Ten Medieval Commentators
The Ten Medieval Commentators (Tamil: உரையாசிரியர்கள் பதின்மர்) were a canonical group of Tamil scholars whose commentaries on the ancient Indian didactic work of the Kural are esteemed by later scholars as worthy of critical analysis.[1] These poets lived in the Medieval era between 10th century CE and 13th century CE. Among these medieval commentaries, the commentaries of Manakkudavar and Parimelalhagar are considered pioneer by modern scholars.[2]
Commentaries
The Kural remains the most reviewed work of the Tamil literature, with almost every scholar down the ages having written commentaries on it. Of the several hundred commentaries written on the didactic work over the centuries, the commentaries written by a group of ten medieval scholars are considered to have high literary value. The ten poets are:[3]
- Manakkudavar (c. 10th century CE)
- Dharumar (c. 13th century CE)
- Dhamatthar (c. 11th century CE)
- Nacchar (c. 11th century CE)
- Paridhi (c. 11th century CE)
- Thirumalaiyar
- Mallar
- Pariperumal, also known as Kaliperumal (c. 11th century CE)
- Kaalingar (c. 12th century CE)
- Parimelalhagar (c. 13th century CE)
Of these, only the commentaries of Manakkudavar, Paridhi, Pariperumal, Kaalingar, and Parimelalhagar are extant in their complete (or almost complete) form.[4][5] The commentaries of Dharumar, Dhamatthar, and Nacchar have survived only in fragmentary form, and those of Thirumalaiyar and Mallar are now lost completely. The oldest of these is the commentary of Manakkudavar, which is considered to be the closest to the original text of the Kural, and is considered the cornerstone against which other medieval commentaries are compared in order to find variations in them. Each commentators followed his own sense of logic in the arrangement of the chapters and the couplets within them. Researchers have found as many as 16, 20, 120, and 171 variations in the ordering of the Kural couplets by Pari Perumal, Paridhi, Parimelazhagar, and Kaalingar, respectively, with respect to the commentary by Manakkudavar.[6] According to M. Shanmugham Pillai, there are about 305 textual variations in all the commentaries combined.[7] The last of these medieval commentaries is that of Parimelalhagar, who wrote the commentary around 1271–1272 CE, as indicated in an inscription at the Varadharaja Perumal Temple at Kanchipuram.[8] Parimelalhagar's commentary is followed ever since as the standard for numbering of the Kural chapters and the couplets within each chapter.
Chapter order variations among various commentators
Valluvar wrote the Kural literature in the form of three parts, namely, Book I, Book II, and Book III, containing a total of 133 chapters in all, without splitting the books further into any subdivisions.[9] However, later scholars both from the Late Sangam period and from the medieval era divided each book into various divisions known as Iyal and grouped the chapters variously under each iyals. They also changed the ordering of the couplets within each chapter widely. These variations are not absolute either but vary according to different commentators. While the variations in the ordering of the couplets according to various commentators are found across the work, variations in the grouping and ordering of chapters are found only in the Book on Virtue (Book I).
The following table lists the variations between ordering of chapters in Book I by Manakkudavar (the oldest) and that by Parimelalhagar (the latest).[10]
| Manakkudavar’s ordering | Parimelalhagar’s ordering (followed today) |
|---|---|
| Chapters under subdivision “Domestic virtue” 5. Household life 6. The virtues of a wife 7. Offspring 8. Loving-kindness 9. Hospitality 10. Not lying 11. Gratitude 12. Impartiality 13. Patience 14. Right conduct 15. Not coveting another’s wife 16. Refraining from anger 17. Ahimsa/not doing harm 18. Not killing 19. Shunning meat-eating 20. Not stealing 21. Dread of evil deeds 22. Social duty 23. Generosity 24. Glory |
Chapters under subdivision “Domestic virtue” 5. Household life 6. The virtues of a wife 7. Offspring 8. Loving-kindness 9. Hospitality 10. Kindness of speech 11. Gratitude 12. Impartiality 13. Self-control 14. Right conduct 15. Not coveting another’s wife 16. Patience 17. Not envying 18. Not coveting another’s goods 19. Not backbiting 20. Not uttering useless words 21. Dread of evil deeds 22. Social duty 23. Generosity 24. Glory |
| Chapters under subdivision “Ascetic virtue” 25. Benevolence, mercy, and compassion 26. Kindness of speech 27. Self-control 28. Austerities 29. Hypocrisy 30. Not envying 31. Not coveting another’s goods 32. Not backbiting 33. Not uttering useless words 34. Instability 35. Relinquishment 36. Realization of the truth 37. Rooting out desire |
Chapters under subdivision “Ascetic virtue” 25. Benevolence, mercy, and compassion 26. Shunning meat-eating 27. Austerities 28. Hypocrisy 29. Not stealing 30. Not lying 31. Refraining from anger 32. Ahimsa/not doing harm 33. Not killing 34. Instability 35. Relinquishment 36. Realization of the truth 37. Rooting out desire |
Legacy
An old Tamil poem describes all these ten commentators thus:
- தருமர் மணக்குடவர் தாமத்தர் நச்சர்
- பரிதி பரிமே லழகர் – திருமலையர்
- மல்லர் பரிப்பெருமாள் காலிங்கர் வள்ளுவர்நூற்கு
- எல்லையுரை செய்தார் இவர் [11]
Translation:
- Dharumar Manakkudavar Dhamatthar Nacchar
- Paridhi Parimel alhagar Thirumalaiyar
- Mallar Pariperumal Kaalingar — Wrote these
- For the Book of Valluvar faithful commentaries. (Perunthogai, line 1538)[8]
See also
References
- ^ Natarajan, P. R. (December 2008). Thirukkural: Aratthuppaal (in Tamil) (First ed.). Chennai: Uma Padhippagam. pp. 1–6.
- ^ Lal, Mohan (1992). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-260-1221-3.
- ^ Vedhanayagam, Rama (2017). திருவள்ளுவ மாலை மூலமும் எளிய உரை விளக்கமும் [Tiruvalluvamaalai: Moolamum Eliya Urai Vilakkamum] (in Tamil) (1 ed.). Chennai: Manimekalai Prasuram. pp. 7–8.
- ^ திருக்குறள் உரைவளம் [Thirukkural Urai Valam] (in Tamil). Dhandapani Dhesikar Patthippu.
- ^ திருக்குறள் உரைக்கொத்து [Thirukkural Uraikotthu] (in Tamil). Shri Kaasimadam, Thiruppanathal Patthippu.
- ^ Raja (Ed.), M. N. Ramasubramania (April 2017). திருக்குறள் உரைக்களஞ்சியம் [Thirukkural Uraikkalanjiyam] (in Tamil) (1 ed.). Chennai: Kotravai.
- ^ Pillai, M. Shanmugham (1971). Yāppu amaitiyum pāṭa vēṛupāṭum (The Prosody and Various Readings in Tirukkural) (in Tamil) (1 ed.). Chennai: University of Madras. pp. xii, 206 p.
- ^ a b Sundaram, P. S. (1990). Tiruvalluvar: The Kural (First ed.). Gurgaon: Penguin Books. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-01-44000-09-8.
- ^ Kamil Zvelebil (1973). The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 158. ISBN 90-04-03591-5. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ Aravindan, M. V. (1968). உரையாசிரியர்கள் [Uraiaasiriyargal] (in Tamil) (First ed.). Chennai: Manivasagar Padhippagam. pp. 346–347.
- ^ M. Arunachalam (1970). தமிழ் இலக்கிய வரலாறு, பதின்மூன்றாம் நூற்றாண்டு (Tamil Ilakkiya Varalaru, 13th century)[Tamil]. Chennai: The Parker, Tamil Research and Publishing Group (Revised edition, 2005).
