# T. V. Sambasivam Pillai

Tanjore Vilviah Sambasivam Pillai was a South Indian Tamil scholar in Siddha medicine, a traditional medicine that originated in India. He is known for his Tamil – English Dictionary of Medicine, Chemistry, Botany and Allied Sciences. This is considered to be one of the major works on Siddha medicine despite the author not having any formal education in medicine.

## Biography

Pillai was born on the 19th of September 1880 in Bengaluru as the eldest son of parents Vilviah Manniar and Manonmani Ammal. His family, originated from the village of Kamuganchenthangudi, near Tanjore, later migrating to Bangalore.
An epidemic plague outbreak in Bangalore eventually led his family to return to their original village. Pillai remained in Bangalore to finish his education. Post-schooling, he was appointed as a clerk to the Madras City Police Commissioner’s office.
He married Duraikannu Ammal in 1903. They had five sons, all of which died due to unknown causes. Duraikannu Ammal died in 1914 after contracting cholera.
In 1916, he married Ammani Ammal. In 1917, she died during the birth of her first child.
As a result, Pillai experienced depression. To overcome it, he dedicated himself to the study of Siddha medicine. Notably, he did not have any formal training or education in the field of medicine.
While studying Siddha, he realized that there was no authentic work on the subject in English, leading him to write Tamil – English Dictionary of Medicine, Chemistry, Botany and Allied Sciences. He died on the 12th of November 1953.

## Recognition

In recognition of his work, the Government of Tamil Nadu sanctioned Rs. 5000 in 1949 as a financial assistance for his research and provided an accommodation at Triplicane, Chennai. He was also awarded Rs. 5000 each by the University of Madras and Mysore University in recognition of his work. On 30 August 2019, the Government of India issued a commemorative stamp of Rs. 5 in the series of Masters of AYUSH recognizing the services of twelve modern masters of Indian systems of medicine.

## Works

Pillai spent nearly 16 years collecting material for the Tamil-English Dictionary of Medicine, Chemistry, Botany, and Allied Sciences. He spent his salary, land, and other assets to collect. In 1938, he compiled and published two volumes of his work at his own expense. He could only publish the third volume partially. The remaining part was published with partial help from the Government of Tamil Nadu. The fourth and fifth volumes were published in 1977 and 1978, respectively, by G. D. Naidu and his son G. D. N. Gopal.
The work provides information about plants, minerals, metals, and animals used in the Siddha medicine and consists of five volumes, spanning 6,537 pages. It contains nearly 80,000 words. The work provides synonyms for Tamil words in Latin/English. It also describes and explains any given word with appropriate annotations where required.
It was renamed The Greatness of Siddha Medicine and was published at the Second World Tamil Conference held in Chennai in 1968.
Tamil – English Dictionary of Medicine, Chemistry, Botany and Allied Sciences :
| Volumes | Part | Publisher/year | Pages | Description |
| I | I | Research Institute of Siddhars Science/1938. | 880 | It covers Tamil letters A, Aa, I (3 letters). 240 pages are occupied by Forward which research material under covers 27 headings. It covers topic such as macrocosm vs. microcosm, astrology in medicine, eastern physiology, the five elements, humoral pathology, science of breath, Prana, science of pulse, diseases and their cure, ancient chemistry, alchemy, rejuvenation, immortality and the ethics of a good physician etc. |
| I | II | Research Institute of Siddhars Science/1938. | 862 | It covers Tamil letters i, ee, u, oo, e, ae, i, o, oa, ou (10 letters). |
| II | I | Research Institute of Siddhars Science/1938. | 800 | It covers Tamil letters Ka, Kaa (2 letters). This volume consists dictionary content of Tamil alphabets from ‘Ka’ to ‘Kow’ under 774 pages. |
| II | II | Research Institute of Siddhars Science/1938. | 536 | It covers Tamil letters Ki to Kou (10 letters). This volume consists dictionary content of Tamil alphabets from ‘Ka’ to ‘Kow’ under 774 pages. |
| III | - | The Directorate of Indian Medicine/1977 | 472 | Sa, saa, si (3 letters). This volume consists dictionary content of Tamil alphabets from ‘Cha’ to ‘Chi’. under 774 pages. |
| IV | I | The Directorate of Indian Medicine/1977 | 1020 | Si-sow, nja series, da series to tha, thaa (36 letters). This volume consists dictionary content of Tamil alphabet Si to Now. It is published posthumously. |
| IV | II | The Directorate of Indian Medicine/1978 | 980 | Thi-thow – Nha series (22 letters). This volume consists dictionary content of Tamil alphabet Si to Now. It is published posthumously. |
| V | - | The Directorate of Indian Medicine/1978 | 1292 | Pa series to Nau series (120 letters). This volume consists dictionary content of Tamil alphabet Pa to Jo. |
The work used as the reference work for the B.S.M.S., M.D (Siddha) and Ph. D. studies as well as the reference work for literature research scholars.