P. S. Sundaram (1910–1998), born Pazmarneri Subrahmanya Sundaram, was an Indian professor of English, best known for translating the

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The tex ...

and various Tamil classics into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. He had degrees in English from the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

and the

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. He served as professor of English for about 40 years in different parts of

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

Biography

P. S. Sundaram was born into a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-speaking family. In 1930, he obtained a first-class master's degree in English literature from the Presidency College,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. He went to the

for higher studies and returned to India in 1934, after which he joined the DAV College in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

, beginning his decades-long career as a distinguished academician. In 1938, he joined the Ravenshaw College in

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literally ...

as head of the English department. He went on to become the principal, and in 1953 he became a member of the Orissa Public Service Commission. With his government service ending in 1959, he was forced to seek non-government employment in his mid-forties. He then joined as principal of the

Bareilly College Bareilly College, Bareilly (BCB) is an institution located in the metropolis of Bareilly in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The college is affiliated with the M. J. P. Rohilkhand University, and has been affiliated with the Agra University a ...

and later continued in the same capacity at the Maharani's College in

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known ...

until his retirement in 1974. Retirement gave him the freedom to pursue his passion for classical

Tamil literature Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from T ...

. Backed by his command in both Tamil and English, he took up the task of translating various Tamil classics. He wrote a biography on the Indian author in English R. K. Narayan and translated the Tamil poet Subramania Bharati into English. In 1987, he privately published an English translation of the Tirukkural. The translation was made in verse and was published under the title ''Tiruvalluvar The Kural''. He then translated the mystical poems of Andal and other Alwars in the Vaishnavite Bhakti tradition. In the final years of his life, he translated the 12,000-odd verses of the

Kamba Ramayanam ''Ramavataram'', popularly referred to as ''Kamba Ramayanam'', is a Tamil epic that was written by the Tamil poet Kambar during the 12th century. Based on Valmiki's ''Ramayana'' (which is in Sanskrit), the story describes the life of King ...

into English.

Literary works

* Tiruvalluvar, The Kural (1987) * Kamba Ramayana (2002) * Andal's Thiruppavai and Nachiar Thirumozhi

Biography

Literary works

See also

References

Further reading