MATERIALIST THOUGHT IN TAMIL LITERATURE 41 1 AC Nayanar (Ed.) Neelakesi, a Jain epic, Madras 1936, Introduction. 3 Purananuru, an anthology of poems of the Sangam period. Various editions are available, for example, one edited by V Swaminatha lyer, Madras 1965. " 3 S V Pillai, History of Tamil Language and Literafwe, Madras 1960. 4 D Chattopadhyaya, Lokayata, Bombay 1958. 5 F Engels, Dialectics of Nature, Moscow. 6 K Marx and F Engels,German Ideology, Moscow. 7 Purananuru, poem 239. a Ibid., 191. 9 T N Subramanian, "Ajivikas in Thevaram" an article in the Arunagiri Souvenir, Isaikazhagam. 1 o Purananuru, 9. 1 i Ibid. i a Ibid. is Ibid., 55. Tavwas are foreign merchants who are mentioned in all the Puram works. 14! D N Sastry, Philosophical Background of Ayurveda, chapter on Lokayata, Lokmipathi, (Ed.) 1936. 15 Purananuru. IP Maturaikkanai, lines 453-458. i7 D N Sastry, op. cit. i- 8 Purananuru, 9. ^9 Pattupattu, Madras 1958, a Sangam anthology of ten poems of which Maduraikanchi is one. ^o Purananuru, 18. 2 i Manimekalai, M V Nathan and A V Pillai (Ed.) Saiva Siddhanta Works Publishing Society, Tirunelveli, first edition 1946, X 90. 22 Purananuru, 189. 23 Ibid., 167. 24 IV Mahadevan, Study of Tamil Brahmin Inscriptions of the Sangam Age, a paper submitted to the Second International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies. 25 Paraphrase of the lines in Manimekalai by the old commentator (Translation mine). 2 6 AC Nayanar, (Ed.) Neelakesi, Madras 1936, English introduction. 27 D Ghattopadhyaya, Indian Philosophy, Bombay 1961, p 186. 2 8 Manimekalai, commentary on lines about Bhutavada. 29 D N Sastry, op. cit. 30 D Chattopadhyaya, op. cit., p 189. ai Ibid.,pp 189-190. 3 2 Siuagnana Siddhiar (Tamil) Saiva Siddhanta Works Publishing Society, Tirunelveli (year not mentioned). 53 J Needham, Development of Early Civilisation in China, Cambridge, 1948. A few Siddhas believed that the body made of Bhutas can be preserved if the changes in the combination and decomposition of the Bhutas are controlled. A few Siddhas were merely rebels against organised Saiva religion—against caste oppression—but were theists believing in a supreme god, Siva, who could be approached without the intermediary of priesthood. They were not materialists. Later the Saivites interpolated many of their own concepts into the popular folk cults of the Siddhas. The extant work, known as Siddhar Padalgal, is a heterogeneous mixture of all these trends. No edition is free from interpolations. A deep study of this work and of the medical works of Siddha physicians may reveal materialist elements in their thought.