with the rice. We feast 
 
 The birth-day of our son. The next bright east 
 Will see the sacred threadf by priests thrown o'er 
 The shoulders of my heir." Oh, trouble sore ! 
 Thou say'st, " Thou canst not die." Behind thy back 
 Death stands and laughs, and fears not to attack. 
 
 Chorus. — How near is death ! &c. 
 
 5. He will not give you time. You may not eat 
 The rice that now stands cooked. Your eager feet 
 May bring no helping friends. Accounts must stay 
 Unpaid. In short, my friend, you must obey 
 When death doth call. Oh, heart, my trembling heart, 
 Think well on Vishnu's god-like feet. From him ne'er part. 
 
 Chorus. — How near is death ! &c. 
 
 * Magic sentences, generally unintelligible to the people. These senten- 
 ces are said to have the most miraculous power. Even the Hindoo trinity 
 are supposed unable to resist their operation. 
 
 | Brahmans, Vaisyas and the higher Sudra castes always carry a number 
 of threads, loosely fastened together, forming a string which hangs over the 
 left shoulder down to the waist. Investiture with the thread is the entrance 
 into manhood and conveys permission to join in all religious ceremonies. 
 It is said to represent a new birth, something like the baptismal regenera- 
 tion of certain Christian sects. After the ceremony, the young Brahman 
 receives the title of *' the twice born." 
 
DEATH. 19 
 
 DEATH. 
 
 1. He will not give you time to eat cooked rice, 
 Nor dim the gull whose note you've filed ; 
 
 No jewels from the box may make you nice : — 
 For Yama* gives no time. 
 
 Chorus. — Although you love your body, trust it not, 
 But strive to gain due merit for thy lot. 
 Thy lusty strength cannot avail one jot. 
 
 2. You wish to call your sister to your side, 
 And bid farewell to wife and child ; 
 
 To shed salt tears for facts from dreams so wide : — 
 But Yama gives no time. 
 Chorus. — Although you love your body, &c. 
 
 3. You cry that friends must not be left so soon, 
 That pulse and ghee to priests you'll send, 
 
 The marriage of thy son waits but new moon : — 
 Yet Yama gives no time. 
 Chorus. — Although you love your body, &c. 
 
 4. Your house is high, it seems the skies to touch — 
 Your purse is full, you ought to spend — 
 
 Your elephants and men want watching much : — 
 Still Yama gives no time. 
 Chorus. — Although you love your body, &c. 
 
 5. Your strength, you think, will ever stand your part ; 
 Yet worse than useless will it prove. 
 
 Let Purandala see a loving heart : — 
 Then Yama brings no fear. 
 
 Chorus. — Although you love your body, &c. 
 
 * Yama, the God of death and the infernal regions— the Indian repre- 
 sentative of Pluto. 
 
20 THE BEST FRIEND. 
 
 THE BEST FRIEND. 
 
 1. One begs of others for a wife, 
 
 On her bestows both rule and home, 
 
 He counts her half of all his life. 
 
 But when death comes, he dies alone. 
 
 Chorus. — Of all good things the best are three- 
 
 Wives, lands, and countless gain. 
 
 Which is the dearest friend to thee ? 
 
 2. One mounts the throne of mighty kings, 
 
 His palace girds with fort and wall ; 
 
 Of his great power the whole world rings. 
 
 His lifeless corse to dogs will fall. 
 
 o 
 
 Chorus. — Of all good things, &c. 
 
 3. King's grace, good luck, hard work and trade, 
 
 May load with wealth of coin or land. 
 
 What tyrants leave, the moths invade ; 
 
 For riches fly like desert sand. 
 
 Chorus. — Of all good things, &c. 
 
 4. In vain wives mourn, in vain sons weep, 
 
 Wealth helps e'en less in death's last scene. 
 
 Two things alone the gulf can leap — 
 
 The sin, the good, our life has seen. 
 
 Chorus. — Of all good things, &c. 
 
 5. In this weak frame put not your trust, 
 
 But think on Him with inward calm. 
 
 Is your heart clean ? For Him you lust ? 
 
 Then Vishnu is a healing balm. 
 
 Chorus.— Of all good things, &c. 
 
 -— «^— 
 
LIFE. 21 
 
 LIFE. 
 
 1. If men have no health, Sir, 
 
 What good is their wealth ? 
 If men have no wealth, Sir, 
 
 What good is their health ? 
 If both of the twain should o'er him reign 
 Do you think a good wife he will gain ? 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, Vishnu, thou wilt never give 
 
 Thy grace — the good man's vital breath — 
 To those who still in sin do live, 
 Whose feet run in the way to death. 
 
 2. Our frame is a house, Sir, 
 
 Short notice we get. 
 Our wives have the nous, Sir, 
 
 Examples they set. 
 Our houses we quit, like smoke we flit, 
 But the next is as bad or worse fit. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, Vishnu, &c. 
 
 3. If life you will trust, Sir, 
 
 Old Scratch will you nab. 
 To death go you must, Sir, 
 
 Your alms he will grab.* 
 " To-morrow" you say — 'tis just your way — 
 My advice is but this, give to-day. 
 
 Chorus — Oh, Vishnu, &c. 
 
 * The Poet refers to the world-wide practice of trying to buy off death 
 and future punishment by a charity that only begins when the hand can no 
 longer hold the wealth that it has laid up. He graphically describes how 
 the dying man is still reluctant to pay the very bribe he promises — he will 
 give " to-morrow." 
 
22 LTFE.. 
 
 4. Oh, where will you be, Sir, 
 In twenty-four hours ? 
 Grim death you will see, Sir, 
 
 Your pleasure it sours. 
 You say you wont go ? I'm sure you know 
 How they* grin as they hear you say so. 
 
 Chorus.— Oh, Vishnu, &c. 
 
 o. You see that men die, Sir, 
 How sick you soon grow ! 
 You cannot tell why, Sir, 
 
 In turn you must go. 
 " That's mine, this is thine" — such is his whine. 
 Better pray, so I say, while there's time. 
 Chorus. — Oh, Vishnu, &c. 
 
 6. Oh man, only dust, Sir, 
 A weak broken reed ! 
 If flesh you would trust, Sir, 
 
 A friend you will need. 
 In Vishnu you'll find a tender mind, 
 Take his feet to your heart — he'll be kind. 
 Chorus.— Oh, Vishnu, &c. 
 
 We now come to a series of the highest moral charac- 
 ter, exhibiting a purity of doctrine which is the last 
 thing most persons would expect to see in Hindoo 
 literature. The thought will often intrude itself that 
 here we find a standard of religious duty almost 
 unknown to the world, as intended for the masses, 
 except in the New Testament. Equally frequent will be 
 
 • The angels of death, sent forth to gather in the lost soul. 
 
TRUE PU11ITY. • 23 
 
 the reflection that Brahmanism, that is Puranism, never 
 could produce such works, and that the songs exhibit a 
 spiritual tone which makes one deeply regret that there 
 is so little left of indigenous Dravidian literature. The 
 songs that follow are but samples of a considerable 
 mass. It is odd indeed to hear them chanted, as I first 
 did, in the entrance hall of a pagoda dedicated to Hanu- 
 man, the monkey deity who so greatly aided Kama in 
 his search for Sita. The Bhagavat Gita contains noble 
 descriptions of the deity, but has no conception of faith. 
 On the contrary it teaches that the highest human duty 
 is that of meditation and the strictest ceremonial ob- 
 servance. The first of the series fitly introduces the rest, 
 in strains that, even in a feeble translation, send a thrill 
 of pleasant recognition through the Christian mind. 
 
 TBCE PDRITS- 
 
 1. Oh, wouldst thou know in what consists 
 
 The purity which keeps the soul ? 
 Behold the things the good resists, 
 The works that make the wounded whole. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh man, why boastest thou in pride, 
 The smalluess of thy mind to screen ? 
 Go, bathe thy vile polluted hide 
 In meditation's sacred stream. 
 
 2, Thy parents honor and obey, 
 
 Release the prisoner from his chain, 
 In Heaven's road for ever stay, 
 
 And think on Vishnu's wondrous reign. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh man, &c. 
 
24 ■ TRUE PURITY. 
 
 3. The common woman hate and scorn, 
 
 At neighbour's head no hard words send, 
 With honesty thy life adorn, 
 Desire the things which please thy friend. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh man, &c. 
 
 4. Examine oft thy inner self, 
 
 Deal justly in the market seat, 
 Proclaim the truth at loss of pelf, 
 Think long on Hari's golden feet. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh man, &c. 
 
 5. With good men let thy life be spent, 
 
 True wisdom strive to understand, 
 Read oft the Shastras God hath sent, 
 And seek for good from Vishnu's hand. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh man, &c. 
 
 C. Pay soon thy vows at sacred shrine, 
 Despise not e'en the lowliest thing, 
 Of evil eye fear not the shine, 
 But meditate on Lakshmi's king. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh man, &c 
 
 7. Abhor the pride that falsely tells 
 That thou art good and clean, 
 And bathe thy soul in sacred wells 
 From meditation's stream. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh man, &c. 
 
 The next song contains an attempt to render into 
 English one of the most characteristic Dravidian metres. 
 A certain consonant is selected to begin the first line of 
 
PURITY IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. 
 
 the verse. In the next line that consonant heads the 
 second syllable. In the third line it commences the 
 third syllable, and so on. To employ this metre lite- 
 rally would be both difficult and useless, as English 
 readers rely upon accent or rhyme alone and the 
 repetition of the letter would catch neither eye nor ear. 
 I have, therefore, substituted accent, and it will be 
 found that with each line of the song the accent moves 
 forward one syllable. The chorus is excepted. 
 
 PDBITY IN THE SIGHT OF GOD, 
 
 1. Purification before the Great God 
 
 Is greater than life and is stronger than death — 
 ' Tis the hope of the wise, 'tis the prize of the saint. 
 Where is the fount from which comes the pure stream ? 
 Chorus. — What profit can the sinner find 
 
 In washing oft ? How vain the care ! 
 God knows full well — He sees the mind — 
 That true devotion dwells not there. 
 
 2. Alms-giving lies at the base of the steps 
 
 That lead to the height from which purity flows. 
 To know wisdom and truth, and thy lusts to forsake, 
 Trust in thy God — meditate on His grace. 
 
 Chorus. — What profit, &c. 
 
 3. Drink the foul water in which have been washed 
 The feet of thy guru, and honor the words 
 
 Of thine elders and priests; to thy guests give thy best; 
 Cling above all to the feet of thy God. 
 
 Chorus, — What profit, &c. 
 
26 THE NAME OF GOD. 
 
 4. Purification must bring in its course 
 
 The hate of the bad and the love of the good. 
 
 'Twill bring freedom from prick of the conscience for sin 
 
 Union with God in his mercy and love. 
 
 Chorus.— What profit, &c. 
 
 The two songs that follow are pure metaphor, adapt- 
 ed to a high religious purpose. The first deals with the 
 name of God, which is described as being sweeter than 
 aught else to the man who loves and fears the deity. 
 
 THE NAME OF GOD. 
 
 1. My stock is not packed on the backs of strong kine, 
 Nor pressed into bags strongly fastened with twine. 
 Wherever it goes it no taxes doth pay, 
 
 But still is most sweet, and brings profit, I say. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, buy sugar-candy, my candy so good, 
 
 For those who have tasted say nought is so sweet 
 As the honey-like name of the Godlike Vishnu.- 
 
 2. It wastes not with time, never gives a bad smell. 
 You've nothing to pay, though you take it right well. 
 White ants cannot eat the fine sugar with me. 
 
 The city resounds as its virtues men see. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, buy sugar-candy, &c. 
 
 3. From market to market it is needless to run, 
 
 The shops know it not, the bazaar can have none. 
 
 My candy, you see, is the name of Vishnu, 
 
 So sweet to the tongue that gives praise as is due. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, buy sugar-candy, &c. 
 
COOKED RICE. 27 
 
 COOKED RICE. 
 
 1. Take virtue for your boiling pot, 
 Pour water cleansed with holiness, 
 With speed — a mind that wavers not — 
 Let honor strain the steaming mess. 
 
 Chorus. — Be sure you take cooked rice with you, 
 Take pains to pack cooked rice, pray do. 
 Your joy will be beyond all price 
 If you but pack enough cooked rice. 
 
 2. Spread wisdom's cloth, so free from taint, 
 And sprinkle curds of manner grave. 
 Then with the grace of firm restraint 
 
 To Hari offer all He gave. 
 
 Chorus. — Be sure you take, &c. 
 
 3. Great Vishnu is my stock of food, 
 My bag of rice so oft untied. 
 Each day I eat — 'tis always good. 
 All those who eat are satisfied. 
 
 Chorus. — Be sure you take, &c. 
 
 We now turn to one of the bitterest pieces of satire 
 that can anywhere be met with. The contrast of style 
 and matter with those that have preceded it is very 
 striking ; yet it cannot be called illnatured, for it points 
 at a class and not at individuals. Each verse contains an 
 antithesis, comparing sinful deeds with the hypocritical 
 religious fervour so often employed either to conceal 
 or expiate a sin which is still continued. The first two 
 lines contain the vice, the last two the sanctimonious 
 zeal which is intended to hoodwink both God and man. 
 
28 WHY I LAUGH. 
 
 WHY I LAUGH. 
 
 1. One night I saw a man 
 
 Kissing a harlot's lips. 
 Next morn to bathe he ran, 
 
 And prayed on finger tips !* 
 Chorus. — Oh, how I laugh ! I laugh out loud. 
 It makes me laugh to see the crowd, 
 Such tricks they do. I oft have vowed 
 I'd laugh no more : with it I'm bowed. 
 
 2. A woman left her house 
 
 And joined a man as mean. 
 She made a thousand vows 
 And washed at holy stream ! 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, how I laugh ! &c. 
 
 3. I saw one live in lust, 
 
 His gentle words were few. 
 He fed upon a crust, 
 
 And thought upon Vishnu ! 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, how I laugh ! &c 
 
 CEREMONIAL NOT RELIGION- 
 
 1. You bathe, in meditation pass the day, 
 And sit or stand as still as any crane ! 
 You meditate ? A foolish dream, I say ! 
 Can Krishna, who himself cut short the reign 
 Of demons and their imps, love aught but deeds ? 
 
 * He counted on his fingers the prayers he uttered that he might be sure 
 he omitted none and thus performed his full religious duty. 
 
GOD THE SAVIOUR. 29 
 
 Chorus. — Tis surely worse than fool would do, 
 To flog and starve thy fleshly part ; 
 When thou hast never set thy heart 
 On Lakshmi's Lord, the great Vishnu. 
 
 2. What good can come from sitting like a bear 
 And- crying ever — " I will pray, will pray ;" 
 Yet, to escape a bore, will count each prayer ? 
 One prayer alone yields fruit, and that for aye — ■ 
 The great and goodly name, Narayana. 
 
 Chorus. — 'Tis surely worse than fool would do, &c. 
 
 3. Oh God, didst thou not in the former time 
 Forgive Jamila's sins, in that his tongue* 
 
 Gave forth thy name ? Oh Soul, what doubts are thine 
 And fears ! stay not, flee at once, as stung 
 By snake or bee. Keep Vishnu in thy view. 
 
 Chorus. — 'Tis surely worse than fool would do, &c. 
 
 GOD THE SAVIOUK. 
 
 1. When proud Komava raised the robe 
 That covered Draupad's charms,-f- 
 Her five brave husbands, mad with rage, 
 Were helpless to protect. 
 Oh, Hari, thou wast near to save. 
 How strong art thou and brave ! 
 
 * This refers to a popular legend regarding a notorious thief. He was 
 one day surprised by a tiger, and in his fright ejaculated the words ** Oh 
 Hari, Hari." The God immediately sent help and relieved Jamila from 
 his danger. The robber was so grateful for the divine interposition that 
 he erected a shrine on the spot and became an ascetic. 
 
 f This is a well known incident in the story of the Pandus as related in 
 the Mahabharata. Each verse that follows contains a similar reference. 
 The Dravidian poet draws a useful lesson from the Brahmanic legends. 
 
30 OUTWARD RITES NOT RELIGION. 
 
 Chorus. — If Hari be not mine, 
 
 Who else can help or see ? 
 
 Oh, Hari, grace and strength are thine. 
 
 Be ever near to me ! 
 
 2. If thou, oh father, hadst not come, 
 Great Vishnu's sword in hand, 
 And split the gaping monster's mouth 
 The friendly king had died. 
 Oh Vishnu, who can save like thee? 
 So great thy help and free ! 
 
 Chorus. — If Hari be not mine, &c. 
 
 .3. When Agmilanu broke his caste 
 Death's Angels shadowed him. 
 Yet thou, Lord of worlds, didst hear 
 His weeping children's cry. 
 How swift thy Angels flew to help ! 
 His life was from thyself. 
 
 Chorus. — If Hari be not mine, &c. 
 
 OUTWAED KITES NOT RELIGION, 
 
 1. Oh Soul ! What good can Ganges give ? 
 Can water cleanse, or thinking long 
 On God ? When still thy feet choose sin, 
 And merit springs not from thy deeds. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh heart ! My heart ! How vile art thou ! 
 No hound more mad than thou art now. 
 Can folly bring thee peace or praise ? 
 Then turn, oh fool, and lift thy gaze 
 To never dying Vishnu's feet. 
 
OUTWARD RITES NOT RELIGION. 31 
 
 2. When guile o'erspreads thy crooked path, 
 
 And inward sin kills holy zeal, 
 Can prayer make clean thy soul, or whips 
 Drive out the foulness from thy heart ? 
 
 Chorus. — Oh heart ! &c. 
 
 3. Why hide thy face or pull thy nose,* 
 
 Do all that Brahman law commands ? 
 When He who on the serpent rests 
 Can hear no praise, no worship see. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh heart ! &c. 
 
 4. " A priest I am. My life is spent 
 
 In searching long for sacred shrines." 
 Go to, Oh fool ! A priest is he 
 
 Who humbly learns and holy lives. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh heart ! &c. 
 
 5. Not in the smoke of sacrifice, 
 
 Nor in the chant of Vedic hymns, 
 Does God look for the lowly mind 
 That fitly enters into bliss. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh heart ! &c. 
 
 6. The fiery God is found by those 
 
 Who lust no more — who feel no pride — 
 Whose senses close 'gainst sin and self — 
 Who humbly walk before their God. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh heart ! &c. 
 
 * Both phrases describe a portion of the daily ceremonial of the Brahmans. 
 In the morning ablutions it is necessary to close every aperture of the 
 body ; thus, among other things, the Brahman covers his face, so that he 
 may be sure he has closed eyes, nose, mouth and ears. A subsequent ritual 
 requires that the devotee should pass his thumb and forefinger down both 
 sides of the nose. The author insinuates that, to be quite sure that he has 
 duly saluted his nose, the Pharisaic devotee firmly grasps the organ, pulling 
 it smartly and frequently. 
 
32 BODY AND SOUL. 
 
 What good can come from earthly toil ? 
 
 Whence can the root of merit spring ? 
 If, oh my soul, thy grasp be weak, 
 
 Or wandering thoughts let Vishnu slip. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh heart ! &c. 
 
 BODY AND SOUL. 
 
 1. Skin covers flesh and blood and bone : 
 Within are worms, excretions vile, 
 Disease and spirits evil, pain and moan. 
 Thy strength, oh man, is death and hell. 
 
 Chorus. — Think not this flesh will bide, 
 On earth shall find its goal. 
 But love the lotus-eyed ; 
 In him find peace, O soul. 
 
 2. You love your child, your friend, your wife, — 
 'Tis joy you say ; 'tis sin you know. 
 
 Forego this joy, it steals your life, 
 
 And think on Him who saves from woe. 
 
 Chorus. — Think not this flesh will bide, &c. 
 
 3. Serve Brahma* first, your neighbour love, 
 Avoid a harlot as a sword ; 
 
 Go where they praise the Lord above, 
 
 And shout—" Oh, Hari, Hari, Lord !" 
 
 Chorus. — Think not this flesh will bide, &c. 
 
 i 
 * In this and similar phrases, the word Brahma must not be supposed to 
 
 refer to the first person of the Hindu Triad. It is always used in the 
 neuter as a sort of scientific term for the Deity, and has no connection with 
 the personal masculine Brahma. 
 
33 
 
 4. Purandala Vithala, help ! 
 
 If thou hast e'er extended grace, 
 Give it to me, give me thyself. 
 For this is joy — to see thy face. 
 
 Chorus. — Think not this flesh will bide, &c. 
 
 The song " How to cross the sea of sin" introduces 
 a group perhaps the most characteristic of Dravidian 
 literature and character. It has been common among 
 western thinkers to look upon the theory of the trans- 
 migration of souls as eminently comforting to those 
 who trust in it. Here we see the direct contrary 
 taught by the most convincing testimony. It gives no 
 rest either in the present or the future. But the human 
 soul craves for rest, even in suffering, as the highest 
 good. I venture to say " even in suffering," because 
 every heart that fears the future instinctively cries " let 
 me know the worst." Transmigration can never reveal 
 the worst. The punishment of sin in this life is a more 
 degraded life still. That inevitably leads to something 
 yet more to be dreaded. Thus the future is a long 
 cumulation of woe, almost without one redeeming ray 
 of light ; for where mercy can only be earned by merit 
 the wicked have no hope. Note the bitter cry : — 
 
 " How many births are past I cannot tell. 
 How many yet may be, no man may say. 
 But this alone I know, and know full well, 
 That pain and grief embitter all the way." 
 
34 
 
 Still more grievous is the opening of another appeal 
 against the fate that has made man wiat he is : — 
 
 " A weary and broken down man, 
 With sorrow I come to thy feet ; 
 Subdued by the fate and the ban 
 That hides the long future I meet. 
 I suffer, without ceasing, the pain 
 Of sorrowful, infinite life." 
 
 And again 
 
 " Earth's pains I cannot bear, 
 More still await me there." 
 
 In these and similar expressions we seem to meet 
 the utmost of human woe — despair. If transmigration 
 could give ultimate hope it might be well ; but it robs 
 such hope as might otherwise be. A bad man may 
 become a dog or a horse or perhaps a lizard. Let the 
 soul do well there, and it may enter the human frame 
 again. This sounds like hope, but it gives none. It 
 is a million times easier to be a good dog than a good 
 man, and down again goes the poor lost soul, lower 
 than ever before. 
 
 Life is a " sea of sin." With sin come trouble and 
 pain. Life is agony and sorrow. There is no rest, 
 now and hereafter. Such is the sad Dravidian creed. 
 The Tamil " Songs of sorrow" have already been refer- 
 red to. The Telugu Vemana in some thousands of 
 verses does not contain one broad laugh. Some minds 
 cannot bear such darkness. If virtue can bring no rest, 
 if abstinence in this world cannot ensure pleasure in 
 
35 
 
 the next, and anyhow the soul must go down into the 
 dark abyss of the future, why not fly to the pleasure 
 that is within our reach ? While we live, let us live. 
 
 Out of this reaction has grown a glorification of 
 pleasure, of sexual enjoyment, of every kind of sensual 
 gratification. Even the great and good Tiruvalluva 
 has written in " Praise of lust." Let us pity rather 
 than blame, Puranism grasped the worse school, deified 
 vice and created a Krishna. It conquered because 
 it was aided by three potent allies — the superior 
 intelligence and knowledge of the Brahmans, the 
 ignorance and necessary hesitation of their victims, 
 and its glorification of human licence. The Tamils 
 are the most civilized Dra vidian people, — among them 
 chiefly do we find outspoken rampant sensuality under 
 the guise of religion. It is, however, necessary to 
 bear in mind that sensual enjoyment is not neces- 
 sarily immoral. Tiruvalluva's " Praise of Lust" would 
 be grievously misunderstood if it were supposed to 
 exalt indiscriminate harlotry. He constantly requires 
 that men should live with their own wives and " hate 
 a harlot as a sword." Where pleasure of any kind may 
 legitimately be enjoyed, Tiruvalluva and many other 
 writers believe that it may be eulogized, may be de- 
 scribed in detail. They act on the principle that it 
 cannot logically be wrong to describe what every one 
 may experience. The hill tribes are the least Brah- 
 manized, among them sensuality is never glorified. 
 Between these extremes are the Canarese, — their songs 
 will show their views. 
 
36 HOW TO CROSS THE SEA OF SIN. 
 
 HOW TO CROSS THE SEA OF SIN 
 A father's advice. 
 
 1. Our life is but a sea of sorrow, 
 
 This comes, that goes, the old old way. 
 No joy will last beyond to-morrow, 
 
 E'en grief and pain — they will not stay. 
 
 Why should we run such things to meet, 
 Or set our hearts on things so fleet ? 
 One thing alone is worth a nod — 
 To touch the heart of Lakshmi's God. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, sons of mine, how shall we win 
 Across the fearful sea of sin ? 
 Oh sons, shout loud Narayana. 
 Lakshmi's king, my sons, Narayana. 
 
 2. The strength obtained by food will fail, 
 
 So will the gold which fills your purse. 
 The glories of your house will pale, 
 Your lofty fort may prove a curse. 
 
 Not one of these will serve you well 
 
 To fight against the king of hell. 
 
 Then, sons of mine, your voices raise 
 
 In world-renowned Vishnu's praise. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, sons of mine, &c. 
 
 S. Some play at dice, and some at chess, 
 
 Some plague the wife and she plagues some. 
 Some with great wealth their souls would bless. 
 To one sure end they all will come. 
 
 The infernal God will catch them all, 
 Who Vishnu's name forget to call. 
 In Narasimha's lovely face 
 Lay all your hopes of future grace. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, sons of mine. &c. 
 
HOW TO CROSS THE SEA OF SIN. 37 
 
 4. Don't be too fond of wife or girls 
 
 Or laugh because thy sons are three. 
 For when grim death his life-wheel twirls* 
 The stern demand will come for thee. 
 Of Mayaf never be the slave 
 Else thou wilt not the death-god brave. 
 Adore the God that sleeps on sea, 
 And endless bliss thy lot shall be. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, sons of mine, &c. 
 
 5. In pride or strength, in hate or love, 
 
 In wealth or goods put not your trust. 
 Embrace the feet of God above, 
 Or else your hopes will turn to dust. 
 
 Long thought on God will steel the mind 
 
 Against the ills which all men find. 
 
 And if thy sorrows thou wouldst heal 
 
 To glorious Vishnu ever kneel. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, sons of mine, &c. 
 
 * This is an old Aryan figure. Death is a lottery. How else can be 
 explained the seeming cruelty which takes the young and leaves the old ; 
 that carries away the bread-winner and permits the bread-eater to continue 
 his useless life ? Our names are shaken together in a whirling box, and 
 that which comes out first belongs to the next victim of the grisly king. 
 
 f The proper meaning of the word is " that which is not self-existent." 
 As all things depend on God, can be made or unmade at His pleasure, it is 
 a mistake to look upon matter as having any goodness or power. God is 
 all in all. Every thing is but a shadow of Him. But ignorant men cannot 
 see this. They live for the world. To them the world is everything and 
 God is nothing. They are victims of Maya. 
 
38 A CRY FOR HELP. 
 
 A CRY FOR HELP. 
 
 1. How many births are past I cannot tell, 
 How many yet may be, no man may say. 
 But this alone I know, and know full well, 
 That pain and grief embitter all the way. 
 My woes are more than I can bear, but thou, 
 Great God, who once didst bless e'en Ibharaj,* 
 Of elephants the king, canst help me now. 
 
 Be pleased to grant my prayer — my soul enlarge. 
 
 Chorus.— Oh Vishnu, help ! Great Vishnu, Save 
 A wretched soul like mine ! 
 Thou holdest up the earth and wave, 
 Oh, send thy aid in time. 
 
 2. Great Lord, my boyish years were one long pain, 
 Although they seemed to pass in play. For play 
 Is nought but pain, in that it brings disdain 
 
 Of God and holy things. This very day, 
 Thou happy Narasimha,f hear my prayer 
 And freely, from thy heart, on me bestow 
 The help that now to ask I humbly dare. 
 Oh, help and save before from life I go ! 
 
 Chorus.— Oh Vishnu, help ! Great Vishnu, Save, &c. 
 
 3. But now, in age and feebleness extreme, 
 Distress and pain are harder still to bear. 
 
 I cannot bear such woe. 'Tis like a stream 
 That surges over-head. Dost thou not care, 
 
 * The story of Ibharaj the king of elephants is similar to that of Jamila. 
 f Narasimha, the man-lion, the fourth incarnation of Vishnu. 
 
life's sorrow. 39 
 
 Purandala Vithala, in whose eye 
 All men are one and equal ? On thy throne, 
 Oh king of birds, how swiftly dost thou fly !* 
 List, hear with joy, and take me for thy own. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh Vishnu, help ! Great Vishnu, Save, &c. 
 
 LIFE'S SORROW- 
 
 1. A weary and broken down man, 
 With sorrow I come to thy feet, 
 Subdued by the fate and the ban 
 That hides the long future I meet. 
 I suffer, without ceasing, the pain 
 Of sorrowful infinite life. 
 
 Thou never canst listen in vain 
 To earnest and soul-yearning strife. 
 
 Chorus.— Govinda/f thy feet are my part. 
 
 Come, tread on the ground of my heart. 
 I'll always remain where thou art. 
 
 2. I counted as dearest on earth 
 
 Fair women, great wealth and wide land : 
 And saw not the joy and the worth 
 Of merited grace from thy hand. 
 
 * All the Puranic deities are seated on some animal, showing figuratively 
 that all nature serves them. Vishnu's throne is an eagle. Ganesa is always 
 seated on a rat. 
 
 f A name of Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. It means — " He 
 that looks after the cows" — and refers to Krishna's infancy, when he was 
 brought up by a tribe of cowherds. 
 
40 THIS TROUBLESOME WORLD. 
 
 Fell Maya* came in with my birth — 
 What physic can cure or can save ? 
 With waters of wisdom begirth, 
 Oh, drown my poor soul in the wave. 
 
 Choi' as. — Govinda, thy feet are my part, <fcc. 
 
 3 All sins I have done in the past 
 
 Now, now make them clean and forgot. 
 
 And long as the future may last 
 
 Let heavenly life be my lot. 
 
 On Vishnu's bright feet ever cast 
 
 A longing and confident glance : 
 
 And thus wilt thou gain and hold fast 
 
 A taste of the bliss in advance. 
 
 Chorus. — Govinda, thy feet are my part, &c. 
 
 THIS TROUBLESOME WORLD, 
 
 1. If thou shouldst have a wife, 
 
 Trouble is thine. 
 If none should bless thy life, 
 
 Trouble is thine. 
 If neither wise nor witty, 
 
 Sorrow will come. 
 Still more if she be pretty, 
 
 / Sorrow will come. 
 
 * The doctrine usually though incorrectly rendered "illusion." It 
 teaches that this earth leads its inhabitants astray, causing them to forget 
 God, seeing that it seems so much nearer and is so much dearer to the 
 sinful soul. See note on page 37- 
 
THIS TROUBLESOME WORLD. 41 
 
 For then, all guarding vain, 
 
 Sore trouble this. 
 She brings unmeasured pain, 
 
 Sore trouble this. 
 Chorus— Never, oh my soul, can peace be thine 
 Until great Runga's* grace be mine. 
 If angry He, all hope resign. 
 
 2. If children come to thee, 
 
 Sorrow comes too. 
 
 But if no heir should be,f 
 
 Sorrow comes too. 
 
 With earning wealth and power, 
 
 Pain fills the cup. 
 
 But when the wretched poor- 
 Pain fills the cup. 
 
 Complains he has no rice — 
 
 'Tis dolor sore. 
 
 Wherewith to sacrifice — 
 
 'Tis dolor sore. 
 
 No sorrow, pain, or care, 
 
 E'en sorrow deep. 
 
 Can be so hard to bear, 
 
 E'en sorrow deep. 
 Chorus — Never, oh my soul, &c. 
 
 • Yet another name for Vishnu and meaning probably " he that flies 
 swiftly ;" referring to the wonderful speed of light as it issues from the sun. 
 Vishnu under the name of Hari is both the sun and the light. 
 
 f English readers can have little idea of the yearning of every Hindoo 
 couple for a son. It is universally believed that the future of the dead is 
 without hope if certain ceremonies are not performed at the cremation and 
 on each succeeding anniversary of that occasion. These ceremonies can 
 only be perfectly performed by a son. If there be no son, the whole series 
 of ancestors is debarred from absorption and rest throughout all ages. Hence 
 the necessity of adopting a son if none be born to the house. 
 
42 THE PAINFUL SERVANT. 
 
 3. When men are sick and poor, 
 
 Sorrow enters. 
 Though wealth should bar the door, 
 
 Sorrow enters. 
 If, gained by strength and care, 
 
 Pain is in store. 
 Great hoards the shelves should bear, 
 
 Pain is in store. 
 But if each day you pray, 
 
 No sorrow comes. 
 To him who hears alway, 
 
 No sorrow comes. 
 The excellent Vishnu, 
 
 Your joy is great. 
 Great peace will dwell in you, 
 
 Your joy is great. 
 
 Chorus — Never, oh my soul, &c. 
 
 THE PAINFOL SERVANT. 
 
 Some pains may not be seen, 
 They show no wound, I ween, 
 Although so deep and keen 
 
 Oh, fearful pain ! 
 No woman some hath wrought, 
 Some come from want of thought, 
 A few go soon as brought. 
 
 Such pains are mine. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, dreadful pain 3 I can't bear pain. 
 In mercy, Vishnu, save me ! 
 
THE PAINFUL SERVANT. 43 
 
 2. My stomach gives me pain, 
 Bad friends bring it like rain, 
 Deep trouble leaves the stain. 
 
 Oh, cruel pain ! 
 Great pain may come from friend, 
 Abuse no balm can mend, 
 Bad men deep pain will send. 
 
 Such pains are mine. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, dreadful pain, &c. 
 
 3. What pain comes to the poor, 
 Breached promise addeth more, 
 To rule oneself is sore. 
 
 Oh, biting pain ! 
 Earth's pains I cannot bear, 
 More still await me there. 
 Distress must follow care. 
 
 Such pains are mine. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, dreadful pain, &c. 
 
 To be, and not to be, 
 To see, and not to see, 
 Are troubles sore to me. 
 
 Oh, burning pain ! 
 Oh, Vishnu, let me know 
 Why pain doth plague me so, 
 And joy so soon doth go. 
 
 Hear my prayer. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, dreadful pain, &c. 
 
44 FATE. 
 
 F A T g. 
 
 1. Each house within the village bounds 
 
 Contains some early friend, 
 But though in each the food-gong sounds 
 
 No rice to me they lend. 
 When sad I walk the village street 
 
 To me they come not near, 
 And when I strive my priest to meet 
 
 He starts from me in fear. 
 Oh *Hari, Hari, Lakshmi's King, 
 
 Their stare is maddening. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, whither can I flee for aid ? 
 For sin I now am cursed. 
 The dread decree by Brahma madef 
 May never be reversed. 
 
 2. When hunger gnaws my life away 
 
 To dearest friend I go, 
 For food and drink I humbly pray — . 
 
 Oh God, why hate me so ? — 
 They flee from me, their food they hide, 
 
 An empty house I find. 
 
 * Hari is one of the most popular names of Vishnu and his incarnation 
 Krishna. It originally meant "green," and then was used to describe 
 anything beautiful and bright. Thus it came to mean the sun. Vishnu 
 has superseded Surya as the sun-god, and in some of the songs that follow 
 is called " the disc of the sun." 
 
 f In consequence of sin in a former birth the unfortunate man is doomed 
 by Brahma to be an outcaste. It was unalterable fate that drove him to 
 commit the deed for which he has been cursed and rejected by both God 
 and man. This curse must be worked out. 
 
FATE. 45 
 
 The sugar-cane which then I spied — 
 
 What joy was in my mind ! — 
 Oh Hari, Hari, Lakshmi's King, 
 
 How poisonous the thing ! 
 
 Chorus.—* Oh, whither, &c. 
 
 3. In dreadful heat, for shade I pine, 
 
 And sit beneath a tree. 
 Still worse on me the sun doth shine. 
 
 The curse is there on me. 
 With burning thirst about to die 
 
 I flee to well and lake. 
 Before my eyes they fail and dry, 
 
 No comfort may I take. 
 Oh Hari, Hari, Lakshmi's King, 
 
 Sweet death to me soon bring. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, whither, &c. 
 
 4. Before my house rich plantains grow, 
 
 I may not eat of one. 
 My fate is written on my brow* 
 
 And cannot be undone. 
 To thee I turn, for refuge seek, 
 
 And cry — " Have mercy, Lord !" 
 To stem the water flood too weak — 
 
 Oh save me by thy word. 
 Oh Hari, Hari, Lakshmi's King, 
 
 Let me of pardon sing. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, whither, &c. 
 
 * The curse noted above is written by the finger of God on the forehead 
 of the unhappy sinner. Man cannot read it. Compare the mark of the 
 beast in the Apocalypse. 
 
46 THE COURSE OF LIFE. 
 
 5. No money can I give to thee, 
 
 No breath have I to pray. 
 So sore distress has come to me 
 
 To live I see no way. 
 Oh God, most perfect God, look down 
 
 On one so poor as I. 
 No other hope I have. I drown 
 
 While thou, Oh God, art nigh. 
 Oh Hari, Hari, Lakshmi's King, 
 
 Close to thy feet I cling. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, whither, &c. 
 
 THE COUESE OF LIFE. 
 
 1. Within my father's frame three months I passed,* 
 And then, unknowing, came to mother s womb. 
 For nine long months — each day was as the last — 
 I burned with pain within my living tomb. 
 Before I knew my fate a year had gone — 
 
 A year of pain. Oh Indra, Hear my moan ! 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, Sir, my youth is past, my youth is past ! 
 
 2. Immured in darkness, vows I made to thee ; 
 But sorrow in my birth made me forget. 
 When childhood came, not yet from sorrow free, 
 To ease my pain my earnest mind was set. 
 
 The filth of self made hell to gape around ; 
 Yet still I knew thee not — to earth was bound. 
 
 Chorus.— Oh, Sir, my youth is past, &c. 
 
 * It is a popular idea that life commences twelve months before birtb. 
 and that the time is spent in the manner described in the text. 
 
THE COURSE OF LIFE. 47 
 
 3. My boyhood came. The dreams of sixteen years 
 Ran through my soul. The sports of boys 
 
 Drew me from thee. My follies drowned my fears, 
 And lust enticed me on. I drew my joys 
 From earth. Oh Vishnu ! God ! whose feet I left, 
 My sorrow hear, who am of hope bereft. 
 
 Chorus.— Oh, Sir, my youth is past, &c. 
 
 4. I grew to manhood, tall and straight as palm, 
 Made friends with elders, middle-aged and youth. 
 I went from house to house. Without a qualm 
 My life I spent, nor feared nor sought the truth. 
 I fell — the sea of sin was ever nigh — 
 
 And lost the sweetness of thy lotus-eye. 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, Sir, my youth is past, &c. 
 
 5. Now, old and imbecile, I groan with pain,* 
 And sink beneath the swelling of the wave. 
 Parandalaf Vithala, Lord, disdain 
 
 Me not, but take me in the ship I crave — 
 
 The sturdy ship, by meditation built. 
 
 Save quickly, Lord of Lakshmi ! Cleanse my guilt ! 
 
 
 Chorus. — Oh, Sir, my youth is past, &c. 
 
 * The whole of this song deserves notice. How distinct is its coloring ! 
 How sad must they be whose feelings it represents ! Every stage of life is 
 full of evil — of evil that cannot be avoided, although its penalty is exacted 
 to the uttermost farthing. It should be noted that the one deity is invoked 
 under three names. Indra is the old Vedic deity, but is only known now 
 to the Vaishnava as another name for Vishnu, who has usurped the dignity 
 of his majestic predecessor. 
 
 f A local name for Vishnu. 
 
48 NO HELP BUT IN GOD. 
 
 HO HELP BUT IN GOD. 
 
 1. I worshipped a stone I could see and could feel, 
 And therefore have now neither strength nor ally. 
 I visited oft with the fool and the rogue, 
 
 And, like a mad elephant, wounded my friends. 
 Was wise but for folly ; in sinning was brave. 
 Oh Vishnu, Lord, speedily save ! 
 
 Chorus. — I see how foolish I have been 
 
 And cry against the dread Vishnu — 
 " Oh, wilt thou never mark the scene 
 Of strife and sorrow so undue." 
 
 2. I made many vows and am weary of sin, 
 For nothing delights or can profit me now. 
 Each temple I've circled and circled again 
 Till, weary and worn, I am worse than before, 
 And nothing is left but thy love or the grave. 
 Oh Hari, Lord, speedily save ! 
 
 Chorus. — I see how foolish I have been, &c. 
 
 3. The quack and the fool were as gurus to me, 
 So simple was I, so defiled and unclean. 
 Purandala's grace I now strive to obtain, 
 
 So pure and so good, ever worthy of praise. 
 Thou canst not refuse the protection I crave. 
 Oh Hari, Lord, speedily save ! 
 
 Chorus. — I see how foolish I have been, &c. 
 
FOLLY. 49 
 
 There follow a series of songs which vividly remind 
 of the Proverbs of Solomon. Both are intended for 
 singing, and both have arranged themselves rather by 
 the demands of metre and consonance than by any con- 
 nected argument. The Dravidian languages are won- 
 derfully rich in proverbs. In the Tamil language alone 
 the Rev. P. Percival has collected about four thousand 
 five hundred proverbs in common use. In Tanjore 
 the Rev. G. Fryar has gathered nearly as many 
 in the same language. Of course many are to be 
 found in both collections, but after careful comparison 
 it appears that the two earnest missionaries named 
 above have noted and translated not less than six 
 thousand independent proverbs. Each couplet, and 
 sometimes each line, of the following is a proverb. 
 
 FOLLY. 
 
 I From the open sinner 
 
 Hide what good you can. 
 Say not words of wisdom 
 To an angry man. 
 
 Chorus. — Do not spout your verses 
 In the public way: 
 Lest the world compare them 
 With a poet's lay. 
 From the heap beside him 
 Folly took a clod, 
 Bowed his head before it, 
 Thought he saw a God. 
 
50 FOLLY 
 
 2. Who mends a broken pot — 
 
 Lifts it from the ground ? 
 He who visits relative 
 When his woes abound. 
 
 Chorus. — Do not spout, &c. 
 
 3. Vaishnava is hellish 
 
 Praising Siva's name :* 
 So is he who, falsely, 
 Tells of neighbour's shame. 
 
 Chorus. — Do not spout^&c. 
 
 4. Who will take to fighting 
 
 When his wife commands ? 
 He who gives the leisure 
 Prattler's tale demands. 
 
 Chorus. — Do not spout, &c. 
 
 5. Men who have two faces 
 
 Scorn with hatred strong. 
 Keshanaf the God- like, 
 Be thy constant song. 
 
 Chorus. — Do not spout, &c. 
 
 * This curious evidence of the strongly monotheistic tendency of the 
 popular mind has been already quoted. A man may worship Vishnu or 
 Siva and no objection will be made. Let him serve both and he is looked 
 upon either as a knave or a fool. The reason of so strange a paradox lies 
 in the presumed necessity that the devotee should have but one God in 
 mind, and He must be esteemed as the supreme being, the incorporeal 
 essence of all things. If the worshipper call that being Vishnu, well. If 
 he call Him Siva, well. But if he use both names he will run great danger 
 of dividing the Deity in his thoughts, and of worshipping two individuals 
 rather than one essence. 
 
 "j" In his fourth incarnation Vishnu took the form of a lion, under the 
 name of Narasimha or the man lion. Hence he is popularly styled Keshana 
 or the lion-maned, from the Sanscrit Kesa, hair. 
 
THE FOOL. 5) 
 
 THE FOOL. 
 
 1. The man who leaves his wife and home, 
 
 Or trusts relations' love ; 
 Who gives his wealth to friends to mind, 
 Or stoops to paltry spite. 
 
 That man is fool indeed, Sir. 
 
 Chorvs.— The world is full of foolish folk 
 
 Who know not wisdom's worth, — 
 Forsake their God, — His wrath provoke, — 
 Bow down to Gods of earth. 
 
 2. Who sells his daughter's pride for food, 
 
 Or lives with wife's papa ; 
 Who being poor will scold the rich, 
 Or knows not his own mind. 
 
 Such folk are dreadful fools, Sir. 
 
 Chorus.— The world is full, &c. 
 
 3. Some marry when their hair is gray, 
 
 Or joke before a snake ; 
 And some forget their parents' need 
 And Vishnu's fatherhood. 
 
 These, too, are fools, you know, Sir. 
 
 Chorus. — The world is full, kc. 
 
 4. To Brah mans give, at Kasi bathe, 
 
 Are duties strict. So these — 
 A Dasi be, on Vishnu think. 
 If one should fail in them, 
 
 A fool outright is he, Sir. 
 
 Chorus. — The world is fid], kc. 
 
THE FOOL. 
 
 5. Who drinks the milk when calf is dead,* 
 
 Or lends without a pledge ; 
 Of one concern thinks twenty ways, 
 Or scorns his mother's love ; 
 Is fool enough for me, Sir. 
 
 Chorus. — The world is full, &c. 
 
 6. Who worships not the great god Ram,-f* 
 
 Nor good gets from his wealth, 
 Nor bows beneath his guru's feet, 
 But takes a sinful bribe ; 
 
 Must be a wretched fool, Sir. 
 
 Chorus. — The world is full, &c. 
 
 7. Who lies to him that gives him food, 
 
 Or slander spreads around, 
 Avoids the shrine and hates the name 
 Of lotus-eyed Vishnu, 
 
 Is fool of fools on earth, Sir. 
 
 Chorus. — The world is full &e. 
 
 The fourth verse of tlie preceding song is evidently 
 an interpolation, and is an example of the mode in 
 which all indigenous literature has been tampered with. 
 
 * The Indian cowherd does not remove the calf from its mother until 
 the supply of milk ceases. Whenever the cow is milked the calf is allowed 
 to suck for a minute or so first. This ensures a proper flow of milk. As 
 soon as sufficient time has been given, the calf is pulled off and tied to the 
 fore leg of the cow. When the man can draw no more he unfastens the 
 calf and allows it to suck what it can. This first taste and last gleaning is 
 all the calf usually receives from its mother after the first month. In con- 
 sequence of this continued close connection of calf and cow, it is believed to 
 be both wicked and injurious to drink milk obtained from a cow whose calf 
 is dead. 
 
 f Ram, or more commonly Rama, is the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, 
 and represents a great warrior, come on earth to overthrow the Kshatriyas. 
 
THE GOOD AND EVIL OF WEALTH. 53 
 
 THE GOOD AND EVIL OF WEALTH, 
 
 1. What fills the house with children good, 
 And gives the taste of sweets and ghee ? 
 What saves from duns and bailiffs rude, 
 And without which life cannot be ? 
 Sister, it is wealth. 
 
 Chorus. — See, sister mine, the sorrows deep, 
 That hide in wealth's great heap. 
 Two sorrows dire great wealth must reap. 
 
 What makes relations' need forgot, 
 But saves in danger from the foe ? 
 What teaches men to tie a knot,* 
 And hate all change, as fraught with woe ? 
 Sister, it is wealth. 
 
 Chorus. — See, sister mine, the sorrows deep, &c. 
 
 What makes the foolish wise again, 
 And passes hosts of bad rupees ?f 
 What sweeter than the sugar-cane, 
 And if it fly leaves little ease ? 
 Sister, it is wealth. 
 
 Chorus. — See, sister mine, the sorrows deep, &c. 
 
 * Thus in the original. The knot of course is a moral one, and refers to 
 the complications and artifice which a rich man can throw round his doings 
 to the injury of the poor and weak. 
 
 f This illustration is full of meaning in India, where it has always been a 
 favorite occupation of the powerful to debase and clip the coin, trusting to 
 their power and armed servants for impunity. 
 
54 WHAT MATTERS IT. 
 
 4. What hides a bad repute, and brings 
 A crowd of servants, courtiers gay ? 
 What loads with pearls and golden rings 
 And stays sore trouble in its way ? 
 
 Sister, it is wealth. 
 
 Chorus. — See, sister mine, the sorrows deep, &c. 
 
 5. What brings the learned at one's nod, 
 
 Yet drives real friends from board and hall ? 
 What causes men to tarn from God — 
 The great Purandala Vithal ? 
 Sister, it is wealth. 
 
 Chorus. — See, sister mine, the sorrows deep, &c. 
 
 WHAT M A T T E ti S IT? 
 
 What if the food a man doth hate 
 Hang high as palm-tree leaves ? 
 Or that the house be wide and great 
 When the owner no alms gives ? 
 What can it be to you who wait 
 If office fall to fools ? 
 Or if the bitch beside your gate 
 Have milk for all she rules ? 
 
 Chorus. — If earth be full of precious things 
 But none may come your way, 
 
 What matters it ? 
 If when the goat his capers flings 
 His throat teats dance so gay, 
 
 What matters it ? 
 
WHAT MATTERS IT. 5.5 
 
 2, What use is handsome face and eyes 
 To surly son and heir ? 
 
 Or all the beauty of the skies 
 To spiteful sharp " grey mare ?" 
 What good or gain in brother lies 
 If wrathful man he be ? 
 What benefit can e'er arise 
 If pariah feast one see ? 
 
 Chorus.-— If earth be full of precious things, &c. 
 
 3. Why ask the way to here or there, 
 If that be not thy road ? 
 
 Or heap up gold and jewels rare, — 
 
 A useless worthless load 
 
 To him who offers not a prayer 
 
 And dares a Saint despise ? 
 
 For neither rich nor pure can bear 
 
 God's wrath 'gainst them to rise. 
 
 Chorus. — If earth be full of precious things, &c. 
 
 frO^OC 
 
 The song on the next page is one of the best speci- 
 mens of a proverbial series that I have ever met with. 
 Each couplet is a perfect proverb, and many of them 
 are very popular, occurring constantly in the ordinary 
 business of life. The verses are arranged much more 
 systematically than usual. Thus the second and third 
 verses deal particularly with the punishment that 
 certain sins will surely bring home to those who 
 commit them. The fourth and fifth describe the reward 
 that will, equally certainly, be the fortune of those who 
 leave the world and cling to religious duty. The reward 
 
56 WISDOM. 
 
 may either be bliss -in the world to come or freedom 
 from temptation in this. The first verse is a warning 
 that we must not expect impossibilities. The previous 
 songs also deserve attention, giving, as they do, an 
 excellent idea of the every-day morality of the masses 
 of the people. " Poor Richard" has evidently a wider 
 popularity than most scholars have been willing to 
 admit. 
 
 WISDOM- 
 
 1. If every day with glowing speech you teach the truth, 
 
 Will that give joy to woman's heart ? 
 If in its lustrous beauty wisdom should be taught, 
 
 Will understanding reach the ass ? 
 If, bowing low, I kiss a golden idol's feet, 
 
 Will kindly words flow from its mouth ? 
 If sacred musk be used to make the forehead's mark, 
 
 Will aught but pleasure greet the sense ? 
 
 Chorus. — Will those who worship not the glory of the sun 
 Obtain the peace that springs from mukti won ? 
 
 2. If truth be lost and falsehood take its hallowed place, 
 
 Can man escape the doom of hell ? 
 If vicious son should break a loving father's heart, 
 
 Can pardon for such sin be found ? 
 If sinful man despises that which God hath made, 
 
 Can he o'ercome the world's contempt ? 
 If one should take his neighbour's goods by guile, 
 
 Will not the burglar steal his own ? 
 
 Chorus. — Will those, &c. 
 
WISDOM. 57 
 
 
 3. When sinners take delight in scorning godly men, 
 
 Their folly can but hurt themselves. 
 Who robs the poor and him whose only friend is God, 
 
 Shall live, yet call for death for pain. 
 When sages, for their gain, call folly good and wise, 
 
 The street shall hear them jeered as fools. 
 While nightfall guides the thief to rob the rich man's chest 
 
 Who guards the spoil of last night's theft ? 
 
 Chorus. — Will those, &c. 
 
 4. To him whose soul has left this earth to sink in God, 
 
 Can youth or beauty bring a charm ? 
 Can golden rings or muslins light as air adorn 
 
 The forest yogee* in his filth ? 
 Does Vishnu leave without content or bliss or peace 
 
 The man who loses all for him ? 
 Or can the man who worships not the golden feet 
 
 Obtain the peace and bliss he needs ? 
 
 Chorus. — Will those, &c. 
 
 5. Can he whom bonds of sense and earth no more restrain 
 
 Neglect the customs of his sires ? 
 Or he who knows the Shasters six — Can he, O Brahm — 
 
 Absorption's bliss e'er fail to reach ? 
 Great Vishnu's favor is a gem of worth : the man 
 
 Who owns need fear no evil eye. 
 If thou wouldst reach this bliss, go, kiss the lovely feet 
 
 Of Vishnu, Vilapura's king. 
 
 Chorus. — Will those, &c. 
 
 * An ascetic who has left the world to retire into some lonely place for 
 meditation and penance. He scorns all the ordinary decencies of life, and 
 usually sits in one posture contemplating his navel or the tip of his nose, so 
 that he may see and know nothing of what passes around him. 
 
58 THE TRUE PARIAH. 
 
 The song we read next will come as a surprise to 
 most people. It is, however, much to be feared that in 
 this respect the popular habit follows the advice of the 
 old preacher, and cries — " do as I say, not as I do." 
 If caste estimation depended on personal goodness, 
 India would not have needed the English. 
 
 THE TRUE PARIAH. 
 
 1. Who guides not his life by the Shastras six,* 
 
 An outcaste will live and will die. 
 Who hears not the story of Vishnu's tricks,f 
 
 An outcaste will live and will die. 
 The traitor whose cause with his king's dares mix, 
 
 An outcaste will live and will die. 
 Who visits the house where the harlot sticks, 
 
 Is outcaste complete in God's eye. 
 
 Chorus. — Beyond the walls the outcastes dwell, 
 
 'Tis worse than death to touch such men. 
 What pundit skilled dare ever tell 
 How many live within his ken ? 
 
 2. The man who his debts will not strive to pay, 
 
 A pariah surely must be. 
 And he who would walk in a wicked way, 
 A pariah surely must be. 
 
 * The Shastras are the sacred books and are said to be six in number, 
 but no two sects would agree as to the books they include. 
 
 f This word is not used in an offensive sense. The Bhagavatam, one of 
 the most popular of books, is wholly occupied with the "tricks" of Krishna. 
 
THE TRUE PARIAH. 59 
 
 So he who a lie to his host will say, 
 
 A pariah surely must be. 
 In him who his wife for advice will pray, 
 
 Most foolish of pariahs see. 
 
 Chorus.— Beyond the walls, &c. 
 
 3. The man who is rich but his wealth gives not, 
 
 Is worse than an outcaste indeed. 
 So he who would poison one's food, I wot, 
 
 Is worse than an outcaste indeed. 
 Who shuns not the hypocrite's fearful lot, 
 
 Is worse than an outcaste indeed. 
 But he who would puff his good deeds one jot — 
 
 No outcaste commits such a deed. 
 
 Chorus. — Beyond the walls, &c. 
 
 4. The man who his promise forgets to keep, 
 
 In pariah village should dwell. 
 Who sows not the good he desires to reap, 
 
 In pariah village should dwell. 
 The man who deceives, yet at night can sleep, 
 
 In pariah village should dwell. 
 Than he who in blood his right-hand dare steep, 
 
 No pariah blacker in hell. 
 
 Chorus. — Beyond the walls, &c. 
 
 5. Who keeps not the precept that well he knows, 
 
 Is outcaste indeed before God. 
 On Lakshmi's great lord who does not repose, 
 
 Is outcaste indeed before God. 
 Who seeing his guru no praise bestows, 
 
 Is outcaste indeed before God. 
 But he who meets harlot * under the rose" — 
 
 No outcaste so merits the rod. 
 
 Chorus. — Beyond the walls, &c. 
 
60 IGNOKANCE. 
 
 IGHOKANCE. 
 
 1. 'Tis ignorance brings the black death to my house, 
 Her terrible visage embitters my life. 
 Untrained in a wiser and honester course 
 
 The cruel dacoit brings his band to my home * 
 Because I'm not wise, with a scandalous tongue, 
 I steal the fair fame of my neighbour and friend. 
 An ignorant heart makes me love the false face 
 Of girls without beauty who dance without graee.-f* 
 
 Chorus. — The ignorant man is a madman indeed. 
 
 Hither and thither he rushes, then cuts off his head. 
 
 2. This foolishness leads me to plunder my wife 
 To give all her jewels to prostitute hands ; 
 To think it a pleasure to meet in the street 
 The woman whose glances are levelled at men. 
 It leads me to say of the friend of my sire 
 
 That virgins by him are oft robbed of their pride. 
 When means are but small to meet harlot's desire, 
 It prompts me to steal what may add to her hire. 
 
 Chorus. — The ignorant man, &c. 
 
 * Dacoity is an important item in the police returns of every part of 
 India. It is gang-burglary. A party of from eight to fifty men proceeds 
 in the night to the house of some rich man and rifles it. Fearless of the 
 police their operations are ostentatiously open, and the only precaution 
 taken is that of so arranging the gang that none shall be known to the 
 inhabitants of the village they rob. Dacoity was the curse of India till 
 the new police system was introduced. 
 
 t It must be understood that dancing is an accomplishment peculiar to 
 the Hindu Hetairce. No chaste woman could possibly permit herself to 
 dance. 
 
IGNORANCE. 61 
 
 3. At sight of a greedy and painted old wretch 
 It makes my heart leap as if loaded with gifts. 
 I cry like a cat if she come not in time, 
 
 And love the vile bonds which prevent my escape. 
 
 While under its power do I earnestly strive 
 
 For aught that is good, that can bless, or is wise ? 
 
 Nay, rather, I love to turn night into day 
 
 By swilling with rogues who will praise while I pay. 
 
 Chorus. — The ignorant man, &c. 
 
 4. When told that my house is infested with rats, 
 
 To smoke their retreat I must burn down the house. 
 
 If crowds should collect when the evenings are cool, 
 
 Of course I am there, and am seized as a thief. 
 
 My folly is such that I throw in the ditch 
 
 The ashes that ought to be rubbed on my breast.* 
 
 Contempt to my caste and the temple I give ; 
 
 A Brahman my father, an outcaste I live. 
 
 Chorus. — The ignorant man, &c. 
 
 5. It persuades me at last my own sons to forget, 
 And take to my breast dirt} r brats from a stew. 
 I swear in the court that a buffalo gives 
 
 Quite ten seers of milk, though I know she is dead. 
 My sword from the scabbard I hasten to draw 
 To plunge in my bosom — not that of my foe. 
 Indeed it so lays my best wits on the shelf, — 
 No enemy else is so bad as myself. 
 
 Chorus. — The ignorant man, &c. 
 
 * It is a mark of orthodoxy to mark the forehead, breast and arms, with 
 the symbols of Vishnu, The material used is the ashes of sandalwoods 
 
62 
 
 IGNORANCE. 
 
 6. My nets when I fish are soon crowded with seer,* 
 But, having no basket, they rot on the shore. 
 
 I rush 'gainst the cobra forgetting my stick, 
 Am bit for my pains, and most surely will die. 
 When meeting my creditor's wife in the street, 
 Her husband and children I load with my curse. 
 When Yama himself for a victim looks out, 
 His grip is on me. I must needs give a shout. 
 
 Chorus. — The ignorant man, &c. 
 
 7. Oh heart, oh my soul, let thy plans come from Him, 
 Who Lakshmi doth love, and who sleeps on the sea.f 
 Let pride be forgotten, and praise be thy work ; 
 Then Vishnu will give the true wisdom to you, — 
 Beceive in your service the thanks that are due, — 
 Will load you with blessings and keep you from death. 
 Go, sluggard, to view the small ants in the field, 
 
 Be humble as they, better thanks should'st thou yield. 
 
 Chorus. — The ignorant man, &c. 
 
 * The seer is a favorite Indian fish, and in the Madras Presidency is 
 about the size of a good American cod-fish. 
 
 f One of the most favorite names of Vishnu is Narayana, meaning " he 
 that rests on the sea." He is represented as reclining on a leaf floating on 
 the water. 
 
BADAGA SONGS. 63 
 
 BADAGA SONGS. 
 
 ' In the cluster of hills, where the eastern and western 
 Ghauts meet, are embosomed many charming valleys. 
 They afford to the Europeans in India a climate perhaps 
 the most perfect in the world, equally removed from 
 extremes of heat and cold. | Coorg and the Wynaad have 
 attracted the planter ; and the virgin forest enframes, 
 so to speak, hundreds of plantations or " estates," 
 chiefly devoted to the growth of coffee, but now con- 
 taining many an acre of tea and cinchona. The Ooty 
 valley is the best of Indian sanitaria, lacking only, for 
 perfect beauty, such snowy hills as surround and 
 overtop the viceregal Simla. ! These hills and green 
 plateaus are the home of several mountain tribes. 
 The Kurgis are the highest, the Kotas the lowest in 
 the tribal scale. Below the noblest are the Todas. 
 Above the basest are the Badagas. Other tribes are 
 called Kurumbers and Irulas. They all speak varieties 
 of Hali Cannadi or ancient Canarese, and doubtless 
 represent, almost unchanged, the condition, speech and 
 occupation of the great original stock which has pro- 
 gressed and become civilized in Mysore until it has 
 become what we now see in the Canarese nation. 
 The vocabulary of the dialects is almost pure Aryan, 
 and presents the most startling affinities with the 
 grand Teutonic stock. The grammar is only now 
 
64 BADAGA SONGS. 
 
 beginning to be studied, but will doubtless claim the 
 same relationship, 
 
 It seems proper, therefore, that the songs of these 
 older races should follow the Canarese songs previ- 
 ously given, neglecting for the moment the more 
 polished tongues of the plains. We commence, there- 
 fore, with a few of the very beautiful chants of the 
 Badaga tribe. 
 
 ; Though not so high in the social scale as the Todas, 
 the Badagas are the most numerous and prosperous 
 tribe in the Neilgherry hills. They number about 
 fifteen thousand. The Todas, though a military caste, 
 have no songs. It is not with them " the thing" to 
 sing. When they want music they can listen to the 
 songs and pastoral pipes of the Badagas and Kotas. 
 The latter are a musical race. Each man has his pipe. 
 Not the reedy assembly that makes the instrument of 
 "the great God Pan," but a flute, with sufficiently 
 numerous and well placed holes to render it easy to 
 produce what may fairly be called melody. They are 
 always ready to sing ; at birth, marriage, or death. ) 
 
 But it is not only on such occasions that they 
 sing. The belated traveller along hillside tracks will 
 often hear the distant chant, the loud and sudden 
 chorus, and then again the floating strain of the 
 single singer, borne gently and like the reflex of 
 some distant wave on the wings of the cool night 
 breeze. Such echoes tell of Badaga merriment, and 
 remind the man w T ho is not ignorant of the brother 
 men who dwell around him, that at that moment a 
 
BADAGA SONGS. 
 
 whole village-full of folk are gathered round some 
 mossy stone, listening to and then joining in the song 
 of a rustic Homer or Badaga bard, who, neither " mute 
 nor inglorious," leads the resounding melody. Men, 
 women, and children are there. Ever as they sing 
 some man or maiden springs to the front and dances 
 to the song, light and agile as a deer or, better still, a 
 mountaineer, such as they are. Thus with song and 
 dance the evening glides away. 
 
 It is not certain that civilization has furnished 
 greater nations with better modes of enjoying the 
 silvery moonlight tide. It is quite certain that few 
 nations can boast of better songs as far as words may 
 go. They err in length for ears and minds polite, for 
 one will fill an evening. They are rather songs such 
 as the minnesingers trolled out — stories in poetry. 
 More than ballads, less than books, they remind one, 
 in everything but their morality and lack of apprecia- 
 tion of the beauties of nature, of Chaucer's stories. 
 Imagine, if it be possible, a Wife of Bath or a Mer- 
 chant s Tale that should be devoted to the wicked- 
 ness of sin rather than to the pleasures of the flesh ; 
 and then in dramatic character, poetic force, vividness 
 of colouring and completeness of story, we shall get 
 a Badaga song". 
 
 This reminds that, as with the Canarese songs last 
 described, a strong religious and moral thread runs 
 through the whole. In every Dra vidian tongue we see 
 the same phenomenon. Get back to the folk literature, 
 as distinguished from that which has its spring in 
 
6Q BADAGA SONGS. 
 
 Sanscrit, that is, Brahmanic importations, and we 
 find " the people" singing of the evils of sin, of the 
 hideousness of hypocrisy, of the utter unworthiness of 
 man. The sternest Judaic morality is taught with 
 Judaic precision and force. 
 
 For want of better knowledge it has been customary 
 of recent years to class the Dravidian* tongues and 
 peoples with the Scythians of northern Asia and eastern 
 Russia ; yet every writer who has attempted to describe 
 the Scythic character, has placed as the fundament 
 and key to the whole " an utter want of moral eleva- 
 tion," to use the words of a recent thinker. Among 
 the Dravidians the precise opposite is the case. All 
 who know them declare, with Dr. Caldwell, their 
 infinite superiority in this respect to the Aryanized 
 nations of northern India, of the valleys of the Ganges 
 and Nerbudda. 
 
 The most prominent feature of all this class of 
 literature is its high morality ; often using very plain 
 words and calling things by their right names, but 
 ever preaching such truths as are, in " civilized" 
 countries, supposed to be the peculiar property of 
 the pulpit and very unfashionable everywhere else. 
 Vice, as distinguished from legitimate sensual enjoy- 
 ment, is never glorified in Dravidian folk songs. 
 The more one reads them the greater is the astonish- 
 ment that peoples should, in these latter days, so 
 openly denounce the sin that is among them ; should 
 do so much to make every man, woman and child know 
 that wickedness is evil and not good. Perhaps it is 
 
BADAGA SONGS. 67 
 
 well and a mark of high civilization that all mention of 
 evil should be taboed, except in the mouths of a privi- 
 leged class ; but it is surely better and a mark of noble 
 blood, if not of higher civilization, that denunciation of 
 evil should ring at each fireside and every village feast. 
 The first of the songs that follow is the funeral dirge 
 that is sung at every cremation, a little before the 
 actual burning. It is so beautiful, in sentiment rather 
 than poetry, and the whole funeral ceremony is so 
 interesting, that it will be Avell to look for a moment 
 at the ritual of which the dirge forms a part. 
 ' The ceremonial commences somewhat before death. 
 As soon as the last struggle sets in, the whole village 
 springs into activity and earnest labor. The family 
 gathers round the dying man. The father or senior 
 member of the family takes a small gold coin — a rem- 
 nant of times long forgotten — worth but about six 
 pence and, therefore, very very tiny ; dips it in ghee 
 and places it in the sick man's mouth, telling him to 
 swallow what should be his last and most important 
 food and fortune. If the tiny coin slip down, well. 
 He will need both gold and ghee. | The one to sustain 
 his strength in the dark journey to the river of death, 
 the other to fee the guardian of the fairylike bridge 
 that spans the dreaded tide. If sense remain to the 
 wretched man he knows that now his death is nigh. 
 Despair and the gold make recovery impossible, and 
 there are none who have swallowed the Birianhana 
 and yet have lived. If insensibility or deathly weak- 
 ness make it impossible for the coin to pass the thorax, 
 
68 
 
 BADAGA SONGS. 
 
 it is carefully bound in cloth and tied to the right arm, 
 so that there may be nought to hinder the passage of 
 a worthy soul into the regions of the blest. 
 
 Meanwhile, a host of men fly to every quarter of the 
 compass. The burning must not be delayed more 
 than twenty-four hours. The Neilgherries are large 
 and the Badaga villages very widely scattered, so forth 
 must go a dozen runners, speeding as if with fiery cross 
 to call the tribe and friends of the deceased. As they 
 run they shout in the fashion peculiar to mountaineers, 
 so that the hills and vales for miles ring with the 
 long drawn-out cry that seems to fly through the air 
 like some swift dark bird, to such incredible distances 
 does it reach. While they thus carry their news, 
 another dozen start for the nearest shola (patch of 
 jungle trees). With eager hands they cut off the 
 straighter branches and hale them to the village. 
 'Another set go forth to the nearest Kotagherry (hill 
 inhabited by Kotas), to call musicians and carpenters. 
 The latter attack the branches brought from the shola 
 and soon produce a pyramidal car of such dimensions 
 as time and material permit. Others prepare bows 
 and arrows, to show that the deceased was a warrior, 
 and belonged to a fighting race. If the dead be a 
 woman, a rice-pounder serves instead. 
 
 Towards evening all this is done. Then the car is 
 covered with cloth, and the corpse is brought out on a 
 charpoy or native cot, and laid under the car. On one 
 side of the cot arc placed the various tools employed 
 by the deceased, his plough, his knife, &c, On the 
 
BAD AG A SONGS. 69 
 
 other are laid out his flute, his stick, and the bows and 
 arrows made by the Kotas. Last of all, an empty 
 gourd, to serve him as a drinking pot in the long 
 journey from the known to the unknown, is laid at the 
 dead man's feet J 
 
 With early dawn the crowd of friends comes in. 
 Man and woman are dressed in their best. Their best 
 is not much to be sure, except in the way of jewels, 
 which are often very valuable. r The first ceremonial is 
 that of the dance. It begins with the male relations of 
 the dead, who circle round the corpse, now fast, now 
 slow, now with joined hands and then separately. 
 Above all rises the shrill music of the Kotas, who 
 officiate at this portion of the ceremony. Music and 
 dance get faster and faster still. As friends arrive 
 they join in, and with their fresh vigor keep up the 
 frenzied round. They are supposed to be accompany- 
 ing the parted soul in its rapid flight to the feet of 
 God or, rather, to the pillar of fire, of which more will 
 be said hereafter.) The women stand around holding 
 in their hands the emblem of their calling, a rice- 
 beater. As the excitement rises, one or more ot them 
 will dash into the dance, whirling round and round 
 their massive weapon. Sometimes this frantic dance 
 will last for hours. 
 
 So far, the ceremony is much like what we know to 
 have been common among many early races. But 
 now commences a more solemn service which must 
 demand the most earnest attention. 
 
 When the dance is done and the performers have 
 
70 BADAGA SONGS. 
 
 recovered breath and calmness, the nearest relations of 
 the dead man walk in sad procession round the body. 
 One or more of them carries a basket of rice or other 
 food wherewith to satisfy the wandering soul or bribe 
 away the demons or beasts who would otherwise hinder 
 its journey. Ever as they walk one tells the goodness, 
 the prowess, the tender care for animals, the domestic 
 virtues of the deceased. At every fresh illustration 
 of his manly vigor or loving heart, his parents, brothers 
 and friends burst into fits of weeping ; and what 
 seem, and doubtless are, bitter tears of deep sorrow 
 roll down many a sad but dingy face. Then the 
 crowd takes up the body, its car or canopy, and all its 
 appurtenances, and carefully places them outside the 
 village bounds. 
 
 Again in solemn silence they stand around, until one 
 brings within the circle a buffalo-calf. It has been 
 carefully selected and is without blemish. One of the 
 leading men then steps to the side of the calf, lays his 
 hand upon its head and in a loud voice chants the 
 dirge to which reference has been made. The lines of 
 the poetry are so arranged that each stanza is finished 
 by the principal verb of the sentence. The whole is 
 a confession of sin. In the village the good deeds 
 of the deceased were rehearsed. They stood in the 
 presence of family and friends, and the proper rule 
 was nil nisi honum de mortuis. Now they stand before 
 God, to whom every sin is known. Now man's un- 
 worthiness appears, and the only proper attitude is 
 that of confession of sin. After a short invocation, the 
 
BADAGA SONGS. 71 
 
 performer makes a general confession. By a conven- 
 tional mode of expression the sum total of sins a man 
 may do is said to be thirteen hundred. Admitting 
 that the deceased has committed them all, the per- 
 former cries aloud " Stay not their flight to God's pure 
 feet." As he closes, the whole assembly chants aloud, 
 " Stay not their flight." The God invoked is Bassava, 
 after whom is named the great propagator of the Vira 
 Siva or ultra Siva worship. It is a name peculiar to 
 Siva himself. The chief symbol of Siva is the bull 
 Nandi: in Badaga the cow, Banige. The calf is, 
 therefore, a peculiarly appropriate symbol, answering 
 to the scape-goat of the Jews. 
 
 Again the performer enters into details and cries, 
 u He killed the crawling snake, it is a sin." In a 
 moment the last word is caught up and all the people 
 cry, " It is a sin." As they shout the performer lays 
 his hand upon the calf. The sin is transferred to the 
 calf. Thus the whole catalogue is gone through in this 
 impressive way. But this is not enough. As the last 
 shout — " Let all be well" — dies away, the performer 
 gives place to another, and again confession is made 
 and all the people shout, "It is a sin." A third time 
 is it done. Then, still in solemn silence, the calf is let 
 loose. Like the Jewish scape-goat, it may never be 
 used for secular work. It is sacred, bearing till death 
 the sins of a human being. 
 
 The solemn confession done, the relatives put earth 
 on their heads and, carrying hatchets in their hands, 
 circle the corpse three times, weeping bitterly all the 
 
72 BADAGA SONGS. 
 
 while. Lastly, they place a little earth upon the dead 
 man's face. Then the crowd carry the body and its 
 canopy to the nearest stream, heap up fuel round the 
 corpse and burn the whole in one great blaze. With it 
 are burnt jewels, cloths, implements and all the personal 
 belongings of the deceased. While yet cremation con- 
 tinues, all leave the spot. Next morning the relatives 
 return, gather up the ashes and cast them into the 
 stream. Should any bones remain un consumed, they 
 are reverently placed on the ground and covered with 
 a tumulus of such stones as the men may be able to 
 lift. When all is over, the friends of the deceased 
 shave their heads and faces in sign of mourning and 
 return to their ordinary lives. 
 
 The song deserves careful attention. The version 
 that follows is an almost literal translation, and has 
 been drawn from a literal prose rendering which the 
 Rev. F. Metz, the devoted and self-sacrificing mission- 
 ary who has for so many years persevered in what has 
 seemed the almost hopeless task of Christianizing the 
 Badagas, most kindly placed at my disposal. He 
 and his few colleagues of the Basel Mission are the 
 only Europeans sufficiently acquainted with the Badaga 
 tongue and people to obtain either the means or the 
 confidence required for gaining a knowledge of the 
 inner life of this strange people. All honor to those 
 who have been willing to live and die among such 
 people as the Neilgherry tribes. 
 
DIRGE FOR THE DEAD. 
 
 73 
 
 DIRGE FOR THE DEAD. 
 
 Invocation 
 
 In the presence of the great Bassava, 
 Who sprang from Banige' the holy cow. 
 
 The dead has sinned a thousand times. 
 E'en all the thirteen hundred sins 
 That can be done by mortal men 
 • May stain the soul that fled to-day. 
 Stay not their flight to God's pure feet. 
 Chorus — Stay not their flight. 
 He killed the crawling snake. 
 
 Chorus — It is a sin. 
 
 The creeping lizard slew. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 Also the harmless frog. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 Of brothers he told tales. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 The landmark stone he moved. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 ' Called in the Sircar's aid * 
 
 It is a sin. 
 Put poison in the milk. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 
 * This is a curious example of the hatred that all Hindoo tribes felt 
 towards the old regime. To appeal to the Kajahs or their courts was to 
 invite oppression, to require a large outlay on bribes, to let loose false 
 witnesses, to reveal secret mountain paths, in short, to bring upon the poor 
 hill people all the ills that the rapacity of the governing class could inflict 
 upon ignorant and helpless mountaineers. \ 
 
 10 
 
74 
 
 DIRGE FOR THE DEAD. 
 
 To strangers straying on the hills 
 He offered aid but guided wrong. 
 
 Chorus. — It is a sin. 
 
 His sister's tender love he spurned, 
 And showed his teeth to her in rage. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 He dared to drain the pendent teats 
 Of holy cow in sacred fold. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 
 The glorious sun shone warm and bright- 
 He turned his back towards its beams. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 Ere drinking from the babbling brook 
 He made no bow of gratitude. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 His envy rose against the man 
 Who owned a fruitful buffalo. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 He bound with cords and made to plough 
 The budding ox too young to work. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 While yet his wife dwelt in his house 
 He lusted for a younger bride. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 The hungry begged — he gave no meat. 
 The cold asked warmth — he lent no fire. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 He turned relations from his door, 
 Yet asked unworthy strangers home. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 The weak and poor called for his aid, 
 He gave no alms, denied their woe. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 
DIRGE FOR THE DEAD. 75 
 
 When caught by thorns, in useless rage 
 He tore his cloth from side to side. 
 
 Chorus. — It is a sin. 
 
 The father of his wife sat on the floor, 
 Yet he reclined on bench or couch. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 
 He cut the bund around a tank, 
 Set free the living waters store. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 
 Against the mother of his life 
 He lifted up a coward foot. 
 
 It is a sin. 
 
 What though he sinned so much, 
 Or that his parents sinned ? 
 What though the sins' long score 
 Was thirteen hundred crimes ? 
 O let them every one 
 Fly swift to Bas'vas' feet. 
 
 Chorus. — Fly swift. 
 
 The chamber dark of death 
 Shall open to his soul. 
 The sea shall rise in waves, 
 Surround on every side, 
 But yet that awful bridge, 
 No thicker than a thread, 
 Shall stand both firm and strong. 
 The dragon's yawning mouth 
 Is shut — it brings no fear. 
 The palaces of heaven 
 Throw open wide their doors. 
 
 Chorus. — Open wide their doors. 
 
76 DIRGE FOR THE DEAD. 
 
 The thorny path is steep, 
 Yet shall his soul go safe. 
 The silver pillar stands 
 So near — he touches it. 
 He may approach the wall, 
 The golden wall of heaven. 
 The burning pillar's flame 
 Shall have no heat for him. 
 
 Chorus. — Shall have no heat. 
 
 Oh, let us never doubt 
 
 That all his sins are gone, 
 That Bassava forgives. 
 
 May it be well with him ! 
 
 Chorus. — May it be well ! 
 Let all be well with him. 
 
 Chorus. — Let all be well ! 
 
 How vividly all this brings to mind the grand 
 pictures of the Mosaic Exodus ! Forget that we listen 
 to a puny tribe of Neilgherry mountaineers, and we see 
 Ebal and Gerizim revive ; when the man of God pro- 
 nounced the blessings and the curses — the good that 
 would bring life and the ill that must cause death. 
 No prophet was ever more explicit in declaration of sin, 
 no people ever more ready to learn. In fact this is the 
 grandest thing about either Ebal or the lonely village 
 in the hills: — that a people should, in the most solemn 
 ceremoriy that man can attend, with one voice de- 
 nounce evil and justify the holy God, who " cannot 
 regard sin with any degree of allowance. " 
 
DIRGE FOR THE DEAD. 77 
 
 More than one observer has noticed physical and 
 facial peculiarities so strongly reminding of the Jew, 
 that he has not hesitated to proclaim that here at 
 last are found those lost tribes which so strangely 
 disappeared from the world's history 2,500 years 
 ago. These observers knew nothing of the ceremony 
 described above. Had they known, how much louder 
 still had been their shout of recognition. History 
 repeats itself, and coincidence is not identity. There is 
 nothing, positively nothing, beyond physical features 
 and this ritual, to support the theory, and it may 
 be allowed to pass into that great limbo where lie 
 philosopher's stones and squared circles. Yet read 
 the book of Leviticus, and then compare the history of 
 the scape-goat with that of the Badaga buffalo. " He 
 shall bring the live goat, and Aaron shall lay both his 
 hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over 
 him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all 
 their transgressions in all their sins, putting them 
 upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away 
 by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, and the 
 goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities, into a 
 land not inhabited ; and he shall let go the goat in the 
 wilderness." 
 
 Is not this the exact scene that takes place each year 
 on the Neilgherry hills ? In the solemn gathering of 
 the people, the loud rehearsing of the sin, and the still 
 more awful reply of the great crowd, we see, combined 
 with the touching ceremony of the scape-goat, the 
 greatest and most solemn gathering in Judaic history 
 
78 
 
 DIRGE FOR THE DEAD. 
 
 after the thunders and lightnings of Sinai, — when half 
 the people stood on Gerizim and half on Ebal. Midway- 
 stood the Levites, and one and another came for- 
 ward and cried " Cursed be he that setteth light by 
 his father and his mother." As the words left his 
 mouth the whole multitude shouted " Amen." Even 
 the very confession is in many points the same. The 
 Jews said, "Cursed be he that removeth his neigh- 
 bours' landmark." The people answered " Amen." 
 Turn to the Badaga ritual. " The landmark stone he 
 moved." The people cry " It is a sin." 
 
 Let us note a few in parallel columns. 
 
 Jewish. 
 
 1. Cursed be he 
 that setteth light by 
 his father and his 
 mother. 
 
 2. Cursed be he 
 that maketh the 
 blind to wander out 
 of the way. 
 
 3. Thou shalt not 
 see thy brother's ox 
 or his ass astray and 
 hide thyself from 
 them. Thou shalt 
 in any case bring 
 them again unto 
 thy brother. 
 
 Badaga. 
 
 " The father of his wife sat on the floor 
 Yet he reclined on couch or bench. 
 It is a sin." 
 
 " Against the mother of his life 
 He lifted up a coward foot. 
 
 It is a sin." 
 
 " To strangers straying on the hills 
 He offered aid, but guided wrong. 
 It is a sin." 
 
 In the song about to be quoted is 
 
 the following passage describing the 
 
 deeds of good men : — 
 
 " When they saw on the hills the lost kine 
 
 Of stranger or neighbour, they drove 
 
 them all home." 
 
DIEGE FOR THE DEAD. 79 
 
 Many similar parallels might be produced by run- 
 ning through the commands in Leviticus, but these 
 suffice to show the remarkable coincidence in word and 
 ritual. Yet it must be repeated that, after careful 
 enquiry, I can discover no shadow of ground for sup- 
 posing that the Badaga form has been introduced by 
 Jewish influence, although it must be confessed that 
 the presence in Cochin of that strange colony of 
 " Black Jews," who distinctly claim to belong to the 
 lost ten tribes ; and the fact that Cochin is not many 
 days' march from the Neilgherry plateau, might afford 
 some presumptive additional evidence to the hand of 
 the puzzled searcher. Had the Todas or Badagas 
 been connected with the u Black Jews/' the tie must 
 have been known. On the contrary, all Neilgherry 
 tradition points to an early journey from the north — 
 from the great road by which every Aryan tribe 
 entered India, 
 
 The next song is of equally interesting character. 
 It describes the other world — " where parted spirits 
 dwell." It is only necessary to premise that, according 
 to Badaga belief, the soul carries with it an '" eidolon" 
 or image of its earthly body, capable of bearing pain 
 and delighting in pleasure. The succeeding song also 
 expresses the same idea. As another link in the great 
 chain of evidence proving the Aryan origin of this 
 curious literature, it should be noted that the portals of 
 death are guarded by a gruff porter or concierge, who 
 demands payment for permitting or aiding the passage 
 of the departing soul. The Todas suppose that this 
 
80 DIRGE FOR THE DEAD. 
 
 surly keeper dwells at Makurty Peak, remarkable for 
 the enormous precipice that forms one side. We meet 
 this personage again and again in every Aryan race. 
 The peculiar configuration of the Neilgherries will 
 explain at once the idea of seeing the other world from 
 their furthest peaks. The observer from Dodabetta, 
 Snowdon or any other high peak, sees the low country 
 at his feet, spread out like one vast carpet. The great 
 distance throws a haze over the landscape that seems 
 to render it unlike the surrounding world. The traveller 
 who has seen Italy from the south side of the Alps 
 will know what is meant. At one point in the Coondah 
 range, among the Neilgherries, the wanderer sees a 
 little cleft in the rocks that have hitherto bounded his 
 rugged path on either side. He turns to look beyond 
 and sees, as by a charm, that he stands on the brink of 
 one of the most awful precipices in the world. In one 
 sheer straight dip of several thousand feet the fascinat- 
 ed eye rests on the plain below. It is another world. 
 The song is a dialogue between a tender curious 
 woman and one of the "wise men" who act as the 
 advisers of their tribe. These wizards are greatly 
 feared. Like the " medicine men" of the Red Indian 
 they must be propitiated before any important work 
 can be undertaken. Their curse brings death — their 
 blessing commands the Gods. 
 
THE NEXT WORLD. 81 
 
 THE NEXT WOKLD. 
 
 Hattitippe, to see the other world, 
 
 Went walking where this sinful world of ours 
 
 Is bounded by Neilgherry rocks and steeps 
 
 Beyond Makurty Peak. Then, peering from 
 
 The furthest hill, she saw the wondrous land 
 
 Where parted spirits dwell. There came with her 
 
 Her dearest friend, to whose sad mind and eyes 
 
 Had been revealed the fate of those whose life 
 
 Had left this world to stand before its judge. 
 
 While yet she looked she thus addressed her friend : — 
 
 " Oh brother simpleton, 
 If I bend down I see 
 The tails of lowing kine. 
 But if I stand upright 
 I see their horned heads. 
 To whom do they belong ?" 
 
 " No funeral rites were performed for the men 
 Whose cattle have come to your view.* On the earth 
 Their relatives died before them. So the king 
 Who rules in the land out of sight was their heir. 
 The cattle do feed in his fields — they are his." 
 
 * We see here the germs of the Hindu theory noted on page 41. The 
 possibility of amending the condition of the dead requires that the living 
 should never slacken in their pious labor for their ancestors — hence the 
 monthly and annual ceremonies for the good of dead forefathers are the 
 keystone of the whole edifice of Hindu social ritual. \ 
 
 11 
 
82 THE NEXT WOBLD. 
 
 " 'Tis true, my brother dear. 
 But now I see a tree, 
 And from its spreading boughs 
 Hang many wretched men, 
 Suspended by their necks. 
 Who then are they, I ask ?" 
 
 " Oh sister beloved, must I tell you of this, 
 
 And have your own ears never heard of the tale ? 
 
 For ever they hang from the boughs of the tree 
 
 Because they thus ended a God-given life, 
 
 And fled from the woes their own sin had provoked." 
 
 " I see a loathsome ditch 
 "Where wretched men lie prone. 
 They ever seen to smoke 
 The brown tobacco-leaf. 
 Who then are these, I ask, 
 Dear brother simpleton V 
 
 " When Badagas died on the Neilgherry Hills 
 Their widows were robbed of the mite that was left. 
 The poor were oppressed by the strong and the rich. 
 The men that you see were great chiefs in their day, 
 Who grew to be rich on the spoil of the poor. 
 Such crimes have they done, and their punishment now 
 Is to lie in the ditch so defiled and unclean. 
 No food may they eat. To their ravening month 
 Tobacco is given. They may smoke but not eat * 
 ■ In luxury starve. In their mouths is but smoke." 
 
 * This is rather a novel punishment, but yet highly suggestive of the 
 fact that luxury bought by crime is an unsatisfying thing. 
 
THE NEXT WORLD. 83 
 
 " Again I see sad men, 
 Some garden land they bless ; 
 Ever pouring water 
 On tall and gaudy plants. 
 Oh brother, who are they ?" 
 
 " Oh sister, you surely must know about this ; — 
 
 They poisoned themselves when they dwelt on the earth 
 
 With opium deadly and vile. On these hills 
 
 They ate of the fruit of this terrible plant. 
 
 So now and for ever they water the seed, 
 
 The plant and its tall swelling head. While they live 
 
 The water they pour. Thus their sin is their pain." 
 
 " But, brother, stay. I see 
 A narrow hill-side path, 
 The track of buffaloes. 
 In it there lies a child, 
 Mosquitoes cover it. 
 How sad and sore it cries ! 
 Whose tender child is that V 
 
 " The child of a woman so cruel and hard 
 
 That when, in the days of her life, a poor child, 
 
 The child of a stranger, besought her for bread, 
 
 She murmured — " This troublesome child is not mine," 
 
 And would not receive her, nor comfort her soul. 
 
 So now, without help, her own child dies alone." 
 
 " Oh, brother, let me go 
 And save that helpless child. 
 E'en yet her lips may suck 
 New life from out my breast." 
 
84 THE NEXT WORLD. 
 
 " Oh sister, approach not that suffering child. 
 The giant, with mouth like a crow, will devour 
 Each one that would touch that forlorn helpless babe. 
 All sins that are done against children on earth 
 Are written above, and are known at the last." 
 
 " Yet once again I see 
 A lovely field of grain 
 With ears an ell in length : 
 They swell as doth a pot. 
 Whose golden field is this ? 
 Tell soon, oh brother dear !" 
 
 " You see the tall grain in the field of the man 
 Who lived to his God and did right in the world : 
 Who tilled his own land, and then cheerfully helped 
 His neighbour or friend. He gave alms to the poor, 
 The hungry he fed. To the cold he brought fire, 
 The naked he clothed, and the poor he relieved. 
 If now he should scatter his seed on a rock, 
 No barn would contain the bountiful crop." 
 
 " But, brother, now I see 
 Some men whose hair is smooth, 
 Well combed and shining bright. 
 One cloth around the loins 
 Is all the dress they wear. 
 Before they milk their kine 
 They wash in water warm. 
 How vast a pot they take, 
 And yet it fills with milk !" 
 
 " They get such abundance of white frothing milk, 
 Because when they saw on the hills the lost kine 
 Of stranger or neighbour, they drove them all home, 
 And saved from the tiger, the cheetah, or wolf." 
 
THE NEXT WORLD. 85 
 
 " A stranger thing appears. 
 I see red mud out there ; 
 And men are digging it. 
 Who can such wretches be ?" 
 
 " These people, my sister, are those who had much 
 Of food and of wealth when on earth. Yet they hid 
 The meal they were eating when beggars drew nigh. 
 So now they have fallen in thick and deep mud, 
 From whence they may never escape. To their cries 
 For food and for drink, they are answered but this, — 
 " Eat mud, there is mud. You may drink of the mud." 
 
 " But now I see a house, 
 How white and clean it is ! 
 It has verandahs wide. 
 Some men are writing there 
 Or reading, as they will. 
 My brother, who are they V 
 
 " They never complained to the Sircar's dubash,* 
 Nor slandered their friend or their foe. In the world, 
 Where sins are so many, they acted aright, 
 And hated the rogue who could poison a foe. 
 God gave them their eyes, they perceived the great good, 
 God gave them their hands, they were used for His work, 
 God gave them their food, to the stranger 'twas given, 
 God gave them their feet, they have walked in his ways. 
 A happy reward is for them, they are scribes." 
 
 * Dubash is the Hindoo term for interpreter, and means — " he that speaks 
 two languages." The dubash is an important officer in all dealings of the 
 government with the people. See note on page 73. 
 
86 THE NEXT WORLD. 
 
 " Oh brother, who are these, 
 Most wretched of them all ? 
 In naked shame they're bound 
 To rugged gnarled trees. 
 They ever seem to talk, 
 But none are there to hear." 
 
 " Oh sister, you surely have heard who these are': — 
 Abandoned and profligate women, who wandered astray 
 From virtue and home. They have nothing wherewith 
 To cover their shame. They are hungry and cold." 
 
 " A new thing now I see. 
 
 Oh brother, near the road 
 
 That leadeth to the plains 
 
 A fiery pillar stands. 
 
 Beyond, a river flows. 
 
 Across, from bank to bank, 
 
 Is stretched a bridge of thread. 
 
 What can these strange things mean V 
 
 " Look, sister, again. On the happier side 
 There stands a white house — the abode of the blest. 
 The place of the lost, where they meet their reward, 
 Is nearer to you— on this side of the stream ?" 
 
 " Oh brother, how I wish 
 
 To reach that blissful shore ! 
 
 Why did I ever come 
 
 To see such fearful things ! 
 
 If, when at last I die, 
 
 A solemn gathering mourns, 
 
 And fire devours my corpse — 
 
BADAGA SONGS. 87 
 
 If toll be paid to him 
 
 Who guards the heavenly gates- 
 
 If this and more be done, 
 
 Can I obtain that bliss, 
 
 Or must I sink to hell t 
 
 " Alas, my dear sister, I know not of that." 
 
 What a touch of life is there in the verses that de- 
 scribe the lone babe ! How near akin is the whole 
 scene to that when the Great Teacher said — u Suffer 
 little children to come unto me." — "Take heed that ye 
 offend not one of these little ones. It were better 
 that a millstone were tied about his neck and he be 
 cast into the sea." 
 
 'Note again the strange (to us) reverence in which 
 the art of writing is held. To be a scribe is to enjoy 
 the best place in heaven. No greater joy or honor can 
 be than that one should write. As this is the summit 
 of moral ambition, the height of physical enjoyment is 
 to have plenty of milk, to bathe in warm water and to 
 wear but one cloth, and that merely round the loins. 
 The two latter point naively to the joy — warmth, that 
 contrasts with the greatest evil the mountaineer has to 
 meet — cold. The wearing but one cloth is an inferential 
 not a positive good. It proves that the blessed dwell 
 in a land so pleasant that clothing is only needed for 
 the sake of decency, not for warmth. I The water in 
 
88 BADAGA SONGS. 
 
 Neilgherry streams is certainly cold, and inability to 
 provide either vessel or fuel for a hot bath may perhaps 
 account for what Europeans count the greatest dis- 
 figurement of a Badaga, the dirt which forms so sub- 
 stantial a dress, in which convenience is certainly more 
 studied than elegance. 
 
 Again we see the strong living morality of an early 
 Aryan or Semitic people. Here is no trace of that utter 
 lack of a high sense of right or wrong which marks the 
 Scythian. In the deep abhorrence of suicide which 
 gives the opium-eater and the more direct self-destroyer 
 the worst places in hell, we mark a higher grade of 
 thought than Latins or Greeks reached. The practice 
 of eating opium is especially condemned. The poppy 
 grows abundantly on the hills, and self-indulgence in 
 the use of its juice is much too common. 
 
 How striking, too, is the analogy between our Lord's 
 parable of the judgment and several passages of this 
 and the preceding song. Compare Matthew — " For 
 I was an hungred and ye gave me meat : I was thirsty 
 and ye gave me drink : I was a stranger and ye took 
 me in : Naked and ye clothed me : I was sick and ye 
 visited me : I was in prison, and ye came unto me" — 
 with the following : — 
 
 " You see the tall grain in the field of the man 
 Who lived to his God and did right in the world. 
 Who tilled his own land, and then cheerfully helped 
 His neighbour or friend. He gave alms to the poor, 
 The hungry he fed, to the cold he brought fire. 
 The naked he clothed, and the poor he relieved." 
 
BADAGA SONGS. 89 
 
 Also with this from the Funeral song : — 
 
 " The hungry begged — he gave no meat. 
 The cold asked warmth — he lent no fire. 
 The weak and poor called for his aid, 
 He gave no alms — denied their woe." 
 
 Another curious feeling that constantly oozes out is 
 that of fear lest government should interfere in any 
 matter concerning them. In addition to the passages 
 given in the songs we may quote an expressive 
 proverb, " If you appeal to the magistrate, you might 
 as well poison your opponent's food." And again — 
 " Riches acquired by serving the sircar (government) 
 are like a post in a swamp, rats carry it away." " If 
 a tiger be hungry, he will even eat grass." There 
 was ample reason for this in the days of the petty 
 rajahs and greater kings that preceded the English 
 rule. While the mountain tribes were quiet and 
 unthought of, they lived in peace. But the hungry 
 princes needed little reminding, and an appeal for 
 justice was but an invitation to plunder. Greedy but 
 light-footed soldiers came close behind the bailifT along 
 the trodden paths. 
 
 The bridge of thread reminds immediately of the 
 Mahomedan idea of a sharp sword spanning the 
 dreadful gulf. Some scholar with leisure and oppor- 
 tunity may trace the origin of this idea, and will 
 probably light upon an interesting subject. The 
 next song will itself explain both it and the burning 
 pillar. 
 
 12 
 
90 STOKY OF BALI. 
 
 The story of Bali is a ballad. In the following ren- 
 dering an attempt has been made to catch the spirit 
 as well as the verbiage of the original. One stanza 
 is marked as an interpolation, as it is manifestly 
 different from all the rest of the piece. It has pro- 
 bably been inserted by some bard who felt strongly 
 that opium-eating could not be too often condemned. 
 
 It is a favorite song and evokes many expressions of 
 pity. Its form is so dramatic that the story has fair 
 play. Other characters come on the scene only to shed 
 light upon the heroines, and disappear when their work 
 is done. The reader will again note with interest the 
 purely Aryan idea of burying souls in trees, and may 
 discover the germ of the great scheme of transmigration 
 of souls, although there is no suspicion of the gross 
 Brahmanic developments of the system. 
 
 STORY OF BALI. 
 
 1. A rich man lived in Marly Mund 
 
 And daughters two had he. 
 He called the twain by one strange name, 
 For both should Bali be. 
 
 2. His lands were wide. Twelve yoke of kine 
 
 Were scarce enough for tilth. 
 His buffaloes were numberless, 
 And golden hoards his wealth. 
 
STORY OF BALI. 91 
 
 3. In fourteen chests the coins were hid ; 
 
 They stood in one great pile. 
 But all his wealth could not bring joy, 
 His daughters were so vile. 
 
 4. The Gods looked down from heaven above — 
 
 Such sins must them provoke. 
 E'en they had never seen before 
 Such wilful sinful folk. 
 
 5. Their wrath was great, like lightning burned, 
 
 It swallowed everything. 
 In one short week the wealth was gone ; 
 They stood but in their skin. 
 
 6. Where poor by hundreds once were fed, 
 
 Was not one grain of food. 
 Great store of gold had filled the house 
 Which now all empty stood. 
 
 7. The farmer prayed a wizard grey 
 
 To tell why pain so keen 
 And loss so great had come to him, 
 Who had so wealthy been. 
 
 8. The wizard said all this had come 
 
 To show that sin brought woe : 
 That if he wished to prosper still 
 His daughters twain must go. 
 
 9. The man went home and, fearing God, 
 
 His daughters from him sent. 
 So out into the wide lone world 
 The sinful women went. 
 
1 
 
 92 STORY OF BALI. 
 
 10. They had not learned to earn their bread, 
 
 In jungles food to gain. 
 No roof had they to shelter them 
 From sun, or wind, or rain. 
 
 11. At last they reached a lofty house, 
 
 And served there night and day. 
 But soon the master lost his wealth — 
 Became as poor as they. 
 
 12. He asked a wizard why such wrath 
 
 Had turned his good to bad ? 
 He answered that a bitter curse 
 Was on those women sad. 
 
 13. He sent them both away in peace, 
 
 And looked for good again. 
 A plantain garden, gilt with fruit, 
 Stood near to ease their pain. 
 
 14. With outstretched hands they tried to pluck 
 
 The rich and fruity store. 
 The trees fell down, the fruit grew black ; 
 Their hunger burned yet more. 
 
 15. The gardeners saw the ruin dire 
 
 Which round the women lay. 
 They called them " witch," assailed with stones, 
 And hunted them away. 
 
 16. Near by there stood a Jack-tree tope, 
 
 To it they then did run — 
 A cocoa-grove was just beyond — 
 To both black death did come. 
 
STORY OF BALI. 93 
 
 17. The curse was now so hard to bear, 
 
 So hot and deep their scathe, 
 The tears flowed down so large and fast, 
 The stream a bird would bathe. 
 
 18. In deep despair a tigress lean 
 
 They roused as first she fed. 
 For speedy death they looked and prayed, — 
 The tigress stared and fled. 
 
 19. " Oh, sister dear" said one of them, 
 
 ** Why may we never die ? 
 What sins so great can we have done 
 To merit wrath so high T 
 
 20. " Perhaps if we would dare to go 
 
 Into a bear's dark den, 
 The beast may turn and rend us so 
 That life may leave us then." 
 
 21. They dared to go. Great stones they threw 
 
 Upon the savage beast. 
 In awe they wait. He turned and fled : 
 Rejects the proffered feast. 
 
 22. They swallowed lumps of opium 
 
 And smiled as sleep enchained. 
 But soon they start and vomit forth 
 The drug whose help they claimed. 
 
 23. With eyes close shut, nay, bound with cloth, 
 
 They rushed into a stream. 
 The waters parted 'neath their feet, 
 They stood as in a dream. 
 
94 STORY OF BALI. 
 
 24. They hid themselves in jungle thick 
 
 And set the grass alight. 
 The flames rose high, but came not near, 
 Destroyed to left and right. 
 
 25. At last they chose a lofty rock 
 
 To plunge from off its brink. 
 But as they stood to bid farewell, 
 The rock did split and sink. 
 
 26. Most eagerly they sought for death 
 
 In water, earth and sky. 
 But death would not receive their souls. 
 They might not, could not die. 
 
 27. One moment more they stood and talked 
 
 At top of some lone hill. 
 " No child nor husband may we have, 
 So die we must and will." 
 
 28. Then casting off their little packs 
 
 Of clothes and some few rings, 
 They start afresh, with vigor new, 
 As seeking precious things. 
 
 29. They climbed in haste a hill so steep, 
 
 An ox would backwards fall ; 
 Ran quickly down the further side, 
 Which would a goat appal. 
 
 30. At last they met a flock of sheep, 
 
 By shepherds was it led. 
 They asked of one the way to heaven, — 
 Both sheep and shepherd fled. 
 
STORY OF BALI. 95 
 
 31. " Oh, sister dear, when we were young 
 
 We made our sins our boast. 
 And now sweet death denies our prayer 
 And heaven's road is lost." 
 
 32. Still walking on, an outcaste comes, 
 
 A tiger's skin his clothes. 
 He asked for food, for all they had, 
 Then cursed them with loud oaths. 
 
 33. " What money can we give to thee ? 
 
 We on]y long to die. 
 But tell us, outcaste, what may be 
 That lofty flame near by ?" 
 
 34. " The Gods have raised that naming pile 
 
 For all men to embrace. 
 If but one sin remain unpurged 
 Death meets you face to face." 
 
 35. " Yet though to ashes you are burnt, 
 
 Hell opes that very hour. 
 
 The giant with the raven mouth 
 
 Will torture and devour." 
 
 36. " But brother, who are they we see, 1 _ . 
 
 n ' ' This verse is 
 
 Great water-pots they bear ? j . , ,. 
 
 . - . > evidently an 
 " They killed themselves with opium f . . . , . 
 m ii i » interpolation. 
 
 To scape all pam and care. J 
 
 37. " Alas, my brother, where doth rest 
 
 The husband of my youth ?" 
 " Go ye away from me, for now 
 I know you both in truth." 
 
96 
 
 STORY OF BALI. 
 
 38. 
 
 " Ye are the wilful Bali folk, 
 
 
 Whose sins are manifest. 
 
 
 Amid Neilgherry hills ye dwelt 
 
 
 And made of sin a jest." 
 
 39. 
 
 Still on they went, and soon did come 
 
 
 Unto that bridge of thread : 
 
 
 Beside them yawned the dragon's mouth : 
 
 
 In front, the pillar red. 
 
 40. 
 
 By terror blanched, they stood in dread 
 
 
 Of what might yet befal. 
 
 
 Five angels bade them follow close, 
 
 
 And on, straight on, went all. 
 
 41. 
 
 The angels seized them by their throats 
 
 
 And dragged them to their shame. 
 
 
 " It is not large, — put both your arms 
 
 
 Around that pillar's flame." 
 
 42. 
 
 Beyond the stream they saw the God ; 
 
 
 And with him sat his wife. 
 
 
 They begged the trembling women folk 
 
 
 To clasp, and enter life. 
 
 43. 
 
 While yet they spoke, with eager feet 
 
 
 Two virgins past did run. 
 
 / 
 
 Their robes were white, and bright they shone 
 
 
 As either moon or sun. 
 
 44. 
 
 Two bracelets glistened on one arm, 
 
 
 With them a bangle vied. 
 
 
 A green umbrella shaded them, 
 
 
 They seemed on ghee to glide. 
 
STORY OF BALI. 97 
 
 45. They boldly grasped the pillar s flame, 
 
 Passed on and crossed the tide, 
 Fell prostrate at the feet of God, 
 Who placed them at his side. 
 
 46. "Ye Gods, pray tell us who are these 
 
 Whose garments glint with sheen ?' 
 " The righteous daughters of good men ; 
 They have not walked in sin." 
 
 47. " Whoe'er is free from sinful stain 
 
 When that his work is done, 
 Shall hither come and ever dwell 
 Before the Holy One." 
 
 48. Then said the women to themselves — 
 
 " If virgins such as they 
 Have passed the flames unhurt ; then we 
 Most surely can and may." 
 
 49. But ere they came to grasp the pile, 
 
 The burning flames did dart 
 And seize their tender shrinking frames, 
 Consuming every part. 
 
 50. Whate'er remained the angels cast 
 
 Into the deep dark hell. 
 The ravening giant waited there 
 And caught them as they fell. 
 
 51. He tortured them. The dragon fiend 
 
 More bitter pains prepared. 
 For seven long days their pangs endured. 
 So long God's wrath they shared. 
 
 13 
 
98 BADAGA SONGS. 
 
 52. Seven piles of wood the dragon made, 
 
 With oil his victims drenched, 
 Then laid them on their dreadful bier 
 Where life by fire was quenched. 
 
 53. But still the dragon's rage was hot, 
 
 Not yet enough their dree. 
 The one he hid within a pig, 
 The other in a tree. 
 
 54. While earth shall last they suffer thus, 
 
 In cold or summer heat, 
 For none may taste or joy or rest, 
 If death and sin should meet. 
 
 This sad story needs no note. It is only necessary 
 therefore to add once more that in reading these simple 
 but most pathetic songs, we do not meet with a single 
 idea that is not familiar to us. The singers are a poor 
 and almost unknown race of heathen mountaineers, far 
 away in the extreme south of India. They repeat 
 what is their inherited property, brought down almost 
 unaltered from ages long passed from the history of 
 India. No Brahman can have taught them. Even 
 their neighbours in the plains could give nothing so 
 pure, although presenting much in their folk-songs 
 that is close akin. Whence did such learning, such 
 morality come ? It partakes much of the Semitic, and 
 much of the Aryan, but is in no sense Scythic. That 
 the people are Dravidian, their language, their appear- 
 
BADAGA SOAGS. 99 
 
 ance, their caste system, their tradition fully prove. 
 Recent increase of knowledge has left no shade of 
 doubt on this point, and Caldwell admits it. If so, 
 deep digging in Tamil and Telugu thought and litera- 
 ture must reveal similar ideas. 
 
 The Badaga language is rich in similar productions. 
 The Rev. F. Metz has filled two large folio volumes 
 with his collection of Badaga poetry. Most of the 
 pieces are too long to come within the scope of this 
 book, but otherwise are well worthy of public atten- 
 tion. They tell again and again the lesson taught so 
 vividly in the ballads that have been quoted — that sin 
 is an evil of which to be ashamed and for which one 
 ought to fear, — that it is always good to do the right. 
 It will be no slight benefit gained by this publication 
 if it should cause scholars to persuade Mr. Metz to 
 put the whole series before the world of letters. 
 
 "While these lines are passing through the Press the 
 Madras Government has taken action in the matter 
 and has authorized the Commissioner of the Neilgher- 
 ries, J. W. Breeks, Esq., to make an exhaustive 
 examination of the history, religion, customs and anti- 
 quities of the Neilgherry tribes. The order does not 
 specially mention the literature, oral of course, of the 
 hill peoples ; but it is greatly to be hoped that this 
 subject will be attended to. The tribes are rapidly 
 dying out under that strange law which will not permit 
 a ruder tribe to coexist with modern civilization. They 
 are kindly treated and are permitted to enjoy their 
 simple holdings, but yet decrease in number year by 
 
100 
 
 BADAGA SONGS. 
 
 year. Strong drink destroys the men. The women 
 steadily deteriorate in contact with Europeans. Child- 
 ren become fewer and fewer, and there seems every 
 probability that before another century has rolled 
 away the smaller Neilgherry races will have died out. 
 There is no such fear in Coorg, where the people have 
 settled on the rich wet lands and become a civilized 
 nation rather than a rude hill tribe. 
 
COORG SONGS. 101 
 
 COOKG SONGS. 
 
 The word Coorg is a corruption of the native name 
 Kodagu,and belongs to the country lying on the summit 
 of a plateau on the western Ghauts. Kodagu, from Kodi, 
 means a hill, and the name as a proper noun is there- 
 fore The Hilly Country. This is by no means inappli- 
 cable, for the whole land is a series of ridges rising from 
 the body of the Ghauts. Between > the lines of hills 
 are charming valleys, watered perfectly by the clouds 
 from the Indian Ocean which impinge upon the 
 Ghauts. Perennial verdure clothes every hollow and 
 giant forest trees cover the hill slopes. Every dale 
 is constantly receiving fresh stores of the fertilizing soil 
 washed down from the hill sides by the monsoon rains. 
 At the lowest point of each depression is usually some 
 clear fresh lake, kept ever full by the constantly renew- 
 ed moisture that sparkles down the rugged steeps in 
 tiny streamlets from the cloudy summits. No wonder 
 that the land is fertile or that its people look upon it 
 as the most beautiful and blessed realm upon earth. 
 They speak of it as a necklace among the countries ; 
 an image that derives especial force from the fact that, 
 to him who views the land from the higher peaks, 
 the many brilliant lakes lie in the sunshine on the 
 bosom of the country in a double or treble chain of 
 singular and brilliant beauty. The Coorg song or palame 
 almost invariably opens with a vivid expression of 
 
102 COORG SONGS. 
 
 delight that Providence has given to the singers such a 
 pleasant land. Some of these patriotic strains are 
 worthy of more renowned countries than Coorg ever 
 has been or will be. Let us quote a few. 
 
 Nothing higher can be seen, 
 
 Though one look through all the earth, 
 
 Than the Mahameru hill. 
 
 Brightest 'mongst the flower trees 
 
 Is the brilliant Sampige. 
 
 So in all the fertile earth 
 
 Coorg a necklace is of gold. 
 
 One of the more modern songs contains the following 
 glowing eulogy : 
 
 Like the star-besprinkled heaven 
 Are the happy Kurgi homes 
 On the bosom of our land. 
 Blooming children fill each house 
 Like a garth of richest flowers. 
 Like the royal Sampige 
 Are our tall and stately men. 
 Strings of choicest purest pearls, 
 Beauteous as the forest flowers, 
 Are our wives and little ones. 
 Prosperous and well they live, 
 Jasmin has no sweeter smell. 
 E'en our cattle multiply 
 Many as the jungle race. 
 As the Cauvery river sand 
 So our rice and wealth increase. 
 None doth suffer in this land 
 Either want or grievous pain. 
 All are happy, all are rich. 
 
COORG SONGS. 103 
 
 Another palame calls Coorg a 
 
 " Land of houses and of farms." 
 
 In the songs that follow other such ascriptions will 
 be found. It is a pleasure to meet with a people so 
 heartily and out-spoken ly proud of their country. But 
 it must be confessed that seldom has a people such 
 reason to be proud of its national home. 
 
 This sense of material prosperity and social comfort 
 pervades all the songs that will be quoted. It is an 
 opposite pole of human existence to that which leads 
 the Tamil and Canarese bards to find such sorrow in their 
 world. Here we find no repining, no feeling of the 
 vanity of all worldly things. Just the opposite — all is 
 warm with prosperity, with domestic happiness, with a 
 comfortable sense of sufficiency. Is not this very 
 largely owing to the fact that there has not been in 
 Coorg the same long strife between the old and new 
 life, between Dravidianism and Brahmanism — that the 
 people are permitted to enjoy their national hopes, to 
 hold without dispute the old-fashioned doctrines of 
 morality and religious right — to look into the future 
 with the certainty that the bountiful Being who gave 
 them their pleasant fertile land intended that they 
 should rejoice in his gift ? 
 
 The following pages will contain, besides a few child- 
 ren's rhymes, three of the songs that best represent the 
 whole class. They are of considerable length — other- 
 wise other examples might have been given. I am 
 indebted to two earnest and capable German Mission- 
 aries, the Bevs. W. Graater and George Bichter, for 
 
104 COORG SONGS. 
 
 literal translations of the originals. The first-named 
 gentleman collected and published them in the Kodagu 
 vernacular and also rendered most of them into English. 
 
 Mr. Kichter is a striking example of the immense 
 amount of good that one persevering, able and clear- 
 minded man may do. Originally set down in an almost 
 unknown country to christianize an entirely unknown 
 people without a written literature or even an alphabet, 
 he has by force of his high personal character obtained 
 a first place in the confidence both of the people and its 
 rulers. Almost single-handed he reduced the language 
 to writing, thoroughly investigated the capabilities of 
 the country and its people, examined and described 
 its fauna, flora and geology. 
 
 When the people had learned to value his efforts, 
 he opened schools and taught in them himself. So 
 efficiently was this work done that, a few years back, 
 the leaders of the nation came forward of their own 
 accord to ask the Supreme Government to extend to 
 them the school system which, in other parts of India, 
 had only been established after years of opposition ; 
 and only grew into vigorous life after many other 
 years of misrepresentation, discouragement and nu- 
 merous mishaps. Mr. Bichter now holds the high 
 post of Inspector of Schools and Principal of the 
 Mercara High School — specially exempted from the 
 operation of the rule which prohibits a missionary 
 or clergyman from holding high office in the educa- 
 tional department, because, though an earnest suc- 
 cessful missionary, there is no other man who could 
 
COORG SONGS. 105 
 
 so command the confidence of the people. His last 
 feat has been the production of a Gazetteer of Coorg, 
 compiled almost entirely from the results of his own 
 enquiries, and forming one of the best specimens of the 
 official gazetteers which the Government of India has 
 ordered to be drawn up in every province in India. 
 
 It is a pleasure to acknowledge that to his kindness 
 and the literary collections of himself and his worthy 
 colleague, Mr. Grseter, I owe the originals of every 
 one of the Coorg songs that follow. I was myself 
 anxiously searching for them when I learned of the col- 
 lection made by these gentlemen. On my application 
 to be permitted to copy the songs, the whole were 
 placed at my disposal, on the sole condition that Mr. 
 Richter should possess the right of prior publication. 
 This right has been exercised in the "Manual of 
 Croog," where versions of the "Wedding and Funeral 
 Songs and of one of the children's rhymes have 
 already appeared. For the present version I am res- 
 ponsible, except that it is necessary to state that the 
 Funeral song is but little altered from Mr. Graeter's 
 rendering. Mr. Richter added to his other kindness 
 by permitting me to render his literal translations 
 into such metric form as might be thought ad- 
 visable. 
 
 The series commences with the Huttari or Harvest 
 Song. The word Huttari means " new rice," and the 
 feast is the Coorgi representative of the Tamil Pongol 
 or Feast of the Boiling. It is the harvest festival and 
 corresponds exactly with the Jewish feast of Ingather- 
 
 14 
 
106 COORG SONGS. 
 
 ing. All or almost all agricultural nations celebrate 
 the arrival of the national food crop with great rejoic- 
 ing. In the Tamil lands the key of the whole ceremony- 
 is the boiling of the first meal of the new rice. In 
 Coorg the new rice is pounded or ground, and the flour 
 made into a dough which is eaten by all present. 
 With such slight variations as must have been produc- 
 ed by centuries of separation and by different physical 
 circumstances the feast is of precisely the same charac- 
 ter in all the Dravidian countries. In Malabar it 
 is called Pudiari ; but this is the same word with 
 Huttari, as the Tamil and Malayalim p becomes h in 
 Canarese and Coorgi. 
 
 On the Eastern coast the paddy does not ripen till 
 the end of the year, and the celebration takes place on 
 the day that the sun crosses the equator to enter the 
 tropic of Capricorn. On the West coast, around 
 Calicut and Mangalore, the corn is ripe about the 
 middle of September. The cultivated lands of Coorg 
 have an elevation of about 3,500 feet above the sea, 
 and the lower temperature retards the ripening. It 
 happens therefore that the paddy cannot be cut in 
 Coorg till about the middle of November, or two 
 months later than in Malabar. It should be remem- 
 bered that the word " rice" is only applicable after the 
 grain has been cut, threshed and husked. Till it is 
 thus ready for the table the proper name of the plant 
 and its fruit is " paddy." This distinction should 
 always be borne in mind. Rice is the cleaned grain. 
 Paddy is the grain in the husk. 
 
COORG SONGS. 107 
 
 The learned Brahmans at Mangalore are far more 
 ready at calculating times and seasons than the hard- 
 working but ignorant Coorgs. It has therefore come 
 to pass that the Coorg feast is made to depend upon 
 that in Malabar, and happens exactly two months after- 
 wards. Shortly before the time of the Malabar festival 
 a messenger is sent down the ghauts to ascertain the 
 day fixed in the lowlands. When the rejoicings have 
 actually commenced there, he returns with the news, 
 delivering his message to the priest of Iguttappa at 
 the temple in the Padinalk-nad, where a small colony 
 of Brahmans from Mangalore has settled. Here the 
 leading men of every nad, — as each of the thirty -five 
 divisions of the country is named— have already as- 
 sembled. Then, amidst special religious services, the 
 Coorg day is fixed, and all depart to their homes to 
 make ready for the great occasion. 
 
 The feast occupies a week properly, but the re- 
 joicings and holiday last for four days more. Like the 
 Pongol it needs no Brahman. In fact its ceremonial is 
 opposed to all Brahmanic teaching, assuming as it 
 does that each thankful individual is able to approach 
 the deity direct — to offer gifts and utter praise. It 
 should also be noted that the presiding deity is the 
 Sun, who with the rain has brought forth the golden 
 crops. 
 
 The following description is quoted almost verbatim 
 from that given by the Kev. G. Bichter in his Manual 
 of Coorg, and gives in a condensed form the leading 
 portions of the ceremonial. 
 
108 COORG SONGS. 
 
 Six days before the chief festival of tasting the new 
 rice, all the males, from six to sixty years, assemble on 
 one of the Mandus of the Grama, after sunset. The 
 Grama is the village. The houses do not cluster as in 
 English villages, but stand alone on the land of the 
 owner. But for purposes of domestic and public life 
 all the houses in a particular valley form the Grama 
 or village. Mandu is the name of the open public place 
 in which business is transacted or festive games carried 
 on. Gramas have generally three Mandus, one called 
 the Punch ay ati-mandu for business ; a second, Devara- 
 mandu, on which dances are performed in the name of 
 Bhagavati during the after-Huttari days ; a third, Uru- 
 mandu (i. e., the Mandu of the village) on which the 
 Huttari performances take place. 
 
 The time of these national games and dances is from 
 sunset till after ten o'clock. The whole male popula- 
 tion of the Grama, except little boys and old men past 
 sixty, has religiously to attend. The assembly gathers 
 gradually between six and seven o'clock. When the 
 assembly is full, a space is marked out for the perform- 
 ances of the party. At a little distance a band of 
 musicians, two Holeya or slave horn-blowers and two 
 Meda-drummers, sit near a fire, which they have 
 kindled for warming themselves and their instruments. 
 The horns are large and of brass. The drums are a 
 Pare (large drum) and a Kudike-pare (kettle drum of 
 a smaller size.) 
 
 Three Coorg-men then step into the centre of the 
 open space and call aloud three names : Ayappa ! 
 
COORG SONGS. 109 
 
 Mahadeva ! Bhagavati ! The men stand in a triangle, 
 their faces towards the centre, their backs towards the 
 company. Ayappa is the Coorg forest-god ; Mahadeva, 
 the Shiva of the Hindus, and Bhagavati, his wife. 
 
 The Chandukutti (ball-and-peg play) now follows. 
 The whole assembly takes part in it, the moon shedding 
 a bright silver-light on the scene. A peg is driven 
 into the centre of the chosen ground. A piece of rope 
 is fastened to it by a loose loop. The people who make 
 this preparation then seize some one, who must hold 
 this rope. A piece of wood, generally of a creeper 
 called Odi, is cut into seven parts, which are called 
 Chandu, i, e., balls. The man holding the rope puts 
 six of these balls in a circle round the peg at a distance 
 of the rope's length, the seventh is deposited close by 
 the peg. The whole company now endeavours to pick 
 up and carry away the balls without being touched by 
 their guardian. The player in the centre, always 
 keeping the rope's end in one hand, turns round and 
 round, and tries to touch some one of the aggressors. 
 If he succeed, the person touched must take his place 
 and the play recommences. When six balls are ab- 
 stracted, the seventh must be moved to the distance 
 of one foot from the peg. When this also is lost, the 
 man has to run through the whole crowd and escape, 
 without being caught, to the musicians' place. If he 
 reach this asylum in safety, the play is won and finish- 
 ed. If he be caught on his way, he is brought before 
 the Nettle-man, an officer of the play-court, who has 
 been waiting all the time, a long x\ngare-stick — a large 
 
110 COORG SONGS. 
 
 fierce nettle — in his hand for the victim. His hands 
 and feet are well touched and the play ends. 
 
 Now the assembly perform different kinds of plays 
 and dances, representing the wars which in ancient 
 times appear to have been waged between people of 
 different districts. A man is wounded ; a physician 
 is called, who prescribes for him. Another wounded 
 man dies, and Holeyas are called to invite his friends 
 to the funeral. The funeral is performed; A scene 
 of demoniacal possession is acted. Now stories are 
 told of incredibilities. " I saw the other day a little 
 hare attacking a tiger and breaking its neck." Reply : 
 " Did you ? I saw a buffaloe flying over the mountains," 
 etc. Three men invoke again Ayappa, Mahadeva and 
 Bhagavati. Dances follow, accompanied by the beat- 
 ing of sticks, keeping time with the music of the band 
 outside. Feats of gymnastic strength and agility are 
 then performed and another invocation of the three 
 deities concludes the performance. 
 
 The Huttari takes place on the night of full moon. 
 Early in the morning, before dawn, a quantity of Ash- 
 vatha (ficus religiosa), Kumbali and Keku (wild trees) 
 leaves, some hundred of each for great houses, together 
 with a piece of a creeper, called Inyoli, and some fibrous 
 bark called Achchi, are collected and deposited in a 
 shady place for the use of the evening. During the 
 day, the house is cleansed, brass vessels are scoured, 
 and everything wears the appearance of a great 
 holiday. Beggars come and are dismissed with pre- 
 sents. The Meda (low caste cultivator) brings the 
 
COORG SONGS. HI 
 
 Huttari basket, the potter the little Huttari pot, the 
 blacksmith a new sickle, the carpenter a new spoon, 
 the Holeya a new mat. Each carries off his Huttari 
 portion of rice and plantains. The astrologer follows, 
 to communicate the exact time of the full moon, and 
 claims his share of the Huttari bounty. The cattle are 
 washed and scrubbed, for once ; the menial servants 
 have an extra allowance of rice ; breakfast and dinner 
 are served to the family, At sunset the whole house 
 prepares for a hot bath. 
 
 The precedence is given to the person whom the 
 astrologer has chosen in the morning for the ceremony 
 of cutting the first sheaves. On his return from bath- 
 ing, he repairs to the threshing floor, spreads the 
 Huttari mat, and, while the rest are engaged in their 
 ablutions, cuts the Inyoli creeper into small pieces, 
 rolls each piece into an Ashvatha, a Kumbali and a 
 Keku leaf, in the fashion of a native cheroot, and 
 ties up the little bundle with a bit of Achchi fibre. 
 All the bundles are placed in the Huttari basket. 
 Now the women take a large dish, strew it with rice, 
 and place a lighted lamp in it. This done, the whole 
 household march towards the fields, where the silvery 
 light of the full moon affords ample illumination. The 
 dish with the lamp is carried in front ; the sheaf-cutter 
 follows with basket and sickle in one hand, and a 
 bamboo bottle of fresh milk in the other. Arrived at 
 the chosen spot, the young man binds one of the leaf 
 scrolls from his basket to a bush of rice, and pours 
 milk into it. He cuts an armful of rice in the neigh- 
 
112 COORG SONGS. 
 
 bourhood and distributes two or three stalks to every- 
 one present. Some stalks are put into the milk-vessel. 
 No one must touch the sheaf-cutter. 
 
 All return to the threshing floor, shouting as they 
 walk on : " Pole, pole, Deva !" (Increase, O God !) A 
 bundle of leaves is adorned with a stalk of rice, and 
 fastened to the post in the centre of the threshing floor. 
 Sufficient of the new cut rice is now threshed, cleaned 
 and ground to provide flour enough for the dough 
 cakes which each member of the household is to eat. 
 The company then proceeds to the door of the house, 
 where the mistress meets them, washes the feet of the 
 sheaf-cutter, and presents to him, and after him to all 
 the rest, a brass-vessel filled with milk, honey and 
 sugar, from which each takes a draught. They move 
 into the kitchen. The Huttari mat is spread, the brass 
 dish, the rice sheaf, and the basket with leaf scrolls, 
 each with a stalk of rice, are placed on it. 
 
 The sheaf-cutter now distributes the bundles to the 
 members of the family, who disperse to bind them to 
 everything in house and garden, doors, stools, roof, 
 trees, etc. The primest stalk must be tied on the 
 north-west pillar of the verandah, a sort of special 
 offering to that point of the compass from which came 
 up the joyous harvest as it spread to the south-east 
 from the rich low-lands of Malabar. In the meantime 
 the performer sits down to knead the Huttari dough 
 of rice meal. Plantains, milk and honey, seven 
 new rice corns, seven pieces of cocoanut, seven small 
 pebbles, seven pieces of dry ginger, seven cardamom 
 
COORG SONGS. 113 
 
 seeds, and seven corns of sesamum are added. Every- 
 one receives a little of this dough upon an Ashvatha 
 leaf, and eats it. The ceremony is now over, and the 
 sheaf-cutter mixes with the company. Supper follows, 
 consisting of sugared rice and sweet potatoes, into 
 which a handful of new rice is thrown, and of a 
 substantial common repast of rice and curry. The 
 Huttari chants resound in every house during the 
 night. 
 
 But the Coorgs have not yet altogether done with 
 their pleasant festival. Four after-Huttari days are 
 added to the holy week. On the eighth day the 
 Uruk<51u, or village stick-dance, collects the whole 
 community. The women of two or three houses repair 
 together to the Urumandu, a pair leading and a second 
 pair following, all four beating cymbals and chanting 
 ancient songs or impromptu verses. When they have 
 arrived at the place of meeting, they sit down in groups 
 with the children, and look at the dances performed 
 by the men, who go through the evolutions of Coorg 
 saltation, beating small rattans, of which they carry 
 one in each hand, while they move to the time of 
 music, which proceeds from a group of Holeyas, station- 
 ed between the assembly of the Coorgs and that of 
 their own people, who enjoy themselves t in the same 
 fashion as their masters, at a little distance. 
 
 Theatrical performances are added. Brahmans, 
 Moplas, Voddas (tank-diggers from Orissa), Gadikas 
 (snake-dancers), J<5gis (represented by little boys), play 
 through the village. 
 
 15 
 
114 COORG SONGS. 
 
 After dinner, on the ninth day, the Naduk<51u begins. 
 This is an assembly of the whole district. Everything 
 is done as at the Urukdlu, only on a larger scale. At 
 these assemblies, while the monotonous music plays 
 and the large circle of dancers moves in the measured 
 stick- dance, a couple of men from different gramas and 
 armed with a small shield and a long rattan, step from 
 opposite sides into the ring with a shout of defiance. 
 Keeping time with the music, they approach and evade 
 each other, swinging their rattans and dealing blows 
 at the legs of the opponent and with their shield ward- 
 ing them off, but often the players get so excited that 
 their single-stick sham combat ends in a mutual severe 
 flogging, which has to be stopped by the spectators. 
 As evening draws on the parties from the different 
 villages separate and go home. 
 
 In the afternoon of the tenth day, the Devarak61u 
 (stick-dance in honor of Bhagavati) takes place in every 
 village. The entertainment is the same as on the two 
 preceding days. Dinners, held at different houses as 
 appointed, terminate the feasting. On the 11th day 
 the joyous celebration winds up with a large public 
 dinner, that is given on some open plain in the forest, 
 when the musicians, bards, drummers, Holeyas and 
 Medas unite their exertions to give eclat to the 
 festivity. 
 
 >X*c 
 
COORG HUTTARI OR HARVEST SONG. 115 
 
 COORG HUTTARI OR HARVEST SONG. 
 
 Sun and moon the seasons make, 
 Rule o'er all the sky they take. 
 
 God is Lord of heaven and earth. 
 All the joyous earnest toil 
 Happy ryots give the soil, 
 
 Our rich land is fulJy worth. 
 
 Famous Jambudwipa's bounds* 
 Circle many fertile grounds ; 
 
 Which among them is the best ? 
 Far above the highest hill, 
 MahameruVf snows are still 
 
 Showing where the saints are blest. 
 
 Midst the beauteous forest trees 
 Brightest to the eye that sees 
 
 Is the brilliant Sampige.J 
 Sweeter than the sweetest rose, 
 Purer than the mountain snows, 
 
 Better than mere words may say ; — 
 
 * Jambudwipa means the " island of the Jambu tree," in the cosmogony 
 of the ancient Hindus. The universe consisted of circular continents sur- 
 rounded by belts of ocean. The oceans were named according to the liquid 
 of which they were composed — milk, ghee, water, &c. The continents were 
 called by the name of some product. Jambudwipa includes the whole of 
 India. 
 
 f Mahameru is the mountain of the Gods, the centre and glory of the 
 whole cosmos. It is a mythological rendering of a physical fact, and 
 represents the higher peaks of the Hindu Koosh, whose snowy summits are 
 the last brilliant outlook of the fatherland from which the Aryas came. 
 
 | The Sampige is known to Europeans as the Champak (Michelia Cham- 
 paka.) It is a noble tree with bright yellow flowers evolving a very sweet 
 perfume. A lowland feast in the month of May is known as the Champak a 
 Chaturdasi, the offering of these flowers being an essential part of the ritual. 
 
116 COORG HUTTARI OR HARVEST SONG. 
 
 Thus is Coorg the noblest land, 
 Rich and bright as golden band 
 
 On the neck where youth doth stay. 
 In this happy lovely realm 
 No misfortunes overwhelm. 
 
 Live and prosper while you may ! 
 
 Now my friends with one accord, 
 Joyous on the verdant sward, 
 
 Sing we our dear country's praise. 
 Tell us then, from first to last, 
 All the wondrous glorious past, 
 
 Trolling out a hundred lays. 
 
 Like a robe of precious silk, 
 Green or golden, white as milk, — 
 
 Like the image in a glass, — 
 Bright as shines the sun at noon, 
 Or at night the silver moon, — 
 
 Sweet as fields with flowers and grass,- 
 
 Thus in happiness and peace, 
 Riches knowing no decrease, 
 
 Apparandra lived at ease. 
 In this glorious land he dwelt, 
 Forest girt as with a belt, 
 
 Coorg the blessed, green with trees. 
 
 Soon he said within his heart, — 
 " Now's the time to do our part, 
 
 For the tilling of the field. 
 Sow we must, and speed the plough, 
 Dig and plant, spare no toil now, 
 
 Harvest then the ground will yield." 
 
COORG HUTTARI OR HARVEST SONG. 117 
 
 Thus he said, to Mysore went, 
 To her fairs his steps he bent, 
 
 Where the country met the town. 
 Thirty-six great bulls he bought 
 Of the best and largest sort ; 
 
 White and black, and some red-brown. 
 
 Nandi, Mudda were one pair, 
 Bullocks both of beauty rare. 
 
 Yoked together were two more ; 
 Choma, Kicha were they called. 
 With them was their leader stalled, 
 
 Kale, best among two score. 
 
 Then did Apparandra say, — 
 " All my bulls will useless stay, 
 
 If I give not tools and plough." 
 Know ye why they worked so well ? 
 No ? Then listen as I tell 
 
 How he made those we have now. 
 
 Choosing sago for the pole, 
 At the end he made a hole ; 
 
 Pushed the palm wood handle through. 
 Sampige was for the share, 
 On its edge he placed with care, 
 
 Iron plates to make the shoe. 
 
 Sharp as tiger's claws the nail 
 Fixing to the share its mail. 
 
 Yoke and pins he made of teak. 
 Strongly tied the whole with cane 
 Strong and lithe as any chain ; 
 
 Other strings would be too weak. 
 
118 COORG HUTTARI OR HARVEST SONG. 
 
 When, in June, the early rain 
 Poured upon the earth and main, 
 
 Sweet as honey from the bee ; 
 All the fields became as mud, 
 Fit for plough and hoe and spud, 
 
 Far as e'er the eye could see. 
 
 Then before the break of day, 
 Ere the cock began his say, 
 
 Or the sun had gilt the sky, 
 In the morning still and calm, 
 Twelve stout slaves who tilled the farm. 
 
 Roused the bullocks tethered nigh. 
 
 Six and thirty bulls they drove 
 Through the verdant fragrant grove, 
 
 To the watered paddy field, 
 Brilliant 'neath the silver moon 
 As a mirror in the gloom, 
 
 Or at noon a brazen shield. 
 
 Turning then towards the east 
 Apparandra gave a feast, 
 
 Milk and rice, unto the Gods. 
 Then unto the rising sun 
 Glowing like a fire begun, 
 
 Lifts his hands, his head he nods. 
 
 After that they yoke the bulls. 
 Each then other harder pulls, 
 
 The ground they quickly plough. 
 Day after day the work goes on, 
 For the seed seven times is done, 
 
 Then the harrow smooths the slough. 
 
COORG HUTTARI OR HARVEST SONG. 119 
 
 Six times more they plough the field 
 Before the planting drill they wield. 
 
 This requires full thirty days. 
 Then a dozen blooming maids 
 Crowned with heavy glossy braids, 
 
 Leave the house like happy fays. 
 
 Each one brings into the fields 
 An offering to the God that shields 
 
 House and home from drought and pain. 
 Each one lifts her tiny hands, 
 Before the Sun a moment stands, 
 
 Offers thanks for heat and rain. 
 
 Then they pluck the tender plant, 
 Tie in bundles laid aslant ; 
 
 Twenty bundles make a sheaf. 
 Next the sheaves are carried thence* 
 To their future residence, 
 
 Where they spend their life so brief. 
 
 But they only plough a part 
 Of the field to which they cart 
 
 Plants so tender and so young. 
 Just enough is done each day 
 For the plants they have to lay 
 
 The new-made soil among. 
 
 * Paddy is seldom sown on the spot where it is to grow. The seed is 
 thickly planted in a rich garden piece of the best land. This nursery is 
 prepared with great care, as the song describes. In order to secure that its 
 soil shall be intimately mixed with the water, the ground is ploughed no 
 less than seven times, the trampling of the cattle being more effective 
 than the plough. Then, to secure that the rich mud shall be of equal depth 
 throughout, it is harrowed with a machine composed of branches of trees 
 laid in a frame. It is only after this long preparation that the seed is laid 
 
120 COORG HUTTARI OR HARVEST SONG. 
 
 In the following month they weed, 
 Mend the bunds as they have need, 
 
 Place new plants where others died. 
 Two months after this they wait 
 Till with corn the ears are freight 
 
 Near the western ocean tide. 
 
 There the Huttri feast they make 
 For the bounteous harvest's sake. 
 
 Spreading ever towards the east 
 By the Paditora ghaut, 
 Gilding all the land about * 
 
 Coorg receives the Huttri feast. 
 
 To the Padinalknad shrine 
 Gather all the Coorgi line, 
 
 Offering praise and honor due. 
 There they learn the proper day 
 From the priest who serves alway 
 
 Tguttappa Devaru. 
 
 When at last the time has come, 
 And the year's great work is done 
 
 In our happy glorious land. 
 When the shades are growing long, 
 All the eager people throng 
 
 To the pleasant village Mand. 
 
 in the mud. In a few days it comes up thick as grass on a lawn. When it 
 is some four or five inches high it is transplanted to the field, which has 
 meanwhile been ploughed several times. It is planted in regular lines about 
 four inches apart. The song accurately describes the ordinary procedure. 
 
 * It has been explained how the harvest takes two months to pass from 
 Mangalore to Coorg. It marches upwards, so to speak, by the Paditora 
 ghaut. As we rise higher and higher the local harvest is later and later. 
 Thus it spreads towards the east. Mangalore is on the western coast. 
 
COORG HUTTARI OR HARVEST SONG. 121 
 
 First they praise the God they love, 
 Throned high the world above. 
 
 Then the Huttri games commence 
 And the evening glides away. 
 Singing, dancing, wrestling, they 
 
 Strive for highest excellence. 
 
 When the seventh bright day begins, 
 Each man for his household wins 
 
 Leaves of various sacred plants. 
 Five of these he ties with silk 
 Then provides a pot of milk, 
 
 Ready for the festive wants. 
 
 When the evening shades draw nigh 
 Each the others would outvie 
 
 In rich and splendid dress. 
 Thus they march with song and shout, 
 Music swimming all about, 
 
 For the harvest's fruitfulness. 
 
 First they pray that God's rich grace 
 Still should rest upon their race. 
 
 Waiting till the gun has roared 
 Milk they sprinkle, shouting gay, 
 Pole ! Pole ! Devare ! 
 
 Multiply thy mercies, Lord ! 
 • 
 
 Soon the tallest stems are shorn 
 Of the rich and golden corn, 
 
 Carried home with shouts and glee. 
 There they bind with fragrant leaves, 
 Hang them up beneath the eaves, 
 
 On the north-west pillar's tree. 
 
 16 
 
122 COORG HUTTARI OR HARVEST SONG. 
 
 Then at home they drink and sing, 
 Each one happy as a king, 
 
 Keeping every ancient way. 
 On the morrow young and old, 
 Dressed in robes of silk and gold, 
 
 Crowd the green for further play. 
 
 Here they dance upon the sward, 
 Sing the songs of ancient bard, 
 
 Fight with sticks in combat fierce. 
 All display their strength and skill 
 Wrestling, leaping, as they will ; 
 
 Till with night the crowds disperse. 
 
 Last of all they meet again, 
 Larger meed of praise to gain, 
 
 At the district meeting place. 
 There before the nad they strive, 
 All the former joys revive, 
 
 Adding glories to the race ? 
 
 Now, my friends, my story's done. 
 If you're pleased my end is won, 
 
 And your praise you'll freely give. 
 If I've failed, spare not to scold. 
 Though I'm wrong or overbold, 
 
 Let the joyous Huttri live. 
 
COORG SONG. 123 
 
 We have seen the joy of harvest. The picture will 
 not be complete without the joy of marriage. Like 
 most other Coorgi ceremonies it includes much feast- 
 ing and physical pleasure, though not enframing a 
 repetition of the sports which make the Huttari a sort 
 of lesser edition of the Olympic games, The chief mover 
 in the transaction is the Aruva or family friend, — a 
 personage of almost unique character and position. 
 Every Coorg house must choose its aruva from some 
 neighbouring household. The duties of the aruva are 
 very important, and he may be entitled the arbiter and 
 counsellor of domestic life. Does any quarrel arise ? 
 Each party calls in his aruva and tells his tale. The 
 aruva soothes the ruffled temper, points out the liability 
 to error, meets the aruva of the opposite party, arranges 
 terms of peace. Does any family difficulty spring up ? 
 Husband and wife quarrel — an unruly son disobeys his 
 father — misfortune or error destroys the family pro- 
 perty — in all of these and a hundred other matters the 
 aruva is called in, the whole thing is laid before him, 
 his counsel is asked. He looks at the matter from an 
 impartial point of view, eliminates personal error, and 
 decides as to the course to be pursued in every case. 
 His decision is final and must be obeyed. To be 
 appointed- aruva to a family is to receive a public and 
 influential token that age, experience or wisdom has 
 changed an impulsive youth into a thoughtful worthy 
 man. The privilege is highly prized and has, perhaps 
 more than anything else, made the Coorg people the 
 happy contented race we see. 
 
124 COORG SONG. 
 
 The youth who wishes to marry must first ask his 
 father's consent. This given, the aruva is called in. The 
 ladies of the neighbourhood are then canvassed, unless 
 the eager bridegroom have already made his choice. 
 There need be no difficulty in ascertaining the eligibles, 
 for every young lady who is " open to an offer" carries 
 a few grains of paddy on her head, to show that she is 
 able and willing to become a wife. 
 
 When this important point is settled, the aruva goes 
 to the house of the chosen lady and announces his 
 mission. He is immediately referred to the aruva of 
 the lady's family, with whom the matter is discussed. 
 If the lady and her family be willing, the first sign of 
 the happy event consists in the careful sweeping of the 
 house of the bride. Then a brilliant lamp is lighted in 
 the house verandah, and the aruvas, supported by the 
 head of each house, stand face to face under the lamp. 
 Now the man's aruva solemnly asks of his fellow 
 the hand of the young woman. The bride's aruva 
 agrees, and asks for some token of the engagement. 
 He receives a coin or other valuable gift. Then the 
 two aruvas and the two fathers shake hands. The light 
 above them represents the Sun-god, and is the binding 
 witness of the agreement. 
 
 The young people are now betrothed. The marriage 
 need not take place at once, and seldom does. The 
 girl, if not already arrived at the age of sixteen, must 
 wait till she has. But even if this be not the case, 
 the betrothal usually takes place amid the glad times of 
 Huttari ; while the marriage will not occur till April or 
 
COORG SONG. 125 
 
 May, when the hot season has made the earth hard as 
 the nether millstone and utterly unworkable. 
 
 In the latter days of March the astrologer is con- 
 sulted. He must fix upon a lucky day. This done, 
 ten days before the event the aruvas send out invita- 
 tions to the relatives of their respective houses. The 
 actual family sit idle while the relatives, under the 
 control of the aruva, make all preparations that they 
 deem fitting. Many an avaricious man grieves over 
 his melting stores and diminished riches, but is utterly 
 unable to check what he deems such reckless profusion. 
 His keys are not his own during these dreadful ten 
 days. On the day before the marriage every household 
 in the valley is asked, and as the sun sets at least one 
 man and one woman from every house must appear, 
 else it will be presumed that some deadly hatred parts 
 the families. With this large accession of labor the 
 work grows apace. Great sheds of palmyra or sago 
 leaves are erected to cover the festive boards or rather 
 grounds — for tables are out of the question. Pigs, the 
 chief element of a feast where it is mortal sin to eat 
 beef, are killed by threes and fours. Rice is boiled 
 in the largest vessels that can be procured. Every- 
 thing portends a valiant eating. All is ready by the 
 dark hours and then relatives and friends reward them- 
 selves by enjoying the first dinner of the series. 
 
 With early morn of the next, the great day, all are 
 astir again. In each house a crowd of eager but clumsy 
 friends surrounds the happy man or woman. Both 
 bride and bridegroom must be bathed, dressed, per- 
 
126 COORG SONG. 
 
 fumed, bejewelled and made altogether as uncomfort- 
 able as human nature can permit. Those who cannot get 
 near the principal personages busy themselves with the 
 property of the pair. Still more pigs are killed, cut up 
 and set up before the fire. Boiling rice steams from 
 the courtyard. Plantains lie about in heaps. Then 
 they wait for the lucky hour. 
 
 When the moment arrives, the bride and bridegroom, 
 each in their own family house, are led to a sort of 
 throne prepared for the occasion. The relatives and 
 friends form in line in order of dignity or relation- 
 ship. In a long procession they defile before the bride 
 or bridegroom as the case may be, for as yet the pair 
 have not met. Each one, as he passes, drops a few 
 grains of rice on the head of the unfortunate bride or 
 her betrothed. Each one pours a little milk into his or 
 her upturned mouth. Each one gives a present of a 
 few annas. When the long file has passed, the 
 victim is led into a dark inner room and there receives 
 renewed congratulations. Soon, however, the appetiz- 
 ing perfume of roast pork distracts the attention of the 
 guests, and they turn away to the feast. As they eat, 
 the bards sing the song that appears on the next page 
 but one, and such others as may appear suitable. If 
 the house be wealthy, an improvisatore will be engaged 
 to sound the praise of each guest before his face. 
 
 When the sun bends towards the west, the bride- 
 groom sets out for the house of the bride, surrounded 
 by all his relatives and guests. Singing and music 
 accompany them. The walk aids digestion, and much 
 
COORG SONG. 127 
 
 is it needed. No sooner does the procession arrive than 
 a new feast is set out, of which all must partake. The 
 merriment is greatly aided by an abundant supply of 
 ardent spirits, of which the Coorgis are somewhat too 
 fond. 
 
 But in the nature of things eating must come to an 
 end, or at all events must have some moments of inter- 
 mission. Advantage is taken of this interval to per- 
 form the actual binding ceremony. The friends and 
 family of each party draw up in line facing each other. 
 Between the rows a lighted lamp is placed, to symbolize 
 the sun. Then the bride's aruva steps forward and 
 loudly asks — " Do you give to our daughter, house and 
 yard, field and jungle, gold and silver ?" The bride- 
 groom's aruva steps forward and says, " We do." 
 Three times is the question put and answered. When 
 the agreement is thus concluded, the bridegroom's 
 aruva takes three pebbles and gives them to the bride. 
 She ties them in the hem of her cloth to show that thus 
 she has received the ownership of her husband's house 
 and land. 
 
 She is then led into her father's kitchen and placed 
 upon a chair. Again a lamp is lighted, and the bride- 
 groom comes in. He puts a few grains of rice on her 
 head, pours a little milk in her mouth and gives her 
 a little money. His party passes by in single file, 
 paying her the same honors and openly accepting her 
 as a member of their family. When all is done, the 
 new husband takes his wife's hand and leads her into 
 the outer room. Here she bids farewell to her rela- 
 
128 WEDDING SONG. 
 
 tives and friends and departs to her new home. All 
 the party follow her and find a new feast, the third 
 since noon, ready for them. Again they eat, and 
 again the bards sing. When satiated nature can 
 feast no longer, the bridegroom's aruva leads him and 
 his wife to their own room and the ceremony con- 
 cludes. 
 
 WEDDING SONG. 
 
 For ever rule, for ever live, 
 
 Almighty God, our king and Lord. 
 Our sovereign he, protection give. 
 
 Though Coorg is but a tiny land, 
 
 It shineth like a pearly band 
 Across the bosom of the earth. 
 
 Twelve valleys lie within its girth, 
 And thirty-five bright nads there are. 
 
 Amidst the whole the brightest far 
 Is that in which for aye doth bloom 
 
 A heavenly flower, whose rich perfume 
 Has published Apparandra's name. 
 
 And from this house a great man came. 
 
 Mandanna was a mighty man 
 
 Whose fame throughout the country ran. 
 For when he asked his Lord for land 
 
 The king could not his wish withstand, 
 
WEDDING SONG. 129 
 
 But gave, without a price or fee, 
 
 The richest land his eyes could see. * 
 Then with his wealth he bought a band 
 
 Of Holeyasf to till his land. 
 He purchased next at prices great 
 
 Sufficient bulls for his estate, — 
 To plough the field and drag the wain, 
 
 To house the corn and tread the grain. 
 With this Mandanna's toils were done 
 
 And ease and comfort fully won. 
 
 But though he was a mighty man 
 
 Mandanna would the future scan. 
 For constantly this one idea 
 
 Would fill his mind and haunt his ear : — 
 " Much rice have I and costly dress, 
 
 But none to clothe or souls to bless. 
 With precious stones my chests are rife, — 
 
 A useless heap when I've no wife. 
 And all my toil is toil in vain 
 
 Unless a child the house contain. 
 For no ! There is no joy on earth 
 
 Without a wife or children's mirth. 
 The tank that never gathers rain 
 
 Was surely dug and built in vain. 
 
 * The richness of land depends almost entirely upon the quantity 
 of water that is available for cultivation. In the original the grant 
 is called "jumma" land or freehold. This tenure is called in Malabar 
 "jemm." 
 
 f Holeyas were prcedial slaves until the British conquest. Slavery 
 and the slave trade were things of every day life on the Western Coast 
 till recent years, and it is said that, even now, there are thousands of 
 persons living as slaves simply because they know not they are free. 
 
 17 
 
130 WEDDING SONG. 
 
 Of little use is garden fair 
 
 Unless the flowers nourish there. 
 
 For who would like to eat cold rice 
 
 Unless some curds should make it nice. 
 
 So every house should have a son, 
 And little children in each room." 
 
 With thoughts like these within his heart 
 
 He needs must act a manly part. 
 So on a lovely Sunday morn, 
 
 The dew yet sparkling on the corn, 
 He took his meal, put on his best, 
 
 Then lifted up his hands and blessed 
 The God who through all time had cared 
 
 For him and those whose love he shared. 
 His sturdy staff with silvered bend, 
 
 His aruva and trusted friend, 
 Were all the company he took 
 
 When he his house and home forsook 
 To seek through hill and dale a wife. 
 
 Through weary weeks of anxious life 
 He wandered all the land about, 
 
 Until his shoes were quite worn out. 
 He sat and pondered on each green 
 
 Until his clothes were torn and thin. 
 So long he journeyed in the sun 
 
 His reeling brain was quite undoue. 
 And e'en his stick grew much too short 
 
 Although at first too long 'twas thought. 
 
 In every place the mighty man 
 
 Sought high and low, through every clan, 
 A girl who would be good and kind. 
 
 At first no house would suit his mind. 
 
WEDDING SONG. 131 
 
 Perchance the house was good enough, 
 
 But there the servants were too rough. 
 The servants might not be such fools, 
 
 But then he did not like the bulls. 
 The bulls were sometimes large and strong, 
 
 But then the lands were all tilled wrong. 
 The culture perhaps could be set right, 
 
 The pastures then were poor and light. 
 If all his carpings were in vain 
 
 The maid herself was very plain. 
 
 At last he heard some joyful news, 
 
 And hope his mind could not refuse 
 Repaid his pains to bear so hard. 
 
 There lived in the Nalkunad, 
 In Pattamada's house and care, 
 
 A maid of grace and beauty rare. 
 The maiden's name was Chinnawa. 
 
 When great Mandanna heard of her, 
 The aruva and he set out 
 
 And slowly, like two men in doubt, 
 Proceeded to the house, and sat 
 
 Upon the pyall,* where a mat 
 Was placed beneath the leafy shade. 
 
 When Chinnawa, the lovely maid, 
 
 * Almost every house in Southern India has a sort of bench, made 
 of brick and mortar, extending along the whole front of the house against 
 the main wall. This bench or pyall is usually about two and a half 
 feet high and three feet broad. It is the first reception place of all visitors 
 or strangers. The laws of caste make it necessary ; for, otherwise, the 
 cultivator might receive into his house a low caste trader or messenger who 
 would pollute the whole house. The pyall is outside the house and, 
 by a convenient custom, cannot be polluted. Hence every stranger must 
 halt here until his business and caste are known. In the hot weather the 
 males of the family sleep on the pyall. 
 
132 WEDDING SONG. 
 
 Was told that weary men from far 
 Were come to them, she brought a jar 
 
 Of water, poured it forth for them. 
 And next she brought a mat with hem 
 
 Of gold, for them to sit upon. 
 
 Then at the door she waited lone:. 
 
 »&• 
 
 " My friend," she asked, " Why take you not 
 
 The water from the silver pot ? 
 Pray use it, and then call for more." 
 
 * I will, my dear one, and will pour 
 
 It on my feet, if always thou 
 Wilt give it as thou gav'st it now." 
 
 She answered, " If you come each day 
 The water I will give alway." 
 
 " To-morrow I will come again," 
 Mandanna thought, and so did deign 
 
 To wash his feet and hands and face. 
 Then, seated in the highest place, 
 
 Mandanna said unto the maid 
 " My pretty maiden, give thy aid 
 
 And tell where doth thy father stay." 
 
 Then she — " My father went this day 
 To join a meeting on the green," 
 
 " And where then hath thy mother been?" 
 
 " She went to grace a wedding feast 
 At potter's village towards the east." 
 
WEDDING SONG. 133 
 
 " Your brother, is he not within ?" 
 
 " My brother took his bulls to win 
 A load of salt from down the ghaut."* 
 
 An hour or two were passed in thought 
 
 Before the father could return. 
 Mandanna's heart towards him did yearn j 
 
 He bowed and touched the old man's feet. 
 Another hour or two they wait, 
 
 And then the mother homeward came. 
 Mandanna bowed before the dame. 
 
 Once more an hour or two pass by 
 And then the brother cometh nigh. 
 
 To him Mandanna lowly bowed. 
 And now, in eager converse loud, 
 
 They talk about their friends and kin. 
 " Oh cousin dear" they all begin, 
 
 " We wish so much you'd let us know 
 For why you on your travels go ?" 
 
 " My dearest father, I have heard 
 Amongst the bullocks of your herd 
 
 Are many that you wish to sell. 
 'Tis also said, I trust it well, 
 
 A lovely maiden dwelleth here 
 Of age to wed this very year." 
 
 " Last month the bullocks were all sold. 
 Two months before, a suitor bold 
 Was wedded to the lovely maid." 
 
 * The word ghaut is used in Southern India to express a mountain pass. 
 Thus the road from the plains to Ootacamund is called the Coonoor ghaut. 
 The British Government has converted many of them into splendid roads. 
 
134 WEDDING SONG. 
 
 To this Mandanna answer made — 
 
 " Let thoss who went be as they will, 
 Give her to me that's maiden still." 
 
 Again the grey old farmer spoke — 
 
 " Why did you say before these folk 
 That I your dearest father am ?" 
 
 Then wisely said that mighty man — 
 " Your lovely daughter I admire, 
 
 And hence I count you as my sire. 
 The stately palm, when once 'tis seen, 
 
 Demands our ardent praise, I ween. 
 But we forget to look once more 
 
 Upon a tree both old and poor." 
 
 Again the father spoke and said — 
 " I give to thee my dearest maid. 
 If you will take her, give a pledge." 
 
 " Shake hands with me. I do allege 
 Before these men that I will wed 
 
 The lovely maid," Mandanna said. 
 " And as a pledge I give this coin." 
 
 And now with one accord they join, 
 
 Preparing for the marriage feast. 
 The father called the aged priest, 
 
 The women swept in merry mood, 
 The stores were filled with luscious food, 
 
 And all was read}' for the night. 
 Then, where the beauteous brazen light 
 
 Hung from the ceiling's wooden beam, 
 The aruvas and friends did stream 
 
 From both the houses of the pair, 
 
WEDDING SONG. 135 
 
 Betrothal rites to see and share, 
 And fix the lucky wedding day. 
 
 The bridegroom gave his blushing fay 
 A necklace all of yellow gold. 
 
 And, waiting till away had rolled 
 
 Eight slow-gone days and sleepless nights, 
 
 Claimed from his bride a husband's rights. 
 
 The two very interesting songs that have preceded 
 this have occupied so much space that it is not possible 
 to describe at length the funeral ceremonies. They 
 have gradually approximated to the ordinary Hindoo 
 fashion, and do not deserve particular attention, except 
 in regard to the strangely beautiful song which forms 
 the most touching part of the service. Its pathos 
 and imaginative power are very marked. It is 
 strange that all the Dravidian nations should have 
 first created and then preserved such fine lyrics 
 for occasions of cremation or burial. The ritual has 
 fallen completely into the lowland rut, but the song 
 retains its pristine vigor and popular acceptance. It 
 would seem as if the mind set up a sort of barrier 
 against sacerdotal influence in certain points, — reserving 
 them, as it were, as perpetual tokens of early independ- 
 ence. The Pongol festival among the Tamils, the 
 Sankranti among the Canarese, the Pudiari of Mala- 
 bar and the Huttari of Coorg, are other instances 
 standing out from the ordinal dead level, like the 
 droogs or hill forts on the Carnatic plain, — landmarks 
 showing the way back towards ancient life. 
 
136 FUNERAL SONG. 
 
 FUNEEAL SONG. 
 
 .Woe ! My father, thou art gone ! 
 Woe is me ! For ever gone ! 
 Gone with all thy virtuous soul ! 
 How, my father, can I live ? 
 Woe ! Thy days are ended now, 
 And the share, assigned to thee 
 By the Lord, is all consumed 
 And no further portion given. 
 Oh ! Thou didst not wish to die, 
 But to stay among thy folk. 
 Surely man came to this world 
 But to die ; not one of us 
 Is exempted from this doom. 
 Onward, onward roll the years ; 
 Oh ! How soon were thine cut off ! 
 Like the eagle in the sky 
 Thou wast roaming here on earth. 
 Woe ! The string of choicest pearls 
 Round the neck of favored child 
 Is for ever burst and lost ! 
 Woe ! The clear and brilliant glass, 
 Fallen from our trembling hands, 
 Fallen broken to the ground ! 
 Woe ! The wrath of God most high, 
 Floods of fiery mighty wrath, 
 Beating on the lofty hills, 
 Swept their summit to the ground ! 
 Like our enemies at night, 
 Breaking into peaceful homes, 
 Slaying all the valiant men ; — 
 Even thus the mighty God 
 
FUNERAL SONG. 137 
 
 Suddenly cut off thy days. 
 Like the top of Tumbemale 
 In the summer sultry noon, 
 When the sun is burning hot, 
 And the grass is set on fire : — 
 Thus, O father, was this house 
 Desolated by thy death ! 
 As the raging storms in June 
 Break the fruitful plantain trees 
 In the garden round our house : — 
 Thus, O father, didst thou die. 
 When the floods destroy the shed, 
 Where the stores of wood are hid, 
 All the house is in distress. 
 When the meeting hall falls <Jpwn, 
 All the villagers lament. 
 If the temple be destroyed, 
 All the land is full of grief. 
 Thus our house is sore distressed 
 By our father's sudden death. 
 As they quench the shining flame 
 Of the beauteous golden lamp, 
 Thus has God destroyed thy life ! 
 As the stately Banyan tree 
 In the lofty mountain grove, 
 Which the ax has never touched, 
 Is uprooted by the wind • — 
 Like the bright and shining leaf 
 Of the royal Sampige, 
 Broken from the stem and dead ;— 
 Thus, father, didst thou die ! 
 In the days of life thy hand 
 Hast upheld and fed our house. 
 Thou hast planted all our fields. 
 
 18 
 
138 FUNERAL SONG. 
 
 Thou hast laid the corner-stone, 
 And our lofty house hast built 
 To the roof, with costly beams. 
 Thou hast built the solid gate, 
 And the courts around the house. 
 Oh ! my father, yesterday 
 Fallen sick upon the bed ; 
 And to-day before the feet 
 Of the Lord of heaven and earth : 
 And to-morrow, like the sun 
 Setting in the cloudy sky, 
 Thou shalt sink into the grave. 
 Woe ! my father, thou art gone ! 
 Woe ! my father, ever gone ! 
 
 Many persons will note with pleasure the nursery 
 rhymes of the Coorgs, reminding, as they do so plea- 
 santly, of the children's poetry of our own land. 
 Considerable effort has been expended in the vain 
 attempt to gather such songs in all the Dravidian 
 tongues. They are sung only by the women, and are 
 never written down. But a Hindoo woman has an 
 insuperable objection to permitting a European to 
 know aught of the internal economy of her house. 
 The secrecy of domestic life, to which Sir H. S. 
 Maine in his " Village Communities," draws marked 
 attention, forbids that a stranger should ever be 
 informed of anything so private as the mode in 
 which a mother soothes her child to rest. I have 
 heard women thus singing again and again, but 
 
FUNERAL SONG. 139 
 
 when they are asked to repeat for our information 
 what they have told the child, they pretend not to 
 understand what we mean or, if this be impossible, 
 declare that they have forgotten the rhymes. There 
 is a favorite Tamil nursery song of considerable length, 
 portions of which have been obtained, but it is better 
 to wait till further patience and kindness draw it forth 
 in its entirety than to publish isolated portions that 
 would give little idea of the merits of the whole piece. 
 
 Of course, no Hindoo would be so rude as directly to 
 refuse a request made by a superior. Politeness and 
 presumed necessity are satisfied by the invention of a 
 string of excuses, which generally cause the impatient 
 European to turn away with the exclamation — " What 
 liars these people are !" He does not care to think that 
 the people are bothering their brains to discover the 
 best way of avoiding the rudeness the European would 
 drive them to. Such points of etiquette are small 
 things but are great obstacles, preventing much social 
 intercourse. 
 
 All the Hindoo children's songs are alliterative. 
 Some carry the jingle to an extreme, reminding of the 
 famous English lines beginning with 
 
 " Peter Piper picked a peck of pepper." 
 
 The fifth of the songs that follow is a good example 
 of this. It begins thus, 
 
 Chemb chemb cliemb yedet, 
 Chembanda mandi duddi yedet, 
 Manika mand mani yedet. 
 
140 FUNERAL SONG. 
 
 The alliteration is largely caused by the use of words 
 of the same or nearly similar spelling but of entirely 
 different meaning. As if we should say — 
 
 " A bear was bearing a bare bugbear. " 
 
 Take for example the last of the three lines given 
 above, — 
 
 Manika maud mani yedet. 
 
 The first word, Manika, is a proper name. The second, 
 mand, abbreviated from onandi or nandi, means a 
 bull. The third, mani, is the word for a bell. So in the 
 first line, the second chemb, abbreviated from c/iembu, 
 means a brass water pot ; while the first is a proper 
 name. In the fourth song the same thing appears 
 very plainly, Benga is the name of a place, but the 
 Coorgi word for to praise is also benga. So, in the last 
 line, the Coorgi word for stop is also benga. The second 
 line in the original is " Paditobb paduva," where the 
 word padu means in the first instance a place and, in 
 the second, the verb to sing. The form is so curious 
 that we may quote another from the first song. This in 
 the original opens thus : — 
 
 Kak, kakeka ! 
 Kakera mangale kek. 
 
 Here the first word, JcdJc, is the imperative of to call. 
 The second, kdkeka, is a compound word, kak meaning 
 crow, and eka meaning sister ; and the whole is — 
 
 Call the crow's sister. 
 
FUNERAL SONG. 141 
 
 In the second line, Mk, in the word hahera, still 
 means crow, but the last word, kek, is the questioning 
 adverb of time, ivhen. 
 
 The songs also indulge in frequent imitation of natu- 
 ral sounds. We may refer again to the second set of 
 lines. They run in the original something like this, — 
 
 Chakke kari 
 Chada, chada, beva. 
 Kambala kari 
 Guda, guda, beVa. 
 
 We may render then closely as follows : 
 
 When the fruit of jack-tree boils, 
 It singe th — " chada," " chada." 
 When the kambala fruit boils, 
 It singeth — " guda," " guda." 
 
 The words chada and guda mark very distinctly the 
 different sounds caused by the breaking of the bubbles 
 that rise from liquids of different density when boiling. 
 So in the next song the word we render by " cooing" 
 is in the Coorgi " Jcuthru" with the r pronounced very 
 softly, giving a better representation of the dove's note 
 than even our own word. 
 
 It is much to be desired that competent hands 
 should follow up this branch of the subject, as it has 
 often been found in other countries that such domestic 
 literature preserves the most ancient ideas and those 
 most valuable in tracing national relationship. As a 
 curious illustration it may be mentioned that " pussy," 
 the English domestic word for cat, appears in the Dra- 
 vidian languages almost unaltered as " pusei," a cat. 
 
142 children's rhymes. 
 
 CHILDREN'S RHYMES. 
 
 THE CROW'S WEDDING. 
 
 Call the crow's sister ! 
 When is the wedding ? 
 To-morrow or Sunday morn. 
 All the kite's young ones 
 Perished in the stream. 
 All the crow's young ones 
 Are searching for cheese. 
 
 THE BOILING. 
 
 When the fruit of Jack tree boils, 
 It singeth " chada," " chada." 
 When the kambala fruit boils, 
 It singeth " guda," " guda." 
 
 THE DOVE'S FAMILY. 
 
 Cooing, cooing, cooing dove ! 
 How many young ones have you ? 
 Five little ones I have hatched. 
 Where are the little ones now ? 
 On a strong bough I left them. 
 I cannot see them on the bough, 
 A crow has carried them off. 
 
 RAIN. 
 While Benga praises thee, 
 And Padi sings to thee, 
 Stop, rain, stop ! 
 
children's rhymes. 143 
 
 This song may psrhaps be better rendered thus : — 
 
 While Benga belauds tfyee, 
 And Padi sings padas, 
 Stop, rain, stop ! 
 
 TAKINGS. 
 
 One Chemba took a brass pot, 
 And Chemba's wife a tom-tom, 
 The bull takes up a bell. 
 Young Kapla took a horn 
 And Eyappa a stick. 
 The girl must have a cloth, 
 And I a spoon of flour. 
 
 The next two songs, about the fingers, will imme- 
 diately strike a well remembered note in the memory. 
 Who has not heard a thousand times — 
 
 This pig went to market, 
 This pig staid at home, 
 This pig had roast beef, 
 This pig had none, 
 And this one cried, " pee- wee V 
 
 It is an almost exact reproduction of the idea of the 
 following song, which has never before been heard 
 beyond the confines of Coorg. Both songs are accom- 
 panied by the same action — the mother or nurse pulling 
 each tiny finger as she refers to it in the song. Have 
 they not come out of the same nursery ? 
 
144 children's rhymes. 
 
 THE FINGERS. 
 
 The little finger nail is small, 
 The finger for the ring is gold, 
 The middle finger loveth coins, 
 The fourth is calle'd Kotera, 
 The thumb is Miirutika, 
 And both are gone for cheese. 
 
 THE TEN FINGERS. 
 
 Count the little fingers and those that bear the ring, 
 Middle fingers, forefingers and the thumbs are ten. 
 
 The following is very familiar, but I cannot call to 
 mind the home lines, and a foreign station does not 
 afford the help that the English student finds so ready 
 to his hand. 
 
 LITTLE CHICKENS. 
 
 An old story, an old story ! 
 
 Clever Brahman, an old story ! 
 
 What shall I say ? 
 
 I know none. 
 
 Little chickens ! little chickens ! 
 
 Sing me a Song ! 
 
 What can I sing ? 
 
 Pyong ! Pyong ! 
 
 COLORS. 
 
 The mother is black, 
 
 The daughter is white, 
 
 And the grand-daughter is like gold ! 
 
children's rhymes. 145 
 
 The birth of a child (again quoting from Richter's 
 Manual) renders not only the mother of the new born 
 babe, but the whole house unclean, and equally pol- 
 lutes every one who may come in contact with them. 
 This ceremonial uncleanness (Siitaka) lasts for seven 
 days, be the babe male or female. The mother is 
 confined for two months to the house and is not ex- 
 pected to engage in any work, but to recover her 
 strength and to devote herself entirely to her child. 
 This singular custom no doubt greatly contributes to 
 the general good health and vigour of the Coorg 
 women . Daughters are not much valued. They must 
 be brought up, and yet are destined to be entirely alie- 
 nated from the house by their marriage. Boys are the 
 stay of families. As soon as a Coorg boy is born, a 
 little bow made of a branch of the castor-oil plant, 
 with an arrow made of a leafstalk of the same plant, 
 is put into his little hands, and a gun fired at the same 
 time in the yard. He is thus, while taking his first 
 breath, introduced into the world as a future hunts- 
 man and warrior. This ceremony, however, has almost 
 lost its meaning and ceases to be generally observed. 
 On the twelfth day after birth, the child is laid in the 
 cradle by the mother or grandmother, who on this 
 occasion gives the name, which in many instances is 
 both well-sounding and significant : thus for boys — 
 Belliappa (silver father), Ponnappa (gold-father), Man- 
 danna (the brother of the village-green) ; for girls — 
 Puvakka (flower-sister), Muttakka (pearl-sister), Chin- 
 nawa (gold-mother.) 
 
 19 
 
146 children's rhymes. 
 
 The cradle, woven of slit bamboos and cane, and 
 fitted to be hung up for swinging, requires but a little 
 trimming to render it as tidy as any fashionable 
 berceaunette ; at all events the little Kodagu smiles 
 and sleeps in it as happy as a prince. As his mother 
 bends over her darling her overflowing love and hap- 
 piness find vent in the Coorg lullaby : — 
 
 Jtiwa, jtiwa, baby dear ! 
 
 When the baby's mother comes, 
 
 She will give her darling milk. 
 
 Juwa, jtiwa, baby dear ! 
 When the baby's father comes, 
 He will bring a cocoanut. 
 
 Juwa, jtiwa, baby dear ! 
 When the baby's brother comes, 
 He will bring a little bird. 
 
 Jtiwa, jtiwa, baby dear ! 
 When the baby's sister comes, 
 She will bring a dish of rice. 
 
TAMIL SONGS. 147 
 
 TAMIL SONGS. 
 
 At the extreme of the social scale farthest removed 
 from the hill tribes is the great Tamil nation. It 
 occupies the country from the Mysore plateau on the 
 north to the sea on the south, and is constantly 
 extending its possessions in Ceylon, first impoverishing 
 and then expelling the Cingalese. Twenty millions of 
 persons speak the Tamil language and form the most 
 intelligent and civilized nation south of the Ganges. 
 With the intellectual power of the Bengali, they 
 combine much of the physical energy of the Mahratta, 
 and the literary culture of the Hindi. Never having 
 been overwhelmed by Mahommedan invaders from 
 the North, they preserve, almost intact, the national 
 characteristics of ages that have long passed from 
 memory in the Gangetic valley, and there is probably 
 no district in India that more faithfully represents 
 Hindoo life before the inroads of the Affghan Mah- 
 mouds, than the quiet villages of Tanjore, round 
 Combaconum and Manargudi. 
 
 As the Tamils thus lead the Dravidian nations, it has 
 
148 TAMIL SONGS. 
 
 seemed right to describe their folk-literature at greater 
 length and over a larger area. The better classes are 
 especially fond of the Adwaita* songs that will come 
 first. At the other extreme are the purely laboring 
 tribes, known to Europeans under the common name 
 of coolies. The strains to which they labor are well 
 worthy of notice. Those that follow were taken down 
 on the spot, as they were sung by a number of coolies 
 who were at work driving piles. Between these 
 extremes and common to all classes except the lowest, 
 are the songs or, to speak more correctly, the chapters 
 of the Cural, which is as truly the national representa- 
 tive of Dravidian people's literature as Homer was of 
 the Greek. 
 
 The Adwaita philosophy teaches that the deity is 
 the one great essence, filling all space and time. It is 
 separated by a very narrow line from pantheism, and it 
 will be noticed that some of the expressions employed 
 have slipped into pantheism. " Everything is of God" 
 is the exact maxim ; and it is no wonder that the 
 masses should render it without the particle, and say 
 " Everything is God." 
 
 The impossibility of ensuring that the many shall 
 catch and retain a fine intellectual distinction has led 
 to another set of expressions that will startle the 
 reader. Adwaita teachers say, " Since everything is of 
 God, it must have some good purpose or, to speak 
 more accurately, some divine purpose. Therefore we 
 must call nothing that the world contains good or bad. 
 
 * For a description of the Adwaita philosophy, see page 3. 
 
TAMIL SONGS. 149 
 
 It may seem strange to us, but God is greater than 
 we, and knows all about it." This is not far wrong, 
 but was very easily carried on into the expression 
 " Whatever I chose to do is good." 
 
 The teachers say again, " See God in everything, 
 and therefore be just, be without fear and equally 
 without desire. Nothing you ought to have is with- 
 held, and therefore hope or desire nothing. Nothing 
 can hurt unless God wish it, therefore fear nothing." 
 For this some are quite ready to say, " Have neither 
 hope nor fear, therefore nothing is wrong, — virtue and 
 vice are terms without meaning." Notwithstanding 
 this misconception, there need be no hesitation in as- 
 serting that the tone of the songs is highly moral, and 
 that the oneness of God is as strongly maintained as 
 by any Christian. 
 
 What will demand even more attention is the 
 palpable contradiction given by the songs to what we 
 are accustomed to call Hinduism. If they be, as in 
 fact they are, the correct expression of the views of the 
 mass of the Tamil people of the better class in the 
 Madras Presidency, we are compelled to admit that 
 the Dravidian peoples differ largely in their religious 
 ideas from their northern brethren, and that such 
 doctrines could not have come out of the system 
 which presents Krishna and Kali, Rama and Hanuman 
 as the greatest objects of worship, and their deeds 
 as true specimens of the conduct of the deities who 
 rule heaven and earth. It is commonly said that the 
 Adwaita philosophy is a Brahmanic development, like 
 
150 TAMIL SONGS. 
 
 the Sankhya and Nyaya systems of northern India. 
 To some extent this is true ; but only in this, that 
 the learned Brahmans carried .on into scientific defi- 
 nition and scholastic shape the principles they found 
 so firmly fixed in the Dravidian mind that they had to 
 choose between accepting the principles or forfeiting 
 their own influence. The indigenous Dravidian exist- 
 ence of the ideas that lie at the root of the Adwaita 
 philosophy is proved by the fact that all the early 
 Dravidian literature is of the like character, and it is 
 never pretended that this great series is otherwise 
 than pure Dravidian ; not only independent of, but 
 opposed to Brahmanic influence. 
 
 After the Adwaita songs are purposely inserted some 
 very popular songs by Kapila, Sivavakyer and other 
 very early Dravidian (Tamil) writers. The most 
 cursory comparison will show that one spirit breathes 
 in all. Nor will it be difficult to see how the later 
 philosophical songs have grown out of the earlier out- 
 bursts of passion and deep feeling. There is also added 
 an abstract of the Tiruvalluva Charitra, valuable both 
 for its evidence that even the Brahmans acknowledge 
 that the early Tamil literature was not dependent on 
 Sanscrit, and also for the further witness it gives as to 
 the ideas of religion and the Godhead that were 
 current in very early times. 
 
 The profoundly religious spirit that pervades every 
 member of the series will seem so strange that many 
 will ask whether these songs are fair samples of a great 
 mass or mere sporadic efforts of some great men who 
 
TAMIL SONGS. 151 
 
 rose above their fellows. It is therefore distinctly 
 asserted that they are fair samples of a great national 
 literature. If any reader will take the trouble to study 
 that great magazine of early Tamil literature — Ellis' 
 Cural, he w T ill find a thousand examples of similar cha- 
 racter. It is strictly true that every one of the songs 
 given below is popular in the most rigid sense. 
 
 The thoughtful reader will find much in Sir H. S. 
 Maine's " Village Communities" and especially in the 
 second lecture, to show how it has become possible that 
 the acknowledged written literature should be satu- 
 rated with sacredotalism and entirely devoted to the 
 interests of the Brahmans, and yet that this should 
 not represent the views and feelings of the masses, 
 whose true voice is only seen in that literature which 
 is not written and thereby withdrawn from the influence 
 of the educated literary caste. It is superfluous to 
 repeat what Sir H. S. Maine has so well exhibited, and 
 I would only quote one passage bearing on the very 
 question of the songs. He says of the people of India 
 as distinguished from the Brahmans — "Those who 
 know most of them assert that their religious belief is 
 kept alive not by direct teaching, but by the constant 
 recitation in the vernacular of parts of their sacred 
 poems." 
 
 We begin with a dialogue between Rama and Vasish- 
 tha, the famous rishi. It is noticeable from the fact 
 that the deity seeks information from the rishi, and 
 would seem to teach that, in the mind of the Tamil writer 
 of the song, Rama is rather the historical hero than 
 
152 TAMIL SONGS. 
 
 the Puranic incarnation of Vishnu. This may not be the 
 case, however, as a similar application from gods to men 
 for advice is not uncommon in more polished literature. 
 Vasishtha is the Vedic priest. The writer in quot- 
 ing him appeals from Philip drunk to Philip sober, 
 from modern Brahmanism to the ancient Vedas. 
 
 It remains only to make a last note, that, in the 
 Adwaita system, true worship is supposed to be begun 
 by what Methodists would call a " conversion," — a 
 change from darkness to light. This change introduces 
 the state of " knowing." Before it, a man knows 
 nothing of God, he can even worship a stone. After 
 it, he perceives the essence that fills all things, and 
 "knows" that God is, and is so filled with this 
 knowledge that nothing else can claim a moment's 
 thought. This very curious fact deserves the more 
 attention because the conversion is not accompanied 
 by or dependent upon any initiatory rite, like those of 
 the later Greek sects. The change does not come 
 because of a flood of new light thrown upon the mind 
 from without, as by the instruction of a teacher or 
 the performance of mystic rites. The enlightenment 
 which causes the great change of nature comes from 
 within. It is as if some veil or shutter within the 
 soul is suddenly raised, so that the mind can at once look 
 right at God and thereby learn what He really is. The 
 devotee did not know before because he could not see. 
 Now the obstacle is removed. He can see and there- 
 fore " knows." 
 
GOD IS A SPIRIT. 153 
 
 TAMIL ADWAITA SONGS. 
 
 GOD IS A SPIRIT. 
 
 Vasishtha ! Rama speaks to thee and asks — 
 Where may a sinner find those holy things 
 That drive out, root and branch, each fault and sin, 
 And give to him who worships perfect peace ? 
 
 To him Vasishtha. God, supreme and great, 
 Dwells not in mortal flesh, nor hath He frame 
 Of substance elemental. He is not 
 Confined in what the simple call a God — 
 In Hari, Hara,* and the minor host. 
 The Godhead is not even mind itself : 
 'Tis He, the Uncreate, who knoweth all, 
 Who ne'er began and never hath an end. 
 
 Rama. 
 
 But will that God bow down and dwell with men, 
 Abide in things that have no worth or praise, 
 That are not one, but some and separate ? 
 
 Vasishtha. 
 
 He hath no end nor had beginning. He 
 
 Is one, inseparate. To Him alone 
 
 Should mortals offer praise and prayer. Poor fools 
 
 Must bow to idols — they cannot discern 
 
 The higher things. As when some weakly man, 
 
 Who cannot walk a mile, is urged to pace 
 
 * 
 * Hari and Hara are terms for Vishnu and Siva respectively, and have 
 previously been explained. See page 44, note. 
 
 20 
 
154 GOD IS A SPIRIT. 
 
 Such distance as he can, — so fools adore 
 
 An image. Not to them the perfect bliss 
 
 Of knowing inner things. The wise man saith 
 
 That God, the omniscient Essence, fills all space 
 
 And time. He cannot die or end. In Him 
 
 All things exist. There is no God but He. 
 
 If thou wouldst worship in the noblest way 
 
 Bring flowers in thy hand. Their names are these 
 
 Contentment, Justice, Wisdom. Offer them 
 
 To that great Essence — then thou servest God. 
 
 No stone can image God — to bow to it 
 
 Is not to worship. Outward rites cannot 
 
 Avail to compass that reward of bliss 
 
 That true devotion gives to those who know. 
 
 How strange that idolatry should flourish most 
 by the side of such teaching ! One is never tired 
 of noting the marvellous contradiction given by this 
 literature to our commonly received notions. If the 
 contrast should seem to be marked too often, it is 
 because every new song that has been brought to light 
 has more vividly expressed the difference between the 
 real feelings of the people and those which have so 
 uniformly been ascribed to them. Long and familiar 
 intercourse with natives must lead every one who can 
 look below the surface of the life around him to expect 
 much that is opposed to idolatry and the Puranic 
 absurdities. But the great mass of these poems go 
 beyond what ordinary conversation usually sets forth. 
 This proves, what might perhaps have been foreseen, 
 
 
GOD IS A SPIRIT. 155 
 
 that the influence of the sacerdotal caste has caused 
 even those who love the doctrines of their ances- 
 tors to modify them sufficiently to be able to use 
 them in combination with more fashionable ideas. 
 The Brahmans are at the top of the social ladder, and 
 their position is strengthened by the fossilizing in- 
 fluence of our policy. They therefore set the tone of 
 educated life. Sumner Maine also notes this. His 
 second lecture on Village Communities is full of strik- 
 ing thoughts, exphiining why English supremacy has 
 very efficiently though unintentionally contributed to 
 strengthen the sacerdotal influence, killing popular 
 tradition by the weight of Brahmanic written law. 
 
 If the people have gone towards the Brahmans, the 
 reverse process has not been less marked. It is pro- 
 bably owing to the steady approach of the higher 
 Brahmans towards Dravidian monotheism that there is 
 now so great a gulf between them and the temple and 
 domestic priests. The purohita is looked down upon 
 as an ignorant servant of unreal deities. The poojari 
 or temple priest is still lower, for he is openly engaged 
 in worshipping and teaching the worship of impossible 
 idols. The philosophical Brahmans have entirely given 
 up such things, and live upon the produce of lands 
 granted to them in former times. Most of the songs 
 now given have been coolly appropriated by this class 
 and published as " translations from the Sanscrit f — 
 a fraud as guilty though not as serious as the mutila- 
 tions about to be noticed. 
 
156 THE TRUE GOD. 
 
 THE TRUE GOD. 
 
 God is the one great all. Can such as He, 
 Eternal Being, see our praise or prayer 
 In outward acts ? If thou wouldst worship Him, 
 Lift up thy heart— in spirit serve thy God. 
 Some bow themselves, lie prostrate on the earth, 
 In meditation spend their days. Some tell 
 Their beads in prayers, or mantras whisper oft, 
 Pay dues at sacred shrines. All this is nought. 
 External objects cannot help. They bring 
 Great grief to those who trust them. Life is thine 
 And endless bliss, if thou wilt look within. 
 God may be seen in spread out space : yet I, 
 Who looked so long, quite failed to catch the sight, 
 And darkness held me fast in life-long pain. 
 But now, by Sivam* I declare that all 
 That is is God : yet what I see is not. 
 It and the thousand evils of the world 
 
 * The word Sivam is the neuter of Siva, and expresses two things. — 
 First, that the bard is nominally a worshipper of Siva. Every respectable 
 man must call the Deity he serves by one of three names, Vishnu, Siva or 
 Brahma. The question is usually decided by birth. Certain castes are 
 conventionally supposed to worship Vishnu, and certain others Siva. It 
 seldom happens that a man changes his deity-name. Secondly, it proves 
 that while the bard worships Siva, he does so only on the understanding 
 that his deity is not to be considered a person, God is an essence or 
 spirit and therefore without sex. The protest against idolatry generally 
 takes this form; as it must be at once understood, even by the most ignorant, 
 that there can be nothing in common between the neuter spirit and 
 the masculine representation which idolatry gives to the personages it 
 delights to honor. 
 
THE TRUE GOD. 157 
 
 Are not of God nor true. They Maya are.* 
 Though He doth dwell in everything, the fool 
 Discerneth not. From him the Godhead hides. 
 To him who knows, the hidden stands revealed — 
 The real becomes the seen : but yet not seen,f 
 For God hath neither form nor earthly frame — 
 A spirit only. Nor is there any priest 
 But he that teacheth thus of Deity. 
 In majesty and bliss, in glory vast, 
 The great Intelligence pervades and fills 
 
 * This verse seems to contain a contradiction. It arises from the form 
 of the last affirmation. When the poet says — "All that is is God: yet 
 what I see is not" — he means that the impression made upon him by the 
 external world is not a true representation of such reality as the external 
 world possesses. The maxim is so condensed that, for a European, 
 it must be somewhat enlarged as follows. — " All that really exists is 
 but a portion of the Godhead. But my senses are so imperfect, and I can 
 so imperfectly understand what my senses exhibit, that the impression 
 my mind at last receives does not at all correspond with the reality 
 of the thing I seem to perceive. By trusting to my senses I am 
 led astray." The ignorant man judges the earth from the evidence 
 of his senses, and never dreams of asking what it really is as intended 
 and brought into existence by God. It — the image of the earth on his 
 retina and still more upon his mind — " is not of God nor true." He 
 knows the world only by his own five senses, which have no more to do 
 with external objects than the painter's brush and oils with the landscape 
 he represents. He thinks he knows what the world is, because he is con- 
 scious that it has certain effects upon his own nerves — these effects he takes 
 to be the thing itself. He therefore makes a mistake, is led astray by his 
 own ignorance. Before he can have even the slightest knowledge of 
 external things, he must learn that his internal sensations have nothing to 
 do with the reality of the things which they seem to bring to his notice and 
 knowledge. 
 
 | Here again is a paradox caused by using the word seen in two senses. 
 The same play upon words is in the original. The phrase when enlarged 
 runs thus — " The real becomes perceptible by the mind, but remains 
 imperceptible by the eye." 
 
158 THE TRUE GOD. 
 
 Each part of all the universe. What then 
 
 Is great and what is small ? Who is my friend, 
 
 And who my foe — if He have thought him good ? 
 
 If this I love, and that I hate, have I 
 
 The right to blame what God hath known it wise 
 
 To show ? Will then the wise repeat such things ? 
 
 The wise man sees that living souls surround 
 
 His life, and one Intelligence doth rule 
 
 In all. He turns with sad and loathing soul 
 
 From penance, meditation, outward rites, 
 
 And all the cant of sects — from unreal things 
 
 That can but bar the road to peace and bliss — 
 
 Becomes the loving servant of the truth, 
 
 Disciple of a real and faithful priest. 
 
 The song — True knowledge — is one of a series known 
 as "Pattanattu's Psalms." The author and a still more 
 eminent poet, Patirakiriyar, lived in the tenth century, 
 about the time of the English king Canute. Both 
 poets had been possessed of great wealth, but a sense 
 of the vanity of worldly things caused them to give up 
 all and live in privation and pain. They were strongly 
 opposed to the then growing influence of idolatry, and 
 poured out bitter but highly poetic satires on the influ- 
 ence of caste and idolatry. Patirakiriyar is the author 
 of some of the " Songs of Sorrow" referred to on page 12. 
 A few stanzas may not be inappropriate in connection 
 with Pattanattu's song. They are taken almost at 
 random from a modern edition, but fairly represent 
 the scope of the book, which is exceedingly popular 
 and often reprinted. 
 
SONGS OF SORROW. 159 
 
 When may I know the hidden things of life 
 And thus attain perfection ? I would show 
 How false the Vedas are, with error rife : 
 And burn the Sh asters ; so the truth might grow. 
 
 Oh, when will mankind learn to use aright 
 The carved stones, the clay baked hard with fire, 
 The burnished copper shining in the light, 
 And not to worship them as Gods require ? 
 
 When shall our race be one great brotherhood 
 
 Unbroken by the tyranny of caste, 
 
 Which Kapila in early days withstood 
 
 And taught that men were one in times now passed ? 
 
 When may my thoughts be fixed alone on Him 
 Who is Himself all sweetness, made all things, 
 Whom all the Vedas sought, though seeing dim, 
 Who saveth him that to His mercy clings ? 
 
 When will my God attract to Him my soul 
 And keep it ever near, beneath His care ? 
 Just as a magnet draws, as to a goal, 
 Unto itself the weighty iron bar. 
 
 When will that God who hath no earthly shape, 
 Of all the end, and yet who maketh all, 
 Whose clear pervading eye nought can escape 
 Accept my service, all my soul enthral? 
 
 There is much more to the like purpose, but we 
 must pass on to the song of Pattanattu. 
 
160 
 
 TRUE KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 1. 
 
 TRUE KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 My God is not a chiselled stone, 
 Or lime, so bright and white : 
 Nor is he cleaned with tamarind, 
 Like images of bronze. 
 
 2. 
 
 I cannot worship such as these, 
 But loudly make my boast 
 That in my heart I place the feet, 
 The golden feet of God. 
 
 3. 
 
 If He be mine what can I need ? 
 My God is everywhere. 
 Within, beyond man's highest word, 
 My God existeth still. 
 
 4. 
 
 In sacred books, in darkest night, 
 In deepest, bluest sky, 
 In those who know the truth, and in 
 The faithful few on earth ; — 
 
 5. 
 
 My God is found in all of these, 
 But can the Deity 
 Descend to images of stone 
 Or copper dark and red ? 
 
 6. 
 
 Where'er wind blows or compass points, 
 God's light doth stream and shine, 
 Yet see yon fool — beneath his arm 
 He bears the sacred roll. 
 
TRUE KNOWLEDGE. 161 
 
 7. How carefully he folds the page 
 And draws the closing string ! 
 See how he binds the living book 
 That not a leaf escape ! 
 
 - 8. Ah ! Yes ; the truth should fill his heart, 
 But 'tis beneath his arm. 
 To him who " knows/' the sun is high ; 
 To this, 'tis starless night. 
 
 9. If still, oh sinful man, with ash 
 Thou dost besmear thy face, 
 Or bathest oft, that thus thy soul 
 May cast away its load. 
 
 10. Thou knowest naught of God, nor of 
 Regeneration's work. 
 
 Your mantras, what are they ? The Veds 
 Are burdened with their weight. 
 
 11. If knowledge be not thine, thou art 
 As one in deep mid-stream : 
 
 A stream so wide that both the banks 
 Are hidden from thine eyes. 
 
 12. Alas ! How long did I adore 
 The chiselled stone, and serve 
 An image made of lime or brass 
 That's cleaned with tamarind. 
 
 21 
 
162 THE SIN OF IDOLATRY. 
 
 THE SIN OF IDOLATRY. 
 
 1. Men cannot know from whence they came, 
 Else they would never call the sun 
 Or moon their God. They would not bow 
 To idols made of clay, or mud 
 Baked in the fire. No image made 
 Of stone or wood, no linga stump, 
 Built up of earth and made by hand, 
 Could ever seem divine to one 
 Who knew he came from God. 
 
 Some say 
 That eight plain letters hold all truth * 
 And some that it doth dwell in five ! 
 No wonder that such living fools 
 Exalt Vishnu, and Siva praise. 
 
 * It is common in the obscure mysticism to which the more reasonable 
 aspects of Puranism have descended, to count the letters forming the name 
 of the deity that is honored, and say that all wisdom may be found in them. 
 The eight letters here spoken of form the name of Vishnu and the five the 
 name of Siva. A great number of books commence with an invocation in 
 the same style, greatly resembling the illustrated alphabets of which our 
 infants are so fond, — where A stands for apple, B forbear, and so on. All the 
 Hindu " ologies" can thus be brought into the name of the deity. Curious 
 examples of this practice will be seen in the subsequent pages referring to 
 Sivavakyer. There is another and unobjectionable mode of using the first 
 and last letters of the alphabet. Thus, in the Bible, God is said to be Alpha 
 and Omega, the first and the last. Patirakiriyar says — " When will the 
 time come for me to understand the hidden meaning of the letter A, the 
 first of all letters, and know its full meaning." The Cural commences with 
 a similar comparison of Deity with the letter A. Very many of the better 
 poets exhibit the same idea. 
 
THE SIN OF IDOLATRY. 163 
 
 2. A hundred thousand living things — 
 From elephants to tiny ants — 
 Abound throughout the world. Not one 
 Of all but has somewhat of God. 
 
 The outward sense cannot perceive ■ 
 This inner sacred habitant. 
 But turn the vision of thy mind 
 Upon thine inward self, and then, 
 As perfume from the blushing flower, 
 Thou skalt perceive what mortal eye 
 May never see. Thou then art wise. 
 
 3. For those who call a stone their God, 
 Or dream that Kasi or Sathu* 
 
 Can cleanse them from their sin, — for those 
 Who take a part in heathen rites, 
 Who murder, steal, or throw the dice, 
 Speak falsely for their gain or friend, 
 The seven dark hells do gape. They wait 
 Until the time of fate be come 
 And sinners meet the doom they earn.f 
 When time shall turn again, and life 
 Shall come to some, these men shall pine 
 In stones for seven painful births. 
 
 * Kasi is the native name for Benares. Sathu is the sacred island of 
 Rameswaram, in the strait that separates India from Ceylon. The south 
 of India is full of sacred places to which pilgrims come each year by thou- 
 sands. Some of the most eminent are Mylapore, Tripathy, Trivellore, 
 Seringham, Tanjore and Conjeveram. The spread of education is gradually 
 but surely killing the system. The number of pilgrims diminishes every 
 year. 
 
 f See note on next page. It is not often that the retributive character 
 of hell is so clearly stated. The profitable sacerdotal doctrine that sin is 
 punished by new births, and that these may be prevented by due offerings 
 and repeated ceremonies, has gradually supplanted the earlier truth. 
 
164 THE SIN OF IDOLATRY. 
 
 How mad are ye who offer praise 
 To earven stones ! As if such things 
 Could fitly image God most High ! 
 Can He be but a dirty stone ? 
 And can such worship reach His ear ? 
 Be faithful to the glorious priest 
 Who teaches truth. Receive from him 
 The heavenly light that shall make clear 
 What body is and what is soul. 
 Let all thy mind be overwhelmed 
 With that great blaze of light which beams, 
 From what is typified by " Om."* 
 
 Who teach that copper, stones, or wood 
 Are Gods, and also those who follow them, 
 Shall never reach the blessed home, 
 But perish in the seven dark hells.*f* 
 
 * 0m, or more properly Aum i is a mystic word of which no one knows 
 the real meaning. It is used for a hundred different things ; as each 
 writer has a different idea of a something that pervades the world and yet 
 is not God. It is supposed to typify a mysterious excellence which is of 
 God and yet is not God. It enshrines the essence of the Trimurtti or Hindu 
 Trinity and is something beyond Vishnu or Siva, yet not greater than 
 they. It is the essence of the Vedas. It is infinite wisdom and mysticism. 
 It is the highest summit of every thing that man should aspire to, yet is 
 utterly beyond even the greatest of Rishis, and they can be more than Gods. 
 
 f The Hindu theory of transmigration does not prevent their having hells. 
 There is, almost invariably, an immense period of time between death and 
 the next birth, and through that period the soul suffers or enjoys accord- 
 ingly to its merits. There is a chapter in the Mahabharata of singular 
 interest, seeing that it anticipates Dante's Inferno. As with Dante, hell is 
 divided into circles of particular punishments, and the leading sins on earth 
 have each their peculiar retribution. The parallel is often very close, and 
 the whole chapter is well worthy of translation. 
 
THE UNITY OF GOD. 165 
 
 THE UNITY OP GOD. 
 
 1. Into the bosom of the one great sea 
 
 Flow streams that come from hills on every side. 
 
 Their names are various as their springs. 
 
 And thus in every land do men bow down 
 
 To one great God, though known by many names. 
 
 This mighty Being we would worship now. 
 
 2. What though the six religions* loudly shout 
 That each alone is true, all else are false ? 
 Yet when in each the wise man worships God, 
 The great almighty One receives the prayer. 
 
 3. Oh Lord, when may I hope 
 To find the clue that leads 
 From out the labyrinth 
 Of brawling erring sects ? 
 
 4. Six blind men once described an elephant 
 That stood before them all. One felt the back. 
 The second noticed pendent ears. The third 
 Could only find the tail. The beauteous tusks 
 Absorbed the admiration of the fourth. 
 While of the other two, one grasped the trunk. 
 The last sought for small things and found 
 
 Four thick and clumsy feet. From what each learned, 
 He drew the beast. Six monsters stood revealed. 
 Just so the six religions learned of God, 
 And tell their wondrous tales. Our God is one. 
 
 * All these songs were written before the advent of Europeans, and the 
 six religions do not include Christianity. Very different accounts of them 
 are given, but they may be supposed to be Buddhists, Jains, Vedantists, 
 Vaishnavas, Shivas, and Lingayets. 
 
166 THE UNITY OF GOD. 
 
 5. Men talk of penance, fastings, sacred streams — 
 Make pilgrimage to temples, offer gifts; 
 Performing to the letter all the rules 
 
 Of senseless complicated ritual. 
 Yet are they doomed to sorrow's deepest pain. 
 Oh, fling such things away and fix thy heart 
 On rest and peace to come. Seek that alone. 
 
 6. To them that fully know the heavenly truth, 
 There is no good or ill ; nor anything 
 
 To be desired, unclean or purely clean. 
 
 To them there is no good can come from fast 
 
 Or penance pains. To them the earth has naught 
 
 For hope or fear, in thought or word or deed.* 
 
 7. They hear the four great Vedas shout aloud 
 That he who has true wisdom in his heart 
 
 Can have no thought for fleeting worldly things. 
 Where God is seen, there can be naught but God. 
 His heart can have no place for fear or shame, 
 For caste, uncleanness, hate or wandering thought. 
 Impure and pure are all alike to him. 
 
 * This verse is one of those that appear to countenance the grosser 
 impurities of life. If nothing be unclean or bad, if there be no fear of 
 evil consequences for immoral actions, why may not we live only for 
 the flesh? This is the very argument employed by Sakti worshippers, 
 by the Maharajahs of Bombay and others who teach similar doctrines. 
 Yet it is quite clear that the verse cannot lead to this inference. It 
 is only " to them who fully know the heavenly truth," that nothing is 
 unclean or bad. But the very fact assumes that they have overcome their 
 senses — they have no desire — they think only on God — they have left the 
 world. As another song asserts, youth or beauty have no charm for them. 
 They cannot even be tempted to immorality, for its essence is fleshly 
 pleasure, and this they have eschewed. Evil results follow only when those 
 who do not * ; know" take upon themselves the privileges of those who do. 
 To them things may be and are both unclean and utterly bad. 
 
THE UNITY OF GOD. 167 
 
 The " Brotherhood of Man" is especially worthy of 
 notice. Its morality is so high and its imagery so 
 vivid that I have translated it as literally as possible 
 without rhymes. In its present form it professes to 
 have been rendered from a Sanscrit original, but this 
 is merely a literary fraud, perpetrated probably by the 
 printer, in order to make the publication acceptable to 
 his Brahman customers. It is another incidental link 
 in the chain of facts showing how diligently the literary 
 caste have taught that nothing good can come from 
 any other source. Ife is in reality the work of Kapila, 
 who is said to have been the brother of Tiruvalluva. 
 That it is very ancient is shown by a verse of Patiraki- 
 riyar, quoted on a previous page, which, though itself 
 written in the tenth century, speaks of Kapila, refer- 
 ring probably to this very song, as having so " taught 
 in the beginning." That is, Kapila was then an ancient 
 writer. It helps to establish what has been assumed 
 in the pages concerning Tiruvalluva, that he dates from 
 about the third century. The song was probably a part 
 of Kapila's Agaval, If so, it has been separated from 
 the context and somewhat modified by popular use, 
 since the Agaval, as we have it, does not contain the 
 precise passage, although there is much of the same 
 tenor. Seldom has the argument for the essential 
 unity of mankind been more pithily expressed, and it 
 says much for the inner heart of the nation that the 
 song should have survived and remain so popular. 
 
168 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 
 
 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. 
 
 BY KAPILA. 
 
 1. Oh Brahmans, list to me 
 And answer if you can. 
 When ye at funeral rites 
 Do represent the dead, 
 Receiving in your hands 
 The precious things and food 
 His sons so freely give ; — 
 
 2. When solemn rites are made 
 With every offering ; — 
 Have you or yours e'er seen 
 The spirit hands outstretched 
 Because they need the food ? 
 Or have you seen them close 
 When hunger is assuaged ? 
 
 3. Do rain and wind avoid 
 Some men among the rest* 
 Because their caste is low ? 
 When such men tread the earth 
 Hast seen it quake with rage ? 
 Or does the brilliant sun 
 Refuse to them its rays ? 
 
 4. Oh Brahmans, has our God 
 E'er bid the teeming fields 
 Bring forth the fruit and flowers 
 For men of caste alone ? 
 
 Or made the forest green 
 To gratify the eyes 
 Of none but Pariahs ? 
 
THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN.. 169 
 
 5. Such wealth as men may have, 
 Such biting poverty, 
 Aye, even death itself, 
 Are but the common lot 
 Of all that dwell on earth, — 
 The logical results 
 Of deeds of good or bad * 
 
 G. Our deeds may never die, 
 And even now we rue 
 What, in our former births, 
 We did or left undone. 
 To this alone we owe 
 That we have bliss or pain, 
 Have hope or deep despair. 
 
 7. Oh Brahmans, list to me ! 
 In all this blessed land 
 There is but one great caste, 
 One tribe and brotherhood. 
 One God doth dwell above, 
 And he hath made us one 
 
 In birth and frame and tongue. 
 
 8. If therefore, ye fools, 
 Ye would observe and do 
 The precepts of your sires, 
 Give alms to all who need, 
 And, as for life, avoid 
 
 All that is mean, or smacks 
 Of lies and knavery. 
 
 * This and the next verse are the key to much of the Dravidian 
 argument explaining the inequalities of this life, and the doctrine of 
 transmigration. God is not to be blamed if we are poor or unhappy — we 
 suffer what we have ourselves created. 
 
 22 
 
170 TRUE WORSHIP. 
 
 9. Virtue alone is strong, 
 And fears no present pain. 
 Its life may never end, 
 Nor can its joys abate ; 
 For virtue's self is peace. 
 Learn virtue then, my friend, 
 And give thy life to it. 
 
 TRUE W R S H I P. 
 
 BY SIVAVAKYER. 
 
 1. When once I knew the Lord 
 
 What were to me the host 
 Of pagan deities ? 
 
 Some fixed in temple shrines, 
 Or carried in the crowd ; 
 
 Some made of unbaked clay, 
 And some burnt hard with fire ? 
 
 With all the lying tales 
 That fill the sacred books 
 
 They've vanished from my mind. 
 
 2. Of two stones on the hill, 
 
 The first you take and carve — 
 Into an idol make. 
 
 You rub with sandal ash, 
 Adorn with brilliant flowers, 
 
 And worship it as God. 
 The next serves for a road — 
 
 You tread it underfool. 
 In neither can our God 
 
 Take pleasure or delight. 
 
TKUE WORSHIP. 171 
 
 3. How many flowers I gave 
 
 At famous temple shrines ! 
 How many mantras said ! 
 
 Oft washed the idol's head ! 
 And still with weary feet 
 
 Encircled Siva's shrines ! 
 But now at last I know 
 
 Where dwells the king of Gods, 
 And never will salute 
 
 A temple made with hands. 
 
 4. But yet I have a shrine — 
 
 The mind within my breast. 
 A linga* too is there — 
 
 The soul that came from God. 
 I offer ash and flowers — 
 
 The praises of my heart. 
 And all the God-made Avorld, 
 
 Is frankincense and myrrh. 
 And thus, where'er I go, 
 
 I ever worship God. 
 
 5. Ye knaves and fools, who boast 
 
 How well and much you write ! 
 No ass can bray so loud 
 As ye proclaim your skill. 
 
 * The linga, the Grecian phallus, is the emblem of creation and the 
 special symbol of all who worship Siva. It is a curious instance of the 
 mode in whicli Brahmanism has mutilated the religious thought it found 
 in existence, that Siva, in the Hindu triad, is always the destroyer. The 
 worshippers of Siva never countenanced this. With them Siva is purely 
 the Creator, the maker and upholder of all that is. The Brahmanic triad 
 is but the clumsy effort of the sacerdotal caste to comprehend the other 
 religions it found in India with its own, — an ill-assorted group of er- 
 roneously described figures, varnished with legend made for the purpose 
 of hiding imperfections as they came to light. 
 
172 TRUE WORSHIP. 
 
 And yet your souls lie prone 
 In flesh that creeps with worms. 
 
 Oh, will you never learn 
 How petty such things are ? 
 
 Strive with your might to gain 
 The one eternal truth. 
 
 6. E'en if you read the Veds, 
 
 The Sama and the Rik ; 
 And know the Shasters' six ; 
 
 You still may never know 
 The great divine Sivam. 
 
 Yet if you will but turn 
 From flesh and its desires, 
 
 Suppressing lust and shame, 
 Your eyes and heart may see 
 
 The Being that is God. 
 
 7. You utter lies in hosts 
 
 While books are in your hands. 
 Yea, pour them out afresh 
 
 As many as you wish ! 
 But know that soon will come 
 
 Your dreaded final day 
 When God will judge aright. 
 
 All they that know the Lord, 
 The great unknown first cause, 
 
 Are blest with wisdom high. 
 
 The corrupting efforts of the Brahmans, as exercised 
 on old Dravidian literature, have so often been referred 
 to that the reader may think the feeling exaggerated. 
 On the other hand all will feel the exceeding beauty 
 
TRUE WORSHIP. 173 
 
 of the song just rendered, and will be inclined to speak 
 with severity of those who would mutilate it. It 
 will not therefore, be deemed too great a digression to 
 give the opening chapter of the works of Sivavak- 
 yer, as expurgated and improved by the sacerdotal 
 class. It cannot be promised that any one will under- 
 stand it. I went over it carefully with a learned 
 Brahman and failed to extract any connected sense 
 from it, nor was my guide more successful. When 
 pressed for an abstract of its meaning he replied — 
 " That is the way we talk when we mean to say that 
 Siva is the greatest God." 
 
 1. Many bodies come from A ; 
 They stand so firm with O. 
 Through M the world was dark, 
 But S sets all things free. 
 
 The first three letters make the mystic word aom or 
 aum, which has already been referred to. The letter 
 s is the initial of Siva, and is supposed to state that 
 even aum itself is of no force unless Siva guides it. 
 
 2. Essential Nama-sivayum, 
 
 He is both beginning and end. 
 He is twelve crores, a countless host, 
 He is all mantras, the four Vedas, 
 The six Shastras, all the puranas. 
 Vishnu and Brahma seek after him. 
 He is almighty God, God, God. 
 
 Nama-sivayum is the "name of Siva." A crore 
 is ten millions. The mantras are mystic sentences 
 supposed to have power over the Gods. 
 
174 TRUE WORSHIP. 
 
 3. Nama-sivayum has five letters, 
 
 These are all things that remain on earth. 
 
 Nama-sivayum has five letters, 
 
 But he has one more. 
 
 Nama-sivayum is the five elements, 
 
 The other one stands for king. 
 
 Oh Nama-sivayum, teach me the truth. 
 
 4. Na means two legs, Ma is the stomach, 
 Si is two arms, Va is the mouth. 
 
 Ya is two eyes, and why they both were made. 
 So out of five letters we see Sivayum, 
 Agreeable, beautiful, standing. 
 
 5. Heaven can be gained in Siva's five letters, 
 Siva's five letters will conquer Heaven. 
 
 True wisdom is known from Siva's five letters, 
 Deeply consider the five letters of Siva. 
 
 A few verses quoted at random will still better 
 explain how the book has been metamorphosed. It 
 seems to have been born again in some lower world, 
 and to teach an altogether new doctrine. We com- 
 mence with one that directly contradicts the whole 
 tenor of Sivavakyer's teaching, 
 
 Five and three are eight — 
 Eight original mantras. 
 If you keep them in mind, 
 Tell them hundreds of times, 
 Then your sins fly away 
 Like to cotton in wind ; 
 Though a billion they are. 
 So I learn from the Veds. 
 
TRUE WORSHIP. 175 
 
 There is a wandering vital air, 
 
 It flows through all the living frame. 
 
 If with your mind you seize this breath 
 
 And lift it to your head, its force 
 
 Will make the old man young again. 
 
 New strength will come to weakened limbs. 
 
 By Siva and his lovely wife I swear 
 
 That every word I say is true. 
 
 The Vedas four and those who study them, — 
 The wisdom that thus comes to those who read, — 
 The poison-drunken Rudra, — Brahma too, — 
 And Vishnu, — All these deeply meditate 
 On one great object — Nama-sivayum. 
 
 But this will surely be enough to show how careful 
 has been tlie corruption, how skilful the mutilation that 
 has in time landed Sivavakyer in such a plight. It 
 has been done gradually, here a little and there a little, 
 line upon line, so that the masses might not know how 
 their food was being stolen from them. 
 
 The peculiar audacity of the mutilation does not 
 appear so strongly until we remember that, in the ori- 
 ginal, the words Siva and Vishnu do not once appear 
 except for censure. In its new form, almost every verse 
 of the poem contains the name of Siva, and the opening 
 chapter can speak of nothing else. The subject cannot be 
 better closed than with the following extract from 
 Taylor's Oriental Manuscripts (Vol. 3, page 26.) The 
 work of Sivavakyer " is a didactic moral poem, charac- 
 terized chiefly by its monotheistical purport. It is 
 very severe on idol-worship and on various abuses con- 
 
17G TRUE WORSHIP. 
 
 nected with the common Brahmanical system ; main- 
 taining the necessity of rejecting the names of Siva 
 and Vishnu, and worshipping one only God. Hence 
 it has always been made great use of by Native Chris- 
 tians, in disputing with Hindu natives. I was told, 
 some years ago, that the ascetics (or Pandarams) of the 
 Saiva class seek after copies of this poem Avith avidity, 
 and uniformly destroy every copy they find. It is, by 
 consequence, rather scarce and chiefly preserved by the 
 Native Christians I have had one good copy care- 
 fully restored The restoration was of the greater 
 
 consequence, because of a proceeding of the Dherma 
 Sabha at Madras. As the book could not be destroyed, 
 they caused to be printed an interpolated and greatly 
 corrupted version, as the genuine work of the author, 
 but maintaining just the reverse of his real opinions." 
 
 This is but one specimen of a process that has been 
 going on for centuries, deliberately aiming at the 
 destruction of all early Dravidian literature. The 
 process has gone so far that the greater part of Siva- 
 vakyer cannot now be called folk-literature so much as 
 relics of ancient folk-literature. Hence I have given 
 but one song, which has been separated from his other 
 works by the people and kept floating among them. 
 This is therefore truly a folk-song. Having said so 
 much about him, however, the student will be glad to 
 compare genuine stanzas of the chief work of Siva- 
 vakyer with the corrupted passages before quoted. 
 The following are a few pearls among the many strung 
 together to form the poem : 
 
TRUE WORSHIP. 177 
 
 Our God an ocean is, infinity ; 
 
 No eye can see the end. He has no bound. 
 
 He who would see and know Him must repress 
 
 The waves of his own heart, must be at peace. 
 
 His sole desire is God. His every sense 
 
 Must turn to that great One and clasp but Him. 
 
 There is no real but He, — the One that fills 
 All space. He dwelleth everywhere. The sun 
 That sends its light through all the lower world 
 Pervades much less than He. Yet men deny 
 And will not know their God. They love to lie 
 In mire of sin. But I have learned of Him, 
 And find no single thing in all the world 
 To show how great His glory * Words must fail 
 To tell the joy, the bliss, I have in Him : 
 Yet when I try no man believes my speech. 
 
 That highest One is not a beauteous rose, 
 Nor doth He hide Him in the sweet perfume. 
 What men ascribe to Him, that is He not. 
 He is not great, much less can He be small. 
 The voice that speaks is not the Lord, nor can 
 He be shut in or out. He hath no shape, 
 Nor dwelleth only in some single thing. 
 This Infinite surpasseth all our thoughts. 
 
 There is but One in all the world, none else. 
 That one is God, the Lord of all that is, 
 He never had beginning, never hath an end. 
 
 23 
 
178 TRUE WORSHIP. 
 
 Oh God! I once knew nought of what Thou art, 
 And wandered far astray. But when Thy light 
 Pierced through my dark, I woke to know my God. 
 Oh Lord ! I long for Thee alone. I long 
 For none but Thee to dwell within my soul. 
 
 When Thou didst make me, Thou didst know my all. 
 But I knew not of Thee. 'Twas not till light 
 From Thee gave me to understand of Thee 
 That I could know. But now where'er I sit, 
 Or walk, or stand, Thou art for ever near. 
 Can I forget Thee ? Thou art mine ; and I 
 Am only Thine. E'en with these eyes I see, 
 And with my heart perceive, that Thou art come 
 To me as lightning from the lowering sky. 
 
 If thy poor heart but choose the better part, 
 And in this path doth worship only God, 
 His heart will stoop to thine, will take thy heart 
 And make it His. One heart shall serve for both. 
 
 When thy poor mind has always God within, 
 The highest One will surely dwell with thee : 
 Will rob thee of thy sins. As with his tool 
 The artisan will shave or cut clean off 
 Each roughness from the wood, so He will make 
 Thee free from sin and altogether pure. 
 
TRUE WORSHIP. 179 
 
 To lay her eggs the turtle swimmeth far 
 To reach the sandy shore. She buries them 
 And swimmeth back again. Yet doth her mind 
 Adhere to them. When young ones break their shell 
 They feel the tie. It draws them as a rope 
 Along their mother's path. * At last they meet. 
 Just so hath God placed us. We wander here 
 While He is far above. Yet in His mind 
 We ever stay. The tie doth reach to earth 
 From highest heaven. If we but follow it, 
 We cannot fail to reach and live with Him. 
 
 Some think to find their God upon the hills, 
 
 And climb with weary feet. So some declare 
 
 He is beyond the sea. They sail afar 
 
 To find Him out. Oh ignorant and fools ! 
 
 'Tis pride that prompts your work. His sacred feet 
 
 Are in your heart. If there you seek, your soul 
 
 Will find the Being that alone is real. 
 
 Not for a single moment has my God 
 Forgotten helpless me. Oh only God ! 
 My king and king of kings ! I could not live 
 One moment without Thee. One mercy more 
 Bestow — that praise may dwell upon my tongue. 
 
 * The verse refers to a popular idea that, when the young turtle 
 is able to trust himself to the sea, he swims straight towards his parent. 
 Though the sea is boundless and pathless he can find his way, for the 
 mother's love draws him unconsciously towards her. The figure as applied 
 to the mode in which God acts upon the souls of men is very beautiful. 
 
180 TRUE WORSHIP. 
 
 Is it any wonder that old Ziegenbalg, the pioneer of 
 Protestant Missions in India, should exclaim — u From 
 all this it is sufficiently evident what these heathens 
 believe of God, the Supreme Being, and how much 
 further they have come in his knowledge by the light 
 of nature, than the heathens of Rome. But the light 
 of nature has been quite obscured by their ancient 
 (Sanskrit) poets and Brahmans, who have written 
 many fabulous stories, and introduced a confused idol- 
 worship, out of which they cannot easily extricate 
 themselves, though they feel much opposition to it in 
 their consciences, and can speak very reasonably of the 
 Supreme Being." 
 
 "We turn from these highly wrought protests against 
 idolatry to an altogether different class of songs — the 
 labor strains of the working people. They were all 
 taken down on the spot as they were sung by a gang of 
 coolies engaged in arduous manual labor. The custom 
 follows that of the English sailor — one member of the 
 gang gives the strain, the rest join in the chorus. It 
 generally happens on board-ship, however, that the 
 singer is the same throughout, and is exempted from 
 great muscular exertion as a recompense for the stimu- 
 lant his song gives to the others. In coolie gangs they 
 usually take turns with the strain, each man giving a 
 complete song. Of course it often happens that one or 
 more of the men cannot sing and they never rise higher 
 than the chorus, but they are exceptions to the rule. 
 Some of the songs are in long lines slowly repeated ; 
 these are employed where the work requires great effort 
 
LABOUR SONGS. 181 
 
 exerted at comparatively long intervals. Others, and 
 notably the last, are intended to accompany rapid but 
 less strenuous effort. 
 
 The palankeen bearers are great singers, very fond 
 of having a sharp revenge on stingy employers by 
 inventing impromptu verses reflecting on their physical 
 and moral characteristics and those of their female re- 
 latives. So few Europeans understand them that they 
 offend almost with impunity. I remember a stout 
 gentleman who had hired bearers to carry him up the 
 ghaut, but who was either so impecunious or illiberal 
 as not to offer a handsome present in consideration of 
 his unusual weight. Unfortunately he knew low 
 Tamil well. Hardly were they well on the ghaut 
 before his torment commenced. Mile after mile pro- 
 duced a portrait of him by some new hand. It was 
 undignified to protest. It was beyond human nature 
 to be patient. He fumed with rage. He ordered them 
 to be quiet— he wished to sleep. They obeyed for a 
 while, and then again broke forth the monotonous wail 
 against the untoward fate that compelled them to 
 carry a mountain up a mountain. They gained their 
 end, though not in the way they wanted. The traveller 
 would not give, and could not put up with their com- 
 ments. When still a mile or more from the top, he 
 dismissed the bearers, and resolved to trust to his own 
 powers of climbing. Hours afterwards, a weary but 
 corpulent way-farer crawled into Coonoor — a sorrowful 
 victim of Dravidian impromptus. 
 
 The labor songs are the utterance of an illiterate 
 
182 LABOUR SONGS. 
 
 class. They are almost unintelligible to a respectable 
 caste-man. The language holds about the same re- 
 lation to literary Tamil as the Keighley dialect to the 
 English of Macaulay. It will be seen they are not 
 without humour ; that about wives is exceedingly rich. 
 How the Bayadere's song sprang up among coolies 
 it is not easy to see, unless it be due to the common 
 re-active feeling which makes the worker dream of the 
 happiness of the idle, and the hungry delight in visions 
 of luxurious meals. It must be remembered that the 
 Bayadere or dancing-girl is not contemned like an 
 English prostitute. Popular respect, and the absence 
 of all sense of moral guilt on their own part, have 
 ensured that they should respect themselves. There 
 is no class of native society less frequently before the 
 criminal courts than the dancing-girl, that is, the pro- 
 fessional prostitute. There are hundreds of abandoned 
 women, of whom this cannot be said, but they belong 
 to an entirely different class. The song, therefore, 
 really amounts to no more than such an envious 
 effusion as might spring to the lips of some poor 
 London laborer when witnessing or dreaming of the 
 life of the " gilded youth" of Belgravia or Mayfair. 
 
 The first is a joyous offering to Pillaiyar, commonly 
 known as the Belly God. His respectable name is 
 Ganesa. He is universally venerated as the God of 
 good luck, the remover of difficulties. The poorer 
 classes are especially fond of him — their whole life is 
 one series of difficulties, and who then so welcome as 
 Pillaiyar. He is represented with an elephant's head 
 
LABOUR SONGS. 183 
 
 and an enormous stomach, so that his name is very 
 appropriate. There is a close connection between 
 Ganesa and Saraswati the goddess of learning, inas- 
 much as Ganesa will only remove such obstacles as 
 cannot, by the aid of knowledge, be surmounted. The 
 ordinary mythology makes them brother and sister. 
 
 >^c 
 
 LABOUK SONGS. 
 
 1. Pillaiyar brings good luck to you, 
 
 And Saraswati wit. 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 The God was born before Kudu * 
 O clear our way some whit ! 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 
 2. Ere Aluvar thou wast, I ween. 
 
 Pillaiyar, clear our way ! 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 Beneath the banyan and the neem 
 To Pillaiyar I'll pray. 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 
 * Proper names are so altered in the coolie patois, that it is doubtful 
 what Kudu and Aluvar in the next verse refer to. The latter may 
 be a corrupt form of the word alvar and refer to one of the twelve 
 rishis of Southern India. It may, however, be that both words describe 
 more homely things, and that kudu is but another form of kudi, a 
 house ; and aluvar another form of aluval, business, labor. In that case 
 the words would mean that Pillaiyar was anterior to the present state 
 of things, before there was work to be done or houses to be built. 
 
184 LABOUR SONGS. 
 
 3. Oh, young Pillaiyar's golden feet 
 
 I never will forget. 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 Oh kind Pillaiyar, when we meet 
 How shall I pay my debt ? 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 
 4. I'll take green gram and mix it well 
 
 With ten full pounds of rice, — 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 
 And add oil seeds — how rich they smell — 
 They make the rice so nice. 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 
 5. Take then a heap of sugar-cane, — 
 
 'Twould serve to drive the ewes ; — * 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 
 Aye, e'en picotta-work would gain 
 By using such bamboos. 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 
 * This and the next verse mean that the sugar-cane stick he will 
 offer shall be of the finest. It shall be strong enough to drive sheep 
 and cattle with. It shall be long and thick enough to serve as the 
 rod for a picotta, a machine for raising water from deep wells by hanging 
 a bucket at the end of a long pole and then attaching the other end of the 
 pole to one arm of an elevated horizontal lever. The weight of a 
 man on the other end of the lever raises the pole and with it the water. 
 This apparatus is found to be the most efficient means of raising water in 
 a land where coal is costly. It is another instance of the mode in which 
 Hindoos have very frequently hit upon the very best means of employing 
 natural forces for human purposes. No European engineer would have 
 dreamt of such a contrivance — so simple and so inelegant— yet none can 
 supersede it. The Railway companies have tried every possible device and 
 the best of English machinery, but have been driven back on the picotta. 
 
LABOUR SONGS. 185 
 
 6. Then pluck some jack that hangs so great 
 
 Just at the tree's gnarled root.* 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 And from the guava tree its weight 
 Of sweet and luscious fruit. 
 
 Ho I Ho ! work hard ! 
 
 7. In bringing these I bear in mind 
 
 To gather leaves of green. 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 Ascending northern slopes, I find 
 The plantain's verdant sheen. 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 
 8. Upon the southern side there grow 
 
 The taper leaves of teak. 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 The flower that out of reach doth blow 
 I with a ladder seek. 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 
 9. Then with a crook and knife are shorn 
 The buds both rich and rare. 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 And soon the opening flowers adorn 
 Some lock of jet black hair. 
 
 Ho ! Ho ! work hard ! 
 
 * The gigantic fruit of the Jack-tree does not hang from the smaller 
 twigs as with most other fruit trees. The fruit is so large and heavy 
 that anything less than a thick bough would be broken by its weight. 
 So it hangs from the trunk and strongest branches. The largest speci- 
 mens will often be found within a few feet of the ground. 
 
 24 
 
186 bayadere's song. 
 
 BAYADERE'S SONG. 
 
 
 WITH MORAL. 
 
 ley brought 
 
 1. From the banks of the Ganges the water tl 
 
 In a vessel of brass. 
 
 
 Heave ! 
 
 Heave ! 
 
 I have washed my feet as a dancing girl ought, 
 
 And have wiped them with silk. 
 
 
 Heave 
 
 Heave ! 
 
 2. Let us go then, oh girls, before Madavan's* 
 
 shrine : 
 
 Let us worship him now. 
 
 
 Heave ! 
 
 Heave ! 
 
 If we offer our flowers to the image divine, 
 
 
 We may hope for new joys. 
 
 
 Heave 
 
 ! Heave ! 
 
 3. What delight can exceed those of love and desire ? 
 
 And all these are for us ! 
 
 
 Heave 
 
 ! Heave ! 
 
 Oh my girls, like the pea-hen in mien and attire, 
 
 I was born for the dance. 
 
 
 Heave 
 
 [ Heave ! 
 
 4. What a joy to be born as a girl for the dance ! 
 
 And what more can I want ? 
 
 
 Heave 
 
 Heave ! 
 
 What a pleasure to feel I can do with a glance 
 
 More than kings on their throne ! 
 
 
 Heave ! 
 
 Heave ! 
 
 * Madavan is abbreviated and corrupted from Mahadevan or the great 
 
 God — a title usually applied to Sira. 
 
 
 
bayadere's song. 187 
 
 Moral (by an ill-tempered man) 
 
 5. I would rather remain but a lump of vile clay 
 Than be only a girl. 
 
 Heave O ! Heave O ! 
 For a potter can make it a pot any day, 
 And 'tis therefore of use. 
 
 Heave ! Heave ! 
 
 The song entitled " Mother" probably combines the 
 divine with the human, the goddess with the nurse. 
 The lower classes in the Tamil country worship very 
 largely a set of deities called Gramadevatas or village 
 deities. These with two exceptions, Ayenar and Vira- 
 bhadra, are all females and take the title amma or 
 mother. The chief of them are Ellamma, Agathamma, 
 Mariamma, Ankalamma and Bhadrakali, also called 
 mata or mother. The little pagodas belonging to 
 these deities are found almost everywhere. The tra- 
 veller in the interior will often have noticed near such 
 "Swamy-houses" a grotesque collection of hollow figures 
 of horses, elephants, demons, &c, made of burnt clay 
 and then glaringly colored. These images are offerings 
 made by grateful worshippers who suppose themselves 
 to have been preserved from danger or death by the 
 deity. One of the finest collections I have ever seen 
 is near the railway station at Caroor in Tanjore. Along 
 the coast, north of Madras, are regular hills composed 
 
188 MOTHER. 
 
 entirely of the debris of such images, proving how great 
 the manufacture must have been in former times. 
 Thinly scattered fishermen's huts are the only signs 
 of habitation now. The reader will be able to judge 
 as to which of the verses are intended to applied to the 
 earthly mother. It is probable that every one has 
 either a direct or indirect reference to the deity. 
 
 MOTHER. 
 
 1. We have bowed three times at your feet ; 
 
 We have bowed our head. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 Oh our mother, our thanks we repeat ; 
 And we wait in dread. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 
 2. We were born of thee, and our hope 
 
 Is in none but thee. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 
 Give us food and a sword ; else we mope, 
 And from foes we flee. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 
 3. Oh ! How loud we shout, for we yearn 
 
 Thy bright face to see ! 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 We have sought thee long, and we burn 
 For thy love so free. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho I 
 
 

 MOTHER. 
 
 189 
 
 4. 
 
 Like a pearl, mamma, is thy mouth, 
 May it speak again ! 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 
 In my. need, distress and in drouth, 
 I have begged in vain. 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 5. 
 
 And for whom, I ask, is the grace 
 That by right is mine ? 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 Yo Ho ! 
 
 
 Sons-in-law, their kin, or their race, 
 Who are nought of thine ? 
 
 YoHo 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 6. 
 
 Oh return, mamma, to your son I 
 I will then be still. 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 
 Thou hast had five sons, and hast known 
 Of the pangs they feel. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 
 7. 
 
 Thou hast known our hearts and the 
 That doth break them now. 
 
 YoHo. 
 
 pain. 
 YoHo! 
 
 
 Thou canst not thy love so refrain 
 As to scorn our vow. 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 Yo Ho ! 
 
 8. 
 
 As for her, my love, who has none 
 Of her own to guard, — 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 
 How can she share the pain of a son, 
 Or his woes regard ? 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 Yo Ho ! 
 
190 MOTHER. 
 
 9. In your pain and love I was born, 
 And you gave my name. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 All the day, at night, and at morn, 
 You have fed my flame. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 
 10. As a field of milk you were then, 
 
 And in it I fed. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 As a pot of ghee to poor men, 
 You were thus my bread. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 
 11. And yet now with pain I am racked, 
 
 And my heart is fire. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 And my side, how long has it ached ! 
 And the pangs are dire. 
 
 YoHo! YoHo! 
 
 12. How my breast, mamma, doth up-heave ! 
 
 Let it plead for me ! 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 Is it fate, mamma, that I grieve, 
 Or my need of thee ? 
 
 Yo Ho ! Yo Ho ! 
 
 The following needs no introduction. It will be im- 
 mediately recognized as no mean member of the great 
 array of poetical attacks upon man's " better half." 
 
THE WIFE. 191 
 
 THE WIFE. 
 
 To every man is tied a wife, 
 She clings to him as long as life. 
 
 Yo Ho I Heave O ! 
 
 Of all our wealth she takes two-thirds, 
 Yet thinks we pick up more like birds. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave ! 
 
 If any day we give her none, 
 
 You'd think her wrath would ne'er be done. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave O ! 
 
 While still 'tis dark she turns us out, 
 But sleeps for two hours more, no doubt ! 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave ! 
 
 We toil all day with spade or bar ; 
 To bring our dinner 'tis too far. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave ! 
 
 Oh ! How we strain and heave and sweat ; 
 While she buys cloths and runs in debt ! 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave ! 
 
 No moment may we stay to rest ; 
 She works an hour a day at best. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave O ! 
 
192 THE WIFE. 
 
 We are too busy e'en to eat ; 
 She scarcely ever leaves her seat. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave O ! 
 
 What comes of all the wage we earn ? 
 Ah ! that from her no man can learn. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave ! 
 
 Our breasts are bruised by rope and pole ; 
 That ne'er prevents her daily stroll. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave O ! 
 
 Our pain is more than we can bear ; 
 She combs and oils her jet-black hair. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave ! 
 
 Sometimes we faint through heat and toil ; 
 To sweep the house her cloth would soil ! 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave O ( 
 
 'Tis well if we may earn some pice ; 
 At home her mouth is filled with rice. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave ! 
 
 We rest, — the master stops our pay, — 
 She scolds and bawls till morn is grey. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave O ! 
 
 How strange and odd a world is this, 
 To us the work, to them the bliss ! 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave ! 
 
CHRISTIAN SONGS. 193 
 
 The following song is interesting as being the only 
 Christian one in the series. Yet it is truly a folk-song. 
 The early Roman Catholic missionaries were very suc- 
 cessful among the fishermen and coolies who made the 
 ancient city of St. Thome their head-quarters. With 
 the peace and physical prosperity introduced by the 
 English, these classes have become very numerous and 
 may be counted in the city of Madras by thousands. 
 Madras has absorbed St. Thome much as London has 
 absorbed Westminster, and the fisher castes have spread 
 southward, along the coast, for many miles. One of 
 the wealthiest religious corporations in India is the 
 Roman Catholic church of Royapuram, whose large 
 accumulated funds have come entirely from the thou- 
 sands of poor fishermen who look upon it as their 
 cathedral. The requirements of a large city have 
 withdrawn many fisher families from the sea to utilize 
 them as common day-laborers or coolies, as they are 
 commonly called, from a word meaning daily wages. 
 A large number of pariahs, a still lower class, also 
 became disciples of the self-denying Catholic mission- 
 aries, and help to swell the proportion of converts 
 among the laboring class. 
 
 The Catholic missionaries, especially the Portu- 
 guese, have always shown a strong desire to assimilate 
 Christian ritual and social practice as much as possible 
 with those of the orthodox Hindus. Hence an ordinary 
 observer would not be able to notice any difference 
 between the Christian festival and procession of St. 
 Joseph and the Hindu festival and procession of 
 
194 CHRISTIAN SONGS. 
 
 Krishna or Pillaiyarswami. This principle led the 
 more capable priests to compose songs and poems, in 
 imitation of those so popular among the worshippers 
 of Vishnu and Shiva. Beschi began the series with 
 lyrics in the high dialect, for the use of the better 
 castes. Others went lower in the scale, and now there 
 is a constant stream of vernacular Christian poesy 
 intended for the masses. Beschi's Tembavani, or para- 
 phrase of Scripture, is one of the very finest Tamil 
 poems and is constantly quoted by the pundits as 
 representing the most classical form of high Tamil. It 
 takes an almost equal place beside the Cural for 
 beauty of language, although the text is but a greatly 
 corrupted transcript of the Bible. Other less known 
 poems by Beschi are the Calivenba, Veda Vilaccum, 
 and Guana Unerttal. Robert de Nobili had set an 
 example many years before in poems which were 
 then highly esteemed. Beschi's superior talent has, 
 however, driven his precursor out of the field. 
 
 The song now to be quoted was sung by a mixed 
 company of coolies, of whom not more than one-third 
 were Christians. It appeared well known to them all, 
 and had doubtless been learnt by constant repetition, 
 as a matter of course, without any thought whether it 
 was Christian or Heathen. Its short lines adapt it for 
 its purpose — to sing when the work required frequent 
 effort at short intervals. After every line came the 
 chorus, " Yelle," a corrupt patois for a word meaning — 
 work hard or well. 
 
CHRISTIAN LABOUR SONG. 
 
 195 
 
 CHRISTIAN LABOUR SONG. 
 
 
 1. When time began 
 
 
 
 Chorus — Yo Ho ! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 The mighty Lord 
 
 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Created man 
 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 With but one word. 
 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 2. All things depend 
 
 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 On other things, 
 
 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 But from our Friend 
 
 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 They have their springs. 
 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 3. Our God and Lord 
 
 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 On earth was born ; 
 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 By us adored, 
 
 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 In servant's form. 
 
 
 
 YoHo! 
 
 Heave Ho ! 
 
 
196 
 
 CHRISTIAN LABOUR SONG. 
 
 
 4. Justice aod truth 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Hecave Ho ! 
 
 
 He brought with Him, 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 His heart was ruth, 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 His eye not dim. 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 5. He came to save 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 All men from sin ; 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 His life He gave 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Our life to win. 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 6. Men broke the law 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Our God had made, 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Nor stood in awe 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Of what He bade. 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 7. Thus labor came 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 On all our race ; 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 On man the blame, 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 From God the grace. 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
CHRISTIAN LABOUR SONG. 197 
 
 8. 
 
 The fruit they ate 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Of Eden's tree, 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 A sin so great 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Brought all our dree. 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 9. 
 
 Since we must work 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 And feel the curse, 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Let us not shirk 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Our fate adverse. 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 10. 
 
 Time glides away, 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Our babes will cry. 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 How long we stay ; 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Night cometh nigh. 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 11. 
 
 Then let us strive 
 
 
 YoHo! Heave Ho! 
 
 
 Till work is done, 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Keep heart alive 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 
 Till rest is won. 
 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
198 CHRISTIAN LABOUR SONG. 
 
 12. Our work is great, 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 Much yet to do. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho 
 Time will not wait, 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 Howe'er we woo. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 13. But why so strive ? 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 Our daily pay 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 Will just contrive 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 To pay our way. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 The last verse sounds like an addition by some 
 workman not at one with the song. He wants to 
 know why they should make haste. They are daily 
 laborers ; their pay is enough to keep them alive ; if 
 they finish the work to-day, they will want work 
 to-morrow. Why then should they be so anxious to 
 take delight in their curse? That such improvised 
 additions are common, we may be quite sure. The 
 Bayadere's Song has just such another cynical turn 
 tacked on at the end. But there is actual witness to 
 this mode, not of robbery but of addition. As this 
 very song was being taken down, the leader of the 
 singing thought opportunity and his talent combined 
 might cause a good chance of substantial benefit 
 
 
CHRISTIAN LABOUR SONG. 199 
 
 coming out of the occasion. So without a moment's 
 hesitation, and making no sensible breach in the nar- 
 ration, he tacked on the following three verses. The 
 verse just referred to cannot have been invented at 
 the same time, for it distinctly states that their wage 
 is sufficient, while these loudly proclaim how bare a 
 pittance it is. 
 
 1. Our pay is small. 
 
 Yo Ho S Heave Ho ! 
 Oh kind good Sir ! 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 We one and all 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 Ask you for more. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 2. This kindly man 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 If we but pray, 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 Hell find a plan 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 To give more pay. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
 3. His Highness then 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 Will hear our prayer, 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 And give us men 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 Good gifts to share. 
 
 Yo Ho ! Heave Ho ! 
 
200 CHRISTIAN LABOUR SONG. 
 
 As these verses were trolled out, the whole company 
 gave the choruses as smartly as if they knew them by 
 heart, and had heard them every day of their lives. It 
 must be confessed, though, that the improvisatore was 
 not equal to the maker of the song itself. 
 
 It will seem strange to a western reader that the 
 Cural of Tiruvalluva should be the most venerated and 
 popular book south of the Godavery. To those who 
 know the Illiad, the iEneid, the Divine Comedy, 
 Paradise Lost, and the Nibelungen Lied, as the epics of 
 great nations, it seems incredible that thirty millions of 
 people should cling to a series of moral essays as their 
 typical and honored book. There is no doubt of the fact 
 that the Cural is as essentially the literary treasure, 
 the poetic mouth-piece, the highest type of verbal and 
 moral excellence among the Tamil people, as ever 
 Homer was among the Greeks. We can only explain 
 it by the principle that has so frequently been noted in 
 the preceding pages, that the whole aspect of the Dra- 
 vidian mind is turned towards moral duty. 
 
 There is not one military song in the whole collection 
 that has been made. Nor can any be discovered, 
 except among the Moplas of Malabar. They have 
 many legends of warlike adventure, but their basis is 
 Mahommedan and not Dravidian. The Moplas them- 
 selves are followers of the prophet and are a mixed 
 race dating from modern times. The Sepoys of the 
 
THE CURAL. 201 
 
 British Army are fond of singing the exploits of a 
 certain Rajah of Gingee, but the book is quite modern, 
 and goes no further back than the struggle with the 
 Mahrattas. The poem is not worth translating. Much 
 of the Mahabharata and Ramayanam deals with fight- 
 ing, but the poems are exotics, nor are the battle 
 scenes those which have caught the public mind. 
 
 May we not imagine that it was this moral tendency 
 of the masses which prepared the way for, and main- 
 tained the existence of Buddhism. The Brahmans 
 frequently explain the tone of Tiruvalluva, Sivavakyer, 
 Kapila, Auveiyar and the other early Dravidian poets 
 by asserting that they were Jains. There is no proof 
 of this, but it can hardly be doubted that both Bud- 
 dhism and Jainism reflected the same popular tendency 
 that we see in the early poets. The Brahmans ex- 
 tirpated Buddhism in India by fire, sword and relent- 
 less persecution. They could not touch the fons et 
 origo from which the rival religion derived its life. 
 By careful avoidance of theological discussion, Tiru- 
 valluva saved his work from the flood that destroyed 
 every avowed obstacle in its grievous course. The 
 Brahmans could find no ground for persecution. No 
 priest can openly condemn the poet who called upon 
 wives to love their husbands ; upon men to be truthful, 
 benevolent and peaceful ; who enjoined mildness and 
 wisdom on those who governed ; and justice, obedience 
 and willing aid on those who were ruled. The Cural 
 says no word against a priest, commands faithful service 
 towards God, paints the happiness of a peaceful home. 
 
 26 
 
202 THE CURAL. 
 
 Few persons out of the Madras Presidency can have 
 any idea of the reverence and love that surrounds the 
 Cural. Its sentences are counted as binding as the 
 Ten Commandments on the Jews. Its very language 
 has become the test of literary excellence. It is no 
 exaggeration to say that it is as important in Tamil 
 literature, as influential on the Tamil mind, as Dante's 
 great work on the language and thought of Italy. It 
 will not therefore be thought a digression to employ 
 a few pages in sketching the life, legendary certainly 
 but earnestly believed, of Tiruvalluva, the author of 
 the Cural. 
 
 It is contained in a book called the Tiruvalluva 
 Charitra. Strangely enough, though the Charitra or 
 Life is in every-day use among the better classes, it is 
 almost unknown to Europeans. I am not aware that 
 it has ever been published or translated except by 
 Monsr. J. Vinson in the Revue Americaine et Orien- 
 tale, where a French version appeared some years ago. 
 There is also an abstract of the story by Dr. John in 
 the Fourth Volume of the Asiatic Researches. It is 
 well worthy of attention, but all that can be done in 
 these pages is to give a short abstract, dwelling espe- 
 cially on Tiruvalluva's birth and early years. 
 
 Brahma desired that the languages of north and south 
 India should be brought to perfection. For this pur- 
 pose his son Kasyapa took Urvasi to wife, and Vasish- 
 tha was born. Urvasi was a courtesan, Vasishtha fell 
 in with Arundhati a chandali or out-caste woman, and 
 from her Sakti was born. Sakti's son was Parasara, by 
 
THE CUKAL. 203 
 
 a pulcechi or pariah woman (the word properly means 
 those who eat flesh). Parasara's son by a valceya 
 (pariah woman belonging to the fish -eating class) was 
 Vyasa. All of these were learned in the Vedas and 
 brought the northern languages to a high state of 
 perfection. 
 
 To perform the same task on the southern or Dravi- 
 dian languages, Brahma made a Yedic sacrifice. This 
 brought Kaleimagal or Saras wati into existence, 
 Brahma took her for his wife and Agastya was born. 
 He married a daughter of the Ocean, and begot 
 Sagara. Sagara was the father of Bhagavan by a 
 pulcechi. Bhagavan was taught all knowledge. 
 
 At this time a Brahman named Tapamuni married 
 a Brahman woman, and was the father of a girl. 
 Being about to go on a pilgrimage, it was impossible 
 for him to be troubled with an infant. He therefore 
 left the child by the roadside and thought no more of 
 her. She was found by a respectable pariah belonging 
 to a small town in Mysore, and lived with him for 
 some years. Then the skies rained sand upon the 
 village, and all perished but the little girl. She was 
 mercifully received by a Brahman of Melur, named 
 Nityaya. 
 
 Bhagavan, having conquered all knowledge and at- 
 tained eminence as the holiest of Brahmans, went on a 
 pilgrimage to Benares. On his way he passed through 
 Melur and staid for the night at a chuttrum, or travel- 
 lers' rest house, near the Brahman village. Having 
 performed his devotions he began to prepare his food. 
 
204 THE CURAL. 
 
 At that moment the girl came in to see the stranger. 
 He saw at once that she was a pariah, and she did not 
 deny the charge. He became so angry at the pollution 
 she brought that he drove her out with blows and 
 curses. To hasten her departure he struck her on the 
 head with his curry ladle, inflicting a serious wound. 
 The saint went on to Benares, bathed in the Ganges, 
 and after a year or two returned to the south. Again 
 he passed through Melur. Meanwhile the girl had 
 grown into the most lovely of women, beautiful as 
 Lakshmi. Bhagavan caught sight of her and became 
 mad with love. He applied to Nityaya for her hand. 
 The proposal was accepted. The marriage was post- 
 poned till Bhagavan's return from Ramesweram, to 
 whose shrine he was bound to go. On his return the 
 wedding began. On the fifth-day he had to pour 
 oil on his bride's head. To do this perfectly he parted 
 her rich hair with his fingers. This brought to light 
 the mark of the wound. Memory and conscience com- 
 bined to remind him of his former violence. Struck 
 with double horror, he asked — " Are you the woman I 
 saw before V Silence proved him right, and he fled 
 from the place. The word adiyal means before. The 
 question gave the woman a name — Adi. 
 
 Bhagavan fled all day, but he could not outstrip 
 love. Adi followed and presented herself at the chut- 
 trum where he rested. She refused to be separated 
 and yet live. He was struck with her love, but 
 could not take a pariah. He therefore named a con- 
 dition that he thought impossible of acceptance — 
 
THE CURAL. 205 
 
 " If you love me so much, you may on this condi- 
 tion come with me ; every child that may be born 
 shall be at once abandoned. Agree to this and you 
 may come." She accepted the hard terms and, un- 
 married, went with him. 
 
 A girl was first born, Auvei, or more respectfully 
 Auveiyar. The mother's heart yearned towards the 
 child, and she begged to be allowed to keep it. Bhaga- 
 avan replied in words that are sacred among the 
 Tamils. x 
 
 Is that God dead who wrote upon our brow 
 The things that are to be ? Can deepest pain 
 Be more than He can bear ? Doth not He know 
 Thou hast a child ? Let not thy fear complain. 
 
 This comforted the mother. She left the little one 
 by the roadside and went on with Bhagavan. The 
 child was found by some temple-singers and was 
 brought up among them as a dancing-girl. She 
 became a famous authoress. The most beautiful of 
 her works is entitled Attisudi, and is well worth 
 attention. A portion of it was translated, some years 
 back by the Be v. W. Bobinson. His version has been 
 published in the Bev. P. Percival's instructive book, — 
 The land of the Vedas. 
 
 The next child of Adi and Bhagavan was born 
 in the Tondamandala. It was a girl named Uppei 
 or Uppeiyar. Again the mother grew fearful and 
 cried — Who will take care of my little one ? Bhaga- 
 van replied with the following verse. It will be seen 
 
206 THE CURAL. 
 
 that the birth of each child was the occasion of the 
 composition of a verse, in the metre called venba. 
 Thtese verses are now most sacred, and are always 
 quoted with deep reverence. They are probably quota- 
 tions from some larger work on the Providence of God, 
 which has been lost during the many centuries that 
 have passed since the days of Tiruvalluva. 
 
 The king whose pleasure it hath been to feed 
 All living things, from elephants to ants, 
 Who ruleth all, hath he forgot our need ? 
 Hath He not taken on Him all our wants ? 
 A mother thou, yet He is still thy God. 
 
 This overcame the mother's objections, she left the 
 child behind and went on with. Bhagavan. Some 
 washermen found the girl and brought her up as their 
 own. It must be remembered that washermen, though 
 not absolutely pariahs, are the most despised of caste 
 people. To call an enemy a washerman, is to bestow 
 upon him the most deadly insult. The child grew into 
 perfect beauty, and at her death was deified by the 
 common people as Mariamma, the goddess of the Small 
 Pox. She is evidently, from her name, rather the god- 
 dess of death. It is hard to see how the beautiful 
 Uppei came to be identified with the dreadful Mariam- 
 ma. Many hymns of great beauty are ascribed to 
 her. 
 
 Bhagavan and Adi w T andered into Tanjore, and 
 another child was born at Karuvur, probably the 
 modern town of Caroor. This time it was a boy, 
 
THE CURAL. 207 
 
 who received the name of Adigaman. Again the 
 father reminded Adi of her promise ; again her heart 
 failed her, and she cried — Who will care for my child '{ 
 Bhagavan, for the third time, turned her thoughts 
 to the goodness of God, in the following lines : — 
 
 The true and living God knows all our griefs. 
 
 He nourishes the egg ere 'tis hegot : 
 
 He feeds the frog before its rock it leaves:* 
 
 If thus He cares for unborn things, will not 
 
 He make them grow, when He new life doth add ? 
 
 Oh, too distrustful mother, why so sad ? 
 
 Rejoice thee in thy God, — give Him the lad. 
 
 Comforted by these words, the mother left her son 
 and passed on with Bhagavan. The boy was found 
 and brought to the king of Chera, who caused him to 
 be instructed in all the learning of the time. Adi- 
 gaman became a great poet, and recited his most 
 famous work, Ponvannattandadi, at Chillumbrum. His 
 fame reached the heaven of the Gods, who desired to 
 hear him recite and therefore took him to Kailasa at 
 once, without inflicting any subsequent births on him. 
 
 Bhagavan and Adi went on to Caverypatam, where 
 another girl was born, named Uruvei. Once more the 
 mother complained of her hard fate, and again Bhaga- 
 van comforted her with thoughts of the goodness of 
 God. 
 
 * Referring to the fact that frogs are sometimes found imbedded in trees 
 or rocks where, to all appearance, they must have been confined for a long 
 series of years, the poet uses it as a proof of the unceasing care exercised by 
 God over everything that lives. 
 
208 THE CURAL. 
 
 Hast thou considered what a marvellous thing 
 It is that life within an egg should dwell ? 
 Or that the food of unborn child should spring 
 From that which doth its mother's pains dispel ? 
 Why then, Oh mother, art thou so distressed ? 
 Thy God is still a God, by all confessed, 
 And knowing this thy fears should be repressed. 
 
 The child was found by certain charcoal-sellers of the 
 Shanar caste — one of the very lowest in the social 
 scale. She was devoted to God, and became a dancing- 
 girl of the first order. Her accomplishments were 
 very great as, in addition to all perfection in her pro- 
 fession, she was a poet of a high class. Her com- 
 positions have perished but not the reputation they 
 brought her. So great was her fame that she accepted 
 a challenge to dance with a God. In that contest she 
 was worsted. After her death she is said to have 
 been deified under the name of Bhadrakali. 
 
 Bhagavan and Adi travelled to Trivellore, and in 
 that holy city Kapila was born. The mother grieved 
 to have to lose such a child, but was comforted with 
 the following verse : — 
 
 Though God cannot be seen, He knoweth all 
 Our many needs. He feedeth every day 
 The frog that on the forest rock doth crawl ; 
 And from our birth till now, hath found a way 
 To give us day by day our daily food. 
 If thus it pleaseth Him to do us good 
 Will not the future bring such plenitude ? 
 
THE CU11AL. 209 
 
 
 Other copies of the book give a similar verse of 
 higher poetic force as the proper utterance on the 
 abandonment of Kapila. As it is deserving of pre- 
 servation this alternative verse is given — 
 
 Is He that so protected us from birth 
 Until this veiy day, that nothing wrong 
 Has ever happed to us; — who made the earth 
 Bring forth enough to feed us for so long — 
 Hath he now turned from us or doth He sleep ? 
 Hath His great soul become like thine, to weep 
 Where it should joy ? Give Him thy child to keep. 
 
 Kapila was found by a Brahman, who educated him 
 as his own child, but dared not claim him as a member 
 of his caste. The child grew into a great poet. When 
 he reached manhood, he claimed the privileges of the 
 Brahman. He was denied. His next appeal was 
 backed by proofs of his great poetic power. What 
 was refused to his birth was conceded to his genius 
 and he was admitted into the sacerdotal class. The 
 chief of his works now existing is an Agaval or poem 
 in a particular metre. It is especially noteworthy for 
 its attacks on caste. A song that was probably a por- 
 tion of the Agaval has been inserted on page 168. The 
 poem also contains a short outline of that portion of 
 the Tiruvalluva Charitra which narrates the birth and 
 early progress of Bhagavan's children. 
 
 The much tried mother travelled on with the man 
 she loved, and on a mountain in the South another 
 girl was born — Yalliyamma. Once more the mother's 
 
 27 
 
210 THE CUBAL. 
 
 heart gave way and she cried out in her agony " Who 
 will care for my child V Bhagavan would not relent, 
 but soothed the stricken woman with the thought — 
 
 Will He who placed a living soul in thee, — 
 Who fed and made it grow within thy womb, — 
 Will He not feed it still, through life foresee, 
 O mother, all its wants ? Where men entomb 
 Or burn their dead He danceth without fear. 
 His head is crowned with serpents ; they appear 
 As if on fire. This God is always near. 
 
 The child was found by some members of a jungle 
 tribe known as Kuravers. They are even lower than 
 the Pariahs. The girl was brought up among them, 
 but devoted herself to God. Her genius or penitence 
 was such that the ignorant people venerated her as a 
 deity, and to this day Valliyamma is one of the princi- 
 pal goddesses in the Pantheon of the pagans or 
 ignorant village folk. 
 
 Bhagavan and Adi came towards Madras and at 
 Mylapore, one of its present suburbs, Tiruvalluva was 
 born. For the last time the poor mother cried out 
 against the hard lot which compelled her to abandon 
 her child. Bhagavan replied — 
 
 Is there or is there not a God whose care 
 Protects all living things ? Have we not life ? 
 Then why, O mother, dost thou flutter here 
 And cling so fondly to thy babe. Such strife 
 With God is wrong. On earth all things that are 
 Are those that ought to be. We may not bar 
 The course of things, else we God's world may mar. 
 
THE CURAL. 211 
 
 With this Bhagavan and Adi disappear. Their 
 work was done. Tiruvalluva was left under the 
 branches of a tree, the Bassia Longifolia. For some 
 days no one came near the sacred spot, but the child 
 was nourished by honey which fell into his mouth from 
 the flowers of the tree. At length the wife of a Vellala 
 or cultivator made a pilgrimage to the shrine near 
 which the tree stood. She had no child and yearned 
 for one. A heavenly voice bade her take this boy. 
 She knew it was the offspring of an out-caste, and named 
 it Tiruvalluva, or the holy pariah. She and her 
 husband rejoiced in their adopted son, but the neigh- 
 bours soon discovered the secret of its discovery or 
 accepted it as a proof of the poor woman's wickedness. 
 They persecuted the unhappy pair so much that the 
 Vellala took the boy to a stable outside the village, 
 that is in the pariah quarter, and arranged with the 
 poor pariahs to bring him up. He continued with 
 them till he was five yeai*s old when, learning how 
 much his adoptive parents were maltreated on his 
 behalf, he bade them farewell with many expressions 
 of sorrow, and fled to the mountains, where he dwelt 
 with the holy hermits, and among them was taught all 
 the known sciences and philosophy. 
 
 When Tiruvalluva was grown up a fearful monster 
 invaded the plains. He ravaged and destroyed wher- 
 ever he went and none could withstand his dread- 
 ful power. At this crisis a rich landowner proclaimed 
 that to any person who would kill the monster, he 
 would give immense wealth, a whole township, and 
 
212 THE CURAL. 
 
 everything else that might be desired. None dared 
 to accept the task even on such terms. The despairing 
 landowner turned at last to the hermits and asked for 
 such aid as they could give. They too shrank from 
 the task, and only Tiruvalluva dared to attempt it. 
 He was successful. The death of the monster restored 
 peace and prosperity to the whole land. The Vellala 
 landowner was so pleased that he gave the village, 
 wealth and all he had promised, and added the hand 
 of his daughter Vasuki, whom Tiruvalluva married. 
 She proved almost a miracle of goodness, and the songs 
 in the Cural describing the excellency and value of a 
 good wife were confessedly drawn from her life. 
 
 Tiruvalluva was now wealthy, but he thought it 
 wrong for any man merely to live, without producing 
 some share of that which he consumed. After careful 
 thought, therefore, he became a weaver. His good 
 wife and he toiled hard at their work, living the while 
 in the performance of every public and private duty. 
 He now gathered many disciples, instructing them in 
 all that concerned holy living. To prove his right to 
 teach he performed many miracles. As his disciples 
 increased they desired that he should make a book in 
 his own name, so that all the world might know how 
 best to live, both in this life and those that were to 
 come. In reply to this repeated request, he sung the 
 Cural in thirteen hundred and thirty verses. He di- 
 vided it into three parts treating respectively of virtue, 
 wealth, and physical pleasure. 
 
 There was then at Madura a college of forty- nine 
 
THE CURAL. 213 
 
 learned men, who arrogated to themselves the right of 
 deciding finally upon the merits of every literary effort. 
 The legends sometimes say that these poets challenged 
 all the world to equal them or bear their criticism, and 
 that therefore Tiruvalluva humbled their pride ; and 
 sometimes that he desired to hear their judgment and 
 sought them. However this may be, he went to 
 Madura. On the road he met his sister Auveiyar and 
 a contemporary poet of high reputation named Ideik- 
 kada, and they went together before the college. 
 There he recited his poem. The savants were astonish- 
 ed but would not at once give way. So they put him 
 a series of questions, which he immediately answered 
 in verses of deep meaning but humorous form. 
 
 Still not satisfied, and especially noting that he was 
 but a pariah, who could not be supposed to merit such 
 distinguished honor as their approbation would confer, 
 they said — " Pariah, a doubt has arisen in our minds 
 concerning the worth of your book, solve this and we 
 will accept it. It is this — the bench we sit on has 
 remarkable power, it will only allow upon it books 
 written in pure high Tamil. So place your book on it. 
 If the bench receive it, we will also." Tiruvalluva 
 accepted the test and placed his book on the bench. 
 The effect was magical. The long bench, that would 
 easily seat fifty persons, began to contract lengthwise. 
 One after another of the judges fell off, until the bench 
 was but just large enough to carry the book and nothing 
 else. 
 
 Nothing more could be said. The savants so dread- 
 
214 THE CURAL. 
 
 fully discomfited were honorably free in praise of the 
 Cural. Each man dictated a verse eulogizing the book 
 and its author. These verses remain and are in many 
 cases the sole evidence of the early renown of the 
 writers. Tiruvalluva's glory has never known dimi- 
 nution, and from that day the Cural has been the 
 king of books in the Tamil language. 
 
 On his return home, Tiruvalluva went back to his 
 old life, earning with his hands enough for the sub- 
 sistence of himself and wife, and giving all his wealth 
 away in hospitality. He was once asked which had 
 the greater merit in the sight of God, — a life spent at 
 home in the practice of domestic virtue, or a life apart 
 from men spent in meditation and penance. He de- 
 cided in favor of the former, but the questioner could 
 not withhold his opinion that Tiruvalluva's excellent 
 wife made all the difference. When she died the glory 
 of his life departed, and though he lived many years 
 after, he never recovered the blow. When his own 
 death was certain, he called his favorite disciple and 
 said, — "The time of my entire perfection is near. 
 When it has come, tie a rope round my body and 
 drag it beyond the limits of the village. Throw it 
 under some bush and leave it there." Then he thanked 
 God that his perfection had so nearly come and, worn 
 out with long and faithful service, lay down and seem- 
 ed to die. With loving disobedience the disciple pre- 
 pared a golden coffin, and placed the body within it. 
 But the saint was not dead. Opening his eyes and 
 seeing his surroundings, he said to the disciple — 
 
THE CURAL. 215 
 
 " What ? You have not done what I desired !" With 
 that, it pleased God to take the patient perfect soul 
 to himself. The disciple could no longer disobey. 
 Literally obeying the words of his master he left the 
 corpse under a bush. What wonder filled the people 
 when they saw that the crows and other animals that 
 devoured his flesh became beautiful in outward form 
 and of the color of gold ! They erected a temple over 
 the spot and there worshipped the man who had ever 
 taught them to worship God alone. 
 
 Now this story is evidently in great measure legend- 
 ary. Its main object is to prove that Tiruvalluva and 
 all the early Dravidian writers were Brahmans, or at 
 least of Brahman parentage. Adi, the mother of them 
 all, was admittedly brought up as a pariah, but theft 
 she was the abandoned child of a Brahman couple. 
 Bhagavan was the son of a pariah mother, as was also ' 
 his father, and therefore could not have been anything 
 but a pariah himself, but excessive learning overcame 
 this difficulty. Tiruvalluva was confessedly brought up 
 as a pariah, but his powers and learning fully justified 
 his birth and proved him a Brahman after all. 
 
 It is as clear as the light that all this is but an 
 example of the literary fraud that has so often been 
 referred to. With Kapila, things were carried further ; 
 and his poems were claimed as translations from Sans- 
 krit originals. Popular feeling has prevented the fraud 
 from being completed, for, under Brahman law, con- 
 nection with a pariah woman is fatal to caste, and this 
 connection tradition compelled the authors of the 
 
216 THE CURAL. 
 
 Charitra to accept. But the compromise itself suggests 
 that some pariahs in very early times must have occupi- 
 ed a very different position from now. They, or some 
 of the better of them, could dwell in Brahman houses, 
 they could be wives and concubines of Brahmans, the 
 highest means of education were at their service. It 
 probably suggests that the name was then given to 
 classes that are now accepted as Sudras, as for example 
 the weaver castes — Salian and Kaikalar. This has 
 long been suspected by those who have looked into the 
 condition and probable history of the lower Sudra 
 castes. There are the potters for instance. They are 
 known in the caste system as Kosavan, Kumbara, 
 Koravan, &c, and are inferior but acknowledged 
 members of the great Sudra caste. Yet there is a 
 great probability that they are but domesticated (so to 
 'speak) members of the jungle race known as Kurubas, 
 Koravers, Kurumbers, &c. Pot-making is the main 
 occupation of both. The pot-maker is an essential 
 member of a society which only uses earthen vessels ; 
 and convenience insisted upon his being recognized as 
 a suitable person to deal with and be permitted to live 
 in the village. 
 
 The story of Tiruvalluva's weaving probably shows 
 that this was his caste occupation. But this would 
 explain every difficulty, for the weaver may enjoy the 
 privileges the poet received, except that of marrying a 
 Vellala woman. It is of a piece with the history 
 of his mother and grandmother, and would show 
 that, before the castes had time to crystallize, before 
 
THE CURAL. 217 
 
 peace and assured prosperity had made them exclusive, 
 there was much intermarriage that would now be 
 deemed highly irregular. 
 
 Strip the story of its Brahmanical element and we 
 learn that Tiruvalluva was a member of a low Dra- 
 vidian caste, that he attained great celebrity as a poet 
 and as a noble man, that he owed nothing and gave 
 nothing to the sacerdotal caste (after the disappearance 
 of Bhagavan there is not one reference to a Brahman 
 in all the story), and that he was but one of many great 
 Tamil poets who lived about the same time. He 
 probably flourished about the third century of our era. 
 
 The Cural is divided into three parts, and contains 
 one hundred and thirty-three pathigams or chapters of 
 ten verses each. The popular reverence it gained from 
 the very first has ensured its preservation, and it is 
 probable that we have it almost unaltered. It has 
 received frequent attention but has never, as far as I 
 am aware, been fully translated into any European 
 language. The third part is, in fact, not suited for a 
 Christian dress. There is, with this reservation, a 
 German translation by Graul in the Bibliotheca 
 Tamulica, The Rev, W, H, Drew translated the first 
 sixty -three chapters into English prose in a masterly 
 way, but died before he could complete the work. 
 Dr. John translated selected portions and published 
 them in the Asiatic Researches. A selection of stanzas 
 from the first thirteen chapters was translated in 
 metre by Mr, F. Ellis, an eminent Madras civil 
 servant. The rendering is exceedingly clumsy, but is 
 
 28 
 
218 THE CURAL. 
 
 the only blot in a most valuable work, It should 
 be admitted, however, that translation was not Mr. 
 Ellis' object, so much as grammatical analysis and 
 the illustration of Tiruvalluva's ideas by parallel pass- 
 ages from other eminent Tamil poets. The abrupt 
 cessation of Mr. Ellis' labors in this direction was a 
 great misfortune for Tamil literature. Isolated chap- 
 ters, from the pens of missionaries, have occasionally 
 appeared in religious publications. Beyond this I am 
 not aware of any English renderings, Mons, Ariel 
 wrote two learned articles on the Cural in the Journal 
 Asiatique in 1848 and 1852, containing translations 
 of many interesting portions, and thus drew consider- 
 able attention to the subject in France, but the lead 
 does not appear to have been followed except, more 
 recently, by Mons, J. Vinson, a learned French official 
 at Karikal, who has written several valuable papers 
 on Dravidian literature and language for the Revue 
 Orientate, 
 
 The following versions have been carefully made 
 and, it is hoped, will give an accurate idea of the style 
 and matter of Tiruvalluva's work. They form about 
 one-eighth of the whole book and one-sixth of the two 
 parts that are adapted to European codes of propriety. 
 For the first three odes, I am indebted to the kind 
 aid of A, W, D. Campbell, Esq., now Head Master 
 of the Bellary Provincial School, 
 
PRAISE OF GOD. 219 
 
 ODES FROM THE CUEAL. 
 
 PUAISK OF GOD. 
 
 As A is the first of all letters on earth, 
 
 So is God everlasting of all that hath birth. 
 
 The blest feet of the Fount of pure knowledge adore, 
 Else nought will avail thee, vain pedant, thy lore. 
 
 Fast flit those bright feet o'er the flow'r of the mind, 
 
 They who clasp them shall flourish, when worlds have declin'd. 
 
 At the feet of the Passionless, blessed to rest, 
 No harm can approach, and no evil molest. 
 
 Whoso bringeth to God real homage of heart, 
 
 Hath with deeds, the twin offspring of darkness, no part. 
 
 Long shall prosper the man that pursues the pure way 
 Of Him whom the lusts of the senses obey. 
 
 If, when sorrows oppress thee, relief thou would'st seek, 
 Fly, fly to the feet of the mighty Unique. 
 
 The billows of sin shall not close o'er thy soul, 
 If thou make but the Ocean of virtue thy goal. 
 
 At the feet of the Attributes eight lay thy head, 
 Else shall it but be as a sense that is dead. 
 
 The tide of existence no swimmer can ford, 
 Save he that doth cling to the feet of the Lord. 
 
220 THE EXCELLENCE OF RAIN. 
 
 Every vernacular book begins with an ascription of 
 praise to some deity. Usual] y Ganesa and Saras wati 
 are invoked, but Tiruvalluva would have nothing to do 
 with them. His opening chapter is to " The everlast- 
 ing God." The second song also follows a general 
 custom. Rain is the great requirement of a tropical 
 country. Without it, man and beast must perish. 
 With abundance of rain all nature smiles, plenty fills 
 every garner, poverty becomes bearable for there is the 
 the certainty of food. Most ancient books therefore, 
 follow the invocation of the Deity with the " praise of 
 rain." A collection of these odes would give a very 
 elevated idea not only of the poetical power of the 
 Dravidian people, but of their appreciation of the 
 beneficent operations of nature, and of their percep- 
 tion of the dignity and beauty of the physical world. 
 
 THE EXCELLENCE OF RAIN. 
 
 'Tis the showers sustain 
 All nature's domain ; 
 Fit name is Ambrosia for life-giving rain. 
 
 Tis the showers of rain 
 That produce the grain, 
 Yield the food that we eat, and the draught that we drain. 
 
THE EXCELLENCE OF RAIN. 221 
 
 If the clouds grudge us rain, 
 Drought, dearth and their train __ 
 
 Will cause the vast sea-girdled world to complain. 
 
 If we get not our rain, 
 
 The source of all gain, 
 
 Farewell to the plough in the hands of the swain. 
 
 The showers of rain 
 Lay waste the plain, 
 Then haste to repair their havoc again. 
 
 If the clouds withhold rain, 
 Through the whole champaign 
 Not a blade of the bright green grass will remain. 
 
 Did the clouds not, in rain, 
 Pay the drops they have ta'en, 
 They would minish the wealth of the measureless main. 
 
 Could mortals no rain 
 From heaven obtain, 
 No feasts would they keep ; they would brood o'er their pain. 
 
 If the sky gave no rain, 
 Alms, penance were vain, 
 And soon would mankind abandon the twain. 
 
 Without water, would wane 
 All that earth doth contain ; 
 But there cannot be water unless there be rain. 
 
222 VIRTUE. 
 
 VIRTUE, 
 
 Virtue can alone bestow 
 
 Bliss above and bliss below : 
 Say, Oh say, can man possess 
 
 Greater source of happiness ? 
 
 If to virtue thou take heed, 
 
 Ev'ry good will be thy meed : 
 Ills unnumberd overtake 
 
 Those who virtue's path forsake. 
 
 Virtue how thou may'st attain, 
 Ever strive with might and main : 
 
 All thy days to virtue lend, 
 All thy pow'rs for her expend. 
 
 Where a heart, from sin exempt, 
 Prompteth not to some attempt,* 
 
 There alone is virtue found : 
 All besides is empty sound. 
 
 Would'st thou, what is virtue, know ? 
 
 All concupiscence forego : 
 Malice shun ; thy wrath restrain ; 
 
 Keep thy tongue from words that pain. 
 
 Leave not virtue till the last, 
 
 Choose her ere a day be past. 
 She will be, when death is nigh, 
 
 A support that cannot die. 
 
 * This verse will seem obscure to a European, but is full of meaning to 
 the Hindu. When a man knows God, he learns that the wise and infinite 
 Deity has given him all he needs— that he cannot be made happier by 
 striving after worldly fame, wealth or pleasure. His heart therefore should 
 dwell in perfect peace, making no attempt to indulge the senses or gratify 
 the passions. 
 
VIRTUE. 223 
 
 Needs no diatribe to show 
 
 Virtue's friend and virtue's foe ; 
 
 Mark who rides along the road ;* 
 Note who toils beneath the load. 
 
 He that loseth not a day, 
 Adding good to good alway, 
 
 Is a barrier to impede 
 
 Ages that would else succeed.f 
 
 Raptures true from virtue flow, 
 Other raptures none can know : 
 
 All else, rapture but in name, 
 May no panegyric claim. 
 
 Whatsoe'er is meet to do, 
 That is virtue ; that pursue : 
 
 Whatsoe'er is meet to shun, 
 That is vice, and best undone. 
 
 * This couplet is explained by a song already given (Page 169,) where we 
 learn that the present condition of every human being is 
 
 " The logical result 
 
 Of deeds of good or bad." 
 
 The man who rides is being rewarded for patience, justice, toil and faith, 
 either in early life or a former birth. The poor man, who faints in the 
 burning sun under his heavy load, is suffering the due and just reward 
 of his actions. Every act must be w r orked out. It cannot fail in meeting 
 its reward whether of bliss or pain. 
 
 f Repeated births are considered an evil. The very fact that any living 
 soul remains on earth is proof that it has not yet worked off the score 
 against it in the book of God. When by perfect patience, faith, and works, 
 no sin remains unbalanced, the soul suffers no further birth but goes up to 
 God, to be absorbed in Him. Good deeds therefore prevent future births. 
 
224 THE HUSBAND. 
 
 THE'HDSBAMD. 
 
 He who is a firm support 
 
 Of the good wherever found, 
 With domestic bliss is fraught 
 
 And his joys abound. 
 
 Household joys shall crown his head 
 Who doth aid the helpless poor, 
 
 Pays due reverence to the dead, 
 Opens wide his door. 
 
 Man's whole duty is expressed 
 In five-fold service and its cost — 
 
 Done to God, himself, his guest, 
 Those he loves, and lost. 
 
 Sons shall always fill the house 
 Where the master shares his food 
 
 With the poor ; and ne'er allows 
 Vice to taint his good. 
 
 Love and virtue when combined 
 Wedded life to bless and guard, 
 
 Show its worth as God designed 
 And its great reward.* 
 
 * This striking verse might well be adopted as the motto of every home. 
 
THE HUSBAND. 
 
 225 
 
 He who rules his house in peace, 
 Making virtue's rule his law, 
 
 Hath mighty merit, swift release ; 
 No recluse hath more. 
 
 Thousands strive for future bliss. 
 
 He comes nearest to the goal 
 Who at home is not remiss, 
 
 Blessing every soul. 
 
 Swerving not from virtue's path, 
 Ruling well the household store, 
 
 Sheltering hermits by his hearth — 
 Penance can no more* 
 
 Marriage is a virtue true : 
 
 Marrying not is sometimes right. 
 But, amongst a world, how few 
 
 Can abstain aright. f 
 
 Who on earth in wedlock lives 
 As the strictest duty calls, 
 
 Place among the Gods receives, 
 Rests in heavenly halls. 
 
 * This and the sixth verse are hard hits at the sacerdotal system, which 
 makes penance and meditation the highest duties of life. 
 
 t How exactly this chimes in with the language of St. Paul ! Tiruvalluva 
 is pre-eminently the social poet. In his eyes there is no state of life so 
 pleasing to God as that of the upright, loving, peaceful family. The good 
 husband is better than the most suffering hermit. 
 
 29 
 
226 THE WIFE. 
 
 THE WIFE- 
 
 The wife who excels in the duties of home 
 And prudently spends the household means, 
 
 Is a help-meet indeed wherever she come, 
 Though still in her teens. 
 
 The house may be great, may be rich and well known, 
 And full of the rarest that money can buy ; 
 
 Yet all are as nothing if the wife be a drone, — 
 Will not even try. 
 
 W T hat can that householder desire or wish more 
 Who has a good wife to take charge of his folk ? 
 
 But if she be bad, e'en the richest is poor, 
 And death will invoke. 
 
 What treasure on earth can compare with the prize 
 That falls to the man who obtains a good wife ? 
 
 As stable and chaste as the lofty blue skies 
 She brightens his life. 
 
 Each morning adoring her own master and swain, 
 Forgetting the God that is greater than he, 
 
 She yet so prevails — if she say "let it rain," 
 A storm there will be * 
 
 * So strict a duty is it for the wife to honor her husband that, if 
 in doing this, she forget her God, she shall yet be counted as highly worthy. 
 To honor her husband is to honor God, and therefore the good wife serves 
 the Deity even when she is not aware of it. 
 
THE WIFE. 227 
 
 Who guards from reproach her own matronly fame, 
 And cares for her husband throughout his whole life, 
 
 Preserveth unsullied the family-name, — 
 She is a true wife. 
 
 The guard of a woman is chastity's fence ; 
 
 Without it defenceless and shameless is she. 
 High walls might prevent her departure from thence, 
 
 Yet guilty she'd be.* 
 
 The wife that due reverence pays to her lord 
 Will reap her reward in the heavens above ; 
 
 The Gods in their Swerga high place will afford, 
 And her they will love. 
 
 No husband can walk with a lionlike tread, 
 
 Be bold when his neighbours or foes should revile, 
 
 Whose wife has not chastity's mantle o'erspread, 
 But selleth her smile. 
 
 Good children are jewels adorning the wife 
 
 Who crowneth her husband with loving delight. 
 
 Her excellence seizes all causes of strife, 
 Withdraws them from sight. 
 
 * This verse would seem to show that the modern system of locking 
 women within the house did not then exist. There is every reason to 
 believe that the physical restrain in which Hindu women are so often kept 
 is copied from the Mussulmans, and is but five or six centuries old. 
 
228 CHILDREN. 
 
 CHILDREN- 
 
 In all the world there is no greater good than this- 
 To have between the knees a son 
 Whose intellect is bright. 
 
 ■©- 
 
 The evils of the seven births shall ne'er be his 
 Whose sons are free from vice, and shun 
 The deed that hates the light. 
 
 Men call their sons their wealth because they reap in bliss 
 The good they do the little one 
 
 Whose weakness is his might. 
 
 The rice in which their child's small hand has played, I wis, 
 Is sweeter to the parents' tongue 
 
 Than could the Gods invite.- 
 
 What touch is sweeter than our children's loving kiss ? 
 What sound thrills deeper than the tone 
 Of childhood's wild delight ? 
 
 "The pipe is sweet, the lute is sweet," say they who miss 
 The music of their child's hot fun, 
 When play is at its height. 
 
 One mighty good a father gives his children is 
 To be the best when wise words run 
 From lips in learned fight. 
 
CHILDREN. 229 
 
 To e'en the greatest man it cannot be amiss 
 To joy in that his son has come 
 
 Where higher views excite. 
 
 The mother when she hears her darling son called wise, 
 Joys more than when his life begun, 
 
 And he first blessed her sight. 
 
 • 
 
 That son is good whose life compels the crowed to guess- 
 " What penance has the father done 
 To get a son so bright V 
 
 The last three songs describe the duties of husbands, 
 wives, and children in the family. Those that follow 
 describe our duty to others. Love comes first, for it is 
 the key of every duty, but the poet is earnest in show- 
 ing that even love becomes an evil unless combined 
 with virtue. The duty of hospitality is insisted on 
 with all the energy of an Arab. Gratitude is extolled 
 in terms that most Christians would deem extravagant. 
 This is the more noteworthy seeing that it has been 
 frequently stated that the Dravidians have no percep- 
 tion of this virtue, because there is no single word in 
 their languages carrying the idea. If the fact were 
 true, the inference would still be wrong. There is no 
 word in the English language for filial love, for a 
 father-in-law, for a metalled road, for an iron-clad 
 vessel, yet it would be absurd to suppose that no such 
 things existed. But it is not the fact, for the simplest 
 school dictionary contains four or five neat renderings 
 
230 CHILDREN. 
 
 of the word gratitude. It is true they are not simple 
 roots but compound words describing the idea. Thus 
 the title of the chapter of the Cural means — recog- 
 nizing a good that is done. But the English word 
 is of similar character, though not nearly so clear in 
 form. Gratitude comes from gratus, which properly 
 means joyful. Gratus may probably be referred to an 
 earlier form, corresponding to the Greek Xaipw, and this 
 is derived from a root simply meaning rare, valuable. 
 Gratitude therefore means " the joy of receiving.'' The 
 words gratitude and care show how great the gulf be- 
 tween the original meaning of the root and the present 
 signification of the derivative. The Tamil word is as 
 perfect in form and clear in meaning as the English 
 word telegram. It cannot be too often remembered 
 that the great body of Europeans in India know 
 nothing of Hindu people of the respectable class. 
 Servants are almost invariably pariahs and have no- 
 thing in common with the better castes but county and 
 language. That the lowest of the low are given to 
 deceit, fraud and the blackest ingratitude may be true, 
 although it is not admitted as being more deserved 
 than by any other low class, but it is most injudicious 
 and highly unfair to predicate of the respectable class 
 that which has only been observed in the outcast and 
 the ignorant. Let their songs be witness of the senti- 
 ments of the middle class. 
 
LOVE. 231 
 
 LOVE- 
 
 Can the skill of man devise 
 
 Aught to bar love's sway ? 
 When we would its hopes disguise, 
 
 Tearful eyes betray. 
 
 Loveless natures, cold and hard, 
 
 Live for self alone. 
 Hearts where love abides regard 
 
 Self as scarce their own. 
 
 Love and virtue once were wed 
 
 In the days of old, 
 Soul and body then were bred 
 
 As we now behold. 
 
 Love begetteth strong desire, 
 
 Thirst for intercourse. 
 This createth something higher — 
 
 Friendship's sacred force. 
 
 Heaven's happiness, they say, 
 
 Crowns the good above. 
 It began when virtue lay 
 
 In the arms of love.* 
 
 * It should be borne in mind that the " Love" of this ode is almost syn- 
 onymous with the word " Charity," as found in the standard rendering of 
 St. Paul's Epistles. It is by no means to be confounded with amativeness, 
 or the mutual affection of man and woman. 
 
232 love.. 
 
 Yice from love doth often grow, 
 Love from deepest sin. 
 
 Yet the foolish say the}- know 
 Love is virtue's kin.* 
 
 Thus is it when virtue firm 
 Hatli no loving goal, — 
 
 As the sun doth burn the worm, 
 So it kills the soul. 
 
 In his home the loveless man 
 
 Withers as he lives. 
 Like a tree beneath a ban, 
 
 Which no stream relieves. 
 
 What will active limbs avail, 
 Lands or growing wealth, 
 
 If no love o'er all prevail 
 Giving manly health ? 
 
 Where the body hath a soul, 
 Love hath gone before. 
 
 Where no love infils the whole, 
 Dust it is, no more. 
 
 * How clear the definition between love and virtue ! Tiruvalluva counts 
 hospitality as one of the chiefest virtues, but, as in this verse, would 
 denounce indiscriminate alms as a vice that grows from love. Compare 
 these remarks of a " heathen" with the new American school that would 
 carry into action the adage that " Love shall still be Lord of all " 
 
HOSPITALITY. 233 
 
 HOSPITALITY- 
 
 Domestic life, the heaped-up store, 
 Should look to one great end, — 
 
 To bless the stranger and the poor 
 By hospitality. 
 
 Though one ambrosia should pour, 
 To which the Gods would bend; 
 
 To wish a guest outside the door 
 Is immorality. 
 
 To children's children evermore, 
 
 God doth salvation send, 
 Of him who daily giveth more 
 
 In hospitality. 
 
 Prosperity dwells on his floor 
 
 Who cheerfully doth tend 
 His guest, and ever proveth pure 
 
 His liberality. 
 
 Their fields give increase by the score, 
 Though they no seed expend,* 
 
 Who eat but what their guests abhor, 
 Through hospitality. 
 
 * Compare Proverbs xi. 25. " The liberal soul shall be made fat : and 
 he that watereth shall be watered also himself." 
 
 30 
 
234 HOSPITALITY. 
 
 The Gods will greet those on the shore 
 
 To which the good ascend, 
 Who having guests, new guests implore, 
 
 With true humility. 
 
 Who can a kindly deed explore, 
 
 Or trace it to its end ? 
 'Tis measured only by the lore 
 
 Of hospitality. 
 
 " To heap up wealth we laboured sore, 
 Yet now on gifts depend" — 
 
 Say they who from all good forbore 
 Through lack of charity ?* 
 
 Amidst their wealth they most are poor 
 Who ne'er the poor befriend. 
 
 Their wealth they only can restore 
 By hospitality. 
 
 The Anicham fades long before 
 
 Its sweets you apprehend ; 
 So fares the guest whose host's a boor, 
 
 Without civility. 
 
 * Compare Proverbs xi. 24. " There is that scattereth, and yet in- 
 creaseth ; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to 
 poverty." 
 
 
GRATITUDE. 235 
 
 GRATITUDE. 
 
 A benefit conferred, where none has been received, 
 Is greater worth than e'er could be achieved 
 By giving heaven and earth. 
 
 And should the gift be made in bitter time of need, 
 Though it be smaller than the smallest seed, 
 You cannot weigh its worth. 
 
 Who counteth not how great return his gift will bring, 
 Shall find it weighed by others, as a thing 
 More heavy than the sea* 
 
 It may be smaller than the smallest seed, and yet, 
 It is to those who feel its power, as great 
 As yon palmyrah tree. 
 
 * How often do these passages of Tiruvalluva remind of Holy Writ ! 
 Compare, for example, this verse with Luke vi. 38. " Give, and it shall be 
 given you ; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running 
 over, shall men give into your bosom." I have heard missionaries declare 
 that no other uninspired man, who had not the Bible at his elbow, ever came 
 so near the truth in the higher morality as Tiruvalluva. The first book 
 deals especially with this subject. The maxims of the second book, especi- 
 ally those dealing with the duties of kings, reveal an equal breadth of 
 mind. 
 
236 GRATITUDE. 
 
 We should not measure kindness by its money-cost, 
 But by the need and worth of those it crossed 
 When rushing to their end. 
 
 Remember all thy life the kindness of the good ; 
 And him who helped thee when thou lackedst food 
 Count as thy dearest friend. 
 
 His love whose hand hath wiped away the falling tear 
 Can never be forgotten, neither here 
 Nor in the sevenfold birth. 
 
 It is as great a sin to keep a wrong in thought 
 One moment after, as to count as naught 
 The gift that saved in dearth. 
 
 A single benefit conferred in former time 
 Will hide, as if in death, a present crime, 
 E'en though thy blood it spill. 
 
 He that hath broken every law of God or man 
 May yet escape, yet none may 'scape the ban 
 Who payeth good with ill. 
 
PATIENCE. 237 
 
 PATIENCE. 
 
 How good are they who bear with scorn 
 
 And think not to return it ! 
 They're like the earth that giveth corn 
 
 To those who dig and burn it. 
 
 E'en when you can repay in kind, 
 Keproach should aye be borne with. 
 
 But not to keep the thing in mind 
 Is best to repay scorn with. 
 
 No poverty so deep as that 
 
 Which leaves the stranger cheerless. 
 No strength so mighty in combat 
 
 As his whom right makes fearless. 
 
 Should you desire to bear for aye 
 A name of highest merit ? 
 
 Then patience should adorn each day 
 And exercise thy spirit. 
 
 None can esteem a hasty boor, 
 Yet all will love the peaceful. 
 
 For they are like a golden store, 
 So sweet they are and blissful. 
 
238 PATIENCE. 
 
 Resentful hearts may joy a while ; 
 
 It will not last the morrow. 
 But long as earth with flowers shall smile 
 
 The meek shall know no sorrow. 
 
 Though men should injure you, their pain 
 Should lead thee to compassion. 
 
 Do nought but good to them again, 
 Else look to thy transgression. 
 
 The proud are hateful to their friends, 
 
 Offend when they caress you. 
 Be patient — they will make amends, 
 
 Be overcome and bless you. 
 
 Ascetics should be holy folk ; 
 
 But those who bear with rudeness, 
 E'en when intended to provoke, 
 
 Are blessed with far more goodness. 
 
 'Tis good to overcome desire, 
 
 Abstain from dainty dishes. 
 To better things thou shouldst aspire ; 
 
 Endure discourteous speeches.* 
 
 * How high the religious state of the man who fifteen centuries ago could 
 write this and the preceding verses. It should be remembered that all the 
 leaders of religious thought among the Brahmans have placed asceticism as 
 the highest of virtues. It is startling to hear a writer whom many would 
 call a " heathen" declare that it is nobler and more pleasing to God to be 
 patient under wrong than to spend a life in holy meditation ; nobler to 
 endure a discourteous speech than to overcome the physical passions. 
 
BACKBITING. 239 
 
 BACKBITING. 
 
 Though he speak nob of right, 
 And sin with his might, 
 It is much if 'tis said that he does not backbite. 
 
 To deceive with his smiles 
 The man he reviles, 
 Is the sin above all which most deeply defiles. 
 
 Either here or in hell 
 In pain he shall dwell, 
 And receive the reward that the Sh asters all tell. 
 
 Though you speak to one's face 
 In words that abase, 
 In his absence be mindful to speak in his praise. 
 
 How empty the mind 
 Whose praise is but wind ! 
 For see, he reviles when his victim's behind. 
 
 All his faults are sought out 
 And published about, 
 Who the faults of another delighteth to shout. 
 
240 BACKBITING. 
 
 He who laughs with a friend 
 Has friends without end. 
 If he cannot do this all his words will offend. 
 
 If he backbite his own, 
 The friends he has known, 
 What will he not do to the poor and the lone ? 
 
 Were it not for the good 
 Who vengeance withstood, 
 E'en the earth would have swallowed the backbiter's brood. 
 
 If their faults men but knew 
 As others they view, 
 Would the slanderer dare his profession pursue ? 
 
 Every verse of this ode reminds of some correspond- 
 ing saying in our own literature. The last verse is a 
 transcript of Burns' immortal lines. The one before it 
 renders literally more than one passage of the Old 
 Testament. The fourth verse anticipated by a thou- 
 sand years the John Bull adage. — " Say what you like 
 to a man's face but never abuse him behind his back." 
 The sixth and seventh bring to remembrance the saying 
 of our Lord — " Judge not, and ye shall not be judged : 
 condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned : forgive, 
 and ye shall be forgiven." 
 
BENEVOLENCE. 241 
 
 BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 The clouds feed earth with rain, 
 The earth makes no return. 
 
 And thus the good disdain 
 Kewards that gifts might earn, 
 
 To be benevolent 
 
 Unto the worthy poor, 
 Is why all wealth is sent, 
 
 And labor addeth more. 
 
 Among the Gods above, 
 Nor in this world below, 
 
 Can aught so good as love 
 Be made with ease to grow. 
 
 He only truly lives 
 Whose charity is free. 
 
 But he who never gives 
 Is dead as dead can be. 
 
 The wise his wealth doth bank 
 By blessing all he meets : 
 
 Like streams from brimming tank 
 Cooling the dusty streets. 
 
 31 
 
242 BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 A wealthy liberal man 
 Is like a fruitful tree, 
 
 That ripens in a town, 
 Whose fruit to all is free. 
 
 With him who knows its use, 
 Great wealth is like a plant 
 
 Whose bark and leaves conduce 
 To cure each dire complaint. 
 
 And if their wealth should waste 
 The wise will still bestow : 
 
 And think that care misplaced 
 Which fears what time mav show. 
 
 The good are only poor 
 
 When naught remains to give. 
 Then sorrow presses sore, 
 
 They fear 'tis wrong to live. 
 
 Some say that gifts are loss : 
 Their statement may be true. 
 
 'Twere well to bear that cross, 
 Though slavery ensue. 
 
INCONSISTENCY. 243 
 
 INCONSISTENCY. 
 
 His very self will laugh aloud 
 And mock his tortuous path, 
 Who lives in fraud and lies. 
 
 Though high as heaven professions rise, 
 What can they e'er avail 
 Against permitted sin ? 
 
 To be but weak, though seeming strong, 
 Is like a grazing cow 
 Dressed in a tiger's skin. 
 
 Who hides his sins 'neath saffron robes, 
 Has but a coward sport 
 Snaring unwary birds.* 
 
 Who falsely say desire lias gone, 
 Will suffer for their sin 
 And cry — " What have we done ?" 
 
 * When a man devotes himself to the service of God and becomes 
 an ascetic he either goes stark naked or dresses in yellow from head to foot. 
 This uniform serves him as the cowl and gown of the Franciscan monk, and 
 publishes to all that he is holy. The poet insinuates that they are many 
 who don these robes for wicked purposes. Their supposed sanctity gives 
 them free entry into every house, where silly women and foolish men 
 become their prey, led astray by the idea that ascetics can do nothing wrong. 
 
244 INCONSISTENCY. 
 
 'Mongst living men the worst are those 
 Who cling to darling sin 
 Yet seem to shun its stain. 
 
 Some men seem fair as coral seed * 
 But in their hearts are black 
 As that is at the tip. 
 
 How many love to mask their lives, 
 Wash clean and seem upright, 
 And yet be black as hell ! 
 
 The arrow kills though flying straight ; 
 The crooked lute gives joy ;f 
 Then judge men by their deeds. 
 
 If thou abstain from conscious sin, 
 There needs no shaven crown — 
 No ropes of tangled hair. 
 
 * The beautiful scarlet and black seeds of the Wild Liquorice, Abrus pre- 
 catorius, Tamil, Cundumanni. The plant grows wild in the Madras Presi- 
 dency. The fruit is often called coral seed as in the text, because of its bril- 
 liant scarlet color. 
 
 f Judge not by outward appearances. A man's course may seem direct 
 and straightforward as the course of an arrow, but may only be so consistent 
 because some sin, as fatal to another as an arrow in the heart, is dictating 
 every act. On the other hand, it may seem to us that another man's actions 
 are tortuous and suspicious ; — perhaps he is doing good by stealth, perhaps 
 he can only save another from fearful sin by pretending to go part of 
 the way with the sinner, perhaps he is " all things to all men, that he might 
 by all means save some." We must therefore look to the aim or object to 
 be attained, and not simply accept a man for what he at first sight seems to 
 be. We must also remember that we shall be judged by the same law. 
 
THE GOLDEN RULE. 245 
 
 THE GOLDEN KULE. 
 
 The good are resolved not to injure or hurt, [on earth. 
 
 Though 'twould gain them that wealth which brings greatness 
 
 Nor will they return of the ill they receive, 
 Though a foe should inflict an undeserved pain. 
 
 If one should do hurt to an unprovoked foe, 
 
 He will never escape from the sorrow 'twill bring. 
 
 Would you punish the man who has injured your mind ? 
 Oh, put him to shame by your kindness and love. 
 
 What good has he gained by his knowledge and skill, 
 If he strive not for others as much as himself? 
 
 No man should consent to inflict or permit 
 What he knows will give pain to his bitterest foe. 
 
 Of virtues the chief — to do nought that is mean, 
 Though the man may be bad and the time apropos. 
 
 Why do men e'er inflict upon others the pain 
 That experience teaches themselves to avoid ? 
 
 If a man in the morning bring grief to his foe ; 
 With the eve, uninvited, 'twill come to himself. 
 
 To give pain to another brings ten back again. 
 
 Would you guard you from grief ? To another cause none. 
 
246 MALAYALAM SONGS. 
 
 MALAYALAI SONGS. 
 
 It has already been stated that the Malabar Coast 
 exhibits in its highest form the metamorphic effect of 
 Brahmanism. Dravidian literature scarcely exists, 
 and the language itself is so overborne with Sanscrit 
 words that it sounds more like a Prakrit than a Dra- 
 vidian tongue. The legend of Parasuraroa is doubtless 
 an exaggerated description of a real Brah manic con- 
 quest, in which the early peoples were entirely trodden 
 down and their nationality well nigh extinguished. 
 Hence the land can scarcely be said to have a literature 
 at all. Sanscrit works are numerous but are evidently 
 foreign. Early Dravidian literature perished in the 
 storm of conquest. Malayalam literature has scarcely 
 begun. The Brahmans scorn the mongrel tongue that 
 is the badge of inferiority. The lower castes have lost 
 the key, as it were, of national composition. Sanscrit 
 is the learned language, but no Nair or Tier may learn 
 it. Few Nairs will write in Malayalam, for then no 
 Brahman will care for it, and to the masses it would 
 be strange. 
 
 It is probably not incorrect to say that there is no 
 pure Malayalam literature extant that dates from more 
 than a few centuries back. The earliest poem is the 
 Rairia Charitram, but its very name proves its Sanscrit 
 origin, although its age makes it interesting. Then 
 
MALAYALAM SONGS. 247 
 
 follow, but long afterwards, translations of the Rama- 
 yanam, Mahabharata and the Puranas. The Kerala 
 Utpatti, local in its character and therefore character- 
 istic of the country, more nearly approaches to what 
 we might call national literature ; but it is a historic 
 legend of purely Brahmanic interest. 
 
 It has been a matter of great difficulty to discover 
 any thing that could be called a folk-song between the 
 Western Ghauts and the sea, and the following are 
 offered with some diffidence. They were popular lyrics, 
 and still fly from mouth to mouth in Malabar and, so 
 far, are certainly folk-literature. But they are antique 
 in language, probably the remnants of a fading class of 
 poetry, and are evidently less known now than they 
 were a century ago. Notwithstanding their age they 
 are not Dravidian, for, as will be seen, they are purely 
 puranic, deal only with the Brahmanic deities and are 
 based altogether on the Bhagavatam and the modern 
 pantheon. Hence it is clear they are not Dravidian, 
 in the sense that they do not belong to the soil. They 
 are popular adaptations of a foreign theme. 
 
 Except the last, a riddle, the songs are all amorous. 
 This of itself is sufficient to stamp them as importa- 
 tions. The first is very curious as showing how easy 
 it is to make the step that separates the sublime from 
 the ridiculous. It is a domestic quarrel between God 
 and Goddess reduced to homely language, and thus 
 shows how much like naughty men and women, 
 naughty deities may be. It is a dispute between 
 Krishna and his wife Radha. The latter is jealous, 
 
248 IB.M AMANTIUM. 
 
 and according to the Puranas had abundant reason to 
 be so. How modern it all seems ! Yet the classical 
 scholar will at once say — how old it all is ! The Hindu 
 deities are so much like the old Greek ones, in conduct 
 and speech, that nothing seems altered but the names. 
 But let us hear the Gods themselves. 
 
 IRE AMANTIUM. 
 
 KRISHNA. 
 
 O thou who art most beautiful, 
 
 The daughter of the mountain king, 
 
 Art thou asleep or lying down, 
 Hearing not my call ? 
 
 How long have I been waiting here 
 Detained from love and highest joy ! 
 
 Thou art my sweetest counsellor. 
 Open then the door. 
 
 RADHA. 
 
 What ails thee, Hari ? Tell me first 
 Where thou hast stayed out so late ? 
 
 If Jagganatha* tells me this 
 He shall wait no more. 
 
 * Jagganatha is one of the thousand names of Krishna and means M Lord 
 of the Universe." 
 
IRJE AMANTIUM. 249 
 
 KRISHNA. 
 
 Great Vishnu praised me, Indra too ; 
 
 I staid while they did worship me, 
 And hence am late. So let me in. 
 
 This is not a lie. 
 
 RADHA. 
 
 How many lies a God can tell ! 
 
 I will not ope the door, for I 
 Can smell perfumes, can see the ash, 
 
 Telling of thy sin. 
 
 KRISHNA. 
 
 I tell you but the truth, yet you 
 Think me a liar. I am pained 
 
 That you should doubt me. Open then : 
 Let me enter now ! 
 
 RADHA. 
 
 How shamefully you would deceive 
 Your honest wife ! But I know all 
 
 Your pranks with Gunga.* With the morn 
 I will ope the door. 
 
 KRISHNA. 
 
 Why charge me thus, my lovely one ? 
 
 I burn with love for thee. Thy darts 
 Have pierced me through. Open the door : 
 
 Else for love I die. 
 
 * The river Ganges is personified in the Puranas as a lovely woman, 
 Gunga. She sprung from Vishnu's head, and her beauty won his love. 
 
 32 
 
250 IRjE AMANTIUM. 
 
 RADHA. 
 
 Oh, master, can I meet thy craft ? 
 
 When you have told me why you come 
 At midnight, I will let you in. 
 
 Now the doors are shut. 
 
 KRISHNA. 
 
 Why say such things ? It is no lie. 
 
 No other woman shares with thee 
 The love that sets my heart on fire. 
 
 Do not shut me out. 
 
 RADHA. 
 
 Your very words betray your fault : 
 You have been visiting the quean. 
 
 If God himself should order me, 
 Open I will not. 
 
 KRISHNA. 
 
 Why say so many nasty things ? 
 
 My heart doth burn ; I'll kiss thy feet ; 
 Will bow before thee to the earth ; 
 
 If thou let'st me in. 
 
 RADHA. 
 
 Her heart did melt at last. She cried — 
 Come in, come in, my husband dear ! 
 
 The door is open. Ere 'tis day 
 Joy may fill our souls. 
 
MORNING HYMN TO KALI. 251 
 
 The next is addressed to Parvati, the consort of Siva, 
 under the name of Kali. She represents in Southern 
 India the Durga of the north and the Bhavaoi of 
 the books. She is not exhibited as the horrid monster 
 which takes the name of Durga ; but is a well- formed 
 beautiful woman, whose aspect only becomes terrible 
 when engaged in ridding the world of such monsters as 
 Darrika and Mahishasura. She represents the Sahti or 
 creative power, and is therefore properly described as 
 the giver of all good things, the bestower of joy, the 
 provider of daily food. The song deserves attention, 
 further, in that it forms the first prayer and utterance 
 of thousands of people each day. It is the morning 
 hymn of the Sakti Saivas in Malabar. 
 
 MORNING HYMN TO KALI. 
 
 Oh beautiful one, who laughest so low, 
 Amusing thyself with Kama's great foe,* 
 Praised be thou. 
 
 Thou givest all joy, with pleasures dost crown 
 Who worshippest thee, at thy feet bowing down. 
 Praised be thou. 
 
 Old Indra reveres, the Munis adore 
 The Goddess we praise, whose grace we implore. 
 Praised be thou. 
 
 * When Kama, the God of love, was plaguing Siva one day with his shafts, 
 Siva became angry and consumed Kama with one fiery glance. He was 
 restored to life, but never fully recovered from the effects of Siva's wrath. 
 
252 MOKNING HYMN TO KALI. 
 
 Thou art, as it were, the key of the earth ; 
 The mother of all, we owe thee our birth. 
 Praised be thou. 
 
 When hunger attacks, the heat of midday, 
 Thou givest us food, fatigue flies away. 
 Praised be thou. 
 
 Thou tookest with ease great Darrika's head ; 
 Relieved all the world by leaving him dead. 
 Praised be thou. 
 
 How mighty thou wert, how fierce in the fight, 
 When Mahishasura was slain by thy might! 
 Praised be thou. 
 
 Yet art thou so meek, thy temper so bland, 
 That Brahmans are fed with rice from thy hand. 
 Praised be thou. 
 
 Thou givest each day thy blessings in heaps, 
 Removest alarms ; thy love never sleeps. 
 Praised be thou. 
 
 Oh goddess, grant me thy beauty to see ! 
 I worship thee now. From sorrows set free. 
 Praised be thou. 
 
 Each day ere the light I crave for thy grace, 
 
 And offer this prayer before thy sweet face. 
 
 Praised be thou. 
 
 Who daily repeat it, who hear it each morn, 
 Shall always have food, their barns shall have corn. 
 Praised be thou. 
 
MOKNING HYMN TO KALI. 253 
 
 The song is of such interest that a freer and more 
 spirited version by Mr. C. M. Barrow, the able Head 
 Master of the Calicut Provincial School, may not be 
 thought out of place. It has not been previously pub- 
 lished and was written for this book. 
 
 1. All praise and worship be to thee, 
 Thou beautiful, that merrily 
 
 With Kama's foe doth play ; 
 Thou who dost bless with pleasure those 
 Whose souls in Thee their trust repose 
 
 Throughout the livelong day. 
 
 2. To thee, Princess, chastely bright, 
 Let praise and worship with delight 
 
 By all the gods be given. 
 To thee, O mother of us all, 
 Who dost our very hearts enthral ; 
 
 Who hold'st the keys of heaven. 
 
 3. From those whose hearts with toil are faint, 
 Their strength in midday labour spent, 
 
 Whom hunger home doth drive, — 
 Let thanks for aye to thee up go, 
 To thee who kiU'd'st our bitter foe ('Darika) 
 
 With whom no more we strive. 
 
 4. To thee, O fierce and full of fame, 
 
 Who Earth's strong enemy (Mahishasura) didst tame 
 
 When he thy might withstood. 
 To thee let all give daily praise, 
 For thou the Brahmins' hearts dost raise 
 
 By sending holy food. 
 
254 MORNING HYMN TO KALI. 
 
 5. Be praised, goddess, evermore, 
 
 Since thou on men thy good dost pour 
 
 And tak'st away alarms. 
 May I thy form's divinest grace 
 With purged eye see face to face, 
 And gaze upon its charms. 
 
 (5. To thee apart my prayer I make, 
 My daily woes away to take, 
 
 For thee my soul doth crave. 
 Oh goddess, let thy presence bless 
 My nights and days. By holiness 
 Do thou thy suppliant save. 
 
 7. To those who offer up this prayer 
 Devoutedly, at morn and eve, 
 Of all good things, goddess, give 
 A full and an abundant share. 
 
 The next two songs are in honor of Krishna. They 
 dwell with marked emphasis on his peccadilloes, but 
 find in them reasons for new love ; much as a long 
 suffering mother expends her deepest affection upon 
 the scapegrace who brings shame upon himself and all 
 belonging to him. Krishna is emphatically the pet 
 of the people — the merry ne'er-do-well who, when 
 occasion requires, is the bravest of the brave ; and 
 who, all over the world, wins the hearts of men and 
 women. He is the incarnation of the lusts of the flesh 
 and the pride of life ; never turning from temptation, 
 never thinking of the future. 
 
KRISHNA. 
 
 255 
 
 KRISHNA. 
 
 
 1. Krishna killed ten kings : 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
 Born to bear our load : 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
 Necklaced, bright with rings : 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
 Krishna, purple-robed. 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
 2. Ghee and milk he stole : 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
 Poothana he killed : 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
 All at once his soul : 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
 With love's darts was thrilled. 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
 3. Child of God, of truth the ark : 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
 Wearing belt and rings of gold : 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
 Tending kine in jungles dark : 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
 Lion of the earth of old : 
 
 
 I worship 
 
 him. 
 
25 G KRISHNA. 
 
 Man and lion all in one : 
 
 I worship him. 
 Skilled in war, whose arrow keen, 
 
 I worship him. 
 Ere its lightning course was done, 
 
 I worship him. 
 Seven great palm trees cleft in twain. 
 
 I worship him. 
 
 The " Lament for Krishna" is put in the mouth of 
 Krishna's foster mother, Yasoda the wife of Nan da, the 
 cowherd who saved young Krishna's life and brought 
 him up as his own son. It ascribes to Krishna the 
 title Narayana, which is properly the most honorable 
 name of Vishnu in his divine form. As Krishna was 
 an incarnation of Vishnu this ascription is not impro- 
 per. The references in the song are all to incidents in 
 the life of Krishna as given in the Vishnu Purana, Gita 
 Govinda and Bhagavatam, and do not need comment. 
 
 It must be remembered that the Krishna of the 
 Mahabharata is a very different being from the Krishna 
 of the Gita Govinda. It is a common saying among 
 the Hindus. — " If you want true manliness, look to 
 Rama ; if you want to please the women, look to 
 Krishna." But the Krishna of the epic is as noble a 
 being as Eama. He is the greatest of warriors, the 
 wisest of sages, the divinest of teachers. In the Bha- 
 gavat Gita we find Krishna's highest expression, and 
 in the Gita Govinda his lowest. 
 
LAMENT FOR KRISHNA. 
 
 257 
 
 LAMENT FOR KRISHNA. 
 
 
 1. Oh, Narayana ! My soul is weak 
 
 Within me, for nowhere can I see 
 
 
 My lotus-eyed one. Is he sick, 
 
 
 Or has he hurt his arm or knee 
 
 
 While stealing butter-milk and curd ? 
 
 
 Oh, Narayana ! 
 
 
 2. Have robbers carried him apart, 
 
 
 Lest he should tell they stole the kine ? 
 
 
 Deep sorrow overwhelms my heart. 
 
 
 I cannot see my son divine, 
 
 
 Whose hair is dressed in glossy braids 
 
 
 Oh, Narayana ! 
 
 
 3. My heart is broken if he stay 
 
 
 Away from me. His smiling face 
 
 
 Must shine upon me, as the day. 
 
 
 Has he been frightened in the chase, 
 
 
 And ran he knew not where for help ? 
 
 
 Oh, Narayana ! 
 
 
 4. Oh ! Has he fled to jungles dark 
 
 
 Escaping dreadful present ill ? 
 
 
 Has hunger made him eat the bark 
 
 
 Or fruit of forest trees, that kill 
 
 
 All those who taste the tempting food ? 
 
 
 Oh, Narayana ! 
 
 
 33 
 
258 LAMENT FOR KRISHNA. 
 
 5. He is not given to go away : 
 
 E'en when he lost his tinkling chains 
 And flute, he did not go astray. 
 
 He must be listening to the strains 
 That flow from cowherds' simple pipe. 
 
 Oh, Narayana ! 
 
 6. But now I see him ! I am shod 
 
 And crowned with gladness. I will run 
 To care for him. But, oh my God, 
 
 Let not the loss of such a son 
 Bring desolation to my home ! 
 
 Oh, Narayana. 
 
 We cannot better close this small collection of Ma- 
 layalam songs than with the following riddle. It is a 
 good example of a class of composition that holds a high 
 place in the lower literature of some of the Dravidian 
 tongues. They are propounded with the utmost gravity 
 in assemblies that, according to our views, ought to be 
 the last to give way to pranks of this sort. But every 
 man to his taste, and nation too. The propounding and 
 solution of good riddles is no mean intellectual amuse- 
 ment. The key of the riddle is the word naiva, the 
 tongue. It is composed of two syllables, each of which 
 is sometimes an independent word. The first syllable, 
 nai, is a dog. The second syllable, va, is the imperative 
 of the verb to come. 
 
 &x< 
 
A RIDDLE. 259 
 
 A EI DDL E. 
 
 I am very old. 
 When the first man was, 
 I was there with him. 
 Ancient kings thought me 
 Best among their friends : 
 Me they worshipped oft. 
 
 I sing praise to God 
 And have long done so. 
 God gave me a house, 
 Where I live on earth. 
 Yet he gives to all 
 What he gave to me. 
 
 Round my house are built 
 Mighty palisades, 
 Keeping out my foes. 
 Outside these again 
 Is another wall, 
 Guarding me from hurt. 
 
 Like raw meat I seem, 
 Yet am well and strong. 
 When my friends are sick, 
 I am out of health. 
 Sometimes I get sick 
 Then my friends are ill. 
 
200 
 
 A RIDDLE. 
 
 Members two have I. 
 Guess iny first, I pray. 
 When my last comes forth, 
 Seems as if a man 
 Called an idle slave. 
 When my whole is said 
 Dogs collect in crowds, 
 Running fast and long 
 Lest they be too late. 
 
TELUGU SONGS. 2G1 
 
 TELUGTJ SONGS. 
 
 Of the greater Dravidian languages there remains 
 but the Telugu, the sweet sonant tongue of the people 
 between the Elvers Palar and Mahanuddy. It has 
 been very justly styled the Italian of the East, and 
 for flexibility and fullness may worthily compare with 
 Greek. Although not nearly so much Sanscritized as 
 Malayalam it is yet the best vehicle for Sanscrit 
 sounds and compound words, and hence has arisen a 
 great mass of literature transliterated from Sanscrit 
 into Telugu. This is made bearable and possible by 
 the fact that the Telugu speech runs parallel with 
 Sanscrit in its sandhi or mode of forming compound 
 words, its collocation of words in the sentence, and its 
 general grammatical structure. Not that there is any 
 suspicion that Telugu is derived from Sanscrit. Far 
 from that. Like the sister languages, Tamil, Canarese, 
 Tulu, &c., Telugu is Aryan, and derived its source 
 from the great fountain of which Sanscrit and the 
 Dravidian group are but branching streams. But 
 more than the other members of the group it retains 
 that hereditary force which renders hybridism possible. 
 Thus Sanscrit verbiage runs easily in Telugu letters. 
 
 This facility of transliteration has done much harm 
 to Telugu. Sanscrit words were so easily borrowed 
 that borrowing became a habit ; not, it is true, to the 
 
262 TELUGU SONGS. 
 
 destruction of the national vocabulary as in Malayalam, 
 but to the overloading of it. This process would 
 inevitably have led to an utter change of the national 
 tongue as Brahman influence extended, had not the 
 English conquest intervened and compelled Sanscrit 
 to enter the lists against a most active and penetrating 
 foe. Besides this, large portions of the Telugu country 
 are even yet unknown to the Brahmans, who have 
 only settled in the richest provinces and along the 
 coast ; and thus there has always been a spring of 
 Telugu, pure and undefiled, to well over the land and 
 save the country tongue from destruction. 
 
 Another cause has, however, done tenfold more 
 damage to Telugu people's literature ; that is, foreign 
 conquest. The traveller through Telugu districts is 
 constantly coming on the tokens of former magnifi- 
 cence. Temples falling to pieces, ruined cities, moulder- 
 ing pillars, abound everywhere and tell of wonderful 
 wealth and power in ages now forgotten. Amravati 
 is but one of a hundred such. But a few years back 
 the great territory of Gondwana was marked on the 
 maps as " unexplored territory," so desolate was it, so 
 given over to barbarism and all unfruitfulness, Yet 
 in the midst of ancient jungle, buried among the 
 mighty trees that crown the hill tops, are the remains 
 of gigantic cities that must once have buzzed with the 
 noise of a hundred thousand people. 
 
 History fails to tell us much of what these kingdoms 
 did, whom they conquered, how they fell. But geo- 
 graphy steps in to prove how far their arms reached, 
 
TELUGU SONGS. 263 
 
 how deep the impress they left. All over the Indian 
 seas we find the tokens of a great Telugu dominion. 
 What are the Klings of the Malay peninsula, but 
 Kalingas, a branch of the great Kalinga or Telinga 
 nation ? Who built the monster temples of Sumatra, 
 Java and the Archipelago, whose towering summits still 
 point to the heaven of Swerga ? No other people 
 than the Telugus, the Phceniciens of the Indian ocean. 
 In Burmah and Siam are the footprints of the same 
 people. 
 
 But we need not leave India to learn the same story. 
 The Dara Kumara Charitra, dating from the tenth 
 century, speaks of the Telugu kingdom of Andhra as 
 if it were a great maritime power, with fleets of ships 
 of war and sailors by thousands. Probably the refer- 
 ences may belong to a much earlier period ; and in any 
 case we know that the great Telugu conquests across 
 the sea were made much earlier. What are the Kava- 
 rai, the Vadukan, the Yelamas of Southern India, 
 from Mysore to Cape Comorin, but Telugu settlers, 
 whose social position and landed property still proclaim 
 them as conquering tribes, the outposts of the Telinga 
 kingdom ? 
 
 The last of the great Telugu kingdoms was that of 
 Vijianuggur. It was supreme in Southern India from 
 about 1300 to 1600, a.d. Before the rise of this state, 
 the great Belal kings ruled at Warunkul. Before these 
 were the Cadumba and Chalukya dynasties, the latter 
 of which reaches back into dim antiquity before the 
 Christian era. In the time of Pliny or, rather, in the 
 
264 TELUGU SONGS. 
 
 still earlier days of the writers whom Pliny trusted, 
 the Telugu kingdom was supreme, — a civilized mighty 
 state ruling over the Eastern coast of India from the 
 Ganges to the Cauvery, From the overthrow of the 
 kings of Vijianuggur to the rise of the British ascend- 
 ency under Warren Hastings, confusion and despair fell 
 upon the poor Telugus. Ichabod, the glory is departed. 
 
 Moguls, Pathans, Mahrattas, Pindarries and My- 
 soreans, Nizams, Soubahdars and Rajahs came like 
 waves over the rich land. Perhaps the strength of the 
 nation had gone to foreign parts and the home-stayers 
 were too weak to fight, but whether this were so or no, 
 the Telugu nation was nearly wiped off the face of 
 the earth. There came to it what fell on Tyre and 
 Carthage, the homes of its antetypes in the Mediterra- 
 nean. Where once dwelt a great nation now roam the 
 wild tribes of Bustar and the hill agencies. Human 
 sacrifices are offered where once ambassadors were 
 received. 
 
 In this great destruction the people's literature could 
 not survive. There is scarcely a Telugu book older than 
 the thirteenth century, and only the Telugu Mahabha- 
 ratam and the grammar of Nunniah Bbutt were, in their 
 present condition, written earlier than the twelfth cen- 
 tury. But even these do not represent the people's 
 ideas, for they were all written by Brahmans for Brah- 
 mans. Campbell broadly states that the " intolerant 
 
 zeal of the Mahomedans has left of the more ancient 
 
 Telugu works little else remaining than the name." 
 And again — "Indeed the three inferior classes of 
 
TELUGU SONGS. 265 
 
 
 Telingana seem to have abandoned the culture of 
 
 their language, with every other branch of literature 
 and science, to the sacred tribe. The Vussoochuritru 
 is the only Telugu work of note not composed by a 
 Brahmin." 
 
 There is but one slight error in this description — the 
 omission in the last sentence of the work of Vemana. 
 Compiled, according to Mr. Brown, in the sixteenth 
 century, this is just the work we require. Vemana 
 was probably the arranger rather than the author of 
 the thousands of quatrains of purely popular lore 
 which go by his name. Very far below Tiruvalluva 
 in moral feeling, and still further away in poetic power, 
 Vemana is yet more useful in exhibiting popular 
 ideas ; for he gathers what previously existed, while 
 Tiruvalluva made what became the national heritage. 
 Whether Vemana found them or made them, the 
 quatrains are now the proverbial stock of the people. 
 Any one may be quoted independently. Scores of 
 them are contradictory, a fact that makes it almost 
 certain that Vemana did not make them all. As far as 
 is now known, this long chain of unconnected verses is 
 the only great remnant of Telugu folk-lore, — purely 
 national, strongly monotheistic, intensely vulgar, using 
 the word in its proper sense. It is interesting to note 
 how exactly the verses chime in with all that has gone 
 before. With the single exception of the inhabitants of 
 the Malabar coast, we find all the Dravidian nations 
 preaching the same truth, serving the one God, hating 
 the Brahmans. 
 
 34 
 
266 TELUGU SONGS. 
 
 We are absolutely ignorant of the life of Yemana 
 and of the date of his birth or death, Mr. C. P. 
 Brown, the greatest of living Telugu scholars, thinks 
 that he lived in the sixteenth century, but this is con- 
 fessedly a mere guess. Mr. Brown's opinion is based 
 upon the character of the language of the book that 
 goes by his name and the local references that seem' 
 capable of identification. But it is certain that the 
 book has been again and again revised ; and the 
 modern marks referred to would in all probability 
 be due to the revisor. Mr. Brown has omitted to 
 note that certain passages of the book explicitly state 
 that Yemana wrote at an earlier date. The follow- 
 ing are quoted from Mr. Brown's translation : — " In 
 this iron age has Yemana by his celebrity rendered 
 the farmer tribe honorable ; striving to attain to the 
 Supreme God, he has dealt forth to all men, every 
 truth he knew." — " Incessantly did Yemana speak in 
 our ears, saying, evident and manifest is the deity ; be 
 wise, attain it, and be for ever happy!" — " Yerily the 
 foolish wretches, who are unable to comprehend the 
 mental wisdom taught by Yemana, shall perish like a 
 hair when separated from the head ; devoid of suste- 
 nance here and perfection hereafter." 
 
 All these, and there are many like them, imply that 
 Vemana wrote at a much earlier date and that, there- 
 fore, if the book in its present form is to be referred 
 to the sixteenth century, Yemana himself lived long 
 before. From the absence of reference to Mahom- 
 medanism and the Moslem rule, and the close resem- 
 
TELUGtf SONGS. 267 
 
 blance in style and matter to the Tamil poets of the 
 tenth century or thereabouts, it is suggested that 
 the proper date of Vemana's life is not later than 
 the end of the twelfth century. Certain passages in 
 the book would seem to show that he was a jangam or 
 priest of the Lingayet or Vira Saiva sect. But even 
 this is not otherwise known. The only direct state- 
 ments are that he was born from Velama or cultivator 
 parents, and that he was a yogi or hermit. But this 
 latter point is clearly contradicted by the numerous 
 passages that ridicule the yogi and place meditation 
 very far down in the list of virtues. 
 
 There can, however, be little doubt that the bulk 
 of the sayings are older than their reputed author, 
 and have been floating among the common people for 
 many centuries. Vemana probably added very many of 
 his own. But it is extremely doubtful whether 
 Vemana ever saw more than half of the epigrams that 
 go by his name. Mr. C. P. Brown, to whose version 
 of a selection of about seven hundred of the quatrains 
 I am greatly indebted, and whose literal prose trans- 
 lation is the base of the renderings that follow, made 
 a large collection of MSS. going by the name of 
 Vemana, but none contained more than eight hundred 
 verses, while most exhibited not more than three or 
 four hundred. The collation of the MSS. revealed 
 more than two thousand distinct epigrams. It is ex- 
 ceedingly improbable than any work so important as 
 that would have been which should have contained 
 the two thousand verses, could have been so broken 
 
268 TELUGU SONGS. 
 
 up as the versions now are, without exhibiting some 
 sign of the process in the way of grouping or 
 acknowledged selection. But this we do not see, at 
 least to any extent. 
 
 On the other hand, nothing is more likely than that 
 the success of Vemana's genuine collection of proverbs 
 should have led imitators to make similar gatherings 
 in their own locality. The more widely-known proverbs 
 entered into several collections. The very easy metre 
 of Vemana's work made the task a simple one, and 
 hence the present series is probably a sort of olla 
 podrida of Telugu folk-sayings cast into metrical form. 
 This will not detract from the value of the book for 
 our purpose, but rather increase it, since the popular 
 character of the epigrams is the more certain. 
 
 It has been stated that the verses of Vemana exceed 
 two thousand in number. They follow in no order, but 
 are jumbled together ; as if each verse had been written 
 on a card, all the cards tossed together in a bag, and 
 then the cards withdrawn at random and strung to- 
 gether in the order in which they came from the bag. 
 The following versions are groupings of quatrains of 
 similar subject, and it must be understood that, though 
 they are faithful renderings, they do not, in sequence, 
 at all follow the original. 
 
OBSERVANCE OF RITUAL, 269 
 
 OBSERVANCE OF RITUAL. 
 
 To pray and serve yet not be pure, — 
 In dirty pot to place good food, — 
 
 To worship God while sins endure, — 
 Can never turn to good. 
 
 Our sins grow ever from our deeds, 
 Nor owe their birth or death to place. 
 
 'Tis better, then, to see our needs 
 Than look to works for grace. 
 
 Why dost thou long for holy springs, 
 
 Or seek at Kasi saintlihood ? 
 Can sinful man obtain the things 
 
 That Kasi gives the good ? 
 
 Though hypocrites should meditate, 
 And perfect keep the outward law, 
 
 They ne'er attain the holy state ; 
 But sink in hell's dark maw. 
 
 The sanctity that God counts right 
 
 Is not in sky or deserts rude ; 
 'Tis not where holy streams unite : — 
 
 Be pure — thou viewest God. 
 
 God looks not on our race or dress, 
 But dwelleth closely with the soul ; 
 
 And those who don strange garb would bless 
 Their bellies with your dole. 
 
270 OBSERVANCE OF RITUAL. 
 
 This quickly dying flesh to please 
 Most men will bear perpetual pain ; 
 
 They will not risk a moment's ease 
 Eternal bliss to gain. 
 
 What fools the pilgrims are who think 
 That God may not be found at home. 
 
 'Tis exercise alone. They sink 
 In woe : then back they come. 
 
 With eager mind they see Sathu, 
 
 Prayaghi, Kasi, Madura 
 And Kanchi. What can all these do ? 
 
 'Tis naught but walking far. 
 
 To feed the hungry and the poor 
 
 Is nobler deed than sacrifice. 
 What greater good can man procure 
 
 Than save the poor from vice ? 
 
 Some mortify their flesh and take 
 The name of saints ; yet cannot cleanse 
 
 Their hearts. Will you destroy the snake 
 By scraping its defence.* 
 
 The sacrifice that fools lift up 
 Is never perfect, brings no profit. 
 
 The dog that tries to lift a cup 
 Will damage it or drop it. 
 
 * Alluding to the common fact that snakes will take up their residence in 
 the readj'-made holes of deserted ant-hills, he points out that to scrape 
 the out-side of the ant-hill will not kill the snake that dwells within it. 
 You may make the ant-hill look nice, but it is as dangerous to approach as 
 ever. 
 
KITUAL' NOT RELIGION. 271 
 
 EITUAL NOT EELI6I0N. 
 
 Will seeing Concan make a dog a lion ? 
 
 Or Kasi make a pig as great 
 As any elephant ? How then 
 
 Can they a saintly man create ? 
 
 Though he should daily read or hear 
 The Veds, the sinner still is vile. 
 
 Will not its blackness still appear 
 
 Though coal in milk be washed a while ? 
 
 Thy creed and prayers may both be right, 
 But see that truth marks every plan ; 
 
 Else thou shalt never see the light. 
 The truthful is the twice-born man* 
 
 The fount of happiness is in 
 
 The heart. The foolish man confides 
 In man ! He's like the stupid swain 
 
 Who seeks the lamb his bosom hides, f 
 
 * Over and over again*do we find passages asserting that the new birth 
 which makes a Brahman adult " twice-born" must be a moral change 
 if it would be accepted* by God. They assert not only that new birth 
 must represent a moral change but that the truly good man is sure to 
 experience the conversion. 
 
 f This refers to a common story of a stupid shepherd who went every- 
 where searching for the lamb that he was, all the while, carrying in his 
 bosom, because it was too weak to Walk. It corresponds to the English 
 saying of the man who looked for the spectacles that were perched above his 
 nose. 
 
272 
 
 RITUAL NOT RELIGION. 
 
 Religions counted by the score 
 
 There are. But yet not one is good 
 
 If faith be lacking in its lore. 
 
 Faith makes our worship please our God. 
 
 The dog doth love midst trees to go, 
 
 The crane stands still, the ass brays chants, 
 
 The frog bathes oft.* Can yogis know 
 The heart of man with all its wants ? 
 
 They read the Shasters, write them out, 
 And learn the truths that in them lie. 
 
 And yet of death they are in doubt : 
 They know not even how to die ! 
 
 You smear your face and arms with ash, 
 Hang silver idols round your neck ! 
 
 All this may help to swell your cash, 
 But in the coming world will wreck. 
 
 " Thou art unclean ! O, touch me not !"— 
 They cry. But who can draw the line ? 
 
 What man was born without a spot ? 
 In each man's flesh sin has a shrine. 
 
 * To live in the forest, to stand perfectly still in deep meditation, to 
 chant in a loud monotone the name of the Deity, and to take every op- 
 portunity of ceremonial bathing, are the marks of a Hindoo saint. He is the 
 greatest saint who can stand motionless the longest, chant the thousand 
 names the loudest, &c. The epigram points out that certain despised 
 animals can excel the highest saint in exercises of this sort. 
 
IDOLATRY. 273 
 
 IDOLATRY, 
 
 What animals ye are who worship stones 
 
 And care not for the God that dwells within ! 
 How can a stone excel the living thing 
 That praise intones ? 
 
 And how can those who serve a carved rock 
 
 Bow down before and praise the living One ? 
 Can he who tastes the honey on his tongue 
 Rank poison suck ? 
 
 What strange delusion draws your mind to dream 
 
 That God doth dwell in senseless images? 
 Is broken stone, which neither hears nor sees, 
 Fit house for Him ? 
 
 Yet men take earth, make idols, set the clod 
 
 In honor, count as gods and worship them ! 
 How can they dare so blindly to contemn 
 Their inward God ? 
 
 Why bow and fall before the idol's throne ? 
 The stone will not be changed. But ken 
 That God dwells in the soul. Why then 
 Adore a stone ? 
 
 35 
 
274 IDOLATRY. 
 
 The man that fasts shall next become a pig : 
 Who bows before a stone a stone shall be 
 And he who wrongly chooses poverty 
 Shall have to be£. 
 
 '&• 
 
 What fools ! They take a stone from off the hill, 
 
 And after knocking it about with hands and feet, 
 With chisels cut it and with hammers beat : 
 Then chants they trill. 
 
 The living useful bull you starve and beat ; 
 
 But when 'tis carved in stone you it adore ! 
 How gross such sinful folly is ! Abhor 
 So clear a cheat.* 
 
 Around a mould of wax you stick some clay ; 
 Then melt the wax, and in its room instal 
 Some melted metal. This your God you call 
 And serve each day. 
 
 While He, the worshipful, dwells in the heart, 
 
 Why pile your gifts in temples made of stone ? 
 Can gods who, in and out, are rock alone 
 E'er taste a part ? 
 
 * This verse hits one of the greatest blots in the Hindoo character. 
 Kine have to serve for all the purposes that, in Europe, fall to the lot of 
 horses. They are, therefore, constantly urged to tasks beyond their power. 
 When they resist or fall down, the most cruel punishments are inflicted. 
 There is not one bullock out of six whose tail has not been dislocated, 
 while many animals have suffered dislocation of almost every joint. For 
 the meres tailment the most extensive branding will be prescribed, and sickly 
 bullocks show brands that equal the tattooing of a South Sea islander. 
 
CASTE. 275 
 
 CASTE. 
 
 If we look through all the earth 
 Men, we see, have equal birth. 
 
 Made in one great brotherhood, 
 Equal in the sight of God. 
 
 Food or caste or place of birth 
 Cannot alter human worth. 
 
 Why let caste be so supreme ? 
 Tis but folly's passing stream. 
 
 While the iron age doth last, 
 Men are good in every caste. 
 
 Blustering fools all men despise ; 
 None are good in such men's eyes. 
 
 Viler than the meanest race 
 Is the man before whose face 
 
 Others only Sudras are. 
 
 Hell for him shall ne'er unbar. 
 
 Empty is a caste-dispute : 
 
 All the castes have but one root. 
 
 Who on earth can e'er decide 
 
 Whom to praise and whom deride ? 
 
 Why should we the Pariah scorn, 
 When his flesh and blood were born 
 
 Like to ours ? What caste is He 
 Who doth dwell in all we see? 
 
276 DEATH. 
 
 DEATH. 
 
 All those who brought us forth are not. 
 And most of those whom we begot. 
 
 Is this not proof enough ? Shall we 
 Live long as God's eternity ? 
 
 Before the spirit goes, 'tis right 
 
 To use all means to keep alight 
 The vital flame. But when away, 
 
 What use to try its flight to stay ? 
 
 The rich man dies ; his stores remain* 
 
 When he returns, he has again 
 To earn, and, dying, loses all. 
 
 Where then his wealth and where his soul ?* 
 
 For naked every man was born, 
 And naked must he die. Forlorn 
 
 He roams the earth, is naked still : 
 For good he cannot do or will. 
 
 * This Terse gives, very tersely, one of the principal com plaints of the 
 people against transmigration. Human labor is like that of Sisyphus,— 
 it is always beginning again. I believe this palpable vanity of earning is 
 one of the greatest temptations to ascetic life that a Hindoo can meet. 
 Surely it is very hard of God, they say, not to permit a man to begin his 
 second life at the point where he finished his first. How can he profit by 
 experience, how acquire the necessary merit, if he must always begin afresh 
 as ignorant, as poor, as helpless, as when he began the life of which he made 
 such a failure, and which he now must expiate ? 
 
DEATH. 277 
 
 If iron break it needs repair, 
 The smith can weld again as fair. 
 
 But if the spirit break and fail, 
 Who then can it restore or heal ? 
 
 If chatties break, we new ones buy. 
 
 If then a living man should die, 
 What wonder that his soul should get 
 
 Another body for its seat ! 
 
 The holy saint whose course is run, 
 Shall in the world above the sun 
 
 Perceive and really know and see 
 The Formless, crying — " This is He.' 
 
 However long we live or learn, 
 However great the fame we earn, 
 
 We live at best but one short day. 
 With all our skill we turn to clay. 
 
 The brutish man counts as his own 
 The wealth of all his house. Alone 
 
 He buries it * Yet when he dies, 
 Not e'en a pice with him he hies. 
 
 * It is certain that the universal peace and justice that came in with the 
 British is fast overcoming the habit of burying all superfluous cash and 
 valuables. Vemana constantly refers to the practice, not to condemn its 
 propriety from a business point of view, but to urge that it would be much 
 better to give to the poor that which cannot be used. Such liberality may 
 make the money-gainer less wealthy here, but goes a very long way to 
 prevent the burying of the giver in a score of ' troublesome births.' Supreme 
 felicity may be earned by perfect liberality. 
 
278 DEATH. 
 
 What are our wives, our sons, our friends, 
 And what relations' love, when ends 
 
 This life ? Can we on slaves rely ? 
 Not one can help us when we die. 
 
 Our body, like an earthen bowl, 
 Will surely die. But still the soul 
 
 Lives on. Many pots may go, 
 
 But none the less the waters flow. 
 
 How great the folly tears to shed 
 When friends depart ! " Oh, he is dead, 
 
 " Oh, he is dead," they loudly cry. 
 As if a living soul could die ! 
 
 While health is good they live in lust ; 
 
 When death draws near to penance trust. 
 How can they dream of swift release 
 
 While yet the heart is not at peace ? 
 
 He that is wise shall live for aye. 
 
 When earth breaks up his soul shall stay 
 Unhurt. When all things else are gone, 
 
 His soul shall join the mighty One. 
 
MORALS. 279 
 
 MOKALS. 
 
 Except when duties call, 
 
 Forget thy lordlihood. 
 The low may yet be good. 
 
 A glass makes mountains small. 
 
 Forgive thy conquered foe : 
 
 For thus your foe you kill ; 
 Thy love his hate will still. 
 
 Then let him freely go * 
 
 Who gives, yet covets not, 
 Who shuns his neighbour's wife, 
 
 Shares not in angry strife, 
 Is wise and hath no spot. 
 
 Good deeds that pure hearts do, 
 Though small, are great in meed : 
 
 How tiny is the Banyan seed, 
 How great a tree doth grow ! 
 
 Gifts merit thanks not small, 
 
 But meditation more ; 
 By wisdom higher soar ; 
 
 Pure hearts are best of all. 
 
 * Compare this verse with the stanzas of Tiruvalluva's on Page 236, 
 fourth verse, and Page 238, seeond verse, and both with our Lord's command 
 — " Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them 
 which despitefully use you." Many passages strongly remind of the Cural, 
 and it is quite possible that they were originally derived from it, since 
 it is well known that the Cural was exceedingly popular long before the 
 twelfth century, and nothing is more likely than that the conquering Telugu 
 armies should bring back with them the poetry as well as the spoils of the 
 Tamils. 
 
280 MORALS. 
 
 Thy words, Oh God, are mine ; 
 
 Thy house is my abode : 
 My thoughts in thine are showed ; 
 
 My joy shall copy thine. 
 
 The good adorn our globe ; 
 
 Beneath them are the proud. 
 But those are worst who shroud 
 
 Their greed neath saffron robe. 
 
 We see the truth in Thee, 
 
 In us delusion hides. 
 But when the Godhead guides, 
 
 Ourselves aright we see. 
 
 By seeking we find Him ; 
 
 He seeketh those who seek. 
 Alas, how few awake 
 
 To seek their God in time. 
 
 He loveth those who love : 
 Who love Him not He spurns. 
 
 False prayers and praise by turns 
 Cannot avail above. 
 
 Who, faultless, loveth Thee, 
 Who lovingly believes 
 
 And penitently grieves, 
 Shall reach supreme mukti. 
 
GOOD WIVES. 281 
 
 GOOD WIVES, 
 
 How neat is the house of a virtuous wife ! 
 
 She shineth as light in a darkened recess. 
 The house that is ruled by a first- wedded wife 
 
 Reminds of the house of our God.* 
 
 When love hath preceded the great wedding feast, 
 The pair shall increase and shall spread as a tree, 
 
 Shall blossom and bud, shall rejoice in their strength, 
 Producing abundance of fruit. 
 
 For riches are not the true wealth of a house. 
 
 The first of all joys is the birth of a son. 
 But living together from youth to old age 
 
 Is greatest of riches on earth. 
 
 If she should delight in her husband's desires, 
 And both are united in heart and in mind, 
 
 Perfection they reach. For the wedded estate 
 Leads on to our union with God. 
 
 * The first-wedded wife is the agent that ensures a happy home. While 
 mutual love binds her and her husband, all goes well. When other wives 
 are introduced, the first wife knows she has lost her husband's regard. 
 Hence she neglects the house, is jealous of her lord, and shrewish to the 
 new-comers. Then nothing goes well. 
 
 36 
 
282 GOOD WIVES. 
 
 The Vedas are harlots, deluding our souls, 
 
 And who can discover the meaning they bear? 
 
 The knowledge of God, when the hidden is seen, 
 Is good as a true-hearted wife. 
 
 If she should compel the true love of her lord, 
 
 Then sweetest of happiness rests on their life. 
 But if she repel, then your happiness is — 
 Get rid of your wife when you can. 
 
 She who, in the time of her husband's life, 
 
 Should strive for the house, shall be loved by her sons. 
 
 In ups and in downs, as they come to us all, 
 The strength of strong sons is the best. 
 
 What sweeter than life can there be ? Heaps of gold 
 Are better than "thousands of other folks' lives. 
 
 What sweeter than gold ? Loving words of a lass, 
 Whose love is the sweetest of all. 
 
 Far sweeter than sugar, than honey or cream, 
 
 And sweeter than juice of the sugar's long cane, 
 The heart of the Jack, or the Guava's ripe fruit, 
 Are words from the lips that we love. 
 
 To gaze on the face of a beauteous wife, — 
 
 To look at our sons in the pride of their strength, — 
 
 Are fuel to love. How they swell in the heart ! 
 How easy to love them too much ! 
 
BAD WIVES. 283 
 
 BAD WIVES. 
 
 Wives who disobey their lords 
 Are as death, as poison snakes ; 
 
 Very demons. Yea, they are 
 Only fit to plague old Nick. 
 
 If they're thoughtless, they're no good ; 
 
 Dowry is but thrown away. 
 Coward soldiers who would feed ? 
 
 Why maintain a thoughtless quean ? 
 
 See her wrangling in the street, 
 Screaming if you check her speech : 
 
 Scojds her lord and then she cries : 
 She would sell him in a bag. 
 
 Like the course of ships at sea, — 
 Like the flight of birds in air, — 
 
 Is a woman's life on earth. 
 
 Where she goes is never known. 
 
 Wealth is his,— the wife is good. 
 
 Wealth is gone — she loves no more : 
 Then her lord is but a name : 
 
 Then she counts him as the dead. 
 
284 BAD WIVES. 
 
 Wives who live to please their lords, 
 Wives indeed, the best on earth. 
 
 Wives who care for nought but self, 
 Are but arrows sent from death. 
 
 Low by nature, low in life : 
 
 Wife of worth you cannot make, 
 
 She who lives by stealing scraps 
 Cannot hope for better things. 
 
 Stubborn folks are always wrong. 
 
 Can you straighten puppy's tail ? 
 Shrewish wives would sell their lords ,- 
 
 Tie together hands and feet. 
 
 If you work and slave and gain, 
 Then your wife applauds your love. 
 
 Lose it all, and then she scolds, 
 Daily heaps reproach on you. * 
 
 Though her lord and home be good 
 Will the changeful wife be true ? 
 
 Though you rear a dog with milk 
 Will he learn to stay at home ? 
 
 Suffering ills, look well to friends. 
 
 Fearing danger, watch your guards. 
 When your riches fly away, 
 
 Let your wife be closely watched. 
 
BAD WIVES. 285 
 
 If at first you fail to rule, 
 Do not think to rule at all. 
 
 If you let a tree grow up, 
 Will it move for but a push ? 
 
 Disobedient wives are not 
 Wives at all, but only gyves. 
 
 Better dwell in desert wastes 
 Than abide with such a wife. 
 
 The preceding songs more than suffice to show that 
 the relation of husband and wife is pretty nearly the 
 same all the world over. While physical force is on 
 the side of the men, the women will more than make 
 themselves equal by power of the tongue. But both 
 good and bad wives prove that the complete subordina- 
 tion of the wife, as laid down by Manu and everywhere 
 preached, is only one of those theories that seem very 
 excellent excej)t in practice. As a matter of fact the 
 Hindu wife that has escaped from the rigorous rule 
 of her mother-in-law, and especially if she be a mother- 
 in-law herself, is by far the most potential personage 
 in the household. The husband seldom interferes in 
 domestic matters, and sits on the pyall outside the 
 house while the wife is busy with domestic duties 
 within. We turn from these pleasant household scenes 
 to a terrific onslaught upon the Brahmans. 
 
286 BUAHMANS. 
 
 BRAHMANS. 
 
 They who were Sudras born, 
 And yet revile their kin; — 
 
 Who call themselves twice-born, 
 And think it makes them safe; — 
 
 Whose hearts love darling sin; — 
 The lowest Sudras are.* 
 
 Upon his brazen browf 
 He bears a sacred mark : 
 
 He has a wolfish mouth, 
 A demon's shameless heart ; 
 
 And yet he dares to say 
 He knows the only God. 
 
 * The second birth of the Brahman does not take place until the 
 thirteenth year, when the thread is first placed on his shoulders. Up to 
 that period he is once-born, that is, is a Sudra. . Vemana frequently refers 
 to this fact and taunts the Brahmans with having been Sudras themselves. 
 See for example the verse on the next page regarding the sacred thread. 
 
 f It is imperative on the twice-born to carry on their foreheads the mark 
 of their god. The Vaishnavas wear a trident, the centre prong of which is 
 continued just on to the bridge of the nose. The Saiva mark is a colored 
 spot just above the nose. In addition to this the Saiva devotee should make 
 three horizontal parallel lines with sandal-wood ash, extending from one 
 temple to the other. A zealous worshipper of either Vishnu or Siva will 
 carry the marks on his breast, arms and back. 
 
BRAHMANS. 287 
 
 He has an outcast's heart,* 
 
 And yet the outcaste scorns. 
 Shall he become twice-born, 
 
 Renewed in life and caste, 
 While no good thought exists 
 
 Within his sinful mind ? 
 
 The greatest sin of all 
 
 Is want of sterling truth. 
 But lie upon a lie 
 
 Is always in his mouth. 
 What rogues some Brahmans are, — 
 
 They call themselves twice- born ! 
 
 They say, the lords of earth, 
 
 " How pure we are, how learned 
 
 In all the Shasters teach !" 
 They scorn us simple men ! 
 
 But yet the poorest poor ' 
 Are better than such brags. 
 
 Th$ Brahman thinks that when 
 
 He takes the sacred thread 
 His Sudraship is o'er. 
 
 How strangely he forgets 
 That when he comes to die 
 
 His Brahmanship is o'er.f 
 
 * Till the ceremony of the putting on of the thread the postulant is not a 
 Brahman. He is not a member of any other caste and is, therefore, an 
 out-caste. 
 
 f He cannot take his thread with him, — his new birth has failed him, for 
 the dead are ceremonially unclean. If, therefore, he is not born a Brahman 
 and cannot continue holy at death, what good is Brahmanship at all ? 
 
288 BBAHMANS. 
 
 And then he takes the dress 
 
 Of Somayaji state !* 
 And why ? He's killed a goat, 
 
 Then cooked and ate it up ! 
 He has the Brahman's name, 
 
 But where's the good result ? 
 
 Just see how such men walk ! 
 
 It shows they cannot know 
 The hidden things of God : 
 
 Their minds are far too light. 
 'Tis plain they know the way 
 
 To Yama's deepest hell. 
 
 They paint themselves with ash, 
 But this takes not away 
 
 The smell of drafts of wine. 
 Will strings around their neck 
 
 Convert such sinful men, 
 
 And render them twice-born ? 
 
 If he should e'en forget 
 That he is flesh and blood, 
 
 And be so basely proud 
 That he is called twice-born, 
 
 Will fear seize death and hell ? 
 Will they forsake their prey ? 
 
 * This trenchant verse refers to the Yagnya sacrifice. At this ceremony a 
 goat is roasted and every Brahman who assists in the rite is obliged to eat 
 of the flesh. (Brown). This and other verses expressing horror at the 
 thought of killing an animal would lead to the idea that Vemana was a 
 Jain. 
 
BRAHMANS. 289 
 
 You foul your skin with ash : 
 What good will that do you ? 
 
 Your thoughts should soar above : 
 Be set on God alone. 
 
 An ass can roll in mud 
 As well as any priest. 
 
 Bald head and matted locks ! 
 
 Strange dress and mantras loud ! 
 Outlandish cramps and pains 
 
 And all the ashy filth ! 
 Ah! Bah! No man is good 
 
 Who is not pure in heart. 
 
 He leaves his house and wife, 
 With iron binds his loins, 
 
 Prefers bad food to good, 
 And bitter drink to sweet ! 
 
 Will living like a beast 
 Secure him endless bliss ?* 
 
 * These are some of the verses that express Vemana's dislike of a yogi's 
 life. If written by him, and they tally with much that must be ascribed to 
 his hand, it would be incredible that Vemana was a yogi or jangam. It 
 appears to me that the many expressions praising the jangams have been 
 added by one of the many revisors or collectors whose handiwork is so 
 visible throughout the series. The last verse but one describes the habits 
 of the yogi or sanyassi. They must be familiar to all readers of Indian 
 literature, although few will have deemed it possible for a Hindu to speak 
 so frankly of their utter folly and vanity. English rule and western ideas 
 are now making sad inroads on the yogi's profits. 
 
 37~ 
 
290 POOR RICHARD. 
 
 POOK KICHARD: 
 
 Do nothing slowly, else 'twill never come to pass : 
 Do nothing hurriedly, for then 'twill surely fail. 
 Will unripe fruit grow ripe if cut too soon ? 
 
 In water ships ride easily : yet on the land 
 Cannot be moved a step. And thus the skilful man 
 Is only worth his salt at his own trade. 
 
 The crocodile will kill an elephant within its stream, 
 
 And yet on land a little dog can master it. 
 
 Thus things are strong when in their proper place. 
 
 A pig will have at least a dozen little ones : 
 The giant lordly elephant can have but one. 
 Is not one worthy man enough at once ? 
 
 What teacher fails to benefit the clever man? 
 What man, however wise, can teach a stupid fool ? 
 For who can make a crooked river straight ? 
 
 The empty man will always talk in boastful style: 
 The excellent will keep his peace or gently speak. 
 Will gold ring out, when struck, like brazen bells ? 
 
POOR RICHARD. 291 
 
 The mighty Ganges flows in peace, with quiet stream : 
 But with a roar leaps down the short-lived turbid brook. 
 The base are not as quiet as the good. 
 
 To kill a miser needs no deadly poisoned draft. 
 Just try this method. Ask him for a gift of pice,* 
 And he will instantly fall down and die. 
 
 He who will neither eat nor let his friends partake, 
 Is but a vicious wretch. Just like the grinning face 
 Set up to scare the birds from ripening corn.*)* 
 
 Behold the swelling fig. Outside 'tis like pure gold; 
 But bite it, then you find it holds but worms. 
 How like the silence of the empty man ! 
 
 The man who gives the rein to all his passions vile 
 Is mad as any hare. He wanders o'er the earth. 
 Desiring wrongful gain, he doubles like a dog. 
 
 Will those who love a lie e'er prosper like the good ? 
 Will fortune smile on them or glorify their home ? 
 'Tis drawing water with a leaky pot. 
 
 * Eight pice make one penny, and the pice is therefore worth just half 
 a farthing. It is the smallest copper coin in the world perhaps, certainly 
 the smallest in the British empire. 
 
 t Here we have the Dravidian representative of the " dog in the manger," 
 both in its image and its moral. The scare-crow has to serve a double 
 purpose, guarding the corn from the birds and from the " evil-eye" of men. 
 
292 
 
 DOMESTIC MORALITY. 
 
 DOMESTIC MOLALITY. 
 
 They that leave the wife at home, 
 
 After prostitutes to roam, 
 Are but mad. They leave good crops 
 
 For the straw the gleaner drops. 
 
 Thieves and harlots love the night, 
 Ever hiding from the light. 
 
 Neither dare to see the moon 
 
 Rising o'er the dark nights gloom. 
 
 Never sport with these four things, 
 Either one destruction brings — 
 
 Fire, and weapons made to kill, 
 Princes, women given to ill. 
 
 Wrongful speech we may set right : 
 Stones be cut by any wight : 
 
 But the mind no man can mend, 
 As it was, 'tis to the end. 
 
 If but wisdom fill his mouth 
 
 What concerns his age or youth ? 
 
 Will the lamp become less bright 
 If an infant hold its light ? 
 
DOMESTIC MORALITY. 293 
 
 Pour the water on the seed, — 
 
 Soon it sprouts, then leaves succeed. 
 
 Next the buds to flowers blow, 
 And a tree on earth doth grow. 
 
 Talk is easy, virtue hard : 
 
 We may teach, yet not regard : 
 
 Any fool a sword can hold, 
 None can wield it but the bold. 
 
 Writ in water what will stay ? 
 
 So our blessings fade away. 
 Foolish man for surety longs, 
 
 Trusts to words to right his wrongs. 
 
 When misfortune comes to be, 
 
 He reviles the deity. 
 Lauds himself when good things come. 
 
 Good and ill are both our own. 
 
 If your fault offend your lord, 
 Do not blame his angry word : 
 
 Else you'd count among your foes 
 Glass that shows your crooked nose. 
 
 Riches, like a woman's charms, 
 Fly away like ghostly forms ; 
 
 As the moonlight's glory fades 
 When a cloud its crescent shades. 
 
294 PROVEKBS. 
 
 PKOVERBS. 
 
 Wealth he heaps, gives none away, 
 Useth none, in earth doth lay. 
 
 Knows, he not how men devour 
 What the bee hides in his bower ?* 
 
 You may break a granite stone : 
 Highest hills may crumble down : 
 
 But a hardened cruel screw 
 Naught will soften or subdue. 
 
 Misers cannot see, and live, 
 Liberal men their wealth to give. 
 
 Like the thorn that always dies 
 Near the tree of Paradise.f 
 
 Milk that's drunk at tavern door 
 Counts as wine, you may be sure. 
 
 If you stand where you ought not 
 Why be shocked when shame is got. 
 
 * There are many passages in Vemana like this, showing that, as in 
 Russia tyranny is kept within bounds by fear of assassination, so wealth 
 under native rulers in India was kept down by the certainty of confiscation, 
 if the Rajah or Nabob got scent of it. No man can perfectly hide rapidly 
 growing wealth. 
 
 f Compare the second verse on Page 291. The miser is a favorite butt of 
 the Hindoo poet. 
 
PROVERBS. 295 
 
 Join the vile, and vile you'll be 
 
 In the eyes of those who see. 
 If beneath a palm you drink,* 
 
 Though but milk, what must we think ? 
 
 Blind man's legs the lame man plies, 
 Cripples lend the blind their eyes : 
 
 Thus for each the poor take heed, 
 Help each other's urgent need.f 
 
 Give promotion to the rude, 
 They will chase away the good. 
 
 Can the dog that eats old shoes 
 Taste the sugarcane he chews ? 
 
 Wash a bear skin every day, 
 
 Will its blackness go away 1\ 
 If you beat an idol's face 
 
 Will the god acquire new grace ? 
 
 * All the fermented liquors used in Southern India are made from the 
 juices of the Palmyra and Cocoanut palms. When the juice is freshly drawn 
 it is called " toddy," and even then is somewhat intoxicating. If a man 
 drink beneath a palm-tree we are justified in thinking his beverage is 
 toddy, for we judge a man by the company he keeps. 
 
 f This anticipates the English fable of the blind and lame beggars — the 
 latter guided, the former trudged, and both flourished. 
 
 % How often do these epigrams bring to mind the parallel passages 
 that abound in European literature and folk-lore ! Among the Dravidian 
 middle classes, proverbs and epigrams form a large proportion of all conver- 
 sation. While a European, who does not catch the idiom, stands dumb 
 with astonishment at the nonsense his native hosts or friends utter, they 
 are in reality making the most trenchant repartees, putting in single neat 
 sentences arguments which would cover a page if expressed in any other 
 form. 
 
29G FINAL PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 FINAL PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 If you swim, you fear no stream. 
 
 Poverty is but a dream 
 When a girdle makes you rich. 
 
 Waiting death, earth has no hitch. 
 
 Catch a monkey, dress it well, 
 
 Tis the king of all the hiU. 
 Thus, 'mongst men, the senseless rule, 
 
 And the luckless serve the fool. 
 
 Snakes are finest when they strike : 
 Deadly foes your friendship like : 
 
 When the king would take your head, 
 Perfect freedom leaves you dead. 
 
 Water dropped in oyster shell 
 
 Brought forth pearls. But that which feU 
 On the sea is water still.* 
 
 Wrongful time turns good to ill. 
 
 If a fool should find the stonef 
 
 It would not remain his own. 
 It would melt, escape again, 
 
 Like the hail that comes with rain. 
 
 * Is it possible to account for this constant repetition of Aryan ideas except 
 on the supposition of a common origin ? 
 
 f The philosopher's stone — as great an object of search in India now as 
 in Europe during the middle ages. 
 
INDEX, 
 
 THE FOLK-SONGS OF SOUTHERN INDIA 
 CANARESE SONGS 
 
 The Nearness of Death... 
 Death ... 
 The best Friend 
 
 Life ... ... 
 
 True Purity... „.. ... ••. 
 
 Purity in the Sight of God., 
 
 The name of God ... ... ... 
 
 Cooked Rice ... ... 
 
 Why I Laugh 
 
 Ceremonial not Religion ... 
 
 God the Saviour... ... ^, 
 
 Outward rites not Religion... ... 
 
 Body and Soul 
 
 How to Cross the Sea of Sin 
 
 A cry for Help 
 
 Life's Sorrow ... 
 
 This troublesome world 
 
 The Painful Servant 
 
 Fate 
 
 The course of Life 
 
 No help but in God ... 
 
 Folly ... ... ... ... .. 
 
 The Fool ... 
 
 The good and evil of wealth 
 
 What matters it ? 
 
 Wisdom... ... ... ... 
 
 The true pariah 
 Ignorance... 
 
 Page. 
 
 ... 1 
 
 .. 15 
 
 V. 17 
 
 .. 19 
 
 ... 20 
 
 .. 21 
 
 .. 23 
 
 ,.. 25 
 
 ,.. 2G 
 
 ... 27 
 
 ,.. 28 
 
 ,.. 28 
 
 ,.. 29 
 
 ... 30 
 
 i*. oL 
 
 ... 36 
 
 ... 38 
 
 ... 39 
 
 ,.. 40 
 
 ,.. 42 
 
 ... 44 
 
 .. 46 
 
 ,.. 48 
 
 .. 49 
 
 .. 51 
 
 .. 53 
 
 ... 54 
 
 .. 56 
 
 .. 58 
 
 .. 60 
 
 38 
 
298 INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 BADAGA SONGS 63 
 
 Dirge for the dead... ... ... ... ... ... 73 
 
 The next world ... ... ... ,,, 81 
 
 Story of Bali... ... ... ... ... 90 
 
 COORG SONGS 101 
 
 Coorg Huttari or Harvest Song... ... ... 115 
 
 Wedding Song ... ,,. .. ... ... ... 128 
 
 Funeral Song... ... ... ... ... 136 
 
 Children's Rhymes ,,. ... ... ... ... 142 
 
 TAMIL SONGS 147 
 
 God is a Spirit ... ... ... ... ... ... 153 
 
 The true God... ... ... ... ... 156 
 
 True Knowledge... ... ... ... ... ... 160 
 
 The sin of Idolatry ... ... ... ... 162 
 
 The Unity of God... ... ... ... 165 
 
 The Brotherhood of Man ... ... ... 168 
 
 True Worship ... ... ... ... ... ... 170 
 
 Labour Songs ... ... ... ... ... ... 183 
 
 Pillaiyar... ... ... ... ... ... ... 183 
 
 Bayadere's Song ... ... ... ,. ... ... 186 
 
 Mother ... .,. ... ... ... 188 
 
 The Wife 191 
 
 Christian Songs ... ... ... ... 193 
 
 Christian Labour Song ... ... ... ... ... 195 
 
 THE CURAL 201 
 
 Praise of God ... ... ... 219 
 
 The Excellence of Rain ... ... ... ... ... 220 
 
 Virtue ... ... ... ... ... 222 
 
 The Husband ... ... ... ... ... ... 224 
 
 The Wife* ... ... ... 226 
 
 Children... ... ... ... ... ... ... 228 
 
 Love ... ... ... ... ... 231 
 
 Hospitality ... ... ... ... ... ... 233 
 
 Gratitude ... ... ... ... ... 235 
 
 Patience... ... ... ... ... ... ... 237 
 
 Backbiting ... ... ... ... ... 239 
 
 Benevolence ... ... ... ... ... ... 241 
 
 Inconsistency... ... ... ... ... , 243 
 
 The Golden Rule... ... ... ... ... ...245 
 

 INDEX. 
 
 
 299 
 
 
 
 
 Page. 
 
 MALAYALAM SONGS 
 
 • M 
 
 ... 
 
 246 
 
 Irse Amantium 
 
 • •* ... • 
 
 
 248 
 
 Morning Hymn to Kali 
 
 ••• ••• 
 
 ... 
 
 251 
 
 Krishna .. 
 
 ... ... • 
 
 
 ... 255 
 
 Lament for Krishna ... 
 
 ... ... 
 
 ... 
 
 257 
 
 A Riddle 
 
 ... ... . 
 
 
 259 
 
 TELUGU SONGS 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 261 
 
 Observance of Ritual 
 
 ... ••• • 
 
 
 ... 269 
 
 Ritual not Religion ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 271 
 
 Idolatry... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 273 
 
 v^UStC... ... ... 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 275 
 
 Death 
 
 ... ••• > 
 
 
 276 
 
 Morals 
 
 ... ... 
 
 ... 
 
 279 
 
 Good Wives 
 
 ... ... . 
 
 
 281 
 
 Bad Wives ... 
 
 ... •«. 
 
 ••« 
 
 ... ... 283 
 
 Brahmans ... 
 
 ... ... • 
 
 
 ... 286 
 
 Poor Richard... 
 
 ... ... 
 
 ... 
 
 290 
 
 Domestic Morality... 
 
 ... ... . 
 
 
 ... 292 
 
 Proverbs 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 294 
 
 Final Philosophy... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 ... 1 ... 296 
 
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