A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.5

c19.s2.5

The age of the remaining works in the collection may be given, tentatively and within broad limits, as follows: between 550 and 650—*Kārnārpadu*, *Innā-nārpadu*, *Aindiṇai-aimbadu*, *Nālaḍi*, *Nāṇmaṇikkaḍigai*, and *Paḷamoḷi*; between 650 and 750—*Tirikaḍukam*, *Aindiṇai-yeḷubadu*, *Tiṇai-mālai-aimbadu*, *Kainnilai*, *Elādi*, *Tiṇai-mālai-nūrraimbadu*, *Śirupañcamūlam*, *Iniya-nārpadu* and *Āśārakkōvai*. The figures *nārpadu* (40), *aimbadu* (50), and so on, with which some of these names end indicate the number of stanzas in the work. The *Kār-nārpadu* is a love poem in which a love-lorn lady is supposed to describe the dreadful approach of the rainy season in the absence of her lover; the four other poems whose titles contain the word *tiṇai*, as well as *Kainnilai*, are also on the theme of love and belong to the class of *aham* works. *Innā-nārpadu* and *Iniya-nārpadu* are catalogues of painful and unpleasant, and pleasurable and joyous, things and deeds respectively. *Nālaḍi* is a Jaina anthology (400 verses) put together by Padumanār and arranged in forty chapters on the lines of the *Kural*; the names of the poets whose songs are collected are unknown, but the reference to Muttaraiyar in two of the stanzas gives the clue to the date of the collection. *Nāṇmaṇikkaḍigai* (100 stanzas) by a Vaishnava poet, Viḷambi Nāganār, contains four sententious statements in each stanza; it is a work of high literary merit and ranks next only to the *Kural*. The *Paḷamoḷi* is a Jaina work of 400 *veṇbās*, each citing a proverb and mentioning some incident or story to illustrate it. *Tirikaḍukam* (‘three pungents’), *Elādi* (cardamom and others) and *Śirupañcamūlam* (‘the five minor roots’) take their names from well-known medicinal preparations; just as the medicines cure the illnesses of the body and restore health, the morals inculcated in these works cure the diseases of mind and spirit and set the reader on the road to virtue and happiness. The author of *Tirikaḍukam* was a worshipper of Vishnu; the other two works were by Jains. The *Āśārakkōvai* is a veritable Tamil *smriti* by a Śaiva author based avowedly on Sanskrit originals. It is among the latest, if not the last, works of this type in this period.