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90 JAINS AND TAMIL LITERATURE.'
own. The Kural is a masterpiece of Tamil literature, containing some of the highest and purest expressions of human thought. Writing of Kural, M. Ariel says: “ That which above all is wonderful in the Kurral is the fact that its author addresses himself, without regard to castes, peoples or beliefs, to the whole community of mankind; the fact that he formulates sovereign morality and absolute reason ; that he proclaims in their very essence, in their eternal abstractedness, virtue and truth; that he presents, as it were, in one group the highest laws of domestic and social life ; that he is equally perfect in thought, in language, and in poetry, in the austere metaphysical contemplation of the great mysteries of the Divine Nature, as ir. the easy and graceful analysis of the tenderest. emotions of the heart."
The Kural owes much of its popularity to its exquisite poetic form. “ It is an apple of gold in a network of silver.” It has been translated into various European languages. It is cosmopolitan in its teachings and appeals directly both to the head and heart of every religionist. Even Christians do not neglect Kural. On the other hand, they strongly believe that the teachings of Valluvar were more or less borrowed from Saint Thomas who, according to tradition, obtained his martyrdom at Mylapore. Thus, Dr. Pope :~_“ Mayilapur to us is better known as S. Thome. In this neighbourhood a Christian
