Vedanayagam Sastriyar, arguably the greatest Tamil Christian poet, demonstrated extraordinary punditry in poetry, music and drama. Tutored by the peerless Prussian missionary Christian Friedrich Schwartz, Sastriyar acquired a commendable grasp of various subjects like musicology, botany, theology, geography, physiology, biology, astronomy, philosophy and sociology - to say nothing about his more than nodding acquaintance with the English, German and Latin languages; besides, he was comfortable with the usage of Sanskrit too . And his works covered the entire human life cycle – from lullaby to elegy – and even went beyond to describe heaven!
Sastriyar’s manuscripts and books can be found in major centres of literature, arts, academia and theology around the world, most notably in the British Library - London, the French National Library - Paris, the Lutheran Museum - Halle, the United Theological College - Bangalore and the Saraswati Mahal Library - Thanjavur. His lyrics form the major portion of the book of Tamil Christian songs used widely for worship in Tamil Christian congregations the world over.
Unfortunately, only a handful of his 130 books is available to the public today and it has been my desire for some years to put his works in cyberspace for easy access by those interested, with only a few clicks of the mouse, touch of fingers or perhaps even voice commands. Even if you remember only a line or title, you should be able to search digitally and find the complete stanza. And what better book to start with than ஜெப மாலை ! It is a veritable treasure strung together with varied versification styles and is a store house of Bible knowledge, a testament of faith, a denunciation of superstition, a tool for evangelization and a rhapsody of worship.
So here it is, reproduced in its entirety, complete with the original Preface. Production of the work in this form did pose some challenges, as the printed book of 1974 available for reference was not itself quite error free. I am grateful to Mary Ambrose of Voice of the Shepherd – Vellore for the initial typing work. If this effort has succeeded today, many thanks must go to my cousins the Johnsons and Chellas, my son Rabin and my mother Sarojini Vincent, not forgetting Rev. Dr. Johnson Rethinasamy of the Immanuel Lutheran Church, New York for his wholehearted encouragement and ready acceptance to host this work on his website dedicated to Sastriyar.
Another 129 books or so to go!
Judah S.G.Vincent September 2014
Blog: www.judahsjottings.com