________________
39
JAINA LITERATURE IN TAMIL Thus we have 1330 verses in the form of couplets. It has three or four important commentaries. Of these, one is by the great commentator Naccinārkkiniyar. It is supposed to be by a Jaina according to the Jaina tradition, but is unfortunatety lost to the world. The commentary that is popular at present is by one Parimēlaļagar and it is certainly later than Naccinārkkiniyar's and differs from the latter in the interpretation of many important points. Recently another commentary by Maņakkudavar was published. Students of Tamil literature entertain the hope of obtaining and and publishing the commentary by the great Naccinārkkiniyar. But up to the present there has not been any trace of it.
The work is translated into almost all the European languages, the very good English translation being the the work of Rev. G. U. Pope. This great work, together with the other work Naladiyār, of which we shall speak presently, must have been one of the important factors in shaping the character and ideals of the Tamil people. Speaking of these two ethical masterpieces, Dr. Pope writes as follows:- “Yet pervading these verses there seems to me to be a strong sense of moral obligation, an earnest aspiration after righteousness, a fervant and unselfish charity and generally a loftiness of aim that are very impressive. I have felt sometimes as if there must be a blessing in
1. G. U. Pope: The Nālaţiyār or the Four Hundred Quatrains in Tamil (1883), General Introduction, p. xi.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
