The fourteen Meykanda Sasteras constitute the basic texts of Saiva Siddhanta Philosophy in which the Sivanjaana BOtham of Meykandar, though historically not the first but certainly is the foremost. Perhaps it is the most profound philosophical text that was ever authored by man.  I have translated this under the name of THE MATAPHYSICA UNIVERSALIS OF MEYKANDAR and in addition to publishing it in hard covers, is also made available in this Home Page of World Saivism, maintained by Mrs. Suba Loganathan. Now as a sequel to that we are offering an English translation with commentary of another classic IRUPA IRUPATHU of Arunandi Sivaaccaariyar, the foremost student of Meykandar himself. He has also to his credit the massive Sivanjaana Siththiyaar, a philosophical text of outstanding merits, probably written within the guidance of Meykandar himself. The text should have been  written in the 13th cent. itself, the time of Meykandar, considering that he was his foremost student. 

The present text was  probably written subsequent to Siththyaar, something that, however needs to be investigated further. What is distinct and earns our sympathy is the existential concerns  within which the inquiry was undertaken and because of which it avoids being dry and meaningless. Gnawing doubts about central issues in EXISTENCE are raised in front of Meykandar himself and seeks TRUTHS that would alleviate the excruciating pains he was suffering. What we have, because of this,is an  existential analytics of a profound kind that remains forever of interest to all thinking people throughout the world. 

In translating this , I had in mind publishing it in the internet, in the Home Page for World Saivism. Because of that I have used Murasu Anjal fonts for rendering the original Tamil text as well as its transliteration into English. I have given a concise translation of the central  verses, broken up for convenience into sutra style utterances. Notes have been added wherever necessary. 

I have divided the commentary into two parts. In the first I elucidate the lines of thought of Arunandi himself so that the various implications, not clearly articulated, are also brought out. In the second part, however, I venture deeper and wider and provide solutions and some novel  elucidations of the metaphysical issues raised. Some ideas articulated are quite original and which I have articulated in some other books that are not published yet.

The translation and commentary were written under very trying circumstances. While there may be many inadequacies, I venture to publish it in the hope that it can be revised and the imperfections removed after receiving comments from the scholarly public who may venture into reading this magnificent classic of Saiva Siddhanta.  

I wish to thank profusely Mrs.Suba   who took great pains to publish this in her Home Page, despite many problems that she has also to tackle all in the interest of  making Saivism better known in the world. 

I wish to thank profusely LORD SIVA, who I believe, guided the writing of this book by creating contexts of situation in my personal life itself that made the issues raised and interrogated something I can understand and contribute meaningfully to unravel the mystery surrounding them. 

Dr K.Loganathan, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Penang , MALAYSIA 15-12-98