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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{italic}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Mullaippāṭṭu<br />{{lang|ta|முல்லைப்பாட்டு}}
| image = Common Jasmine.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = The ''Mullaippattu'' poem is named after the ''mullai'' creeper (above) found in jungles.
| author = [[Napputanar]]
| title_orig =
| orig_lang_code =
| title_working = Mullaippaattu
| translator =
| country = [[India]]
| language = [[Old Tamil language|Old Tamil]]
| series = [[Ten Idylls]] anthology of the [[Eighteen Greater Texts]] series
| subject = ''Akam'' (love)-genre{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|pp=25–26}}
| genre = [[Poetry]]
| set_in = Post-[[Sangam era]] (c. 230 CE or slightly later)
| pub_date =
| english_pub_date =
}}
{{Sangam literature}}

'''''Mullaippāṭṭu''''' ({{lang-ta|முல்லைப்பாட்டு}}, ''lit.'' "the forest or jungle song") is an ancient [[Tamil language|Tamil]] poem in the [[Sangam literature]].{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|pp=25–26}} Authored by Napputanar, it is the shortest poem in the [[Ten Idylls]] (''Pattuppāṭṭu'') anthology, consisting of 103 lines in ''akaval'' meter.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=61}}{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=81–84}} It is largely an ''akam''-genre (love) poem about a wife in grief when her husband does not return from the war front, when he promised he will. The ''Mullaippattu'' weaves her sorrow with her attempts at patience and self-control. The poem was likely composed about 230 CE or slightly later, according to Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature scholar.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=61}}{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=25}}

The title of the poem ''Mullaippattu'' refers to the creeper ''mullai'' (jasmine) that carries sweet-smelling flowers in the jungles of South India, states Chelliah.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=81–84}} It metonymically connotes the jungle home and sweet wife a warrior chieftain left when he went on his military campaign. He promised to return before the rains.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=81–82}} The rains have come, are falling abundantly, but neither has her husband returned nor a word about him has come. She is worried and in grief. She and her maids pray in a temple for his return, make offerings.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=81–82}} They seek omens and words of guess. She tries to be patient but can hide her sorrow. The poem alternates lines painting her in her cycles of emotions. Then, she hears the trumpeting approach of victorious troupes, signaling the return of her husband. She is filled with joy.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=81–82}}

The poem is "one of the most beautiful of the ''Pattuppattu'' songs, states Zvelebil.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=25}} The ''akam'' portions of the poem paint the lover's anguish, while the ''puram'' portions describe the temporary military camp of the chieftain in the jungle.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=81–84}}{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=25}} The chieftain is reflecting on the loss of life, the injured soldiers and the crippled elephants in previous military campaigns.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=81–84}}{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=25}} His wife is worried about him.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=81–84}} The two portions – ''akam'' and ''puram'' – are woven together in the form of a ''mattu'' (linking) for a contrasting impact.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=81–84}}{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=25}} The 14th-century scholar Naccinarkkiniyar wrote a commentary on this poem.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=25}}

The ''Mullaippattu'' is a source of historical and social information. It is notable for its mention of ''yavanas'' (Greek-Romans, lines 61, 73–83) as part of the troupes in the Tamil kingdom's army.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=61}}<ref name="Samuel1977">{{cite book|author=G. John Samuel|title=Studies in Comparative Literature: Tamil, Malayalam & English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wO0OAAAAMAAJ|year=1977|publisher=Mani Pathippakam|page=92}}</ref> It describes their dress, uses the word ''mileccar'' for them, and calls them the bodyguard of the king. The ''yavanas'' can't speak the local language and communicate using gestures, states ''Mullaippattu''.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=61}}{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=83–84}} The ''mahouts'' (riders) of the elephants are described as "speaking the northern language".{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=61}} The military camp is described as camouflaged, tents covered with leaves, and the entire camp surrounded by thorny cover.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=82–84}} The poem mentions water clock, different variety of flowers in the jungle, and warriors going into battle wearing a garland of flowers.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=83–84}}

The short poem mentions the Hindu god [[Vishnu]] through an elaborate simile.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=84, 90, 94}}<ref>{{cite book|author=S. R. Balasubrahmanyam|title=Early Chola Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=97MyAQAAIAAJ|year=1966|publisher=Asia Publishers|page=5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Hephzibah Jesudasan|author2=G. John Samuel|author3=P. Thiagarajan|title=Count-down from Solomon, Or, The Tamils Down the Ages Through Their Literature: Caṅkam and the aftermath|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5HYOAAAAYAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Institute of Asian Studies|page=44}}</ref> It also mentions the goddess of wealth, [[Lakshmi]] in lines 6–7, to whom the women pray for the return of the warriors.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=84, 94}}<ref>{{cite book|author=K. V. Raman|title=Temple Art, Icons And Culture Of India And South-East Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vb2fAAAAMAAJ| year=2006|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal|isbn=978-81-88934-31-7|pages=141, 151 note 3}}</ref> Lines 46–47 of ''Mullaippattu'' mentions Brahmin yogis in ochre-colored clothes carrying three staves.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=84, 91, 94}} The poem has about 500 words, predominantly Tamil. It has 13 Sanskrit loan words and 2 non-Tamil provincial words.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=85}}

==See also==
* [[Pattuppāṭṭu]]
* [[Sangam literature]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{ref begin|30em}}
*{{cite book|author= JV Chelliah|title= Pattupattu - Ten Tamil Idylls (Tamil Verses with Englilsh Translation)| year= 1946|url = https://archive.org/details/PattupattuTenTamilIdylls_20180715/page/n1| publisher= Tamil University (1985 print)}}
* {{cite book |author=Edward Jewitt Robinson |title=Tamil Wisdom: Traditions Concerning Hindu Sages and Selections from Their Writings |year=2001 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |location = New Delhi}}
* Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983)
* {{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}}
* Selby, Martha Ann (2011) Tamil Love Poetry: The Five Hundred Short Poems of the Aiṅkuṟunūṟu, an Early Third-Century Anthology. Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|9780231150651}}
*{{cite book|author=Takanobu Takahashi|title=Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgCHuVGyZoEC |year=1995|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-10042-3}}
*{{cite book|author=Eva Maria Wilden|title=Manuscript, Print and Memory: Relics of the Cankam in Tamilnadu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KuPmBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|year=2014|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-035276-4}}
* {{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:Mullaippattu}}
{{Tamil language}}

[[Category:Sangam literature]]

Mullaippāṭṭu - Revision history

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