MODERN TAMIL WRITERS.

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between a pious Sivaite and the Italian Jesuit , Beschi. Thismissionary of genius and learning not only wrote Tamil prose Beschi.of the highest excellence, but he composed a great religiousepic in classical Tamil , which has won for him a conspicuousrank among Dravidian poets. His work, the Tembavani,gives a Tamil adaptation of the narrative and even of thegeography of the Bible , suited to the Hindu taste of the18th century.

approximates the verses to Christian ideas, for example, by the title, ‘ TheShepherd of the Worlds,’ which Bishop Caldwell states may have meantto the poet only ‘ King of the Gods.’

The Shepherd of the Worlds.

How many various flowersDid I, in bygone hours,

Cull for the gods, and in their honour strew ;

In vain how many a prayerI breathed into the air,

And made, with many forms, obeisance due.

Beating my breast, aloudHow oft I called the crowdTo drag the village car ; how oft I stray’d,

In manhood’s prime, to laveSunwards the flowing wave,

And, circling Saiva fanes, my homage paid.

But they, the truly wise,

Who know and realize

Where dwells the Shepherd of the Worlds, will ne’erTo any visible shrine,

As if it were divine,

Deign to raise hands of worship or of prayer.

The Unity of God and of Truth.

God is one, and the Veda is one;

The disinterested, true Guru is one, and his initiatory rite one;

When this is obtained his heaven is one ;

There is but one birth of men upon the earth,

And only one way for all men to walk in :

But as for those who hold four Vedas and six shastras,

And different customs for different people,

And believe in a plurality of gods,

Down they will go to the fire of hell!

God is Love.

The ignorant think that God and love are different.

None knows that God and love are the same.

Did all men know that God and love are the same,

They would dwell together in peace, considering love as God .