Purananuru

2026-10-06T17:39:13Z

2401:4900:6083:DE72:FC1E:11FF:FE83:CA40: Added Purananuru verse - 312.

{{Short description|Work of classical Tamil literature}}
{{italic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}
[[File:Ravi Varma-Ravana Sita Jathayu.jpg|250px|thumb|[[Sita]] (an Avatara of [[Mahalakshmi]]) is kidnapped by evil king [[Ravana]], is the earliest mention of [[Ramayana]] in Tamil literature found in '''Purananuru'''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hart |first1=George L |last2=Heifetz |first2=Hank |title=The four hundred songs of war and wisdom : an anthology of poems from classical Tamil : the Puṟanāṉūṟu |url=https://archive.org/details/fourhundredsongs00 |url-access=registration |date=1999 |publisher=Columbia University Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fourhundredsongs00/page/219 219]-220 |isbn=9780231115629 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Kalakam |editor1-first=Turaicămip Pillai |title=Purananuru |date=1950 |location=Madras}}</ref>]]
{{Sangam literature}}
The '''''Purananuru''''' ({{indic|lang=ta|indic=புறநானூறு|trans=Puṟanāṉūṟu}}, literally "four hundred [poems] in the genre puram"), sometimes called '''''Puram''''' or '''''Purappattu''''', is a classical [[Tamil literature|Tamil poetic]] work and traditionally the last of the [[Eight Anthologies]] (''Ettuthokai'') in the [[Sangam literature]].{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=54-55}} It is a collection of 400 heroic poems about kings, wars and public life, of which two are lost and a few have survived into the modern age in fragments. The collected poems were composed by 157 poets, of which 14 are anonymous and at least 10 were women.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=54-55}}{{sfn|George Hart|Hank Heifetz|2001|p=xv}} This anthology has been variously dated between 1st century BCE and 5th century CE, with [[Kamil Zvelebil]], a Tamil literature scholar, dating predominantly all of the poems of ''Purananuru'' sometime between 2nd and 5th century CE.{{sfn|George Hart|Hank Heifetz|2001|p=xvi}}{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=41–43 with Chart 4}} Nevertheless, few poems are dated to the period of 1st century BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zvelebil|first=Kamil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ&q=info:3mNeiVqlnhoJ:scholar.google.com/&pg=PR9|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|date=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-03591-1|language=en}}</ref>

The ''Purananuru'' anthology is diverse. Of its 400 poems, 138 praise 43 kings – 18 from the [[Chera dynasty]] (present day [[Kerala]]), 13 [[Chola]] dynasty kings, and 12 Early [[Pandya]] dynasty kings.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=54-55}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya|title=A Social History of Early India|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0tX4wzIUY3QC |year=2009| publisher=Pearson|isbn=978-81-317-1958-9|pages=31–32}}</ref> Another 141 poems praise 48 chieftains. These panegyric poems recite their heroic deeds, as well as another 109 poems that recount deeds of anonymous heroes, likely of older Tamil [[oral tradition]].{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=54-55}} Some of the poems are [[Gnomic poetry|gnomic]] in nature, which have attracted unrealistic attempts to read an ethical message, states Zvelebil.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=54-55}} The poetry largely focuses on war, means of war such as horses, heroic deeds, widowhood, hardships, impermanence, and other effects of wars between kingdoms based along the rivers [[Kaveri]], [[Periyar River|Periyar]] and [[Vaigai River|Vaigai]].{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=54-55}}{{sfn|George Hart|Hank Heifetz|2001|pp=xvi-xix}}

The ''Purananuru'' is the most important Tamil corpus of Sangam era courtly poems,<ref>{{cite journal | last=Stein | first=Burton | title=Circulation and the Historical Geography of Tamil Country | journal=The Journal of Asian Studies | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=37 | issue=1 | year=1977 | doi=10.2307/2053325 | pages=7–26| jstor=2053325 | s2cid=144599197 }}</ref> and it has been a source of information on the political and social history of ancient [[Tamil Nadu]]. According to Hart and Heifetz, the ''Purananuru'' provides a view of the Tamil society before large scale Indo-Aryan influences affected it.{{sfn|George Hart|Hank Heifetz|2001|p=xv}} The life of the Tamils of this era revolved around the king, emphasized the purity of women and placed limitations of the rights of widows.{{sfn|George Hart|Hank Heifetz|2001|pp=xvii-xx}} Further, the compilation suggests that the ancient Tamils had a caste system called ''kuti''. The anthology is almost entirely a secular treatise on the ancient Tamil thought on kingship, the constant state of wars within old Tamil speaking regions, the bravery of heroes and the ferocious nature of this violence.{{sfn|George Hart|Hank Heifetz|2001|pp=xvii-xviii}}<Ref>{{cite journal|title= The Warrior Settlements of the Sangam Age| author= M. G. S. Narayanan| journal= Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume= 43|year=1982| pages= 102–109|jstor=44141220}}</ref> According to Amritha Shenoy, the ''Purananuru'' poems eulogize war and describe "loyalty, courage, honor" as the virtues of warriors.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Shenoy | first=Amritha V. | title=International humanitarian law in ancient India: a multicivilisational perspective | journal=Indian Journal of International Law | publisher=Springer Science | volume=58 | issue=3–4 | year=2018 | doi=10.1007/s40901-019-00102-y | pages=425–451| s2cid=182614568 }}</ref> In contrast, Sivaraja Pillai cautions that the historical and literary value of ''Purananuru'' poems may be limited because the poems were not a perfect work of art but one of compulsion from impoverished poets too eager to praise one king or another, seeking patrons through exaggeration and flattery rather than objectivity.<ref>John Marr (1958), The eight Tamil anthologies with special reference to Purananuru and Pattirruppattu, SOAS, University of London, page 9; [https://archive.org/details/TheChronologyOfTheEarlyTamils/page/n45 The Chronology Of The Early Tamils], KN Sivaraja Pillai, University of Madras, page 18</ref>

The ''Purananuru'' poems use words, phrases, and metaphors, including references to the [[Himalayas]] of "immeasurable heights", '''[[Vishnnu|Maha Vishnu]], [[Mahalakshmi]], [[Lord Shiva]], [[Vedas|The four Vedas known as Rig, Yajur, Sama, and Atharvana]], the [[Ramayana]], various rivers, and other aspects'''.{{sfn|George Hart|Hank Heifetz|2001|pp=xxi, 3–4, 28–32, 41, 139–140, 206, 220}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hart |first1=George L |last2=Heifetz |first2=Hank |title=The four hundred songs of war and wisdom : an anthology of poems from classical Tamil : the Puṟanāṉūṟu |url=https://archive.org/details/fourhundredsongs00 |url-access=registration |date=1999 |publisher=Columbia University Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fourhundredsongs00/page/219 219]-220 |isbn=9780231115629 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Kalakam |editor1-first=Turaicămip Pillai |title=Purananuru |date=1950 |location=Madras}}</ref>
There are references in '''Purananuru''' where young children used to wear a Metal band or Rakshay called as '''Aimpadai thali''' ('''ஐம்படைத் தாலி''').<ref>Purananuru, hymn 77.</ref> This is a type of jewellery that has been worn among [[Tamils]] since ancient times. It seems to have been worn around the neck of boys for protection. There are Five weapons inscribed in the metal band refers to the five weapons of [[Lord Vishnu]] , which are [[Panchajanya|Shanka]] , [[Sudarshana Chakra|Chakra]] , [[Sharanga]] , [[Nandaka]] and [[Gada|Kaumodaki]]. A thali is worn by a child during the season of waltzing. The Kalingatup Parani mentions that Kulothunga I wore it as a child .<ref>பண்டுவசு தேவன்மக னாகிநில மாதின்
படர்களையு மாயனிவ னென்றுதௌி வெய்தத்
தண்டுதனு வாள்பணில நேமியெனு நாமத்
தன்படைக ளானதிரு வைம்படை தரித்தே 240</ref>

==Anthology==
Among the eight Sangam anthologies, ''Purananuru'' and ''Pathitrupathu'' are concerned with life outside family – kings, wars, greatness, generosity, ethics and philosophy.<ref name="Hart"/> While ''Pathitrupathu'' is limited to the glory of [[Chera Dynasty|Chera]] kings in 108 verses, ''Purananuru'' contains an assortment of themes in three hundred ninety seven poems.<ref name="Hart"/> Of the original 400 poems, two have been lost, and some poems miss several lines.<ref name="Hart">Hart 1999, p. xvi</ref>

==Structure and content==
There are 400 poems in ''Purananuru'' including the invocation poem. Each poem measures anywhere between 4 and 40 lines. Poems 267 and 268 are lost, and some of the poems exist only in fragment. The author of 14 poems remain unknown. The remaining poems were written by 157 poets.{{sfn|Kovaimani and Nagarajan, 2013|p=26}} Of the poets who wrote these poems, there are men and women, kings and paupers. The oldest book of annotations found so far has annotations and commentary on the first 266 poems. The commentator [[Nachinarkiniyar]], of the eleventh–twelfth century Tamil Nadu, has written a complete commentary on all the poems.

===Subject matter===
{{Quote box
|quote = '''I am the soul'''
<poem>
Not food is the soul of life
Nor water is the life's soul
It is the king
who is the life of this wide expanse of the earth
Therefore
this is the duty of the kings
with armies stocked with mighty spears:
To know:
I am the soul!
</poem>
|source = —''Purananuru 186'', Translator: Kamil Zvelebil{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=19}}
|bgcolor=#FFE0BB
|align = right
}}
The ''Purananuru'' poems deal with the ''puram'' aspect of the Sangam literature, that is war, politics and public life. Many poems praise kings and chieftains. Some of the poems are in the form of [[elegy|elegies]] in tribute to a fallen hero. These poems exhibit outpourings of affection and emotions. ''Purananuru'' is notable for three features: the king and his believed powers over the climate and environment (rains, sunshine, successful crops), the ancient Tamil belief in the power of women's purity, namely ''karpu'' (chastity), and the ancient system of caste (kuti, kudi) that existed in Tamil kingdoms.

According to Hart and Heifetz, the ''Purananuru'' content is organized in the following way (poem sequence number in brackets):<ref name="Hart349">Hart 1999, p. 349, xvi</ref><ref name="Rav">Rav 2003, p. 126</ref>
* Invocation to Shiva (1)
* Praise of kings (2-64)
* Death of the king, messengers, bards, bragging king, captive treatment, odds, speed of war, warriors, singing poets, poor poet and generous kings (65-173)
* Ethical and moral poems (182-195)
* Kings who were not generous to poets (196–211)
* Death of kings, helplessness of widows, youth versus old age, cattle raids, memorial stone, drinking, combat (213–282)
* War (283–314)
* Kings who were generous to the poor (315–335)
* Impermanence of life, the inevitability of death (336–367)
* Low-caste drummer asking king for gifts (368–400)

===Authors===
The collected poems were composed by 157 poets, of which 14 are anonymous and at least 10 were poetess.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=54-55}} Some of the authors of the poems, such as [[Kapilar]] and Nakkirar, have also written poems that are part of other anthologies.

===Structure===
There seems to be some definite structure to the order of the poems in ''Purananuru''. The poems at the beginning of the book deal with the three major kings [[Chola]], [[Chera dynasty|Chera]] and [[Pandya]] of ancient Tamil Nadu.<ref name="Hartxvii">Hart 1999, pp. xvi-xviii</ref> The middle portion is on the lesser kings and the Velir chieftains, who were feudatories of these three major kingdoms, with a short intervening section (poems 182 - 195) of [[didactic]] poems. The final portion deals with the general scenery of war and the effect of warfare.

===Landscapes===
Just as the ''akam'' (subjective) poems are classified into seven ''thinais'' or [[Sangam landscape|landscapes]] based on the mood of the poem, the Tamil [[Prosody (poetry)|prosodical]] tradition mentioned in the ancient Tamil grammatical treatise ''[[Tolkappiyam]]'' also classifies ''puram'' (objective) poems into seven ''thinais'' based on the subject of the poems. These are ''vetchi,'' when the king provokes war by attacking and stealing the cattle of his enemy; ''vanchi,'' when the king invades the enemy territory; ''uzhingai,'' when the king lays a siege of the enemy's fortress; ''thumbai,'' when the two armies meet on a battlefield; ''vaakai,'' when the king is victorious; ''paataan,'' when the poet praises the king on his victory; and ''kanchi,'' when the poet sings on the fragility of human life.

The ''Purananuru'' does not, however, follow this system. The colophons accompanying each poem name a total of eleven thinais. From the subject matter of the poems they accompany, each can be said to represent the following themes:{{sfn|George Hart|Hank Heifetz|2001|pp=xxix-xxx}}

* ''Vetchi''
* ''Karanthai''
* ''Vanchi''
* ''Nochchi''
* ''Thumpai''
* ''Vaakai''
* ''Kanchi''
* ''Paadaan''
* ''Kaikkilai''
* ''Perunthinai''
* ''Pothuviyal''

The Kaikkilai and Perunthinai are traditionally associated with ''akam'' poetry. In Purananuru, they occur in the context of the familiar ''puram'' landscape of warfare. Thus songs 83, 84 and 85 are classified to belong to the ''kaikkilai'' ''thinai'', which denotes unrequited love, and describe a noblewoman's love for King Cholan Poravai Kopperunarkilli. Similarly, songs 143 to 147 are classified as ''perunthinai'' or ''perunkilai thinai'', which denotes unsuitable love, and deal with King Pekan's abandonment of his wife.{{sfn|George Hart|Hank Heifetz|2001|pp=xxix-xxx}}

''Pothuviyal'' is described in commentaries as a general ''thinai'' used for poems that cannot be classified in any other manner but, in the context of ''Purananuru'', is used almost exclusively for didactic verse and elegies or laments for dead heroes.{{fact|date=August 2020}}

==Quotes==

Purananuru Verse - 312, describes the duties of a young man in warfare:

{{Quote|"It is my foremost duty to bear and raise him;
it is his father's duty to make him a noble man; it is the duty of the blacksmith to forge and give him a [[Spear|spear]]; it is the duty of the king to teach him good behavior, and it is the duty of the young man to fight in harsh wars with his bright sword, killing enemy elephants and coming back."|Ponmudiyar , Purananuru -312<ref>{{cite book
|last=Herbert
|first=Vaidehi
|title=Purananuru: Translation in English with Meanings
|page=498 |url=https://archive.org/details/purananurutransl0000unse/page/497/mode/1up
}}</ref>}}

===Realism===
''Purananuru'' songs exhibit a unique realism and immediacy not frequently found in classical literature. The nature and the subject of the poems lend us to believe that poets did not write these poems on events that happened years prior, rather they wrote (or sang) them on impulse ''in situ''. Some of the poems are conversational in which the poet pleads, begs, chides or praises the king. One such example is poem 46. The poet Kovur Kizhaar address the [[Chola]] king [[Killivalavan]] to save the lives of the children of a defeated enemy who are about to be executed by being trampled under an elephant. The poet says, "… O king, you belong to the heritage of kings who sliced their own flesh to save the life of a pigeon, look at these children; they are so naïve of their plight that they have stopped crying to look at the swinging trunk of the elephant in amusement. Have pity on them…" The almost [[impressionistic]] picture the poem paints cannot be anything but by someone who is witness to the events present in the poem.{{fact|date=May 2023}}

The second poem by Mudinagarayar addresses the [[Chera dynasty|Chera]] king Uthayan Cheralaathan and praises him for his feeding the armies at the [[Kurukshetra war]]. This is an obvious anachronism suggesting a king of the early [[common era]] Tamil country had a role to play in the battle of the [[Mahabharata]] epic. Based on this one poem, there have been attempts at dating the ''Purananuru'' poems to around 1000 BCE or older.{{fact|date=May 2023}}

==Historical source==
{{See also| Tamil history from Sangam literature}}
Each ''Purananuru'' poem has a colophon attached to it giving the authorship and subject matter of the poem, the name of the king or chieftain to whom the poem relates and the occasion which called forth the eulogy are also found.

It is from these colophons and rarely from the texts of the poems themselves, that we gather the names of many kings and chieftains and the poets and poetesses patronised by them. The task of reducing these names to an ordered scheme in which the different generations of contemporaries can be marked off one another has not been easy. To add to the confusions, some historians have even denounced these colophons as later additions and untrustworthy as historical documents.

A careful study of the synchronisation between the kings, chieftains and the poets suggested by these colophons indicates that this body of literature reflect occurrences within a period of four or five continuous generations at the most, a period of 120 or 150 years. Any attempt at extracting a systematic chronology and data from these poems should be aware of the casual nature of these poems and the wide difference between the purposes of the anthologist who collected these poems and the historian’s attempts are arriving at a continuous history.

There have been unsuccessful attempts at dating the poems of ''Purananuru'' based on the mention of the Mahabharata war. A more reliable source for the period of these poems is based on the mentions one finds on the foreign trade and presence of Greek and Roman merchants in the port of [[Muziris|Musiri]] (poem 343), which give us a date of between 200 BCE to 150 CE for the period of these poems. This is further strengthened by the mention of a reference to [[Ramayana]] in poem 378, and a reference to [[Maurya]] in poem 175, which indicates a late date of about 187 BCE. A combination of these two considerations would indicate a composition date range during the 2nd century BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Beresford|first=James|url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789004241947/B9789004241947_007.xml|title=The Sailing Season of the Indian Ocean|date=2013-01-01|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-24194-7|language=en}}</ref>

==Ramayana Reference==
{{main|Ramayana in Tamil literature}}
The earliest reference to the Epic Ramayana in Tamil literature is found in the Purananuru 378, attributed to the poet ''UnPodiPasunKudaiyar'', written in praise of the [[Chola]] king [[Ilamchetchenni|IIamchetchenni]]. The poem makes the analogy of a poet receiving royal gifts and that worn by the relatives of the poet as being unworthy for their status, to the event in the Ramayana, where [[Sita]] drops her jewels when abducted by [[Ravana]] and these jewels being picked up red-faced monkeys who delightfully wore the ornaments.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hart |first1=George L |last2=Heifetz |first2=Hank |title=The four hundred songs of war and wisdom : an anthology of poems from classical Tamil : the Puṟanāṉūṟu |url=https://archive.org/details/fourhundredsongs00 |url-access=registration |date=1999 |publisher=Columbia University Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fourhundredsongs00/page/219 219]-220 |isbn=9780231115629 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Kalakam |editor1-first=Turaicămip Pillai |title=Purananuru |date=1950 |location=Madras}}</ref>

==Publishing in modern times==
[[File:Tamil palm-leaf manuscript of Ciṟupañcamūlam 2.jpg|A palm leaf manuscript with ancient Tamil text|300x200px|thumb]]
[[U. V. Swaminatha Iyer]] (1855-1942) resurrected the first three epics and Sangam literature from the appalling neglect and wanton destruction of centuries.<ref name="Lal">Lal 2001, pp. 4255-4256</ref> He reprinted the literature present in the palm leaf form to paper books.<ref>M.S. 1994, p. 194</ref> He published Purananuru for the first time in 1894.{{sfn|Kovaimani and Nagarajan, 2013|p=26}} Ramaswami Mudaliar, a Tamil scholar, first gave him the palm leaves of ''Civaka Cintamani'' to study.<ref name="Lal"/> Being the first time, Swaminatha Iyer had to face many difficulties in terms of interpreting, finding the missing leaves, textual errors and unfamiliar terms.<ref name="Lal"/> He went on tiring journeys to remote villages in search of the missing manuscripts. After years of toil, he published ''[[Civaka Cintamani]]'' in book form in 1887, followed by ''[[Silappatikaram]]'' in 1892 and ''Purananuru'' in 1894.<ref name="Lal"/><ref name="zvelebil">Zvelebil 1992, p. 197</ref> Along with the text, he added abundant commentary and explanatory notes of terms, textual variations and approaches to explaining the context.<ref name="Lal"/>

==Samples==
{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{col-break}}
யாதும் ஊரே; யாவரும் கேளிர்; 
தீதும் நன்றும் பிறர் தர வாரா; 
நோதலும் தணிதலும் அவற்றோரன்ன; 
சாதலும் புதுவது அன்றே; வாழ்தல் 
இனிது என மகிழ்ந்தன்றும் இலமே; முனிவின்,{{space|3}} 
இன்னாது என்றலும் இலமே; 'மின்னொடு 
வானம் தண் துளி தலை இ, ஆனாது 
கல் பொருது இரங்கும் மல்லல் பேர் யாற்று 
நீர் வழிப்படூஉம் புணை போல், ஆர் உயிர் 
முறை வழிப்படூஉம்' என்பது திறவோர் 
காட்சியின் தெளிந்தனம் ஆகலின், மாட்சியின் 
பெரியோரை வியத்தலும் இலமே; 
சிறியோரை இகழ்தல் அதனினும் இலமே.

''கணியன் பூங்குன்றன், புறநானூறு, 192''
 
{{col-break|gap=1em}}
'''The Sages'''
To us all towns are one, all men our kin, 
Life's good comes not from others' gifts, nor ill, 
Man's pains and pain's relief are from within, 
Death's no new thing, nor do our bosoms thrill 
When joyous life seems like a luscious draught. 
When grieved, we patient suffer; for, we deem 
This much-praised life of ours a fragile raft 
Borne down the waters of some mountain stream 
That o'er huge boulders roaring seeks the plain 
Tho' storms with lightning's flash from darkened skies. 
Descend, the raft goes on as fates ordain. 
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise ! 
We marvel not at the greatness of the great; 
Still less despise we men of low estate.

''[[Kaniyan Pungundranar]], Purananuru, 192'' 
(Translated by [[George Uglow Pope|G.U.Pope]], 1906)
{{col-end}}
{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{col-break}}
இனி நினைந்து இரக்கம் ஆகின்று: திணி மணல் 
செய்வுறு பாவைக்குக் கொய் பூத் தைஇ, 
தண் கயம் ஆடும் மகளிரொடு கை பிணைந்து, 
தழுவுவழித் தழீஇ, தூங்குவழித் தூங்கி, 
மறை எனல் அறியா மாயம் இல் ஆயமொடு 
உயர் சினை மருதத் துறை உறத் தாழ்ந்து, 
நீர் நணிப் படி கோடு ஏறி, சீர் மிக, 
கரையவர் மருள, திரைஅகம் பிதிர, 
நெடு நீர்க் குட்டத்துத் துடுமெனப் பாய்ந்து, 
குளித்து மணல் கொண்ட கல்லா இளமை 
அளிதோதானே! யாண்டு உண்டு கொல்லோ 
தொடித் தலை விழுத் தண்டு ஊன்றி, நடுக்குற்று, 
இரும் இடை மிடைந்த சில சொல் 
பெரு மூதாளரேம் ஆகிய எமக்கே?

''தொடித்தலை விழுத்தண்டினார், புறநானூறு, 243''
{{col-break|gap=1em}}
'''The Instability of Youth'''
"I muse of YOUTH! the tender sadness still 
returns! In sport I moulded shapes of river sand, 
plucked flowers to wreathe around the mimic forms: 
in the cool tank I bathed, hand linked in hand, 
with little maidens, dancing as they danced! 
A band of innocents, we knew no guile. 
I plunged beneath th' o'erspreading myrtle's shade, 
where trees that wafted fragrance lined the shore; 
then I climbed the branch that overhung the stream 
while those upon the bank stood wondering; 
I threw the waters round, and headlong plunged 
dived deep beneath the stream, and rose, 
my hands filled with the sand that lay beneath! 
Such was my youth unlesson'd. 'Tis too sad! 
Those days of youth, ah! whither have they fled? 
I now with trembling hands, grasping my staff, 
panting for breath, gasp few and feeble words. 
And I am worn and OLD!"

''Thodithalai Vizhuthandinar, Purananuru, 243'' 
(Translated by [[George Uglow Pope|G. U. Pope]], 1906)
{{col-end}}

{{col-begin|width=auto}}
{{col-break}}
.. 
நீயே வடபால் முனிவன் தடவினுள் தோன்றிச் 
செம்பு புனைந்து இயற்றிய சேண் நெடும் புரிசை 
உவரா ஈகைத் துவரை யாண்டு 
நாற்பத்தொன்பது வழிமுறை வந்த 
வேளிருள் வேளே விறல் போர் அண்ணல், 
தார் அணி யானைச் சேட்டு இருங்கோவே! 
ஆண்கடன் உடைமையின் பாண்கடன் ஆற்றிய 
ஒலியற் கண்ணிப் புலிகடிமாஅல்! 
..

''Excerpts of புறநானூறு 201, 
பாடியவர்: கபிலர், பாடப்பட்டோன்: இருங்கோவேள், 
திணை: பாடாண், துறை: பரிசில்''

{{col-break|gap=1em}}
.. 
'''Irunkovel'''
"You, whose ancestors appeared out of the sacrificial fire-pit of a northern sage 
who ruled Tuvarai that contained huge forts made of copper 
you whose lineage goes back 49 generations 
Oh king who is victorious in battles 
Oh great Irunkovel! who possesses garlanded elephants 
Its time to man up to you responsibilities and your duties to poets 
Oh Pulikadimal wearing a thick garland! 
..

''Excerpts of Purananuru, 201, Poet: [[Kapilar]], Chief who was sung: Irunkovel'' 
{{col-end}}



==See also==
* [[Eight Anthologies]]
* [[Eighteen Greater Texts]]
* [[Sangam literature]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|}}
* {{cite book|title=The Four Hundred Songs of War and Wisdom: An Anthology of Poems from|author1=George Hart|author2=Hank Heifetz|year=2001|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=cI3osJ5Pz8MC |isbn=9780231115636}}
* {{cite book|title=The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (Volume Five) (Sasay To Zorgot), Volume 5|last=Lal|first=Mohan|author2=Sāhitya Akādemī|year=2001|publisher=Sāhitya Akādemī|location=New Delhi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C |isbn=81-260-1221-8}}
* {{cite book |author= M. G. Kovaimani and P. V. Nagarajan |title= திருக்குறள் ஆய்வுமாலை [Tirukkural Research Papers] |year= 2013 |edition= 1|publisher=Tamil University | location= Tanjavur |language=ta|ref={{sfnRef|Kovaimani and Nagarajan, 2013}}}}
* Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983)
*{{Cite book|last=Parmeshwaranand|first=Swami|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Purāṇas, Volume 1; Volume 5|year=2001|publisher=Sarup & Sons|location=New Delhi|isbn=81-7625-226-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FdIkaccgneAC}}
* {{cite book|title=Tamil Literature|last=Pillai|first=M. S. Purnalingam|year=1994|pages=115|publisher=Asian Educational Services|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIeqvcai5XQC&pg=PA115|isbn=81-206-0955-7}}
* {{cite book|title=The archaeology of seafaring in ancient South Asia|last=Ray|first=Himanshu Prabha |year=2003|publisher=Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge|location=Cambridge|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=iHHzP4uVpn4C |isbn=9780521011099}}
* {{cite web|url=http://projectmadurai.org/pm_etexts/pdf/pm0057.pdf|title=puRanAnURu|access-date=2011-12-13|last=Various|publisher=projectmadurai.org}}
* {{cite book|author=Kamil Zvelebil|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-03591-5}}
*{{cite book|author=Kamil Zvelebil|title=Tamil Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQ33i496MsIC|year=1974|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-01582-0}}
* {{cite book|title=Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature|last=Zvelebil|first=Kamil|author-link=Kamil Zvelebil|year=1992|pages=73|publisher=BRILL|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAPtq49DZfoC&pg=PA73|isbn=90-04-09365-6}}
{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purananuru}}
{{Tamil language}}

[[Category:Sangam literature]]
[[Category:Tamil philosophy]]

Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]

Purananuru