3 Review(s)

About The Book : "Studies in Saiva Siddhanta" is a recent contribution to the philosophic literature of the world. It is from the pen of Mr. J. M. Nallasvami Pillai, B.A., B.L., who is a well-known figure in the field of original research into the mysteries of the past. The book embodies his labors in that direction for a period of fourteen years and contains the several papers he contributed, from time to time, to three of the monthlies of this Presidency. Even a cursory reader will be struck with the depth of his scholarship; for the exposition of his theme, he appears to have utilized all the available literature on it, both scientific and philosopher, both ancient and modern. A profound student of Tamil, he has not spared pains to indent largely upon it. His range of investigation extends from the remotest portion of the Vedas to the most modern of scientific truths. The book is remarkable for the close reasoning which he adopts, for the apt citations which he makes to bear out his contention, and for the happy illustrations which he brings in to make clear the several questions of controversy. To some extent, it is unique inasmuch as the learned writer treads upon a ground which very few modern savants have trodden in the exposition of the broad principles that underlie the subject. About The Author : J. M. Nallasvami Pillai (1864-1920) was a contemporary of Vedanayagam Pillai (1826-1889) and Dr U V Swaminatha Iyer (1855-1941). He was a multifaceted genius and his wide ranging literary activities as a powerful writer, translator and propagandist of Saiva Siddhanta were mainly responsible for re-kindling the revival of academic interest in Saiva Siddhanta in Europe and America in the first decade of 20th century. He was acknowledged by all his contemporaries as an outstanding authority on the philosophical works known as Saiva Siddhanta Sastras. By his translations of nine (9) of the fourteen (14) books coming under this category and by his authoritative commentaries and essays on the Saiva Siddhanta he become, probably, the most voluminous writer on that philosophical system in the English language. Nallaswami Pillai was born in a respectable Vellala Family at Trichirappalli on 24 November, 1864. He came from a very influential family, many of whose ancestors had held high official positions under the Carnatic Nawabs. His father was Manickam Pillai who was employed as a Clark in the District Police Office at Tiruchirappalli. He studied at SPG High School in Tiruchirappalli, passing the Matriculation Examination with Distinction in 1879. He then went to SPG College, Tiruchirappali for his Intermediate College Education.