Naṟṟiṇai (
Tamil:
நற்றிணை meaning
excellent tinai, is a classical
Tamil poetic work and traditionally the first of the
Eight Anthologies (
Ettuthokai) in the
Sangam literature.The collection – sometimes spelled as Natrinai or Narrinai– contains both
akam (love) and
puram (war, public life) category of poems. The
Naṟṟiṇai anthology contains 400 poems, mainly of 9 to 12 lines, but a few with 8 to 13 lines each. According to Takanobu Takahashi – a Tamil literature scholar, the
Naṟṟiṇai poems were likely composed between 100–300 CE based on the linguistics, style and dating of the authors.The
Naṟṟiṇai manuscript colophon states that it was compiled under the patronage of the Pandyan king named Pannatu Tanta Pantiyan Maran Valuti, but the compiler remained anonymous.
The
Naṟṟiṇai poems are credited to 175 ancient poets. Two of these poems are attributed to the patron king. According to Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature and history scholar, this poetic anthology contains a few Sanskrit loan words and contains 59 allusions to historical events. Many lines from these poems were borrowed into later Tamil works such as the famed post-Sangam Tamil works:
Tirukkural,
Silappatikaram and
Manimekalai. The Tamil legend about
Kannagi (Kannaki), one who tore of her breast to protest against her husband's unjust execution, appears in
Naṟṟiṇai
Kalittokai (Tamil: கலித்தொகை meaning the kali-metre anthology) is a classical Tamil poetic work and the sixth of Eight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) in the Sangam literature. It is an "akam genre – love and erotic – collection par excellence", according to Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature and history scholar The anthology contains 150 poems and was compiled by one of the authors named Nallantuvanar. The collection has a different tone, metre and style than earlier Sangam literature, evidence that it is a late Sangam work, likely from the 3rd-century CE or after. Naccinarkiniyar, a Tamil scholar who lived during the 14th-century CE, has commented on this work.
It is unclear whether the
Kalittokai was authored by more than one author. Some scholars attribute the collection to five authors, including one by the famed Sangam poet
Kapilar. Others, such as S.V. Damodaram Pillai and K.N. Sivaraja Pillai consider it the work of one poet.
The
Kalittokai anthology uses the
kali metre of varied length. This metre is more advanced and complex than the akaval metre found in earlier Sangam poetry. The kali metre combines
aciriyam and
venpa, creating opportunities to set dialogues within the metre. The poets who composed the
Kalittokai created what comes across as a "one-act plays", sometimes with "coarse, spicy, racy, rude, bawdy, or humorous" dialogues, states Zvelebil. According to Herman Tieken, these compositions are examples of
lasya minor dance scenes as described in the chapters 19 and 31 of the
Natyasastra. The
kali metre has several structural subtypes, each suited for different literary purposes.
The poems include cultured love situations, as well as erotics, folkmotifs and vulgar situations. Its poems are categorised into the five
tinais according to the mood and subject matter conforming to the
Sangam landscape. The first part (2-36) deals with
paalai setting, the second (37-65) with
kurinchi, the third (66-100) with
marutam, the fourth (101-117) with
mullai and the fifth (118-150) with
neital. These five section were each written by a separate author. Perunkadunkon wrote the
paalai songs, the poet Kapilar is attributed to the
kurinchi, Ilanaagan the
marutham songs, Nalluruthiran the
mullai songs and the poet nallanthuvan the
neithal songs.
The
Kalittokai poems are notable for the relatively higher number of
Sanskrit loan words, lexical and structural innovations, the practice of quoting lines of earlier poems such as
Kuṟuntokai 18.5, and the lack the names of chieftains, kings or poets. The anthology is also notable for including allusions and references to pan-Indian love and moral legends found in Epics– and Puranas–genre Sanskrit texts. According to Zvelebil, some examples in the
Kalittokai include Duryodhana's evil plans to kill the Pandava brothers in poem 25, the battle of Murugan and Surapadma in poem 27, Ravana of Ramayana epic in poem 38, Bhima in poem 52, Krishna killing Kansa in poems 52 and 134, Shiva's legends in poems 101 and 150, the love story of Urvasi and Tilottama in poem 109, among others.
The poems of
Kalithogai show evidence of the
ancient music of the Tamil people with its rhythmic phrases.
Goodness is helping one in distress;
Support is not deserting one who is dependent;
Culture is to act in unison with the ways of the world;
Love is not surrendering ties with one’s kin;
Wisdom is to ignore the advice of the ignorant;
Honesty is not to go back on one’s words;
Integrity is to ignore others’ faults;
Justice is awarding punishment without partiality;
Patience is to suffer the ill-disposed.
—
Kalithogai 133
Kundalakesi (
Tamil:
குண்டலகேசி Kuṇṭalakēci,
lit. "woman with curly hair"), also called
Kuntalakeciviruttam, is a
Tamil Buddhist
epic written by Nathakuthanaar, likely sometime in the 10th-century. The epic is a story about love, marriage, getting tired with the married partner, murder and then discovering religion.
The Kundalakesi epic has partially survived into the modern age in fragments, such as in commentaries written centuries later. From these fragments, it appears to be a tragic love story about a Hindu or Jain girl of merchant caste named Kundalakesi who falls in love with Kalan – a Buddhist criminal on a death sentence. The girl's rich merchant father gets the criminal pardoned and freed, the girl marries him. Over time, their love fades and they start irritating each other. During an argument, Kundalakesi reminds him of his criminal past which angers Kalan. A few days later, he invites her to a hike up a hill. When they reach the top, he tells her that he will now kill her. The wife requests that he let circumambulate him – her husband – three times like a god, before her death. He agrees. When she is behind him, she pushes her husband over into the valley below and kills him. She feels remorse for killing the boy she once fell in love with and someone she had married. She meets teachers of various religious traditions, adopts Buddhism, renounces and becomes a nun, then achieves Nirvana. Sections of the story are very similar to the Buddhist Pali Therigatha legend.
The
Kuntalakeci is one of
Aim-perum-kappiyam (
lit. "five great kavyas", or
The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature) according to the later Tamil literary tradition. The surviving stanza fragments of the epic are in
kalitturai poetic meter. It was likely an epic drama-musical for Tamil Buddhist audience in and about the 10th-century. The work likely ridiculed Jainism and Hinduism, attracting commetaries and debate. Various Tamil scholars dated between 10th- and 16th-centuries have called the Buddhist epic as a work of
tarukkavadam (polemics and controversy).
Kundalakesi (
lit. The woman with long curly hair) was born in a merchant family in the city of
Puhar. She loses her mother during childhood and lives a sheltered life. One day she sees a Buddhist robber and gambler and falls in love with him. The thief, Kaalan, has been sentenced to death for banditry. Besotted with Kaalan, Kundalakesi implores her rich merchant father to save him. Her father petitions the king for the thief's release. He pays Kalan's release, and the king agrees to release him because Kalan's father was also a minister in his court. Kundalakesi and Kaalan are married and live happily for some time.
The love fades, and one day, the sulking Kundalakesi reminds Kalan of his criminal past. This enrages the mercurial Kaalan. He plots to murder her and steal her jewels. He tricks her into visiting the summit of the nearby hill. Once they reach the summit, he announces his intention to kill her by pushing her off the hill. Kundalakesi is shocked and asks him to grant a final wish — she wishes to worship him, her husband, by going around him three times before she dies. He agrees and, when she gets behind him, Kundalakesi pushes him off the summit, killing him.
Kundalakesi feels disgust and remorse with what she did to Kalan. She learns about different religious traditions and converts to Buddhism. She renounces, becomes a nun and achieves nirvana.
