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
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. ...
' (between 100 and 500 CE). The poems of this collection differ from the earlier works of the
Eighteen Greater Texts
The Eighteen Greater Texts, known as Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku ( ta, பதினெண்மேல்கணக்கு) in the literature, is the collection of the oldest surviving Tamil poetry. This collection is considered part of the Sangam ...
(''Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku''), which are the oldest surviving
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 ...
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
, in that the poems 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 and are relatively short in length. Naladiyar, having sung by 400 poets, is the only anthology in this collection. Each of the remaining works of the Eighteen Lesser Texts is sung by a single poet.
Unlike the works of the Eighteen Greater Texts, most of the books of the Eighteen Lesser Texts deal with morals and ethics.
Works of the "Eighteen lesser books" collection
The Eighteen Lesser Texts contains the following books:
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Nālaṭiyār
The Nālaṭiyār ( ta, நாலடியார்) is a Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the post Sangam period cor ...
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Nāṉmaṇikkaṭikai
Nāṉmaṇikkaṭikai ( ta, நான்மணிக்கடிகை) is a Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post S ...
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Iṉṉā Nāṟpatu
Inna Narpathu () is a Tamil language, Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. The poems of ''Inna Narpathu'' are written in the Venpa meter. It was author ...
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Iṉiyavai Nāṟpatu''
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Kār Nāṟpatu
Kaar Narpathu (Tamil: கார் நாற்பது) is a Tamil language, Tamil poetic work belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period' corresponding ...
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Kaḷavaḻi Nāṟpatu
Kalavazhi Narpathu (Tamil: களவழி நாற்பது) is a Tamil poetic work belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period' corresponding to betwe ...
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Aintiṇai Aimpatu
Ainthinai Aimpathu (Tamil: ஐந்திணை ஐம்பது) is a Tamil language, Tamil poetic work belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam p ...
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Tiṉaimoḻi Aimpatu
Tiṉaimozhi Aimpatu ( ta, திணைமொழி ஐம்பது) is a Tamil language, Tamil poetic work belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period ...
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Aintinai Eḻupatu
Aintinai Eḻupatu ( ta, ஐந்திணை எழுபது), is a Tamil poetic work belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku'') anthology of Tamil literature, belonging to the post-Sangam period corresponding t ...
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Tiṉaimalai Nūṟṟu Aimpatu''
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Tirukkuṛaḷ
The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The text ...
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Tirikaṭukam
Thirikatukam (Tamil: திரிகடுகம்) is a Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period' corresponding ...
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Ācārakkōvai
Acharakkovai ( ta, ஆசாரக்கோவை) is a poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period' corresponding to betw ...
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Paḻamoḻi Nāṉūṟu
Pazhamozhi Nanuru (Tamil: பழமொழி நானூறு) is a Tamil language, Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sa ...
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Ciṟupañcamūlam
Ciṟupañcamūlam (Siruppanchamulam) (Tamil: சிறுபஞ்சமூலம்) is a Tamil language, Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This ...
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Mutumoḻikkānci
Muthumozhikkanchi (Tamil: முதுமொழிக்காஞ்சி) is a Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam ...
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Elāti
Elathi is a Tamil language, Tamil poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period' corresponding to between 100 and 500 CE. ''E ...
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Kainnilai
Kainnilai (Tamil:கைந்நிலை), and Innilai (Tamil:இன்னிலை) are Tamil language, Tamil poetic works belonging to the Eighteen Lesser Texts (''Pathinenkilkanakku'') anthology of Tamil literature. These two books together ...
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See also
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Eighteen Greater Texts
The Eighteen Greater Texts, known as Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku ( ta, பதினெண்மேல்கணக்கு) in the literature, is the collection of the oldest surviving Tamil poetry. This collection is considered part of the Sangam ...
*
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 ...
*
List of historic Indian texts
This article attempts to capture in one place the names of books and other works written in ancient India. For the purpose of this list, we consider all books written in India up to and including the Mughal era as being 'ancient books'.
Collect ...
References
Further reading
* Varadarajan, M, First International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 1966.
External links
Patinenkilkkanakku – Works on Akam theme, a translation of seven works by Prof. A. Dakshinamurthy (Thiruchirapalli: Bharathidasan University, 2010)
Tamil-language literature
{{India-lit-stub