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மறைமலையம் - 30
While preserving the intrinsic nature and excellence of their religious system, the teachers and prophets of the Tamil country have not disdained to take from foreign cults. whatever seemed to have influenced the ordinary people, and whatever might be turned to good account in the light of their own religious thought. In this wise came to by added to the outer surface of the body of Saivism, simple as poetic embellishments remember, only a few Puranic- myths of the northeners at first, but, as time went on, rushed in quite a multitude of them which, instead of adding to the naked beauty of the resplendent form, concealed it and even rendered it ugly in the eyes of- an incautious, indolent, or an ill-intentioned looker-on. Only to the penetrating mental vision of a careful thinker, the intrinsic value of the system came to reveal itself. Others touched only its outer crust of myths, some of them believing them to be actual facts, while some others who had an inkling of reasoning. spirit, turned away from them with disgust. However, one who would like to be benefited by the inestimable knowledge treasured up in the Saiva system of thought, should not render himself liable to, be thus scared away by the Aryan myths that sit at its door. Dr. G. U. Pope who did an invaluable Service to: the world by translating into English the sacred Tamil poems called the Thiruva- chakam of S1, Manickavachakar wisely observes: "paura nic mythology and legend is dragged in, as simple poetic embellishment designed to please the multitude”*
But the religious and philosophical ideas that are developed here in the following pages have nothing to do with such Puranic myths, for they are taken entirely from the ancient Tamil work the Tholkappiam, the only treatise extant that was composed at a time when the Aryan in- fluence did not touch even the fringe of the Tamilian thought, when the creation of Puranic myths did not take place as yet. The age of this unique Tamil work goes back to 3500 B. C. as is shown in my work on S1, Manicka- vachakar. The Aryans were then spreading over the north mid founding colonies in the midst of the Tamils and Kolarians that existed there long before their advent.
