"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen and waste its sweetness in the desert air",said Thomas Gray.
This observation is the most appropriate for this Coimbatorean.
A Coimbatorean of early 20{+t}{+h} century, "Sivakavimani" C.K.Subramania Mudaliar’s scholarship and service to the Tamil literary world deserved far more recognition than he actually enjoyed. One of his most significant contributions to Tamil literature is his commentary on Periyapuranam. It took him 19 years to complete the work.
And the suffering he had to undergo to attain his life's mission could be likened to that of Samuel Johnson for his lexicon.
Saivite philosophy has two pillars in Tamil literature. They are Pannirendu Thirumuraigal and Meikanda Sathiram . Periyapuranam is one among the Thirumuraigal . Referred to amongst Tamil scholars as Sivakavimani, Subramania Mudaliar was born on Feb 12, 1878, to lawyer Vidwan Kandaswami Mudaliar who was himself extremely proficient in Tamil and had composed a number of "prabandhams". Surrounded by great Tamil scholars, Subramania Mudaliar, but naturally, imbibed the love for Tamil and also Saivite philosophy.
In his autobiography Oru pithanin suyasaritham , he recounts how Suyapakkam K.Sadasivam Chettiar’s advice, that every human being should read at least one thirumurai everyday first sowed the seed that later led him to write the commentary for Periyapuranam . It started with Paarayanam ( recitation) of the all the thirumurais ( 18, 000 poems) which initially took seven years. Then, he started doing it regularly and he is said to have completed this exercise more than 40 times!
His first work was Manickavasagar allathu neethar perumai in 1924. This was a collection of lectures he had delivered. V.O.Chidambaram Pillai, a champion of the Indian freedom movement and a great Tamil scholar, took this book personally to Swadesamithran press in Chennai and published it. The Madras University prescribed it for B.A.
His Sekkizhar was the compilation of the three lectures he delivered at Pachayappa’s College, Madras University. This was also prescribed as a textbook.
The research he undertook for the lectures became the foundation for his commentary on Periyapuranam. He wrote Perunkarunaiammai Pillaithamizh, a book in poetic form on the deity at Avinaasi. Ardhanareeswarar allathu maadhirukkum pathian was about the ruling deity of Tiruchengode.
Thiruthondarpuranathil Murugan
, Karuvur thevar and Vageesan allathu meyyunarthal were his other works all born out of his lectures. But, it was his commentary on Periyapuranam which made the Tamil literary world sit up and take note.
Mudaliar, being a student of well known Tamil scholar Thiruchitrambalam Pillai, was also a part of the Kovai Thamizh Sangham. He acknowledges that it was Thiruchitrambalam Pillai who ignited his passion for Periyapuranam .
Besides, the lectures of great Tamil scholars like Sadasivam Chettiar, "Pandithamani" Mu.Kathiresan Chettiar , N.M.Venkatasamy Nattar, etc. also greatly inspired him.
His work on Periyapuranam began in 1934. He recollects, in his autobiography, the travails and tribulations he had to undergo, and also the enormous support he received. "Though I just wrote only 14 words regarding Thirupanandal Aadheenam in Thirugnanasambandar Puranam , they gave me Rs 1,000 (a fortune those days)".
Apart from Madras University, Dharmapuram Aaadheenam, Thirvavaduthurai Aadhenam and Annmalai University extended help to him. The commentary was printed in 1953 and the book was released the following year.
Mudaliar was also involved in the freedom movement and shared excellent rapport with several top level leaders like Chidambaram Pillai, Arvind Ghosh, Lala Lajpat Rai, etc. He recounts how the police thoroughly searched his house an entire night in connection with the sensational murder of Ash, a sub-collector of Tuticorin. His wife set fire to a number of letters from these leaders and thus saved the day.
Mudaliar practised in the Coimbatore bar for 48 years. He was a councillor of Coimbatore Municipality for five terms and was once the Vice Chairman also. He was elected to the Senate of Madras University and was also a member of the Academic Council and Syllabus Committee of the university.
In the early 20{+t}{+h} century, the educational authorities were not prepared to accord proper status to Indian languages. "They were all treated as vernacular languages and called Second Language while English and Sanskrit were considered superior", recalls Mudaliar. "Tamil was not considered a classical language. Tamil teachers were not granted professorship and were designated only as Pundits."
Mudaliar fought against such discrimination. He also fought to prescribe great works like Thevaram in the university.
An ardent devotee of Saiva philosophy he rendered yeoman service to a number of temples, particularly the Perur Patteeeswarar shrine. Mudaliar,who was a great friend of Chidambaram Pillai, counted a number of other eminent people as his friends. They included C.S.Rathina Sabapathi Mudaliar, considered the father of Coimbatore, and chairman of Coimbatore Municiplity for six consecutive terms, and C.M.Ramachandran Chettiar, another great Tamil scholar of Coimbatore.
He passed away on Jan 24, 1961.
