The four hundred songs of war and wisdom
Subtitle: an anthology of poems from classical Tamil : the purananuru
By: translated and edited by George L. Hart and Hank Heifetz.
Contributors: Hart, George L.; Heifetz, Hank.
Series: Translations from the Asian classics
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 397
Subjects: Pur̲anān̲ūr̲u.; War poetry, Tamil -- Translations into English.; Tamil poetry -- To 1500 -- Translations into English.
Description: "Two prominent translators present the first complete English-language edition of one of India's greatest works of classical literature: the Purananuru. This anthology of four hundred poems composed by more than 150 poets in old Tamil - the literary language of ancient Tamilnadu - was compiled between the first and third centuries C.E. before Aryan influence had penetrated the south; it is thus a unique testament to pre-Aryan India."--BOOK JACKET.

"Reflecting accurately and profoundly the life of southern India 2,000 years ago, the Purananuru is immensely important both as a literary work and as a guide to the development of South Asia's history, culture, religion, and linguistics. One of the few classical Indian works that confronts life without the insulation of a philosophical facade, making no basic assumptions about karma and the afterlife, the Purananuru has universal appeal.

The poems face the world as a great and unsolved mystery, delving into living and dying, despair, love, poverty, and the change able nature of existence."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes index.