Acknowledgments

I first encountered and her poems in the winter before I began graduate school. Through all these many years, friends, family, colleagues, and mentors have helped me make sense of my fascination with , and have gently guided my great love for her poetry to productive ends. I take great pleasure in acknowledging their wisdom and compassion that have seen this book to its completion.

Professor Maraimalai, Visiting Professor at U.C. Berkeley (1997–98) patiently read the Tiruppvai and Ncciyr Tirumoi with me, along with innumerable commentaries. George Hart, an exemplary translator and wonderful mentor, encouraged my first tentativeat-tempts at translation, showing me how to improve my work without making me feel foolish or discouraged. Kausalya Hart was always generous with her encyclopedic knowledge of Tami language and literature, as well as with her time. Professor Steven Hopkins, a precious friend, gave me the gift of his sensitive translations of Vednta Deika, and inspired me to do better by . Professors Indira Peterson and Vasudha Narayanan have supported this work since its nascent stages and their comments on in general and these two poems in particular have enriched my understanding of the Tiruppvai and Ncciyr Tirumoi immeasurably. I am grateful to Davesh Soneji for his friendship and for his enthusiasm and support for this project. Frank Clooney helped me take the initial steps toward publication by suggesting the American Academy of Religion’s Texts and Translation Series as a possible home for this book. Anne Monius, the editor for the series, shepherded me through the entire process with patience and kindness. I am immensely thankful to both of them for having faith in the value of a new translation of ’s Tiruppavai and Ncciyr Tirumoi. The incisive and thorough comments from the anonymous reviewers for Oxford University Press have shaped this into a much better book. I thank them for the care and the attention they gave my work.

Katherine Ulrich and Gwen Colvin, with their keen editorial eye have done a magnificent job in preparing this manuscript for publication. My heartfelt thanks to Molly Balikov and Anastasia Aizman, the designer not only for designing a beautiful cover, but for also so patiently listening to all my many concerns, and for accommodating them. Gayatri Devi Menon, graduate student at UC Davis, copy-edited the manuscript and prepared the Index. Without her help, it would have taken me twice as long to complete this book.

The people of rvilliputtr added enormously to my understanding of . Extemporaneous discussions of a particular verse, or its use to make a subtle point in a story about her, never failed to deepen my appreciation of the intricacies of her poetry. In particular, I would like to thank Raghurama Bhattar, Govindaraja Bhattar, the late Vedappiran Bhattar, Tiruvenkatammal and Srinivasa Araiyar for sharing their knowledge and their time so freely. Mr. M. Kannan of the French Institute of Pondicherry was an invaluable resource during my year of dissertation research. I would also like to thank Narendran and Ramanujam, librarians at the French Institute of Pondicherry for their able assistance in procuring me a wealth of books and photocopies. Sri Varadadesikar of the École Française d’Extrême-Orient patiently clarified my many questions on rvaiava theology, and steered me through innumerable Sanskrit and Maiprava tellings of the story. It is through his deeply felt expositions of vr poetry that I came to appreciate the subtle and delightful craft of the rvaiava commentator.

My sister Aarathi dragged me out of my dimmest writing moments with her usual good humor and zest for life. Her twenty questions, asked and pondered during our many long walks, forced me to reexamine some of my most basic presumptions about . My uncle S.Raghunath has been an unshakeable and quiet source of strength through all the many years of graduate school.

My husband Layne, fellow scholar and translator, read through these translations too many times to count. His suggestions were always insightful and his gentle criticisms were unerringly accurate. His unwavering support and belief in this project has been instrumental in bringing it to fruition.

There are two extraordinary artists, whose mastery of their crafts emboldened me in a task that often appeared insurmountable. The first is the great English poet John Keats, whose letters and poems impressed me even as a young girl. Little did I know that I would have the great fortune to discover another poet who captured my imagination with the same intensity that he had. This translation owes as much to the lyricism of Keats’ great works as it does to ’s. Like Keats’ nightingale, the beautiful, crisp music of the late, great Karak musician K.V. Narayanaswamy kept me company in the lonely night hours. His renderings of the Tiruppvai brought alive for me every day, and with this gift imbued every moment of the laborious task of translation with beauty.

ends the Tiruppvai and almost every decad of the Ncciyr Tirumoi with a reference to Viucitta, the person she identifies as her spiritual guide, and the one she regards as instrumental in the fulfillment of her greatest desire. He is her teacher, her initiator, and her mentor. My parents Krishna and Jayashree Venkatesan have played just as pivotal a role in my life. It is their infectious love for music, for reading, and for learning seeped into every corner that set me on this path. But without their unflagging faith and their loving encouragement, I know that I would never have been able to finish it. It is in their honor that this book is dedicated.