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

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books wit ...

and various Tamil classics into English. He had degrees in English from the

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

and the

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

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

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

Biography

P. S. Sundaram was born into a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

-speaking family. In 1930, he obtained a first-class master's degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

from the Presidency College,

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. He went to the

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

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, beginning his decades-long career as a distinguished academic. In 1938, he joined the

Ravenshaw College Ravenshaw University, formerly known as Ravenshaw College, is a co-educational state university situated in Cuttack, Odisha on the eastern coast of India. Founded as Ravenshaw College in 1868, the institution became a university in 2006. The u ...

Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka in Odia language, Odia ), is the former capital, deputy capital and the 2nd largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is also the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised f ...

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 Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, and has been affiliated with the Ag ...

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

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

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

Tamil literature Tamil literature includes a collection of literary works that have come from a 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 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 Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayanaswami (10 October 1906 – 13 May 2001), better known as R. K. Narayan, was an Indian writer and novelist known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early ...

and translated the Tamil poet

Subramania Bharati Subramania Bharati (Born Chinnaswami Subramaniyan; 11 December 1882 – 11 September 1921) was an Indian writer, poet, journalist, teacher, Indian independence activist, social reformer and polyglot. He was bestowed the title ''Bharati'' for hi ...

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 The ''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 legend of ...

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