சங்க இலக்கியங்களில் தொல்காப்பிய மரபியல் சுட்டும் உயிர்ப் பாகுபாட்டு உயிரினங்கள்

Distinctions of Sense Organisms Referred to in Tolkappiyam’s Genetics in Sangam Literature

Abstract

Tolkāppiyam, regarded as the foundational text of the Tamil grammatical tradition, stands as a primary source that reflects the scientific, cultural, and philosophical thought of the Sangam-age Tamils. The Porulatikāram of the Tolkāppiyam offers a nuanced classification of living beings by focusing on their nature, functions, and levels of cognition. This study examines how the classifications of living beings identified by Tolkāppiyar are reflected in various forms within Sangam literature.

            Tolkāppiyar classifies living beings according to levels of knowledge, ranging from one-sense to six-sense organisms. Plants, reptiles, birds, animals, and human beings are indicated as functioning in accordance with these cognitive levels. Such classifications of life are closely integrated with human life in Sangam literature through descriptions of nature, as well as in akam (interior) and puram (exterior) poems.

            In Sangam works such as Akanāṉūṟu, Kuṟuntokai, and Puṟanāṉūṟu, the activities of living beings are often explained through comparisons with human emotions. This reveals that the classifications of living beings proposed by Tolkāppiyar are not merely grammatical constructs, but also form the foundation of the socio-cultural and philosophical thought of Sangam society.

               This study explores how these classifications of living beings are represented in Sangam literature and how, through them, the Tamils’ understanding of nature, biology, and philosophy evolved. Through this analysis, the significance of Tolkāppiyam’s biological thought within the Sangam literary tradition is re-evaluated.