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Literature Tayumanavar and the Amazing Story of His Rediscovered Poetry Biography About thirty-seven years ago I was visiting Sant Darshan Singh (1921–1989), one of the greatest poet-saints of modern India. Sant Darshan Singh could fly into poetic verse at the drop of a hat and he was adored by millions of his poetry fans and hundreds of thousands of his disciples. By what appeared to be sheer chance, Sant Darshan Singh asked me and my brother Andrew if we would take a collection of poems by Tayumanavar, and several other ancient poets of India, and get them published for the American public. Of course, we were deeply honored by this request but had no clue as to why he would ask us to carry out this task.  Nothing in our past lives seemed to qualify us for Sant Darshan Singh’s unbounded grace.   When I returned to America, I diligently prepared the poetry for publication.  As luck would have it, my house burned down and the result was that virtually all of my worldly items – including Tayumanavar’s poetry - disappeared. As luck changes, sometimes what appears to be a moment of sadness can carry a silver lining. A dear friend died several months ago and after the funeral her husband decided to give me some literature that he found in his home. I accepted the literature in the spirit of being helpful to a husband in grief but with no thought that it would be of value. After several days, I decided to look through the documents and, to my surprise, there was a copy of the original poems by Tayumanavar.  The death of my dear friend had released Tayumanavar’s poetry from the fires to rise like the phoenix – almost as if Sant Darshan Singh had re-materialized the poems out of thin air. What makes this story meaningful to me is that Tayumanavar’s life was a virtual carbon copy of that of Sant Darshan Singh.  Both were poet-saints, both followed the householder path founded on the belief that spiritual seekers should live in the world but not be of it.  Similarly Tayumanavar was a well-educated government worker who mastered Sanskrit and the language of Tamil Nadu – the Indian province in which he lived.  Similarly, Sant Darshan Singh was a very high ranking government official who spoke multiple languages including English, Urdu and Hindi. These were not the only parallel features of their lives. Tayumanavar was a prolific poet who wrote “with simplicity and sweetness.” Thomas Manninezhath called him “the prince among Tamil mystical poets and the psalm singer of Hinduism.” His gift was his ability to heal the divisive tendencies of various Hindu sects of seventeenth century Tamil Nadu.  It is not surprising that Sant Darshan Singh found much to admire in Tayumanavar since he also espoused the fatherhood of God (or what some today may call the motherhood of God) and the brotherhood/sisterhood of every embodied soul on the planet.  Tayumanavar wrote over 1,400 devotional hymns that have been saved for posterity. Like Sant Darshan Singh’s poetry—which is extremely lyrical and devotional—Tayumanavar’s poetry was created to be sung in devotion.  What is important to remember is that the five poems of Tayumanavar that are presented here were selected by a God realized being who intuitively knew what poems would be best for the American audience. Why these five poems have finally seen the light in your eyes is purely a gift of God and a reminder that not all thing are in the hands of man. —Charles Vidich Click below for Tayumanavar's Poetry Five Poems by Tayumanavar (.pdf) NEW!!!