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90
Study of Civakacintamani himself in the company of poets who composed dramatic epics (nāțakak kappiyam). The following line :
nătakak kāppiya nūl nunippor 1
(the people who compose dramatic epic) explains it, In the Peruňkatai, the word kappiyam is mentioned in the description of the things which were taken when the queens of the king went to enjoy water sports. The following phrase :
kāppiyak köcamuma
(the books in which kāppiyams were written) shows that they also took books in which kāppiyams were written. In another context in the Perunkatatai, the poet mentions the reading of kāppiyam as "kāppiya vācanai colli". 3
Besides these references in the pre-Ce. works, there is also evidence to show that even Tēvar was aware of the word kāppiyam. In the soliloquy about the nature of women after seeing Anarkamālai, Civakan says that poets who compose kāppiyam describe the lump of flesh (the body of a woman) in such a way as to make it desirable. kāppiyak kavika! kama eriy ela vikar pittitțār4
(The poets who compose kāppiyam have described this lump of flech in such a way as to intensify the glowing lust in the mind )
All these references make one agree with Ațiyārkkunallar in saying that Toțarnilaic- ceyyu! was also called kāppiyam even before the time of the Cc. Still, apart from the literary forms dealt with in the Tolkāppiyam, one does not encounter a clear definition for a kāppiyam or a clear distinction between the different kinds thereof such as perunkāppiyam, cirukāppiyam etc., till the date of Tantiylapkāram. However, from works like the Cilappatikāram and the Manimēkalai one can see that there existed among poets of the Tamil land some conventions as regards the composition of epic which had been derived from earlier Tamil literature. By the time the Cc. was written this situation had changed. Tēvar made the first attempt to modify the Tamil pattern of a kappiyam to conform also to the requirements stated in the definition of a mahākavya in Sanskrit. The concept of mahakāvya has been laid down by Sanskrit rhetoricians like Daņdin,5 Bhāmaha,& Bhoja,? Hemacandra, 8 and Visvanatha. 9 The various definitions of a mahākāvya given by these rhetoricians are very similar. The mahākāvya is considered to be the best form of poetry and in its qualities perfection
1 Manimekalai, canto, 19, line 80. 2 Perunkatai, 1:38, line 167. 3 Ibid, 4:3, line 42. 4. Cc., v. 1585. 5 Dandin, Kavyadarsa, 1, vv. 14-22
6 Bhamaha, Kavyalankāra, 1.19-23. 7 Bhoja, Sarasvati Kanthäbharana, v, 103-104. 8 Hemacandra, Kavyānu'sāsana, vol. 1. VIII. 9 Visvanatha, Sāhityadarpanam, vl. 315-325.
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