Of the stone, thou art the lustre: of the word,
thou art the truth;
In virtue, thou art the sweetness; in vigour
thou art the strength;
Of the Vedas, thou art the Arcanum; of the
elements, thou art the Source;
Of the sun, thou art the effulgence; of the
moon thou art the grace;
Thou art All, and the essence of All thou art.20 |
Similarly the Bhagavad-Gītāhas these lines: Of creations the beginning and the ending,
and also the middle am I, O Arjuna. Of
Sciences, the science concerning the SELF;
the speech of orators I . . . |
And whatsoever is the seed of all beings, that am I,
O Arjuna; nor is there aught, moving or unmoving,
that may exist bereft of Me . . .
|
Whatsoever is glorious, good, beautiful, and mighty,
understand thou that to go forth from a fragment of
My splendour.21
|
The sentiments these Tamil and Sanskrit lines express were confined to devotion; they did not influence the secular poetry of the Tamils, nor did they cause the introduction of new trends in their interpretation of Nature during the Classical Period. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20Paripaatal, 3, 63 ft. 21Bhagavad-Gita, Tenth discourse. |