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The Sanskrit interaction in the literary style..
of the consonants ñ, p, n m, n, y, r, 1, v, 1. 1. Pulan is a composition which is composed of common words and is clear to the reader. Ijaipu, the last of the eight, is a composion which consists of five types of lines (atis), beginning with Kuralați, which has two feet (cir), and ending with a line which has seven feet. These feet do not combine a surd consonant with anothar surd. Beyond what is said in the Tolka. ppiyam, we cannot be definite about these literary compositions. Later, the commentator Peräcirlyar has cited examples for these literary forms defined by Tolkäppiyar, mostly from later literary works. Thus the Nalatiyar, the Kajavalinärppatu, and other works classed under Patinenkijkkanakku works are cited as instances for Ammai; the Akanamaru and the Ettuttokai for Alaku; the Päratam and the Takatur yattirai for Toumai; the Muttoдäyiram and the Kalampakam works for Viruntu; the Manimekalai and the Peruňkatai for Iyaipu; and folk dramas (kattu) for Pulab.
Later commentators also hold these eight vanappus to be features found in Totarnilaicceyyul works. What is a Tojarnilaicceyyul? It is a long poem with poetic charm which is characterised by the continuity of its subject-matter. In the Cankam literature, in addition to the Tanip-pätals (single stanzas) which are small, there is the Pattup-pu (collection of ten idylls), which consists of long poems in which central theme is developed. It would be legitimate to say that these formed the nucleus for later Totarnilaic-ceyyulas, which develop a story continuously. The elaborate descriptions and figures of speech found in works like the Maturaikkanci, the Malaipajukatām, the Pattinappalai were directly or indirectly borrowed in later epics. These will be detailed later while dealing with the descriptions in the Cc.
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One can discern three distinct stages in the evolution of the literary form of Totarnilaic-ceyyul. The first stage was that of works like the Pattuppatu referred to earlier, in which a particular theme is developed in the course of long poem in great detail with elaborate descriptions. For example in the Pattinappalai, the situation treated is the sorrow of the spouse of a bard at her impending separation from him. when he will go to Kavirippampattinam, the capital of the Coja king (whom he expects to praise so that he will bestow gifts on him). This serves only as a pretext for the poem, which dwells almost entirely on the glory of the Cola king and the grandeur of his capital. The descriptions of the king and the grandeur of his capital in this poem have inspired the tradition of describing the hero and his country in the later epics.
The second stage in the development of the Totarnilaicceyyu) is that in which the theme of the poem is a story, in particular a story that took place in Tamil country. It is at this stage that the poetical works Cilappatikaram and Mapimekalai were written. The style of these works is similar to that of the earlier Cankam works. One principal reason for this is that they were composed in the same Aeiriyappa metre
1 Tolkäppiyam, Por., Cey., cut. 553.
2 Ibid, loc. cit. cut. 554.
3
Ibid, loc. cit. cut 554
4 No example has been given for Ilaipu and Tol.
5 K. V. Jagannathan, 2nd edition, Tamil Kappiyan kal, Madras, 1955, p. 70.
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