சங்க இலக்கியத்தில்அறவியல் நோக்கு / An Ethical Perspective of Sangam Literature

Abstract

Sangam songs mostly used the theme of law, justice and honesty of the people of the Sangam era. The Sangam literature mentions the three values - virtues (Aram), wealth (Porul) and love (Inbam). Love is elaborately written in Aga Thinai poems and the other two in Pura Thinai poems. Virtues are often spoken in the poems that the bridesmaid (Thozhi) sings, as it is her great responsibility to insist on the marriage to the headman during the period of pre-marital love (Kalavu) life of bride (Thalaivi), it is also her duty to console her friend (thazhaivi) who is grieving over the separation during her chastity (Karpu). The meaning of the word virtue has changed over time. Sangam poets have used it in the sense of honesty, truth, and impartiality. At the end of the Sangam, the word Aram came to mean dharma. In Aga Thinai poems, Thozhi exhorts the headman, who postpones marriage and finds pleasure in copulation, to get married by extolling the excellence of virtue. Both the Thazhaivi and Thozhi talk about virtue in the songs of chastity. Moral concepts are also found in the Pura Thinai songs. Virtuous messages are found in poems praising tributaries to kings, biographies of poets, hymns of vow and sometimes in portraying nature. If the morals found in the Sangam literature are compiled and given in a form of a book, it will be the greatest treasure of life ethics to the universe. Hence, this paper scrolls down through the ample evidence from Sangam literature.

Keywords

• sangam literature
• aga & pura thinai poems
• thazhaivi
• thozhi
• ethical perspective