Satthanar or Chithalai Satthanar (, ''cītalai cāttanār'') was the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

poet who composed the epic

Manimekalai ''Maṇimēkalai'' (, ), also spelled ''Manimekhalai'' or ''Manimekalai'', is a Tamil Buddhist epic composed by Kulavāṇikaṉ Seethalai Sataṉar probably somewhere between the 2nd century to the 6th century. It is an "anti-love story", a ...

. A total of 11 verses of the

Sangam literature The Sangam literature (Tamil language, Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil language, Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cā ...

have been attributed to Satthanar, including verse 10 of the

Tiruvalluva Maalai Tiruvalluva Malai () is an anthology of ancient Tamil paeans containing fifty-five verses each attributed to different poets praising the ancient work of the Kural and its author Tiruvalluvar. With the poets' time spanning across centuries sta ...

Etymology

Pronounced ''Sa-tha-naar,'' the name is derived from (, ''sāttu'') meaning Buddhist monk. Applying this principle to the name Maturai Kulavāṇikan Cāttan, the author of Manimekalai, we see that the two appellations Maturai and Kulavanikan were prefixed to his name in order to distinguish him from another poet of Maturai with the same name and from a third who lived elsewhere. Several examples could be cited of this system of nomenclature which prevailed during the early days.

Biography

Satthanar hailed from a place known as Seerthandalai, later came to be known as Seethalai. He was a grain merchant at

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

and hence came to be called "Koolavanigan". He was a contemporary of Cheran Senguttuvan and was believed to have practiced

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. He has sung in praise of the Pandyan king Chittira Maadatthu Thunjiya Nanmaran in the Sangam work of

Purananuru The ''Purananuru'' (, literally "four hundred oemsin the genre puram"), sometimes called ''Puram'' or ''Purappattu'', is a classical Tamil literature, Tamil poetic work and traditionally the last of the Eight Anthologies (''Ettuthokai'') i ...

. Vaiyapuri Pillai sees him along with

Ilango Adigal Ilango Adigal (a title, literally "prince ascetic", fl. c. 4th-6th century CE) was a Jain monk, belonging to the Chera royal family, from the city of Vanchi. He is traditionally credited as the author of the epic poem Cilappatikaram (the So ...

as developing two divergent strands of the ''Chilampu'' legend that forms the basis for both Cilapatikaram and

. He is seen as an expert in both orthodox and heterodox systems of

Indian philosophy Indian philosophy consists of philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The philosophies are often called darśana meaning, "to see" or "looking at." Ānvīkṣikī means “critical inquiry” or “investigation." Unlike darśan ...

and as an advocate of

Buddhist philosophy Buddhist philosophy is the ancient Indian Indian philosophy, philosophical system that developed within the religio-philosophical tradition of Buddhism. It comprises all the Philosophy, philosophical investigations and Buddhist logico-episte ...

. It is seen that Maṇimekhalai was written after the

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books wit ...

was composed, because there are two verses from the Tirukkural quoted in

Contribution to the Sangam literature

Satthanar composed the

and has authored 11 Sangam verses, including 3 in Natrinai, 5 in Agananuru, and 1 each in Kurunthogai,

, and

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sattanar, Sithalai Tamil philosophy Tamil poets Sangam poets Tiruvalluva Maalai contributors Indian male poets Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Buddhism amongst Tamils Tamil epic poets Epic poets

Etymology

Biography

Contribution to the Sangam literature

See also

Citations

References