àôè ªñ£NèO™ Þ¶è£Á‹ ÞòŸøŠð†´œ÷ Þô‚èí Ë™èO™ ïñ‚°‚ A¬ìˆ¶œ÷õŸP™ è£ôˆî£™ ºîô£ù¶‹ ªð£¼‡¬ñò£™ º¿¬ñò£ù¶‹ ªî£™è£ŠHò«ñ Ý°‹. åLòQò™ MŸð¡ùó£ù «ìQò™ «ü£¡v, ªî£™è£ŠHòˆF¡ ⿈¶, ªê£™ ÝAò Þó‡´ ÜFè£óƒèÀ‹ ðô ËŸø£‡´èÀ‚° º¡ùî£è âšMî ÜPMò™ è¼MèÀ‹ «ê£î¬ù„ ꣬ôèÀ‹ Þ™ô£î è£ôˆ«î ÞòŸøŠð†ì¬î Mò‰¶ ð£ó£†´õ£˜. ªñ£NJò™ «ðó£CKòó£è ܪñK‚èŠ ð™è¬ô‚èöèˆF™ ðEò£ŸPò ã.«è. Þó£ñ£Âü¡ ªî£™è£ŠHò«ó ªñ£NJòL¡ «ñô£ù Ý꣡ â¡Á‹ Üõ˜ å¼ ªñ£N¬ò â™ô£ G¬ôèO½‹ Ý›‰î ÝŒ¾‚°†ð´ˆFò«î£´, åLòQò™, à¼ðQò™, ªî£ìKò™, èM¬îJò™, ÜEJò™ ÝAò â™ô£‚ ÃÁèœ ðŸP»‹ ÜKò 輈¶è¬÷ º¡¬õˆ¶œ÷£˜ â¡Á‹ ¹ôŠð´ˆ¶õ£˜.

ªê‹ªñ£Nˆ îIö£Œ¾ ñˆFò GÁõùˆî£™ ðFŠH‚芪ðÁ‹ Þˆªî£°FJ™, Íôˆ îI›Š ðÂõ™, Üî¡ åLªðò˜Š¹, èM¬îJ½‹ à¬óï¬ìJ½‹ ܬñ‰î Í¡Á ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹èœ, ÝŒ¾‚ 膴¬óèœ ÝAò¬õ Þ싪ðÁA¡øù. ªî£™è£ŠHòˆ¬î‚ A«ó‚è‹, Þôˆb¡, õìªñ£N ÝAòõŸP½œ÷ Þô‚èí Ë™è«÷£´ åŠH†´‚裆´‹ ÝŒ¾‚ 膴¬óèœ Üî¡ îQ„ CøŠ¬ð»‹ àò˜¬õ»‹ î‚è Ýî£óƒè«÷£´ ªîOõ£è â´ˆ¶‚裆´A¡øù.

«ðó£CKò˜ M. º¼è¡ Þˆªî£°Š¬ðˆ îò£Kˆ¶„ ªêŠðQ†´ˆ œ÷£˜. ÞF™ H.ê£. ²ŠHóñEò ê£vFKò£˜, Þô‚°õù£˜, èI™ ²ªõôH™, ªõ. º¼è¡ ÝA«ò£¼¬ìò ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹èœ Þ싪ðÁA¡øù.

The uniqueness of Tolkāppiyam as a very ancient and complete grammatical treatise and as the achievement of a linguist par excellence has been acknowledged by some leading Western authorities on the subject concerned. Daniel Jones, the British specialist in phonetics marvels at Tolkāppiyar’s accurate description of the Tamil phonemes at a time when there was no recourse to any of the scientific instruments which phoneticians could acquire only more than twenty centuries later. An eminent Indian linguist, A. K. Ramanujan states that Tolkāppiyar is linguistics’ ultimate guru who takes all of language from the most ordinary banal language to the most poetic as the subject of his magnum opus.

The present anthology published by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil includes the Tamil text, its transliteration, three translations in English verse and prose and four Critical introductions which point out the salient features of the three parts of Tolkāppiyam, comparing it with the grammatical texts in Greek, Latin and Sanskrit and establishing its superiority.

The volume has been compiled and edited by Dr.V. Murugan and the translations chosen are of P.S. Subramanya Sastri, S. Ilakkuvunar, Kamil V. Zvelebil and V. Murugan.

TOLKĀPPIYAMªî£™è£ŠHò‹

ðˆ¶Šð£†´ â¡Â‹ êƒè Þô‚Aòˆ ªî£¬èË™, 䉶 ÝŸÁŠð¬ìè¬÷»‹, ñ¶¬ó‚装C, º™¬ôŠð£†´, ð†®ùŠð£¬ô, ªï´ªï™õ£¬ì, °P…CŠð£†´ ÝAò 䉶 ªð¼‹ ªðò˜‚°Kò ð£ì™è¬÷»‹ àœ÷ì‚Aò¶. ÝŸÁŠð¬ì â¡ð¶ îI› Þô‚Aò ñóHŸ«è àKò CŸPô‚Aò õ¬èèO™ å¡Á; «õÁ â‰î„ ªê‹ªñ£NJ½‹ Þ¡¬øò ªñ£NJ½‹ è£íŠðì£î¶. F¼º¼è£ŸÁŠð¬ì, ªð£¼ïó£ŸÁŠð¬ì, CÁð£í£ŸÁŠð¬ì, ªð¼‹ð£í£ŸÁŠð¬ì, Èîó£ŸÁŠð¬ì (ñ¬ô ð´è죋) ÝAò 䉶‹ ÜõŸÁ‚«è ܬñ‰î CøŠ¹‚ ÃÁè¬÷‚ ªè£‡´ ÝŸÁŠð¬ì Þô‚Aò õ¬è¬ò ÜE ªêŒõù. 𣇮ò ñ¡ù¡ ªï´…ªêNò‚° õ£›M¡ G¬ôò£¬ñ ðŸP â´ˆ¶„ ªê£™õ¶ ñ¶¬ó‚装C; Üî¡ F¬í 装Cò£J‹ ñ¡ù¡ Y«ó£´‹ CøŠ«ð£´‹ ªï´ï£œ õ£ö «õ‡´ªñ¡Á õ£›ˆ¶õ¶. ã¬ùò ° Ë™èÀ‹ °P…C, º™¬ô, ð£¬ô, ªïŒî™ F¬íè¬÷„ ꣘‰î¬õò£J‹ ÞõŸÁœ ÜèŠ ¹ø‚ ÃÁèœ Þ¬í‰¶ ªêò™ðì‚ è£íô£‹.

ªê‹ªñ£Nˆ îIö£Œ¾ ñˆFò GÁõùˆî£™ ðFŠH‚èŠ ªðÁ‹ Þˆªî£°FJ™ Íôˆ îI›Š ðÂõ™, Üî¡ åLªðò˜Š¹, èM¬îJ½‹ à¬óï¬ìJ½‹ ܬñ‰î Í¡Á ݃Aô ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹èœ, ÝŒ¾‚ 膴¬óèœ ÝAò¬õ Gó™ðì Þì‹ ªðÁA¡øù. ðˆ¶Š ð£ì™è¬÷»‹ ªî£°ˆ¶„ ªêŠðQ†´ˆ î‰îõ˜ «ðó£CKò˜ Ü. î†Cí£Í˜ˆF Ýõ£˜. îQˆîQ ÝŒ¾‚ 膴¬óèœ ðˆ¶Š «ðKô‚AòƒèO¡ G¬øè¬÷Š ¹ôŠð´ˆ¶A¡øù. «ü.M. ªê™¬ôò£, â¡. Þó°ï£î¡, «ü.â‹. ï™ôê£IŠ Hœ¬÷, ªð£¡ù‹ðô‹ ܼí£êô‹, ݘ. «õƒèìó£ñ¡, ݘ. Þó£üóˆFù‹ ºîL«ò£¼¬ìò ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹èœ ªî£°F‚° Üö° «ê˜‚A¡øù.

The Caṅkam anthology Called Pattuppāṭṭu consists of five Āṟṟupaṭais, Maturaikkāñci, Mullaippāṭṭu, Paṭṭiṉappālai, Neṭunalvāṭai and Kuṟiñcippāṭṭu. Āṟṟuppaṭai is a unique genre peculiar to the Tamil literary tradition and unknown to any other classical or modern language of the world. It is a guide poem in which an artist having received handsome gifts from a rich patron of arts, meets a fellow artist on his way back and directs him to the same patron describing the way to the chieftain’s capital, the city, the love and affection of the patron, the royal feast given by him, the hospitality extended, the priceless presents and the leave-taking. Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai, Porunarāṟṟuppaṭai, Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai, Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai and Kūttarāṟṟuppaṭai (Malaipaṭukaṭām) are major achievements in this genre, each having its own distinct merits. The burden of Maturaikkañci is the poet’s advice to the Pandya king Neṭuñceḻiyan drawing his attention to the ephemeral nature of life and ending with a prayer that his victories, pleasures and luxuries may last long. The other four pertain to the four major genres: Kuṟiñci (poetry of pre-marital love), mullai (poetry of idyllic love), pālai (song of separation in love) and neytal (song of despair of love). There is a fusion of akam and puṟam elements in these four long poems.

Neṭunalvāṭai, a poem of neytal, pictures not only the queen in despair but also the king , who, on the battlefield, is ministering to the needs of his soldiers and animals. Paṭṭiṉappālai, considered a poem of separation, describes the pomp and wealth of the city of a Chōḻa king only to conclude with the protagonist’s final decision that even if he gets the city he will not part from his wife. Kuṟiñcippāṭṭu, written by Kapilar in order to explain to an Aryan king the intricacies of the Tamil akam tradition of pre-marital love, mentions the ideal self-sacrifice and service to humanity and has a long passage on the beauty of nature in the form of a catalogue of a hundred flowers. A poem on the mullai theme of iruttal, Mullaippāṭṭu, presents a heroine patiently waiting for the return of the hero whose war-camp is portrayed in an equally impressive scene.

The present volume published by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil includes the Tamil texts of all these ten idylls, their transliteration, three translations in English prose and verse and scholarly critical articles on each of the ten masterpieces.

This anthology has been compiled and edited by A. Dakshinamurthy, who has chosen very distinguished translators such as J. V. Chelliah, N. Ragunathan, J.M. Nallusamy Pillai, Ponnambalam Arunachalam, R. Venkataraman, and R. Rajarathinam.

PATTUPPĀṬṬUðˆ¶Šð£†´

¹øï£ÛÁ, ð™«õÁ ¹ôõ˜è÷£™ â¿îŠªðŸø ï£ÛÁ ð£ì™èO™ «ð£˜, ¹è›, õÁ¬ñ, õœ÷¡¬ñ, , è™M, ï£í‹, ðN, ¶ø¾, àö¾, 蟹, G¬ôò£¬ñ «ð£¡ø ñQî õ£›‚¬èJ¡ â™ô£‚ ÃÁèœ ðŸP»‹ «ð²Aø¶. ފ𣴪𣼜èª÷™ô£‹ ï£÷¬ìM™ ɶ, ÝŸÁŠð¬ì, ðœOªò¿„C, ðóE, èô‹ðè‹, ܉î£F ÝAò ðô CŸPô‚Aò õ¬èèœ «î£Ÿø‹ªðø õN裆®ò£Œ ܬñ‰îù. Üî¡ è¬ô¸†ð‹ ªêP‰î ð£ì™èO™ Ü‹ªê£™ ¸‡«î˜„CŠ ¹ôõ˜èœ, ñ¡ù˜èœ â¡ù ªêŒò «õ‡´‹, âšõ£Á î‹ õ£›‚¬è¬ò ܬñˆ¶‚ªè£œ÷ «õ‡´‹ ⡪ø™ô£‹ ñ¡ù˜èÀ‚«è ÜP¾¬ó Ãø‚ è£íô£‹. ¹øï£ÛŸÁŠ ð£ì™è÷£™, ð¡ªñ£N èŸø «ð£Š Ü®è÷£˜, ü£˜x ý£˜† «ð£¡«ø£ªó™ô£‹ ªðK¶‹ èõóŠð†ìù˜.

ªê‹ªñ£Nˆ îIö£Œ¾ ñˆFò GÁõùˆî£™ ðFŠH‚èŠ ªðÁ‹ Þˆªî£°FJ™ Íôˆ îI›Š ðÂõ™, Üî¡ åLªðò˜Š¹, èM¬îJ½‹ à¬óï¬ìJ½‹ ܬñ‰î Í¡Á ݃Aô ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹èœ, ÝŒ¾‚ 膴¬óèœ Þì‹ ªðÁA¡øù. ¹øï£ÛŸP¡ è£ô‹, ñ, Þô‚AòŠ ªð¼¬ñ «ð£¡ø¬õ ÝŒ¾‚ 膴¬óèO™ î‚è Ýî£óƒèÀì¡ â´ˆ¶¬ó‚èŠð´A¡øù.

ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹è¬÷»‹ 膴¬óè¬÷»‹ «î˜‰ªî´ˆ¶ ˬôˆ ªî£°ˆîõ˜ «ðó£CKò˜ ð. ñ¼îï£òè‹ Üõ˜èœ. Þˆªî£°F‚°Š «ð£Š Ü®è÷£˜, ü£˜x ý£˜†, ã.«è. Þó£ñ£Âü¡ ÝA«ò£¼¬ìò ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹èœ ÜE ªêŒA¡øù.

Puṟanāṉūṟu, in its four hundred stanzas by diverse hands, deals with almost all the aspects of life on earth such as war, fame, poverty, philanthropy, friendship, education, sense of shame, fear of blame, life of a householder, renunciation, children, farming, widowhood, chastity and transitoriness of youth, life and wealth. These themes, as centuries passed by, served as the source of many new genres such as tūtū, āṟṟruppaṭai, paḷḷiyeḻucci, paraṇi, kalampakam, antāti and different kinds of didactic poetry. As described by George Hart, Puṟanāṉūṟu is primarily a treatise on kingship and in many of its artistic pieces, ‘well-languaged’ poets tell the kings what they should be, how they should act, how they should balance their responsibilities, how they should treat their subjects and even how they should live their personal lives.

The present volume published by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil and edited by P. Marudanayagam includes the Tamil text, its transliteration, three translations in English verse and prose and critical articles discussing the date, nature and literary excellence of Puṟanāṉūṟu. It includes translations by G.U. Pope, George L. Hart, and A.K. Ramanujan.

PUṞANĀṈŪṞU¹øï£ÛÁ

䋪ð¼ƒè£ŠHòƒèO™ å¡ø£ù CôŠðFè£ó‹, «ñ¬ô„ ªê‹ªñ£NèO½‹ õìªñ£NJ½‹ àœ÷ 裊HòƒèOL¼‰¶ è†ì¬ñŠ¹, 𣴪𣼜, â´ˆ¶¬óŠ¹ àˆFèœ ÝAòõŸPªô™ô£‹ ªðK¶‹ «õÁð´A¡ø¶. Þò™, Þ¬ê, ï£ìè‹ â¡Â‹ ºˆîI¬ö»‹ º¬øò£è Þ¬íŠð ܶ ‘ÞòL¬ê ï£ìèŠ ªð£¼œ ªî£ì˜G¬ô„ ªêŒ»œ’ â¡Á‹ ï£ìè‚ ÃÁèœ I‚è ‘ï£ìè‚ è£ŠHò‹’ â¡Á‹ ܶ ܬö‚芪ðÁAø¶. ã¬ùò ªñ£N‚ 裊Hòƒèœ â™ô£‹ å¼õ¬è ò£ŠH™ ºŸÁ‹ ÝCKò˜ ßø£è ܬñ‰F¼Šð ªî£ì˜‰¶ 𮂰‹«ð£¶ «ê£˜¾ ð¬õ. Ýù£™ Þ÷ƒ«è£ Ü®èœ ðô àˆFè¬÷‚ ¬èò£‡´ ݘõ‹ °¡ø£ñ™ ˬôŠ ð®‚è õN ªêŒ¶œ÷¬ñ ð£ó£†´‚°Kò¶. ºŠð¶ 裬îèO½‹ ÜèõŸ ð£¬õ«ò º¿õ¶‹ ¬èò£÷£ñ™ ðôõ¬èŠ ð£‚è¬÷‚ ¬èò£œõ«î£´ 죘 ð£ì™è¬÷»‹ ݃裃«è Þ¬íŠð 裊Hò‹  º¼AòL¡ð‹ ôAø¶.

ªê‹ªñ£Nˆ îIö£Œ¾ ñˆFò GÁõùˆî£™ ðFŠH‚èŠ ªðÁ‹ Þˆªî£°ŠH™ Íôˆ îI›Š ðÂõ™, Üî¡ åLªðò˜Š¹, èM¬îJ½‹ à¬óï¬ìJ½‹ ܬñ‰î Í¡Á ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹èœ, ÝŒ¾‚ 膴¬óèœ ÝAò ò£¾‹ Gó™ðì Þ싪ðÁA¡øù. ÝŒ¾‚ 膴¬óèœ CôŠðFè£óˆF¡ àò˜¬õŠ ðô «è£íƒèOL¼‰¶ â´ˆ¶‚裆´A¡øù.

Þî¬ùˆ ªî£°ˆîõ˜ «ðó£CKò˜ è£. ªê™ôŠð¡. «î˜‰ªî´‚èŠð†´œ÷ ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹è¬÷„ ªêŒîõ˜èœ: ݘ. 𣘈îê£óF, Ýô¡ î£Q«ò½, ݘ. âv. Hœ¬÷.

Cilappatikāram, one of the five great epics in Tamil, radically differs from the epics in Sanskrit and Western languages in its structure, theme and narrative and stylistic features. Its patikam describes it as a poem interspersed with prose and songs. It is also known as Iyalicaināṭakapporuḷ toṭarnilaic ceyyuḻ , since it fuses the three Tamils - Iyal, Icai and Nāṭakam. Thus, the architectonics of Cilappatikāram distinguishes it from all the well-known epics that have found a place in world literature. One of the major defects of the epics in other classical and modern languages is that they employ a single poetic form, a single metrical pattern from beginning to end and narrate the story in a single voice which is the author’s and are thus unable to avoid monotony. Iḷaṅkō Aṭikaḷ, on the other hand, employs numerous strategies to make his work gripping. In his thirty chapters (Kātai) he uses diverse poetic forms. The folk songs that periodically make their appearance captivate the reader’s heart and soul.

The present volume published by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil and edited by Prof. K. Chellappan, includes the Tamil text, its transliteration, three translations In English verse and prose and critical articles that examine it from fresh perspectives.

The translations are by the three eminent scholars, R. Parthasarathy, Alain Danielou and R.S. Pillai.

CILAPPATIKĀRAMCôŠðFè£ó‹

䋪ð¼ƒè£ŠHòƒèO™ å¡ø£ù ñE«ñè¬ô, ºŠð¶ 裬îèO™ 4861 Üèõ™ Ü®èO™ ñE«ñè¬ôªò¡Â‹ ¹ˆîŠ ªð‡ ¶øMJ¡ è¬î¬ò„ ªê£™½‹ Þô‚Aòñ£°‹. Þ÷ƒ«è£ Ü®è÷£™ CôŠðFè£óˆF™ ªê£™ôŠð†ì è‡íAJ¡ õóô£Ÿ¬ø Þ¶ ªî£ì˜‰¶ â´ˆ¶¬ó‚A¡ø¶. CôŠðFè£óˆF¡ ÞÁFJ™ è‡íA M‡µôAŸ° â´ˆ¶„ ªê™ôŠð´Aø£œ; ïìù ñƒ¬èò£ù ñ£îM î¡ ñèœ ñE«ñè¬ô»ì¡ ¹ˆî êñòˆ¬îˆ Aø£œ. ÞFL¼‰¶ ñE«ñè¬ôJ¡ õ£›‚¬è¬ò‚ ÃÁ‹ ñE«ñè¬ô‚ 裊Hò‹ Üõœ CÁõòF«ô«ò ¶ø¾ «ñŸªè£œõ«î£´ º®Aø¶. ð£L, êñvA¼î‹, îI›, Hø Þ‰Fò ªñ£Nèœ ÝAòõŸPªô™ô£‹ Þ¼‰î ¹ˆî êñò Ë™èœ ðô ÜN‚èŠð†ì «ð£F½‹ ꣈îù£K¡ 裊Hò‹ ܉î ÜNML¼‰¶ îŠHò¶ Üî¡ ªð¼¬ñ‚°„ ꣡ø£°‹.

꣈îù£˜ ÞÁF Í¡Á 裬îèO™ ¹ˆî êñò‚ ªè£œ¬èè¬÷ ï™ô îIN™ ÜöAò èM¬î ï¬ìJ™ â´ˆ¶¬ó‚è‚ è£íô£‹. êñòŠ ð󊹬ó Ë™ â¡ø º¬øJ½‹ ܶ ªðŸø ªõŸP °PŠH쟰Kò¶. ÞòŸ¬è‚ 裆Cè¬÷ õ¼EŠðF½‹ ãŸø àõ¬ñèœ, à¼õèƒèœ, 裆C»¼‚è¬÷‚ ¬èò£ÀõF½‹ Üõ˜ õ™ôõ˜ â¡ð¬î Ë™ ºŸP½‹ è£íô£‹.

ªê‹ªñ£Nˆ îIö£Œ¾ ñˆFò GÁõùˆî£™ ðFŠH‚芪ðÁ‹ Þˆªî£°FJ™ Íôˆ îI›Š ðÂõ™, Üî¡ åLªðò˜Š¹, èM¬îJ½‹ à¬ó ï¬ìJ½‹ ܬñ‰î Í¡Á ݃Aô ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹èœ, ÝŒ¾‚ 膴¬óèœ Þì‹ ªðÁA¡øù. ÝŒ¾‚ 膴¬óèœ ê£ˆîù£˜ «ð£ŸÁ‹ ¹ˆî êñò õ¬è¬ò ܬìò£÷‹ 裆´õ«î£´ ܶ êñòË™ â¡ø º¬øJ™ ªðÁ‹ ªõŸP‚è£ù è£óíƒè¬÷»‹ ²†´A¡øù.

Þˆªî£°F‚è£ù ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹è¬÷ˆ «î˜‰ªî´ˆ¶ Þî¬ù„ ªêŠðQ†´ˆ î‰îõ˜ «ðó£CKò˜ «è.T. «êû£ˆFK. ªñ£Nªðò˜Š¹è¬÷„ ªêŒîõ˜èœ: Ýô¡ î£Q«ò½, H«óñ£ ï‰î°ñ£˜, «è.T. «êû£ˆFK.

Maṇimēkalai, one of the five great epics in the Tamil literary tradition, consists of 4861 akaval lines (a kind of blank verse) in 30 cantos. The story of Maṇimēkalai is supposed to be a continuation of what has already been superbly treated by Iḷaṅkō in his Cilappatikāram. Towards the end of the earlier epic, Kaṇṇaki is taken to heaven by some divine beings in a Celestial car; Mātavi, the danseuse, joins the Buddhist order along with her daughter Maṇimēkalai. The later epic takes up the story from here beginning with the renunciation of the heroine at a very early age. That Maṇimēkalai has survived the dangerous times when Buddhist literature was suppressed and destroyed on a large scale, is a reflection upon its greatness.

Cāttaṉār persuasively pleads for the acceptance of Buddhist ideology and rejects the other religions and sects represented by Vedic logicians and ritualists. Besides a lucid exposition of complex religious and philosophical thoughts, Cāttaṉ’s genius is evident in his descriptions of natural scenes and in the telling images and striking similes and metaphors he employs.

The present anthology, published by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil and edited by Prof. K.G. Seshadri, includes the Tamil text, its transliteration, three translations in English verse and prose and critical articles that analyse its success as propaganda literature and the kind of Buddhism that is presented by Cāttanār in his classic.

The translations chosen are those of Alain Danielou, K. G. Seshadri and Prema Nandakumar.

MAṆIMĒKALAIñE«ñè¬ô