Tamil is the oldest languages in the world and Tolkappiyam is one of the earliest available literary work in Tamil. Tolkappiyar, who is the author of Tolkappiyam is believed to have lived during the Second Sangam era – before 4,200 B.C. This is the story of the man who first translated this great ancient text into English.
A great scholar proficient in Tamil, Sanskrit and English, Dr PS Subrahmanya Sastri was born on July 29, 1890, in Balakrishnanpatti, Kollimalai – Trichy district of Tamil Nadu as the eldest son of Swaminatha Sastrigal and Srimati Mangalammal.
After studying mathematics at the degree level, he went on to study Sanskrit for his MA with Neelkanda Shastri, an expert in grammar and philosophy. He graduated as the first PhD holder from the University of Madras. He had published in 1930 his thesis on ‘History of Grammatical Theories in Tamil and Their Relation to Grammatical Literature in Sanskrit’. He had researched the entire Tolkappiyam and wrote the text for it in Tamil and English.
He started his career as a mathematics teacher at Tiruvaiyaru Government College. Later he became the Principal of Rajah’s College , Tiruvaiyaru and Head of the Department of Sanskrit at the Annamalai University between 1942 and 1947. He was known by the titles of Vidyaratnam, Vidyanidi and Vidyabhushanam.
Dr Sastri had published the English translation of Tolkappiam in 1930. Even though his approach was scientific, his work was widely criticized by both Tamil and Sanskrit scholars. He was called anti-Tamil and anti -Sanskrit by naysayers.
But it is to be noted that it was during his tenure at Annamalai University, he revived the defunct Sanskrit Honours course. Also, his class lectures in Sanskrit or English was interspersed with parallels from Tamil literature. Such was his love for the three languages.
Dr Sastri’s fluency in Tamil , Sanskrit and English got him the title of ‘Vani Triveni Prayaga’ from Kanchi Paramacharya. In addition to that, he had sound knowledge in Latin and German and has written about 35 books.
Though he was very firm in his looks, his disciples remembered him for being very simple and extremely kind, especially the poor amongst them. He was always conscious about his own humble beginnings and had devoted his entire life to Tamil.
Subramania Shastri passed away on 20th May, 1978 at the age of 88.
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