| Sangam literature | ||||
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| Eighteen Greater Texts | ||||
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| Related topics | ||||
| Eighteen Lesser Texts | ||||
| Bhakti Literature | ||||
Kalittokai (Tamil:கலித்தொகை meaningthe kali-metre anthology) is a classicalTamil poetic work and the sixth ofEight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) in theSangam literature.[1] It is an "akam genre – love and erotic – collection par excellence", according toKamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature and history scholar.[1] The anthology contains 150 poems and was compiled by one of the authors named Nallantuvanar.[1][2] The collection has a different tone, metre and style than earlier Sangam literature, evidence that it is a late Sangam work, likely from the 3rd-century CE or after.[2][3]Naccinarkiniyar, a Tamil scholar who lived during the 14th-century CE, has commented on this work.[1][4]
It is unclear whether theKalittokai was authored by more than one author. Some scholars attribute the collection to five authors, including one by the famed Sangam poetKapilar.[1][2] Others, such as S.V. Damodaram Pillai and K.N. Sivaraja Pillai consider it the work of one poet.[5]
TheKalittokai anthology uses thekalimetre of varied length. This metre is more advanced and complex than the akaval metre found in earlier Sangam poetry. The kali metre combinesaciriyam andvenpa, creating opportunities to set dialogues within the metre. The poets who composed theKalittokai created what comes across as a "one-act plays", sometimes with "coarse, spicy, racy, rude, bawdy, or humorous" dialogues, states Zvelebil.[6] According to Herman Tieken, these compositions are examples oflasya minor dance scenes as described in the chapters 19 and 31 of theNatyasastra.[7] Thekali metre has several structural subtypes, each suited for different literary purposes.[8]
The poems include cultured love situations, as well as erotics, folkmotifs and vulgar situations.[1] Its poems are categorised into the fivetinais according to the mood and subject matter conforming to theSangam landscape. The first part (2-36) deals withpalai setting, the second (37-65) withkurinji, the third (66-100) withmarutam, the fourth (101-117) withmullai and the fifth (118-150) withneital. These five section were each written by a separate author. Perunkadunkon wrote thepalai songs, the poet Kapilar is attributed to thekurinji, Ilanaagan themarutam songs, Nalluruthiran themullai songs and the poet Nallanthuvan theneithal songs.
TheKalittokai poems are notable for the relatively higher number ofSanskrit loan words, lexical and structural innovations, the practice of quoting lines of earlier poems such asKuṟuntokai 18.5, and the lack the names of chieftains, kings or poets.[9] The anthology is also notable for including allusions and references to pan-Indian love and moral legends found in Epics– and Puranas–genre Sanskrit texts. According to Zvelebil, some examples in theKalittokai includeKrishna, an avatara ofVishnu killing his uncleKamsa in poems 134 and killing a group of people called the Mallars, Shiva invoked in poem 1 and 2 who is praised by the Brahmins and the Vedas, Duryodhana's evil plans to kill thePandava brothers and how they escape from theLakshagriha in poem 25, the battle ofMurugan andSurapadma in poem 27, An event mentioned in the epicRamayana, of Ravana lifting the Kailasha is described in the Poem 139 of Lines 33 to 37, Bhima killing Duryodhana in poem 52, the love stories of Urvashi and Tilottama in poem 109, among others.[9]
The poems ofKalittokai show evidence of theancient music of the Tamil people with its rhythmic phrases.[citation needed]
O dwarf, standing piece of timber,
you've yet to learn the right approach
to girls. Humans do not copulate
at noon: but you come now to hold
our hand and ask us to your place.
–Kalittokai 94 (partial), Translator: A.K. Ramanujan[10]
ஆற்றுதல்' என்பது, ஒன்று அலந்தவர்க்கு உதவுதல்; | Goodness is helping one in distress; |
| —Kalithogai 133 | —Translated by C.K. Swaminathan |