and their works are now being studied only by Brahmans; while the Saiva Guravas mentioned above wrote only in Tamil as their writings were chiefly intended for non-Brahmans.
Further the same table will show that we have already crossed the mediæval and entered the threshold of modern Tamil. From the close of the academic to the beginning of the exegetical period there was an interval of nearly seven hundred vears. In the course of such a long period, it is almost impossible for a living language, cultivated though it be, to remain unchanged either in its grammar or vocabulary. Moreover, there had occurred immense changes in the customs and manners of the Tamils on account of Brahmanical influence. The classical works of the academic period, especially the collected writings, could not be easily understood even by scholars without the help of commentaries. And this want was supplied by Perasiriyar, Ilampuranar, Senavaraiyar, Parimelazhagar, Nacchinarkiniyar, Adiyarku Nallar and other annotators. Similar difficulties were experienced by the Brahman Vaishnavas in understanding the Tamil of the Nalayira Prabandam. The Vaishnava Acharyas from Nam Jiyar down to Periya Jiyar wrote elaborate commentaries on them, which to a lay student of Tamil would be more difficult than the original itself. These commentaries were not intended for ordinary Tamil people, but only for the orthodox Vaishnavas thoroughly conversant with the
