Tolkaappiyam - An Overview

The TEXT is massive running into more than 1630 sutras and divided into THREE books, the Ezuttatikaaram Collatikaaram and PoruLatikaaram. 

While the final book Marabiyal is normally taken as part of the third but I believe that it is more ancient than Tol proper going back perhaps to the period of Second Academy consistent with the traditional account that Tol belongs to the Second Academy. I have written a separate paper on this and will post in the near future a revised version of it. While Tol proper is ascribed to a period around the 3rd Cent BC, there are also those who believe that some parts of it, especially that of Ezuttatikaaram had been revised consistent with the changes in Brahmi script that was current at that time. We may note here that it is only in Marabiyal that we find mention of jaties, communal groupings that are profession based - trade agriculture priesthood, political leadership and so forth. But this marabu -historically derived traditional groupings is NOT VarNasrama Dharma. For it is said that the Mutalvan -- the most authoritative person is a Munivan , one who has freed himself from the prejudices and shines forth in TRUE understanding that clarifies all. (Vinaiyin niiGki viLaGkiya aRivin munaivan). In order to become the metaphysically LUMINOUS, one does not need any smrities and sruties but only that of becoming FREE of prejudices of all kinds. 

Anyone who studies the History of Dravidian Philosophical Developments and how while deconstructing Buddhism Jainism and Vedanta, there were also furtherance of its own by deepening and broadening of the nuclear ideas, can see the continuous impact of Tol in all these. 

Tolkaappiyam has constituted the MODEL and take off point for the numerous grammatical treatises that have been written since that time: IRaiyanaar AkapporuL (fully available) Cempuut Cey’s KuuRRiyal (lost), Panniru Padalam (CaGkam work but lost) puRapporuL VeNba Maalai (later work fully available) Mayeeccuram (only a few sutras available), Kaakkaip Paadiniyam (fully reconstructed from various secondary references and quotations) the massive Avinayam (only partly existent), Viiracooziyam (13th cent, fully available with commentary) Nannul ( fully available with several commentaries) , YapparuGkalam ( an encyclopedic work on Tamil Prosody) the IlakkaNa viLakkam ( 17th cent AD), the Muttuviiriyam ( 19th cent) and numerous others. We should also mention that though PaNini was known from ancient times, it is only with Viracozilyam, Pirayoka Viveekam and IlakaNNak Kottu that we see the impact of it in Tamil grammarians. 

Fortunately these studies also deal with similarities and differences between Tamil and Sanskrit and where as in Pirayokao Viveekam, they note that the similarities outnumber differences and all these before the European Indologists entered the scene and Aryanized Sanskrit etc and with that also introduced a racial split among the Indian folks. 


Dr Loganathan Krishnan @ Ullaganar