Ciṟupañcamūlam (Siruppanchamulam) (Tamil: சிறுபஞ்சமூலம்) is a Tamil poetic work of

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. ...

nature belonging to the

Eighteen Lesser Texts The Eighteen Lesser Texts, known as the Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku () in the literature, is a collection of eighteen poetic works mostly created during the 'post Sangam period' (between 100 and 500 CE). The poems of this collection differ from t ...

(''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of

Tamil literature Tamil literature includes a collection of literary works that have come from a tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the T ...

. This belongs to the 'post

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

' corresponding to between 100 – 500 CE. ''Siruppanchamulam'' contains 100 poems written by the poet Kariyaasaan. He was probably a Jain by religious persuasion. This and the fact that he was a student of one Makkayanaar is known from the introductory poem of this book. The poems of ''Siruppanchamulam'' are written in the

Venpa Venpa or Venba ('' வெண்பா'' in Tamil) is a form of classical Tamil poetry. Classical Tamil poetry has been classified based upon the rules of metric prosody. Such rules form a context-free grammar. Every venba consists of between tw ...

meter. Siruppanchamulam uses the analogy of the traditional herbal medicine, which uses the roots of the five herbs ''kandankatthiri'' (a plant of the nightshade family – ''

Solanum ''Solanum'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solana ...

xanthocarpum''), ''siruvzhuthunai'', ''sirumalli'', ''perumalli'', and ''nerunji'' (a thorny prostrate plant – ''

Tribulus terrestris ''Tribulus terrestris'' is an annual plant in the caltrop family (Zygophyllaceae) widely distributed around the world. It is adapted to thrive in dry climate locations in which few other plants can survive. It is native to warm temperate and t ...

'') to cure certain maladies. ''Siruppanchamulam'' similarly uses five different maxims to illustrate correct behaviour. The following poem lists the five things, namely, a chaste girl, the humility of the learned, friendly neighbouring countries, benevolent kings under whose reign there are timely rains and loyal assistants as sweet as ambrosia. : கற்புடைய பெண் அமிர்து, கற்று அடங்கினான் அமிர்து : நற்புடைய நாடுஅமிர்து - நற்புடைய : மேகமே சேர்கொடி வேந்து அமிர்து, சேவகனும் : ஆகவே செய்யின் அமிர்து.

References

* Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983) * http://tamilnation.org/literature/ * http://tamilnation.org/literature/pathinen/pm0029.pdf ''Siruppanchamulam'' eText at Project madurai Sangam literature Jain texts {{Jainism-book-stub

See also

References