Written by London Swaminathan

Post No. 16,294

Date uploaded in London – 11 October 2026

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OZIVIL ODUKKAM BY KANNUDAIYA VALLALAR;

GNANAMIRTHAM BY VAGEESAR;

KAIVALYA NAVANEETHAM BY THANDAVARAYA SWAMIGAL;

About seventy years ago A V SUBRAMANIYA AYYAR wrote a short book titled THE POETRY AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE TAMIL SIDDHARS, year 1957. Of the famous 18 TAMIL SIDDHARS, only Tirumular is known to many Tamil devotees. He was the only one recognised by Tamil Saivites; others are treated as iconoclasts though they were also Siva devotees. Apart from the Tamil Siddhars, there are other great saints like Pattinathar and Thayumanavar and later Vallalar Ramalinga Swamikal. Because of a clash between famous Saivite scholar Arumuga Navalar and Vallalar, his Thiru Arutpa is also rejected by Saivite scholars and Saivite Adeenams. Later years produced some Tamil philosophic poets, and they are not known to many devotees. Thanks to AVS Ayyar, a short summary of their works is available.

ஒழிவில் ஒடுக்கம் – கண்ணுடைய வள்ளலார் ;

ஞானாமிர்தம் – வாகீசர்;

கைவல்ய நவநீதம் – தாண்டவராய சுவாமிகள்

Swami Omkarananda of Theni Vedapureeswara Ashram made the Kaivalya Navaneetham a popular through his excellent talks. They are available on You Tube and CDs released by the Ashram in Theni, Tamil Nadu.

Here is what AVS Ayyar says,

1

There are three outstanding works, which are technically outside the range of Siddhar literature., but which deserve special mention as constituting philosophic poetry of the highest quality with considerable literary value. These are the Jnanamirtham of saint Vagisar, Olivilodukkam of Kannudaiya Vallalar and Kaivalya Navaneetham of Thandavaraya Swamigal. These works are not generally considered to be part of Siddhar literature, but their content and conclusions, developed with argument and force in a terse and vigorous poetic style, emphasize in the main, the outlook and the general philosophy for which the Siddhars stood. There is an essential unity between the look on life here and hereafter and that of the Siddhars.

(Pronunciation guide- Vagisar= vaageesar; Jnanamirtham = jnaanaamirtham ).

Vagisar, the author of Jnanamirtham was a philosopher who lived probably in the 12^th or 13^th century. His work is one of the most profound philosophical treatises in Tamil literature. It contains about 75 poems; all of them are in Ahaval metre in which all the stiffness of the ancient usage has been retained.  In spite of this, the poet has shown extraordinary command over the Ahaval form and has made his style and diction vigorous and somewhat smooth.

The poem stresses the importance of the path of Jnana for salvation and leans toward the Saiva Sidhdhanta system in its philosophy. It contains an indictment of the life of senses and also a powerful plea for a virtuous life and avoidance of all evil. A brilliant exposition of the doctrine of Karma is found in a number of poems, in which it has been maintained, with illustrations from the Itihasas and Puranas, that even Jnanis are not exempt from the influence of Karma. The attributes of those who have attained spiritual realization have been described with imagination and power. Their state of bliss is as ineffable, says the poet, as that of the union of a lover and his beloved and can be known only to those who have enjoyed it. Quite a number of lyrics in this work have outstanding poetical qualities, though they deal with abstruse philosophy.

2

Kannudaiya Vallalar  was a Saiva mystic, who lived in the 14^th or 15^th century. His work Olivilodukkam, which contains a little over 250 stanzas in Venba metre, is one of the most thoughtful and philosophic poems in Tamil literature. It is an endless mine of intellectual similes. Compared with his merciless sarcasm on all kinds of idolatry, the words of Sivavakkiyar and others, so frequently quoted,  are the tamest of the jejune platitudes. Sivavakkiyar adopted the language of the common man and wanted to appeal to him while Kannudaiya Vallalar has written for the cultivated reader. That explains the real difference between them.

Whatever that may be, Olivilodukkam is a highly intellectual poem. its verses have excellent form and are pregnant with thought and meaning. There is an introductory stanza (Paayiram), which has called forth an elaborate commentary from Ramalinga Swamigal . the poem lays greater emphasis on Jnana than Yoga, Bhakti or Karma. In a magnificent stanza that contains beautiful similes, the poet has drawn a fine picture of the joy of the soul that has divested  itself of Avidya or ignorance and seen light. He does not believe in idol worship and condemns false ascetics. That the ultimate condition of bliss which a Vedantin or Sidhdhantin enjoys is one and the same is pointed out by this philosopher. He pays a glowing tribute to Pattinathar and Bhadragiriyar and holds them up as the highest examples of renunciation. Those who have attained the supreme spiritual state, form a class of supermen by themselves. They have neither name nor caste nor religion; they are merely embodied souls. The mystic and philosophical teachings of this poem which are enshrined in splendid poetry unmistakably  gives the author a high place among the Tamil Sidhdars in the general sense of that term.

3

The Kaivalya Navaneetham of Thandavaraya Swamigal, who lived than later than the two philosophers mentioned above, is a poem that expounds pure Vedantic Advaitism. It is more well known than the other two works mentioned above. It contains nearly 300 stanzas in two sections; the first expounds philosophic principles and the second clarifies possible doubts. The poem is in the form of an exchange of views between the Guru and his Sishya. The poem is intellectual and argumentative and as such, from a purely literary point of view, it is inferior to the other two poems. Most of its verses are only pedestrian; but as a clear and lucid summary of Advaitic philosophy in simple and forcible language in readable verses, it is unrivalled and masterly. The familiar and well known arguments of the Vedantin are marshalled with cogency and insight. 

A V S Ayyar has given some verses in Tamil to illustrate his points. He has also given inscriptional evidence to find the approximate dates of the poets.

All the three poems must be given more publicity.

–subham—

Tags- Three, lesser-known, Tamil Philosophic Poets ,OZIVIL ODUKKAM , KANNUDAIYA VALLALAR;GNANAMIRTHAM , VAGEESAR;KAIVALYA NAVANEETHAM , THANDAVARAYA SWAMIGAL, ஒழிவில் ஒடுக்கம் , கண்ணுடைய வள்ளலார், ஞானாமிர்தம், வாகீசர், கைவல்ய நவநீதம், தாண்டவராய சுவாமிகள்