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Nacciṇārkkiṇiyar, also spelled Naccinarkkiniyar or Nachinarkiniyar, was a 14th-century
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 ...
and
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
scholar famous for his commentaries on
Sangam literature
The Sangam literature (Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam'';) historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ'') connotes ...
and post-Sangam medieval Tamil literature.
His commentary on some of the most studied Tamil texts such as the ''
Tolkappiyam'', ''
Kuruntokai'' and ''
Civaka Cintamani'' have guided scholarship that followed him, including modern era studies of Tamil literature. According to
Kamil Zvelebil
Kamil Václav Zvelebil (November 17, 1927 – January 17, 2009) was a Czech scholar in Indian literature and linguistics, notably Tamil, Sanskrit, Dravidian linguistics and literature and philology.
Life and career
Zvelebil studied at the Char ...
, a Tamil literature scholar, Naccinarkiniyar had a "keen poetic sense, awareness of word values". He vividly analyzed the primary text and secondary literature on that primary text, in a sophisticated impartial manner seen in modern era scholarship. He paid attention to minute details with a critical observation, states Zvelebil, and Naccinarkiniyar's work shows "a clear mind and a vast erudition" of Tamil and Sanskrit works.
Naccinarkiniyar was a
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
of the
Shaivism
Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangi ...
tradition of
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
.
[ The Tamil Plutarch, Pg 57] Nacinarkiniyar wrote commentaries on the
Tolkāppiyam
''Tolkāppiyam'', also romanised as ''Tholkaappiyam'' ( ta, தொல்காப்பியம், ''lit.'' "ancient poem"), is the most ancient extant Tamil grammar text and the oldest extant long work of Tamil literature. The surviving manus ...
,
Pattuppāṭṭu,
Kaliththokai
''Kalittokai'' ( ta, கலித்தொகை meaning ''the kali-metre anthology'') is a classical Tamil poetic work and the sixth of Eight Anthologies (''Ettuthokai'') in the Sangam literature. It is an "akam genre – love and erotic – c ...
,
Kuṟuntokai
Kuṟuntokai ( ta, குறுந்தொகை, meaning ''the short-collection'') is a classical Tamil poetic work and traditionally the second of the Eight Anthologies (''Ettuthokai'') in the Sangam literature. The collection belongs to the ...
and
Civaka Cintamani.
See also
*
Ten Medieval Commentators
The Ten Medieval Commentators (Tamil: உரையாசிரியர்கள் பதின்மர்) were a canonical group of Tamil scholars whose commentaries on the ancient Indian didactic work of the Kural are esteemed by later schol ...
*
Commentaries in Tamil literary tradition
Commentaries to literary works remain one of the most important and telling aspects of the Tamil literary tradition. Commentaries to ancient Tamil works have been written since the medieval period and continue to be written in the modern era. Many ...
References
Bibliography
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Tamil-language writers
14th-century Indian philosophers
Medieval Tamil poets