The Tamil Concept Of love First Edition 1962 Published by The South India Saiva Siddhanta Works Publishing Society, Tirunelvely, 1962 2 Manicka Vizhumiyangal - 16 The Tamil Concept of Love 3 PREFACE I deem it my sincere duty to present before the scholars of the world the noble principles of Aham Literature whose origin is as old as Tamil language itself and whose influence on all kinds of Tamil literature of all periods is incalculable. An elementary knowledge of Aham is indeed essential even for a beginner in Tamil. Without its study, Tamil culture and civilisation will be a sealed book. Love is no doubt the common theme of any literature in any language. The selective nature of the love-aspects, the impersonal and algebraic form of the characters and the universal and practical treatment of the subject are the differentiating points of Ahattinai. What is the impulse behind the creation of Aham literature? The unity of the family is the bed-rock of the unity of the world. The achievement of that conjugal unity depends upon the satisfaction of the sexual congress between the rightful lovers in youthhood. Dissatisfaction unconsciously disintegrates the family. There will be few problems in society, religion and politics, if family life is a contented one and the husband and wife pay high regard to each other’s sexual hunger. Therefore sex education is imperative to every young man and woman before and after marriage. How to educate them? The ancient Tamils saw in literature an effective and innocent means for instructing boys and girls in sexual principles and sexual experiences and with 4 Manicka Vizhumiyangal - 16 that noble motive created a well-defined literature called Ahattinai with inviolable rules. I hope the study of this book will be highly useful for promoting good relations between young lovers, whatever their race and nationality may be. I am greatful to the authorities of the University of Madras for their kind permission to publish my thesis (“Love in Sangam Poetry”) submitted by me for the Ph.D. Degree in 1956. My thanks are due to my colleagues Lieut. U. Bala Subramaniam M.A., and Thiru R. Sarangapani M.A., M. Litt. for their assistance in publishing this book. I shall always cherish the selfless service of the Saiva Siddhanta Works Publishing Society for coming forward to publish my work. ‘KATHIRAKAM’ V. Sp. MANICKAM Karaikudi-2 15-5-1962 The Tamil Concept of Love 5 TRANSLITERATION a-m au-xs p-g a-M k-~ m-k i-ï k-f y-a i-< n-‡ r-u u-c c-r l-y u-C n-P v-t e-v t-l l-H e -V n-z l-s ai-I t-j r-w o-x n-e n-d o-X 6 Manicka Vizhumiyangal - 16 ABBREVIATIONS Tol. Tolkapiyam. Aham Ahananuru. Nar. Narrinai. Kurun Kuruntogai. Ain. Ainkurunuru. Kali. Kalittogai. Pari. Paripatal. Puram. Purananuru. The Tamil Concept of Love 7 NOTE ON REFERENCES 1. Serial number of the suttirams of grammatical works is given when quoting their authors. 2. Serial number of the suttirams of the ‘iyal’ or the page of the editions is given when quoting the commentators of grammatical works. 3. The stanza number is given in the case of poetical works. 4. The number refers to the page in the case of prose works. 5. To avoid confiusion, in most cases the abbreviations for line (l), page (p), stanza (st) and suttiram(s) are given. 8 Manicka Vizhumiyangal - 16 CONTENTS Page no PREFACE 3 TRANSLITERATION 5 ABBREVIATIONS 6 NOTE ON REFERENCES 7 INTRODUCTION 11 Chapters I. An Analysis of Ahattinai 25 2. The Evolution of Ahattinai 68 3. The concept of Ahattinai 108 4. The characteristic of Aham Poetry 148 5. Aham Poets of the Sangam Age 164 6. Conclusion 253 The Tamil Concept of Love 9 TRANSLITERATION Tamil Development 1. History of the Pure Tamil Movement 2. Renaissance of Tamil 3. Development of Tamil Research 4. Script Reform in Tamil Linguistics 5. An Introduction to the study of Tolkappiyam 6. A phonelogical study in Tolkappiyam 7. A psycological approach to Tamil Syntax 8. The present tense marker Literature 9. The Library Heritage of the Tamils 10. The worldiness of Tirukkural 11. A Religious approach to Tirukkural 12. Literature and physical exercise History 13. The age of Tolkappiyam 14. Some thoughts on Pallava History 15. The Chettiar community - its contribution to religions 16. The ancient history of the Nakarattars 17. Dravidian Comparative Literature 10 Manicka Vizhumiyangal - 16 The Tamil Concept of Love 11 The Tamil Concept of Love INTRODUCTION “Love(Ahattinai) in Sangam Poetry” is the subject under investigation in the following pages. Eight Anthologies (Ettuttokai) and Ten Idylls (Pattupattu) are generally accepted as Sangam Literature.1 These are the earlies extant Tamil classics. They were sung by 473 poets of whom 378 treated the theme of Ahattinai. They consist of 2381 poems of which 1862 are aham poetry. It is rightly said by scholars acquainted with many languages that the systematic treatises on Aham and Puram which go by the name ‘Porul’ are peculiar, and exist only in Tamil. Of these two, Aham is superior to Puram in many respects; for love of man and woman, its subject matter, in the words of Professor C.H. Herford,2 “is the natural religion of the poet, one of the perennial springs of poetry and one of the shaping analogies of poetic thought.” Therefore its attractiveness to a large number of Sangam poets who are characterised as wordly-minded is no wonder. Tolkappiyar, the ancient Tamil grammarian, has devoted four chapters to the description of Ahattinai whereas Purattinai is treated in only one chapter. It is said that Kapilar, the greatest of the Sangam poets, composede Kurincipattu, an Aham poem, to initiate Prakattan, an Aryan king, into the Tamil poetry. It is because he thought that the masterpiece of 12 Manicka Vizhumiyangal - 16 Tamil genius was the creation of Ahattinai and that Aham poetry should be taught at first to a stranger to impress upon him the independent nature and greatness of Tamil. The colophon of Kurinchippattu runs as “Ariya arasan Pirakattanait Tamil arivittarkup Patiyatu.” Here Tamil stands for Ahattinai. The identification of the name of the language with one of the many kinds of literature it possesses unambiguously proves the peculiar and superior position that Aham poetry occupies in Tamil. “Tallap porliyalpin tantamilay vantilar Kollarik kunru payan.” (Pari; 9) Thus Kunramputanar shows his high regard for the subject of Aham in Tamil. The account given by the commentator of Iraiyanar ahapporul that the Pandiyan king who grieved over the loss of Porulatikaram was satisfied with the discovery of the treatise. Iraiyanar Ahapporul also points out the superiority of Aham over Puram. That in the study of Tamil research, priority should be given to Ahattinai will now be clear from the antiquity, the number of poems and poets, and the peculiar nature of the subject. Dr. Varadarajan and Rev. Thaninayagam who have made devoted study of the treatment of nature in Sangam Poetry have explained that nature is not the main theme in Sangam classics and that it is subordinated to be the appropriate background of human behaviours, especially of human love. II As the title of this thesis indicates, Sangam Poetry is the main source for my investigation. Of the total of 2381 poems of Sangam Literature, those of Aham class are 1862 as noted below: The Tamil Concept of Love 13 Ahananuru 400 poems (infull) Narrinai 400 ........... ............ Kuruntogai 401 ........... ............ Ainkurunuru 500 (including two lost poems) Kalittogai 149 poems (in full) Paripatal 8 poems out of 22 Pattuppattu 4 poems out of 10 ------ 1862 ------- The first three anthologies, Ahananuru, Narrinai and Kuruntogai are similar in the manner of collection. They contain poems of hundreds of poets on all turais of Aintinai. Their main difference is the number of lines in their verses. The length of the stanzas of Ahananuru varies from 13 to 31 lines, Narrinai from 9 to 12 and Kuruntogai from 4 to 8. The variation in length has some influence on the handling of the subject-matter. In Ahananuru, one may note that mutarporul (place and time) and karupporul (fauna and flora) occupy a greater portion of a poem than uripporul (the love-aspect). To present a theme with a perfect background, poets have to compose many lines of verse. Therefore this anthology has numerous poems in which the parched region through which the hero passes for earning wealth and the pastoral region through which he returns home are elaborately described. The length of Aha-nanuru is necessary for treating some themes. For example, the theme ‘the mother’s lament over the eloped girl’ has necessarily to portray the tenderness of the daughter, the hard tract she is to cross and the sorrowful feelings of the mother and her care in nourishing her daughter. Moreover, poets who are inclined to introduce historical incidents will write poems of many lines. This is obvious 14 Manicka Vizhumiyangal - 16 from the verses of Paranar, Nakkirar, Kallatanar and Mamulanar. In Narrinai, we see the balanced treatment of mutarporul, karupporul and uripporul. The length of a verse in Kuruntogai (4 to 8) will permit a poet to give prominence only to the aspect of love, disregarding the other two, for uripporul cannot be neglected in an Aham poem, however short it may be. In this connetion it is well to remember that mutarporul and karupporul find no place in the couplets of Tirukkural treating of the love-theme. From this we may infer that the more the lines of an Aham lyric the greater will be the scope for natural or historical description.