V. GEOGRAPHY – A PRIME FACTOR IN ANCIENT TAMIL POETRY The earliest Tamil grammar extant is Tolkāppiyam, which is generally considered by research scholars to belong to the 4th century B.C. at the latest. The outstanding greatness of this treatise among the ancient grammatical works is its unique treatment of the subject matter of poetry known as “Porul’. In the third and final part of this work – Tolkāppiyam – which succeeds the first two parts on ‘letter’ and ‘word” respectively, the main theme is human life which is the object (porul) for poetry. Here the author of Tolkāppiyam reflects the analytical genius of the ancient Tamils in classifying the human life (not merely Tamil life) into two divisions of love and non-love (esoteric and exoteric or internal and external) termed as Akam and Puram respectively. The value of this fundamental classification is enhanced by the fact that in Akam only love can be the theme, and in Puram all the other subjects can be dealt with. This classification is no parallel to subjective poetry known in the west, as all the subjective themes need not be love and further no love-poem will be recognised as Akam poetry, if it bears even the slightest identity of any known human character involved in the episode. Such an impersonal treatment was aimed at to preserve the privacy and universality of the noblest of human feelings — Love. That the ancient Tamils were deeply immersed in the world of love can easily be discerned from the very apparent fact that out of the Ten Idylls and Eight Anthologies (Pattu-p-pâttu and Ettut-thokai) four Idylls and five in full and one in part of the Eight Anthologies belog to Akan (love) poetry. Of the 473 Sangam. poets 301 have sung only love poems; 77 have sung both love and other poems; 95 have sung only non-love themes. Of the 2381 Sangam poems 1862 speak of love themes. These figures will reveal the eminence of love theme in Sangam poetry. In fact the very word “Tamil’ meant, ‘love’ in Sangam age. 8 -
