Iniyavai Narpathu () a classic

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the

Eighteen Lesser Texts The Eighteen Lesser Texts, known as the Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku ( ta, பதினெண்கீழ்கணக்கு) in the literature, is a collection of eighteen poetic works mostly created during the 'post Sangam period' (between 100 ...

(''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of

Tamil literature Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from T ...

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Sangam period The Sangam period or age (, ), particularly referring to the third Sangam period, is the period of the history of ancient Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Sri Lanka (then known as Tamilakam) spanning from c. 6th century BCE to c. 3rd century CE. ...

corresponding to between 100 and 500 CE. ''Iniyavai Narpathu'' is a collection of 40 poems written by the poet Putham Sernthanar describing the most desirable things in life. The poems of '' Iniyavai Narpathu'' are written in the

Venpa Venpa or Venba ('' வெண்பா'' in Tamil) is a form of classical Tamil poetry. Classical Tamil poetry has been classified based upon the rules of metric prosody. Such rules form a context-free grammar. Every venba consists of between two ...

meter. This collection is very similar to '' Inna Narpathu'', which deals with the forty things one should avoid. ''Iniyavai Narpathu'' includes four categories of things one should seek in life: learning even at the expense of begging, the advice of learned persons, healthy children, strength to not covet other's spouse. ''Iniyavai Narpathu'', together with ''Inna Narpathu'' spells out in simple and succinct terms moral codes essential for daily life of the individual and for the society. They both emphasise the importance of education and individual responsibility in society.

References

* Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983) * http://tamilnation.co/literature/ * http://projectmadurai.org/pm_etexts/utf8/pmuni0025.html ''Iniyavai Narpathu'' eText at

Project madurai Project Madurai (மதுரை தமிழ் இலக்கிய மின்தொகுப்புத் திட்டம்) is an open and voluntary initiative to publish free versions of ancient Tamil literature on the Internet. Te ...

Sangam literature {{India-lit-stub