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CHAPTER III
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE JĪVANDHARA STORY IN THE UTTARAPURĀNA AND THE STORY OF THE CIVAKACINTĀMANI AND A DISCUSSION OF THE SANSKRIT MOTIFS FOUND IN
THE CIVAKACINTĀMANI
From very early times Sanskrit episodes appeared in Tamil literature. The Sanskrit purānic and epic stories became popular among the Tamils along with Aryan customs and traditions. Though the Cankam literature appears to be relatively free from the influence of Sanskrit works, there are a few references to the episodes of the two Sanskrit epics, Rāmāyapa and Mahābhārata, and to the other mythological stories. References to these stories are made in eulogies of kings and in descriptions, For example,
alankulaip puraviy aivar oļu cinaii nilan talaik konta polam pun tumpai iraim patinmarum porutu kalast oliyap perunc cörr u miku patam varaiyatu koțuttöy!
(The hundred men (Duryodhana and his brothers) who possessed land fought with the Pandavas, who had the horses adorned with head ornaments. During the fight, you supplied the army with food till the hundred mea were killed.)
Here, the poet Muranciyar Muţinākaņār praises the glory of the Cera king Peruncor rütiyancēralātān by saying that he gave food to the armies of the Pandavas and to Durdodhana and his ninety nine brothers till the latter hundred were killed by the Pandavas. The allusion to the Mahabharata story in praising a southern king alteady shows the liking that the people of Tamil land had for these stories. Similar references to stories from the Mahābhārata are found also in the Cirupāpārruppatai, 9 the Perumpāņārruppatai, 5 the Patirruppattu, 4 the Akanādūru, etc. Like the stories of the Mahabhārata, episodes from the Ranāyana are also mentioned in works like Akadāpuru, the Cirupāņārruppatail and Puranāhūru. For example,
Katunteral irāmanutan puñar citaiyai valitta kaiy arakkan vayviya ñantai nilan cēr mātar aại kanta kurankin cemmukap peruń kilaiy isaip polintanku
..8
1 Pur ananūtu, verse 2, lines 13-16. 2 Cirupāņārt uppaļai, lines 238-241. 3 Perumpānärtuppațai, lines 415-417. 4 Patirt uppattu, verse 14.
5 Akanānūru, verse 233. 6 Ibid, verse 70. 7 Cirupānārr uppațai, lines 119-120. 8 Puranānūru, 378.
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