the reader of so much North Indian poetry. Nammalvar follows these REVIEWS conventions, but the 'he' who is awaited is god, not a man, so the canvas of the usual love-poem is expanded by a single line or gesture. The young girl who is being addressed becomes
dear girl,
dear as the paradise of our lord
who measured the earth
girdled by the restless sea
[Tiruviruttam 68)
This last example has been pointed out by Ramanujan himself in the scholarly essay which accompanies the poems. As with his two previous volumes of translation, the value of the book is greatly enhanced by this. Here he places the poetry of the alvars in its historical context, examines the relation between the Sanskrit and the Tamil culture, as also the difference between the aesthetics of Rasasind the aesthetics, if it can be called that, ofbhakti poetry^The essay explores the manner in which the earlier akam (love poetry) and puram (war poetry) developed towards the bhakti form. It analyses the nature of the alvar's relationship with his god and not least, it provides a poet's insights into the poems.
1 leaking of Shiua, Penguin Classic, 1973, p. 12. 2. Ibid.
3 Ibid., p. 13.
4 The Interior Landscape, Clarion Books, p. 12.
Journal of Arts and Ideas 77