A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.42

c19.s2.42

The period 1200-1650 was also the age of many celebrated commentators whose work is important enough to find a place even in a short sketch of Tamil literary history. The dates of many of them cannot be ascertained accurately though there is good reason to assign all of them to this period. The commentaries of Mayilaināthar on *Nannūl* and of Perundēvanār on *Vīra-śōliyam*, both works of grammar, were among the earliest. Then came the gloss of Aḍiyārkkunallār on *Śilappadikāram*, a very learned and eloquent commentary remarkable for its extensive and instructive citations from numerous old works now lost. Śēnāvaraiyar on the *śol* section of *Tolkāppiyam* and Parimēlaḷagar on *Kuraḷ* may be placed next. The latter’s comment on *Kuraḷ* now recognized as the best is said to have been preceded by nine other commentaries; however that may be, Parimēlaḷagar is at once learned, concise and clear; he often traces the ideas of the *Kuraḷ* to their sources in Sanskrit or helps one to do so. He is said to have been a native of Madura, and is therefore probably different from the homonymous annotator of *Paripāḍal* who belonged to Kāñchi and was a Vaishnava by faith. Pērāśiriyar and Naccinārkkiniyar were other great commentators. The former elucidated *Tolkāppiyam* and 380 out of the 400 poems in the *Kuṟundogai*, a *Śangam* anthology. The latter completed the gloss on *Kuṟundogai*, and also annotated the *Tolkāppiyam*, *Pattuppāṭṭu*, *Kalittogai* and *Jīvakacintāmaṇi*. The anonymous commentaries on the *Śangam* anthologies of *Puṟanānūṟu*, *Padiṟṟuppattu* and *Ainguṟunūṟu* must also have been written sometime in this period. So also the commentary on *Puṟapporuḷveṇbāmālai* by Chāmuṇḍi-dēvanāyakan. Tirumēnikkavirāyar, born in Tentiruppērai in Tinnevelly district, was a contemporary of Tirumalai Nāyaka; he wrote a commentary of *Māṟan-Alankāram*, and a prose abstract of the *Kuraḷ* known as *Tirukkuṟaḷ-nuṇ-poruḷmālai*; a similar work based on *Tolkāppiyam* attributed to him is not now available. The importance of the commentaries is twofold: they are almost the only considerable prose works in Tamil; and they mention many authors, works and historical and social facts that we have no other means of knowing.