Purananuru

Among the eight Sangam anthologies, Purananuru and Pathitrupathu are concerned with life outside family – kings, wars, greatness, generosity, ethics and philosophy.^[24] While Pathitrupathu is limited to the glory of Chera kings in 108 verses, Purananuru contains an assortment of themes in three hundred ninety seven poems.^[24] Of the original 400 poems, two have been lost, and some poems miss several lines.^[24]

There are 400 poems in Purananuru including the invocation poem. Each poem measures anywhere between 4 and 40 lines. Poems 267 and 268 are lost, and some of the poems exist only in fragment. The author of 14 poems remain unknown. The remaining poems were written by 157 poets.^[25] Of the poets who wrote these poems, there are men and women, kings and paupers. The oldest book of annotations found so far has annotations and commentary on the first 266 poems. The commentator Nachinarkiniyar, of the eleventh–twelfth century Tamil Nadu, has written a complete commentary on all the poems.

The Purananuru poems deal with the puram aspect of the Sangam literature, that is war, politics and public life. Many poems praise kings and chieftains. Some of the poems are in the form of elegies in tribute to a fallen hero. These poems exhibit outpourings of affection and emotions. Purananuru is notable for three features: the king and his believed powers over the climate and environment (rains, sunshine, successful crops), the ancient Tamil belief in the power of women's purity, namely karpu (chastity), Vedas were chanted and Yagyams were performed for wellness of the people^[27], and the ancient system of caste (kuti, kudi) that existed in Tamil kingdoms. Purananuru poem 183 mentions four divisions in the socitey which is similar to the Varna in Hinduism. The poet states equality and teaching rights between the 4 divisions which is the exact verse of Apastamba, which Apastamba had already stated in the early 600 BCE.^[28] Apastamba states that Dharma can be learnt from anyone from the four divisions and is not according to birth which is exactly translated into Tamil in the poem 183.^[29] Robert Lingat states that epigraphical and textual evidence such as the Pallava inscriptions confirm that Apastamba tradition existed in ancient Tamil Nadu.^[30]

According to Hart and Heifetz, the Purananuru content is organized in the following way (poem sequence number in brackets):^[32][33]

• Invocation to Shiva (1)
• Praise of kings (2-64)
• Death of the king, messengers, bards, bragging king, captive treatment, odds, speed of war, warriors, singing poets, poor poet and generous kings (65-173)
• Ethical and moral poems (182-195)
• Kings who were not generous to poets (196–211)
• Death of kings, helplessness of widows, youth versus old age, cattle raids, memorial stone, drinking, combat (213–282)
• War (283–314)
• Kings who were generous to the poor (315–335)
• Impermanence of life, the inevitability of death (336–367)
• Low-caste drummer asking king for gifts (368–400)

The collected poems were composed by 157 poets, of which 14 are anonymous and at least 10 were poetess.^[6] Some of the authors of the poems, such as Kapilar and Nakkirar, have also written poems that are part of other anthologies.

There seems to be some definite structure to the order of the poems in Purananuru. The poems at the beginning of the book deal with the three major kings Chola, Chera and Pandya of ancient Tamil Nadu.^[34] The middle portion is on the lesser kings and the Velir chieftains, who were feudatories of these three major kingdoms, with a short intervening section (poems 182 - 195) of didactic poems. The final portion deals with the general scenery of war and the effect of warfare.

Just as the akam (subjective) poems are classified into seven thinais or landscapes based on the mood of the poem, the Tamil prosodical tradition mentioned in the ancient Tamil grammatical treatise Tolkappiyam also classifies puram (objective) poems into seven thinais based on the subject of the poems. These are vetchi, when the king provokes war by attacking and stealing the cattle of his enemy; vanchi, when the king invades the enemy territory; uzhingai, when the king lays a siege of the enemy's fortress; thumbai, when the two armies meet on a battlefield; vaakai, when the king is victorious; paataan, when the poet praises the king on his victory; and kanchi, when the poet sings on the fragility of human life.

The Purananuru does not, however, follow this system. The colophons accompanying each poem name a total of eleven thinais. From the subject matter of the poems they accompany, each can be said to represent the following themes:^[35]

 

• Vetchi
• Karanthai
• Vanchi
• Nochchi
• Thumpai
• Vaakai
• Kanchi
• Paadaan
• Kaikkilai
• Perunthinai
• Pothuviyal

The Kaikkilai and Perunthinai are traditionally associated with akam poetry. In Purananuru, they occur in the context of the familiar puram landscape of warfare. Thus songs 83, 84 and 85 are classified to belong to the kaikkilai thinai, which denotes unrequited love, and describe a noblewoman's love for King Cholan Poravai Kopperunarkilli. Similarly, songs 143 to 147 are classified as perunthinai or perunkilai thinai, which denotes unsuitable love, and deal with King Pekan's abandonment of his wife.^[35]

Pothuviyal is described in commentaries as a general thinai used for poems that cannot be classified in any other manner but, in the context of Purananuru, is used almost exclusively for didactic verse and elegies or laments for dead heroes.^{[citation needed]}

Purananuru songs exhibit a unique realism and immediacy not frequently found in classical literature. The nature and the subject of the poems lend us to believe that poets did not write these poems on events that happened years prior, rather they wrote (or sang) them on impulse in situ. Some of the poems are conversational in which the poet pleads, begs, chides or praises the king. One such example is poem 46. The poet Kovur Kizhaar address the Chola king Killivalavan to save the lives of the children of a defeated enemy who are about to be executed by being trampled under an elephant. The poet says, "… O king, you belong to the heritage of kings who sliced their own flesh to save the life of a pigeon, look at these children; they are so naïve of their plight that they have stopped crying to look at the swinging trunk of the elephant in amusement. Have pity on them…" The almost impressionistic picture the poem paints cannot be anything but by someone who is witness to the events present in the poem.^[37] The same legend of slicing their own flesh to save a life of a pigeon is mentioned in the Mahabharata. This legend is dedicated to the king Shibi.^[38] Purananuru poem 46, mentions that Chola kings are descendants of the king Shibi Chakravarthy.^[39][40][41]

The second poem by Mudinagarayar addresses the Chera king Uthayan Cheralaathan and praises him for his feeding the armies at the Kurukshetra war. This is an obvious anachronism suggesting a king of the early common era Tamil country had a role to play in the battle of the Mahabharata epic. Based on this one poem, there have been attempts at dating the Purananuru poems to around 1000 BCE or older.^{[citation needed]}

Each Purananuru poem has a colophon attached to it giving the authorship and subject matter of the poem, the name of the king or chieftain to whom the poem relates and the occasion which called forth the eulogy are also found.

It is from these colophons and rarely from the texts of the poems themselves, that we gather the names of many kings and chieftains and the poets and poetesses patronised by them. The task of reducing these names to an ordered scheme in which the different generations of contemporaries can be marked off one another has not been easy. To add to the confusions, some historians have even denounced these colophons as later additions and untrustworthy as historical documents.

A careful study of the synchronisation between the kings, chieftains and the poets suggested by these colophons indicates that this body of literature reflect occurrences within a period of four or five continuous generations at the most, a period of 120 or 150 years. Any attempt at extracting a systematic chronology and data from these poems should be aware of the casual nature of these poems and the wide difference between the purposes of the anthologist who collected these poems and the historian’s attempts are arriving at a continuous history.

There have been unsuccessful attempts at dating the poems of Purananuru based on the mention of the Mahabharata war. A more reliable source for the period of these poems is based on the mentions one finds on the foreign trade and presence of Greek and Roman merchants in the port of Musiri (poem 343), which give us a date of between 200 BCE to 150 CE for the period of these poems. This is further strengthened by the mention of a reference to Ramayana in poem 378, and a reference to Maurya in poem 175, which indicates a late date of about 187 BCE. A combination of these two considerations would indicate a composition date range during the 2nd century BCE.^[42]

Purananuru mentions several kings doing several Vedic sacrifices, Poem 9 and 15 written by poet Nettimaiyār' sings the greatnes of Palyākasālai Muthukudumi Peruvazhuthi who performed several Vedic practises like Anthima Samskaram for poor people and performing Vedic sacrifices like Yagyam or Homam and planting Yupa sthambam ^[43][44][45] The poet questions the King in the Poem 15, "Which of these is greater in number" the number of victory flags planted or the number of Yupa sthamba planted after performing many sacrifices (Yagam) prescribed by the Four Vedas and the books of ritual (Śrauta shastras), fine sacrifices of an excellence that will not die away and charged with a fame that is difficult to achieve, oblations that rose rich in ghee and all the other elements of the sacrifice? For you, which is greater, O greatness! The king is named as Palyākasālai Muthukudumi Peruvazhuthi Pandiyan and he got his epithet name Palyākasālai because he performed several Yagams (Vedic Sacrifice).^[46][47] Another important king is Rāsasooyam Vētta Perunarkilli Chozhan, a Chozha king who performed the Rajasooya yagyam.^[48]

Purananuru poem 166, mentions a Brahmin king Poonchātrūr Pārpān Kouniyan Vinnanthāyan Who performs all the 21 Vedic Rituals and wearing a Sacred thread (Yagnopaveetham also referred to as Poonal,^[49] Janeu, Jandhyam, Munja, Janivara and Yonya) over his shoulders and dose so many Vedic sacrifices.^[50][51]

 

Purananuru mentions 21 rituals in the poem 166, which is explained in the Vedas in detail, the Vedas split the 21 Rituals (Yagams) into 3 main Yagams with 7 Yagams within each of the 3 Main Yagams.

The Kalpa Sutras list the following Yagams types:^[53] 1st main Yagam is the Pāka-Yagams: — Aṣtaka, sthālipāka, parvana, srāvaṇi, āgrahayani, caitri, and āsvīyuji. These Yagams involve consecrating cooked items. These Yagams are the first 7 Yagams.

2nd Main Yagam is the Soma-Yagams: — Agnistoma, atyajnistoma, uktya, shodasi, vājapeya, atirātra, and aptoryama are the seven soma-Yagams. These Yagams are the next 7 Yagams.

3rd main Yagam is the Havir-Yagams: — Agniyādhāna, agnihotra, darśa-pūrṇamāsa, āgrayana, cāturmāsya, niruudha paśu bandha,^[54] sautrāmaṇi. These involve offering havis or oblations. These are the last 7 Yagams.

All these 3 main yagams of 7 each together make 21. Purananuru poem 224 written by the well known poet Avvaiyar also mentions about the 3 main fires.Avvaiyar compares the King Rāsasooyam Vētta Perunarkilli Chozhan's beauty with the 3 main fires which are performed by the Twice-born Brahmins.^[55]

 

The earliest reference to the Epic Ramayana in Tamil literature is found in the Purananuru 378, attributed to the poet UnPodiPasunKudaiyar, written in praise of the Chola king IIamchetchenni. The king gives a lot of ornaments as much as he could not bear it. They are not suitable to the poet as they are royal ornaments and his relatives followed with him adding chorus song. In happy mood poet’s relatives tried to wear. They wear ear-rings in fingers and finger-rings in ears. They also wear neck-ornaments in waist and waist-ornaments in neck. The poet remembers a scene of Ramayana where, Sita followed Rama when he proceeds, Ravana kidnaps the Sita to his credit to enjoy. On the way, she dropped some of her ornament as tokens of identification. Having seen these events, the monkeys picked the ornaments and tried to wear on their bodies. They did not know where they are suitable to wear. They hanged the ornament as they like. The poet compares this with his family and gets happy after a long time.^[58][59]

U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (1855-1942) resurrected the first three epics and Sangam literature from the appalling neglect and wanton destruction of centuries.^[61] He reprinted the literature present in the palm leaf form to paper books.^[62] He published Purananuru for the first time in 1894.^[25] Ramaswami Mudaliar, a Tamil scholar, first gave him the palm leaves of Civaka Cintamani to study.^[61] Being the first time, Swaminatha Iyer had to face many difficulties in terms of interpreting, finding the missing leaves, textual errors and unfamiliar terms.^[61] He went on tiring journeys to remote villages in search of the missing manuscripts. After years of toil, he published Civaka Cintamani in book form in 1887, followed by Silappatikaram in 1892 and Purananuru in 1894.^[61][63] Along with the text, he added abundant commentary and explanatory notes of terms, textual variations and approaches to explaining the context.^[61]

• Eight Anthologies
• Eighteen Greater Texts
• Sangam literature