Page:Tamil studies.djvu/267

240 king. Some Tamil scholars endeavour to prove the very high antiquity of the Tamil civilization in the Pandya country by quoting such references from Valmiki's Ramayana and Vyasa's Mahabharata. In his Maduraikkanji (40, 41) Marudanar of Mangudi says that the Pandya country was in existence at the time of Ravana, king of Lanka, and that the Pandyas checked his invasion with the help of their iamily priest, the divine Rishi Agastya. தென்னவற் பெயரிய துன்னருந் துப்பிற் றொன்முது கடவுட் பின்னர் மேய வரைத்தாழருவிப் பொருப்பிற் பொருந. But it must be remembered that neither epic was wholly composed by any one person and at any one epoch. Both contain interpolations and accretions, judging from which the dates of their present edition have been fixed as the first century B.C. and 350 A.D. respectively. Moreover, the Ramayana refers only to the Greeks (Yavanas) while the Mahabharata mentions them as well as the Sakhas (Scythians). All that can be inferred is, that the three Tamil kingdoms in the South were in existence from very ancient times. No one doubts this fact, as these countries are mentioned in the edicts of Asoka (B. C. 250) and in the commentaries of Katyayana (fourth century B. C.).

The identification of Dakshina Madura, the seat of the first Academy has been a controversial point. Regarding the destruction of this place there are certain allusions both in the Madura Stalapurana and in the Silappadikaram. The learned commentator of the