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{{Sangam literature}}
{{italic}}
'''''Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai''''' ({{langx|ta|சிறுபாணாற்றுப்படை}}, ''lit.'' "guide for bards with the small lute") is an ancient [[Tamil language|Tamil]] poem, likely the last composed in the ''Pattuppattu'' anthology of the [[Sangam literature]].{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=29, 61–64}} It contains 296 lines in the ''akaval'' meter.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=61–64}}{{refn|group=note|According to other scholars such as Chelliah, the poem has 352 lines.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=161}}}} It is one of five ''arruppatai'' genre poems and was a guide to other bards seeking a patron for their art. The main hero honored in the poem is Nalliyakkotan, but the poem reverentially mentions an additional seven minor chieftains and three kings. The poem is dated to sometime between the late 3rd century CE and 5th century CE by Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature scholar.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1974|p=20}}{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=42–43 Chart 4}}
The ''Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai'' poem, also referred to as '''''Sirupanattrupadai''''',{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|p=141}} is named after ''sirupanar'' – a class of minstrels who sang their bards while playing a small ''yal'' (''[[yazh]]'', lute).{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=61-64}} The poem's subject is a band of bards and their womenfolk who meet the author, and he guides them in the form of this poem.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=141–142}} The guidance mentions a series of cities and villages the troupe must pass through on their journey to the Nalliyakkotan's palace. In this list are included Maturai – the capital of Pandyas, Uranthai – the capital of Cholas, and Vanci – the capital of Cheras.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=141–142}} Other coastal and inland towns are also mentioned, including Eyilpattinam and [[Vellore|Velur]].{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|p=142}}
==Content==
The relatively short poem is a condensed guide and source of information about society and culture of several ancient kingdoms and different rulers.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=61–64}}{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=141–142}} The poem's vivid description of a bard's poverty before he found a patron is "rather powerful", states Zvelebil:{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=64}}
{{Quote|
<poem>
In the ruined kitchen lay the barking bitch
That whelped of late with bent cared brood too young
To open their eyes, that suck not the milkless teats
Upon the earth piled up by ants that swarm
On the walls, on which the roof had fallen down,
Sprout mushrooms hollow. There that day the wife
Of the drummer with a lean and slender waist
And bangled wrists whom cruel hunger gnawed
Did saltless cook the herb her sharp nails plucked
From refuse heaps, and made a meal of it
With poor relations, having closed the door
Ashamed to be so seen by prying folk
Such poverty was then by him removed
</poem>
|''Cirupanarruppatai 175–187'', Translator: JV Cheliah{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|p=155}}}}
Similarly striking is the poet's detailed painting of a woman's body with words in lines 14–40, with ''antati'' phrases some of which are also found in earlier Sangam poems.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=64}}{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=141–142}}
This poem uses "the sun being orbited by planets" as an analogy in the lines below displaying the [[heliocentric]] understanding of the planetary system by [[Tamil people]] circa. 3rd century CE.
{{Quote|
<poem>
Figuring what you like, he will
serve you unlimited quantities
of desired foods with hospitality,
in golden bowls that shine in a
way that disrespects the blazing,
tender-rayed sun surrounded by
planets, in the shining, bright sky.
</poem>
|''Cirupanarruppatai 242–245'', Translator: Vaidehi Herbert<ref name="helio">{{cite web |last1=Herbert |first1=Vaidehi |title=Sirupaanatrupadai |url=https://learnsangamtamil.com/sirupaanatrupadai/ |website=Learn Sangam Tamil|date=2 December 2010 }}</ref>}}
The poem mentions a treatise on food named after Bhima, one of the Pandava brothers in the epic ''[[Mahabharata]]''.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=142–143}} The description that follows includes both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=142–143}} Brahmin villages are mentioned, as is the worship of Murugan.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=142–144}} The ''Sirupanattrupadai'' deploys a garland of similes, a Tamil poetic technique called ''malaiyuvamai''.{{sfn|JV Chelliah|1946|pp=143–144}} The poem is an important guide to ancient music traditions among Tamil people, states Venkata Subramanyam.<ref>{{cite journal| title= Rational and Social Foundations of Music and Dance of Early Tamils First to Fourth C.| author = T.K. Venkata Subramanyam| journal= Proceedings of the Indian History Congress| volume=59 | year= 1998| pages = 186–199| jstor= 44146990}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Eighteen Greater Texts]]
* [[Sangam literature]]
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
===Bibliography===
{{ref begin|30em}}
*{{cite book|author= JV Chelliah|title= Pattupattu - Ten Tamil Idylls (Tamil Verses with Englilsh Translation)| year= 1946|url = https://archive.org/details/pattupattutentamilidyllschelliahj.v._108_Q| publisher= Tamil University (1985 print)}}
* {{cite book| title= Pattuppattu with a commentary by Naccinarkkiniyar | author= U. V. Swaminatha Aiyar| year=1950| edition= 4th| publisher= UV Swaminathaiyer Library }}
* {{cite book|author=Shu HikoSaka|title=Tamil poetry through the ages, 2. Pattuppattu: Ten idylls|oclc= 633702288|year= 2000|publisher= Institute of Asian Studies}}
* {{cite book |author=Edward Jewitt Robinson |title=Tamil Wisdom: Traditions Concerning Hindu Sages and Selections from Their Writings |year=2001 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |location = New Delhi}}
* Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983)
* {{cite book|title=Tamil Literature|last=Pillai|first=M. S. Purnalingam|year=1994|pages=115|publisher=Asian Educational Services|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIeqvcai5XQC&pg=PA115|isbn=81-206-0955-7}}
* {{cite book|title=The archaeology of seafaring in ancient South Asia|last=Ray|first=Himanshu Prabha |year=2003|publisher=Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge|location=Cambridge|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=iHHzP4uVpn4C |isbn=9780521011099}}
* Selby, Martha Ann (2011) Tamil Love Poetry: The Five Hundred Short Poems of the Aiṅkuṟunūṟu, an Early Third-Century Anthology. Columbia University Press, {{ISBN|9780231150651}}
*{{cite book|author=Takanobu Takahashi|title=Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgCHuVGyZoEC |year=1995|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-10042-3}}
*{{cite book|author=Eva Maria Wilden|title=Manuscript, Print and Memory: Relics of the Cankam in Tamilnadu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KuPmBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|year=2014|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-035276-4}}
* {{cite book|author=Kamil Zvelebil|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-03591-5}}
* {{cite book|author=Kamil Zvelebil|title=Tamil Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQ33i496MsIC|year=1974| publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn= 978-3-447-01582-0}}
* {{cite book|title=Companion studies to the history of Tamil literature|last=Zvelebil|first=Kamil|author-link=Kamil Zvelebil|year=1992|pages=73|publisher=BRILL|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qAPtq49DZfoC&pg=PA73|isbn=90-04-09365-6}}
{{refend}}
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[[Category:Sangam literature]]
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