Asiatic Quarterly Review (Full Title: The Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review, and Oriental and Colonial Record): Volume XIII, No. 26 [‎497v] (119/238)

332 The Age of Mdnikka Vdfagar.
ceded Mdnikka, two of whom are referred to in his own
works, are included in the Catalogue.
Nor does he accept another reason that is assigned—
namely, that Manikka’s religious note was pitched too high
for the purpose of Sundara and the other hymners, his
ideal of God being too impersonal properly to impress the
multitude. But he comes to the conclusion (p. 45) that
Mdnikka may be regarded as included in the clause of the
document which runs “and poets of no untrue devotion,”
in which it was possibly intended to include, he thinks, all
the poets of the Sangam Age, the enumeration of whom
would have occupied too great a space in Sundara’s work.
This, however, appears to me an inadmissible view.
Would Sundara or any other writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. have the presumption
to lump up writers and thinkers and saints of the eminence
of Mdnikka, Kapildr, Kallddar and others in a mere appendix
which relegated them to comparative insignificance ?
Mr. Tirumalai Kolundu appears to be greatly influenced
by the occurrence in Appdr’s writings of an allusion to the
legend of the transformation of the jackals into horses, a
legend specially connected, as is supposed, with the career
of Mdnikka Vd^agar, though the passage does not expressly
refer to him. If the passage be genuine, and Appdr in his
mention of this miracle performed by Siva showed that he
intended to connect it with the history of Manikka Vdcagar,
it would, of course, be conclusive in favour of the priority
of Mdnikka Vd^agar to Appdr. But this is not so, and the
passage, even though it be allowed to be genuine, may
simply point to the previous existence of a similar legend
in some other connection, just as the legend of the Vanni
tree may have existed prior to the time of Jnana Sam-
bandhar ;* and, looking to what has been said above, this
circumstance can scarcely be said to have weight in favour
of the priority of Manikka Va^agar to Appdr.
Mr. Tirumalai Kolundu Pillai also refers to the fact that
Appdr is found to use similar expressions to those employed
* Tirumalai Kolundu, p. 33 .