[INDOLOGY] South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. 5, No. 645 and the commentary on Patiṟṟuppattu 43

[palaniappa at aol.com]

In his commentary on Patiṟṟuppattu43.19-20, Auvai Turaicāmi Piḷḷai highlights the tradition of Tamil kings’patronage of poets and bards like the Pāṇar continuing even in the12th century CE in the following words.
 
"பாணர் முதலாயினார்க்கு வழங்கும் வழக்குப்  பிற்காலத்தும்  அரசர்பால் காணப்படுகிறது. பன்னிரண்டாம் நூற்றாண்டிலிருந்த  மூன்றாங்  குலோத்துங்க  சோழன்,  “பெரும் புலவரும் அருங் கவிஞரும் நாப்புறு நல்லிசைப் பாணரும் கோடியரும் குயிலுவரும்   நாடு   நாடு  சென்று இரவலராய்  இடும்பை  நீங்கிப் புரவலராய்ப்  புகழ்  படைப்பக்”  (S.  I. I. Vol. V. No. 645) கொடை வழங்கிய செய்தி கல்வெட்டுக்களால் தெரிகிறது."
 
Piḷḷai has rendered the relevantportion of the inscriptional text as “perum pulavarum aruṅ kaviñarum nāppuṟunallicaip pāṇarum kōṭiyarum kuyiluvarum nāṭu nāṭu cenṟu iravalarāy iṭumpai nīṅkip puravalarāyp pukaḻpaṭaippa…”.  This passage occurs as partof the eulogy of Kulōttuṅkaṉ II (not Kulōttuṅkaṉ III as Piḷḷai hasstated). The actual inscriptional text is shown in the attachment as perumpulavaru maruṅ kaviñaru nāppuṟu nallicaip pāṇarum koṭiyarum kuyilavaru nāṭunāṭucenṟiravalarāyiṭumpai niṅkip puravalarāyp pukaḻ paṭaippa…
 
One can see that Piḷḷai has split thesandhi as iravalarā yiṭumpai > iravalarāy + iṭumpai, whichsuggests that under the king's rule poets and bards went from place to place assupplicants and got rid of their suffering,which does not really add to the glory of the king. In order to make sensethat fits thespirit of eulogy of the inscription, it seems that the sandhi is better splitas in ‘iravalarāya iṭumpai’ much like the case of sandhis wediscussed in the Kuṟuntokai 106 thread. The revision will mean that thepoets and bards were relieved of the suffering of going from place to place bythe king's munificence and they became patrons of others!
 
(By the way, nāppuṟu seems to bea misreading of narappuṟu.)
 
I appreciate any comments.
 
Thanks in advance
 
Regards,
Palaniappan

 



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