Nālaṭiyār

Nālaṭiyār
Language	Tamil

Topics in Sangam literature
Sangam literature
Akattiyam	Tolkāppiyam
Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku
Eṭṭuthokai
Aiṅkurunūṟu	Akanaṉūṟu
Puṟanāṉūṟu	Kalittokai
Kuṟuntokai	Natṟiṇai
Paripāṭal	Patiṟṟuppattu
Pattuppattu
Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai	Kuṟiñcippāṭṭu
Malaipaṭukaṭām	Maturaikkāñci
Mullaippāṭṭu	Neṭunalvāṭai
Paṭṭiṉappālai	Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai
Poruṇarāṟṟuppaṭai	Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai
Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku
Nālaṭiyār	Nāṉmaṇikkaṭikai
Iṉṉā Nāṟpatu	Iṉiyavai Nāṟpatu
Kār Nāṟpatu	Kaḷavaḻi Nāṟpatu
Aintiṇai Aimpatu	Tiṉaimoḻi Aimpatu
Aintinai Eḻupatu	Tiṉaimalai Nūṟṟu Aimpatu
Tirukkuṛaḷ	Tirikaṭukam
Ācārakkōvai	Paḻamoḻi Nāṉūṟu
Ciṟupañcamūlam	Mutumoḻikkānci
Elāti	Kainnilai
Tamil people
Sangam	Sangam landscape
Tamil history from Sangam literature	Tamil literature
Ancient Tamil music	Sangam society

The Nālaṭiyār (Tamil: நாலடியார்) is a Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the post Sangam period corresponding to between 100 – 500 CE. Nālaṭiyār contains 400 poems, each containing four lines. Every poem deals with morals and ethics, extolling righteous behaviour.

There is an old Tamil proverb praising the Nālaṭiyār that says "Nālaṭiyār and the Tirukkuṛaḷ are very good in expressing human thoughts just as the twigs of the banyan and the acacia trees are good in maintaining the teeth."

    ஆலும் வேலும் பல்லுக்குறுதி; நாலும் இரண்டும் சொல்லுக்குறுதி.

    (Aalum vaelum pallukkuruthi; naalum irandum sollukkuruthi)

    Literal translation: "Banyan and acacia maintain oral health; Four and Two maintain moral health."

    (Here "Four" and "Two" refer to the quatrains and couplets of Nālaṭiyār and Tirukkuṛaḷ, respectively.)

Didactic nature

Nālaṭiyār was composed by Jain monks.^[1] It is divided into three sections, the first section focusing on the importance of virtuous life, second section on the governance and management of wealth, and the third smaller section on the pleasures.

Nālaṭiyār is unique in the employment of similes, which help to teach the moral codes using simple examples from daily life. For example, one of the poems states that just like a calf placed in front of a vast herd of cows seeks out its mother unerringly and attaches itself, the deeds of the past home in on the doer and exact their price unfailingly.

See also

• Tamil Jain

Notes

1. Sheldon Pollock 2003, p. 293.

References

• Sheldon Pollock, ed. (2003), Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-22821-9
• Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983)