Tamil Literature

To attempt the history of Tamil literature briefly is not an easy task. For, Tamil Nad has not yet produced any authoritative literary history. When the other Dravidian languages like Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam have their literary histories written by really eminent persons, Tamil has not had any writer of accredited position in the world of scholarship to produce a connected narrative of even the landmarks of Tamil literature. No doubt there have been contributions on the topic in journals, and scrappy information containing, very often, exploded theories regarding dates and events in the lives of poets and writers. My attempt here will be mostly based upon what the two scholars, Sri K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, Retired Professor ofHistory, University of Madras, and Rao Bahadur S. Vyapuri Pillai, Retired Reader in Tamil and the Editor ofthe Tamil Lexicon, have given us as the results of their research in the fields of South Indian history and Tamil literature respectively.

To start with, what we now possess as the earliest literary writers belong to the Sangam Age which may be roughly placed between the 2nd century and the 6th century A.D. The Sangam literature may be divided into two parts, the early and the later sangams. The early Sangam’s literary activity was mainly between the 2nd century and the 3rd century A.D. The later Sangam can be said to have lasted from 450 to 600 A. D. Again the wrtings of the earlier and later periods are said to have been compiled in the 5th and the 7th centuries respectively.

The poems of the Sangam Age may be classified as what are known as lyrics in English literature. Love, heroism etc., are some of the main themes which inspired poets of those times to write with feeling. Apart from poetic quality, their writings posses indications of the full life lived by the writers of the poems. One significant feature of these poems is that they do not speak of either God or of any higher power ruling our lives. Literary has divided the content of the Sangam literature into two conventional divisions viz., ‘aham’ (interior) depicting subjective reactions to love and to amorous episode’s between lovers; and ‘puram’ (exterior) depicting, objectively, activities like battles and great occasions of valour. Within these two main heads there are many sub-divisions which we need not go into in this brief survey.

These poems, on a comprehensive view, may be said to preserve simplicity, clarity, brevity and directness. We may even say that these qualities should have been inborn and expressed with natural ease by the early Tamils. On the whole the above characteristics have a bearing chiefly on the productivity of the early Sangam Age.

The later Sangam literature impresses us by the musical quality of some of the lines composed as well as the perceptible tendency to invoke the grace of God. For the purpose of illustrating the above remarks let us take the collection called ‘Perumpanarrupadai’. We have here descriptions of the instrument ‘Yazh’ and get information as to how such musical instruments wereemployed as accompaniments for music by Bards known as ‘Panar’. But it is not clear what exact type of songs was sung by these wandering minstrels. Again with regard to the tendency to invoke God’s grace in some of the later poems, we have in the collections called ‘Parippadal’ references to ‘Murugavel.’ To prove the influence of fresh ideas from outside, there are indications and signs of newer forms taken by the new kind of verses. There is clear evidence of the influence of music in a greater measure in the ‘Parippadal’ than in the ‘Kalittogai.’ There are delightful stanzas, remarkable for their comprehension of life as well as naivete of expression, ascribed to the poetess Avvai. Tradition gives room to the conjecture that there should have been more than one poetess of that name. Anyhow one thing seems certain, that these also belonged to a period before 650 A. D.

The next great epoch in Tamil literature extending to A. D. 850 was marked by an increasing inflow of Sanskrit influences as well as religious ideas consequent upon the spread of Jainism in South India. From what was a mere invocation to God, there slowly developed a great flood of Bhakti which in the later centuries infused saints and poets with high spiritual longings seeking relief in their outpourings of which we have some of the most exquisite lines in poetry. With the spread of Jainism there was the reaction followed by a strong current of Hindu religious feeling which too the turn of a great movement led by the Saiva Nayanmars and the Vaishnava Alvars. Kings and chieftains began to espouse seriously the various religious causes, and temples enshrining the God and Goddesses of the various religious folds began to rise everywhere. At these great temples the sacred and popular writers gathered, and most of their didactical works, composed early in the period, were grouped together under the title ‘Padinenkilkkanakku’ (the eighteen treatises in short metres).

Of these perhaps the earliest and certainly the most famous is the ‘Kural’ of Tiruvalluvar, dealing with the different aspirations of life like Dharma, Artha and Kama. One finds, upon a thorough study of the ‘Kural’, how much the author had been influenced by Manu, Kautilya and Vatsyayana.

The Bhakti movement resulted in the production of poems which are called by the name of ‘Devaram’, ‘Tiruvasagam.’ ‘Nalayiram’ etc. They can be roughly placed between 600 and 900 A.D. Much variety in metres and poetic forms came into vogue only in this fruitful period. Smaller poems were also a feature of this age; The ‘Devarams’ began to be sung by all devotees at temples, at religious gatherings, and at congregations at temples. The result may be said to be a widespread habit of singing hymns set to music. Moreover new types in literary form began to emerge from out of the devotional writers.

The Jains also were writing books expatiating upon morals and ethics. They may be said even to have had a parallel progress along with the Bhakti outpourings of saints. The ‘Tirukkural’ of which mention has been made already, can be ascribed to this period of literary productivity, though at the same time we can place it as the earliest of this category of writings, even as it is also the first to rank in quality among them. As a matter of fact, if in our ancient works it is spoken of in the same breath of pride and reverence for qualities of epigrammatic terseness and high-class finish in literary craftsmanship along with the ‘Ramayana’ of Kamban, there is no tinge of exaggeration in such a comparison. Again the ‘Tirukkural’ bears ample testimony to the high water-mark of Tamil culture and civilisation.

We come next to the great work of ‘Tolkappiyam’ whose author was one belonging to the Jaina religion. He may be placed after 150 A. D., owing to internal evidences in the work itself, of his having received the benefit of Patanjali’s commentary, called the ‘Mahabhashya’ upon Panini’s immortal treatise on grammar. This book can be placed as the earliest among works dealing with Tamil grammar and poetics. Moreover it can speak to the religious labours of some of the early Jain writers to make the Tamil language living.

The Jain writers did not spare themselves in the propagation of the ideas of their great Teachers or Tirthankaras. Their enthusiasm began to evince itself in inventing fables and stories propagating their ideas of religion. Their activity in the literary line can be said to have flourished between 700 and 1000 A.D. Owing to the fact that there was another later efflorescence in classical writings, these Jain writers may be confined to the earlier classical age. One remarkable product of this period is the book called ‘Sillappadiharam’ which has earned the tributes of not only poets and writers of the past but also of one who till recently was with us and wrote like an angel–the late Subrahmanya Bharati. This great work is supposed to contain the elements of the drama, apart from the natural interest of the plot as well as the poetic exuberance marking it. The author of this work, Illango-Adigal, (the young princely-saint) is unsurpassed in his vivid portraiture of character and fine metrical effects of composition. In spite of the introduction of supernatural elements in the course of this poem, the human episode narrated here is a moving one, told with all the power of conceit and prodigality of description.

The ‘Manimekalai’ (the jewel-belt) is a sister poem which can be said to belong to the same period, though its quality as a poem of merit lacks both the art of graphic description and character delineation. Further the Buddhistic religious obsession betray in a long exposition of the fallacies in logic makes it somewhat jejune. Still, as a narrative poem, its popularity is amply justified.

As this juncture the Hindu religious revival, already indicated as having had its expression in a large volume of devotional hymns, began to receive the attention of compilers of the 10th and early 11th centuries. The Saiva canon ‘Tirumurai’ was started and the reign of Raja Raja I, and the first seven books in it are taken up by the three foremost saints Gnanasambandar, Appar and Sundaramurti. They are together termed as ‘Devaram’ or the Garland of God. The canon reached its final form in the middle of the 12th century when ‘Sekkilar’ ushered in his deservedly famous work called ‘Periapuranam’, containing material about the sixty-three Nayanmars or saints of South India. Of the intervening books, Manikkavasagar’s ‘Tiruvasagam’ easily takes the top rank, as the mystical and soulful utterance of a great saint whose main preoccupation in life was service to God and humanity. The Vaishnava devotees did not lag behind in the matter of their outpourings in strains of melody and mysticism. For instance, of the twelve Alvars, Tirumangai and Nammalvar themselves contributed over a thousand sacred verses each, and are appreciated, the former for his rare diction and the latter for his reach and range of philosophical interpretations of life. Periyalvar and his daughter Andal as well as Kulasekhara, a Chera king, were the other celebrated ones of the group.

After the period of religious revival in the fields of didactic and devotional songs as well as the expression of the God-intoxicated soul in newer and newer art-forms, there was another period presaging fresh achievements in classical output between 1200 and 1400 A. D. No doubt there were many literary pieces based upon the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the other Puranas. Still, it can be said without any fear of contradiction that none of these writings can ever equal or even approach the excellence of that masterpiece ‘Kambaramayana’. Kamban’s great merit does not suffer by his being influenced by Sanskrit culture. In fact his language gains rare richness in euphony by his employing Sanskrit words appositely. Though in his style he conforms to the simplicity and directness of the earlier masters of the Sangam age, he also maintains a perfect conformity with the later classical writers by enlarging his repertoire of felicitous diction from them. He employs a great variety of metres and produces, out of the inexhaustible gold mine of Valmiki, newer and newer forms in beauty of thought and character which have marked his individuality in an immeasurable degree.

Kamban’s ideas of life are mainly drawn from his own environment of the Chola kingdom. His selection of the episodes from the Ramayana shows what genius as a dramatist he is in making the characters live in our memory.

From the fall of the Chola empire to that of Vijayanagara (A.D. 1200 to 1650) may be claimed as an eventful epoch in the history of Tamil literature. But before that, one important work ‘Jivakachintamani’ of the Jain ascetic Tiruttakkadevar, composed early in the 10th century, showed enormous potentiality for absorbing Sanskrit originals of the late ninth century. But for the indefatigable efforts of the late Dr. V. Swaminatha Aiyar the work would not have seen the light of day in a properly edited form. There are indications of great poetry in this work. Many philosophical treatises, scholarly commentaries, Purana compilations and Prabandha collections appeared only during this period. The creativity of Tamil writers is at a low ebb in these so-called literary works. Further, the authors, many of them suffering from a
Narrow sectarian outlook, were mainly Hindus and wrote feeble imitations of old masters. Arunagirinathar, author of ‘Tiruppugazh’, lived in these times.

In the field of secular literature the ‘Nalvenba’ of Pugalendi is a better type of narrative poetry, and the ‘Bharatam’ of ‘Villiputurar’ (A.D. 1400) ranks as a work of excellence for the many pleasing metres employed by him. There were other forms of literary expression like Ulas, Kovais, and Andadis which are replete with mere resounding words, strung together even carelessly.

Among the commentators can be mentioned names like Illampuranar, Perasiriyar, Senavarayar, Nachinarkkiniyar, Adiyarkkunallan aI1d Parimelazakar. These are the earliest, who also prepared the way for effective prose-writing in Tamil literature.

The Prabandha output may be said to coincide with the glory of the Chola monarchs between 1000 and 1300 A. D. Poetic works became the order of the day, both to describe the personal exploits of kings as well as the achievements of great reigns. To pick out only two remarkable works from out of these numerous writings, the ‘Kalingattuparani’ and the ‘Muvarula’, can be ranked among the best of Tamil literary writings of the period.

Tamil literary activity showed signs of deterioration from 1500 to 1800 A.D., though some of the famous Mutts and temples can be gratefully mentioned here for having fostered Tamil learning and scholarship undiminished during this period. The anthology ‘Purattirattu’, said to have been compiled about this period, is a good collection of verses from various sources including Kamba-Ramayana.

But those few taken from a work now lost, ‘Muttolayiram’ are really enjoyable for both their natural grace of expression and highly-wrought poetic imagination. They indicate by their style their debt to earlier writings. The themes are often about love and the longings of lovers. No doubt generally in that period real literary matter was not forthcoming. What little was produced betrayed only poverty of imagination and paucity of inventive genius. But the ‘Kutralak-Kuravanji’ as well as the ‘Mukkudar-pallu’ are the two exceptions in this otherwise barren period. The former is a temple-drama of exquisite metrical composition and delineation of rasas.

With the advent of Western contact, since 1600 A.D. creativity in Tamil literature, along with every other indigenous art and craft, became neglected, though after 1800 the new spirit of the times gradually infused Tamil writers with a desire to express themselves forcibly. The impact of science and scientific inventions upon our civilisation prepared the way for a new culture, receiving its power and vision from the mixture of cultures of the West and the East. One important work called ‘Chaturaaharadi’ (quadruple dictionary) of father Beschi, a Jesuit missionary working in the Tamil Nad, gave a scientific turn to the knowledge of words in the language. Before we come to the modern age in Tamil literature, one other name viz., that of Arunachalakkavirayar must be noted. His ‘Rama Natakam’ in colourful Tamil verses set to music, showed immense possibilities for writers in Tamil to re-create literary forms out of old themes, in spite of the contact with the West hindering original literary writing. Mention must also be made of the Padams of Kavi-Kunjaram, dealing with songs of love, truly portraying a high level of literary achievement and musical quality.

A great name is that of Pattinattar, whose life-history was packed with many experiences of rare renunciation and whose sayings, as recorded in writings, reveal wonderful powers of understanding and expression of truth. Moreover Thayumanavar, a great saint of the 17th century, showed by his ecstatic hymns that the continuity in the Bhakti tradition was not at all broken in a country where Muhammadan rule was already leaving faint marks on its culture. Till we come to the ‘Arutpa’ of Ramalinga Swamigal, another God-filled soul of the later 18th and early 19^th century, practically there is none worthy of remark for unique poetic contribution to the field of literature.

A necessary ward glance at this stage, at our past literature before the dawn of the 18th century, can sum up for us what exact shapes the trends of culture in Tamil Nad assumed from time to time. In the beginning, life was steeped in material comforts and worldly affairs. Then owing to the inflow of ideas regarding orthodoxy and ritualistic religion from the North, the Gods of the Vedas became strongly established in the hearts of the Dravidians. Becoming more prone to religious ideas born of the Vedic influences, the Tamils also slowly devoted their attention to thoughts of the other world. This became the precursor to the Bhakti movement which gradually engulfed them in a great enthusiasm for mystic outpouring. The Bhakti cult gave room in the hearts of the Tamils for a growing fondness for stories of wonder that grew up round the lives of numerous saints and devotees, teeming with happenings and miracles that are impossible to the modern mind. The fancy and desire for religious lore got the hand soon and the consequence was a huge output in the realms of philosophical interpretations and religious literature. The ability shown in unravelling the subtle points of philosophy, encouraged them to more and more advanced thinking in the realms of abstract philosophy. With the birth of great intellects like Sankara and Ramanuja, the Tamils’ claim to superiority in metaphysics and pure thought was founded on a sure basis. There was nevertheless thereafter the starting of the downward curve, which expressed itself in the slow disintegration as well as disenchantment of their ideas regarding religion. For this reason also, literary works of this period showed more and more attenuated imagination and poetic insight. But still there was the compensation for it in the gradual spread of printing owing to our contact with the West. English literature as well as other foreign influences instilled in our minds a growing sense of history and correct data.

The establishment of settled government under the British rule, and the spread of printing at the beginning of the 19th century led to the development of a class of persons educated on modern Western lines. Hence, the shaping of the literary activity also began to partake of ideas from the West, especially from the English literature. No doubt these factors equally influenced the rest of the South Indian languages as well. Scholars in Tamil took to publication of the classics in the form of printed books and this made it easy for more people tostudy Tamil literature in a regular manner.

‘Sthalapuranas’ also began to be compiled, and we cannot pass on in this context without referring to the great scholar writer Minakshisundaram Pillai. It will not be proper to single out the name without also referring to two other names, Arumuga Navalar and Ramalinga Swamigal spoken of already. Navalar was a very learned man, while Ramalinga Swami was also a justly famous poet. From the ‘Life of Minakshisundararn Pillai’ written by Dr. V. Swaminatha Aiyar, we are able to form an idea of the well-merited recognition this scholar achieved in the literary world by his numerous writings. Other names like Damodaram Pillai and Kanakasabai Pillai easily come to our recollection. Damodaram Pillai was a native of Ceylon having been born in Jaffna. Though he was attached to English literature from the beginning on account of his having graduated from the Madras University as a Bachelor ofArts, still his love of Tamil and the immense literature enshrined in it kept him steadily working for the mother tongue. He edited many books in a very commendable manner and therefore earned the gratitude of scholars working in the field of Tamil language.

Kanakasabai Pillai, living in the latter part of the 19th century, was born in Madras itself and got his education both in the English School and College. He was steeped in English as much as he was absorbed in Tamil studies. His work entitled “The Tamils 1800 Years Ago” written in English earned him wide reputation. In this work he has evaluated the greatness of Tamil language and its inspiring classics.

Sundaram Pillai, another important author, cannot be mentioned without our remembering five other writers who lived in his times and who have contributed in no mean degree to the development of modern Tamil prose. They are Damodaram Pillai and Kanakasabai Pillai, already referred to, as well as Vedanayakam Pillai of Mayavaram, Poondi Ranganatha Mudaliar, and Rajam Iyer, author of the famous ‘Kamalambal Charitram.’ ‘Manonmaniyam’ is a Tamil drama which the world of scholars is now familiar with as having been the unique production by Sundaram Pillai in a field wherein Tamil literature has been unfortunately poor of memorable names before him. Patriotism and love of freedom are the two main points of emphasis in this play.

We then come to the long and eventful career of Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. V. Swaminatha Aiyar, whose unsurpassed labours in the field of editing classics with accurate notes and adequate introductions, are still objects of amazement to many. Swaminatha Aiyar’s work as a scholar of unmatched range of studies and undiminished reputation for precision in publications will live for ever. Not only was he a scholar of repute but a writer of easy flowing prose. His biographies of Minakshisundaram Pillai and Thyagaraja Pillai as well as his Reminiscences are all really good prose and prove perfect models for learners in Tamil composition.

Another scholar, Mahavidwan R. Raghava Iyengar, did not a little for the spread of a knowledge of the classics among students of Tamil. His scholarship derived great advantage by the fact that he was well acquainted with Sanskrit. In this particular aspect he was even better than his compeer, Dr. Swaminatha Aiyar and showed a remarkable penetration into Tamil classics by his comparative studies of other languages. His writings betray a sense of rigidity in style, though his spoken language always showed greater freedom from unfamiliar terms and phrases. ‘Parikathai’ is a book of poems from his pen recording the traditional lore round the figure of Pari, and the value of the original work of his gains immensely by the amazing information included in a commentary which he has himself written for it. His translation of the ‘Sakuntalam’ of Kalidasa, though difficult reading for the uninitiated student of Tamil, has achieved for him high appreciation from discerning Tamil as well as Sanskrit scholars.

The 19th century, though not very rich in poetic output, is not quite devoid of original and creative writers like Gopalakrishna Bharati, the celebrated author of the operatic masterpiece, ‘Nandan Charitram’. It is a wonder still to persons listening to the songs of this poet and composer, how he was able to introduce so much of the art of drama and so much of musical quality and devotion into this piece. People who have listened to this marvel of literary invention, have been transported to realms of rare experience of oneness with the All-Powerful. Scholars may find flaws in this work by reason of the colloquialism introduced here and there in the language of the lower classes, but, to the literary mind, these very attempts at portraying life in all its authenticity and variety are things undreamt of before this writer shone on the firmament.

We then hail the harbinger of a new era for Tamils–the late Subrahmanya Bharati. Modern writers have largely inherited their directness of language and forceful descriptive powers from this literary star of the first magnitude. We all know how much the national movement and the impact of world affairs on our politics gave rise to new experiments in poetry. Bharati was the leader of the renascent thought in Tamil Nad. His influence, even after three decades of his death, is still fresh. His songs, stirring as they do the national spirit in us, are not devoid of fine poetic merit. But before he could display that maturity of thought and power of vision, which would have ranked him with poets of the universal order, he passed away. He was about forty years of age when he died. His prose too is very engaging as well as natural in its flow. The writers of the present day owe not a little to him for simplicity in their writings.

During the early part of this century we have had fiction writers like A. Madhaviah and Pandit Natesa Sastri, whose style and subject matter were greatly shaped by English literary influences. They have left us indelible marks of their receptive mind and art. Translations from Bengali writers like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Rabindranath Tagore have also added to the growth of prose writing in the past three decades.

In the field of essay writing conspicuous success has been achieved by men like Chelvakesavaraya Mudaliar, Swami Vedachalam, Kalyanasundaram Mudaliar and others. Text-books on grammar and dictionaries were also produced to meet the growing educational needs as also works on modern scientific subjects. Lexicographers there have been like Rottler and Winslow in the past and Vaiyapuri Pillai of the Madras Tamil Lexicon in the present.

In concluding this short and inadequate survey of Tamil literature, I cannot pass without a word or two regarding the recent emergence of revivalistic activities everywhere and particularly in Tamil writing. For all our past indifference to the study of our mother tongue we have compensated greatly by the rapid progress achieved in the field of Tamil writing. Today the mother tongue has become more and more the medium of instruction in both school and college; and the politician and public speaker have combined together to enlighten vast audiences by speaking only in Tamil. Journals containing all the features of modern journalistic flair, have done not a little to improve facility of expression of even the most difficult ideas in Tamil. Short stories in plenty, humorous essays and skits, not to speak of one-act plays and dialogues, are filling the pages of Tamil journals in an increasing measure. Some of our short story writers have achieved all-India fame. The Government of the day are pledged to secure for Tamil a high place in the national consciousness and the recent starting of a Tamil Encyclopedia augurs well in that direction.

When all is said and done, it is to be hoped that the enthusiasm for Tamil will not overrun its bounds so as to blur the vision of cultured minds to the beauties of other South Indian languages as well as of Sanskrit, the home and repository of all that is great, good and lasting in our time-honoured civilisation.