One of the three celebrated anthologies of ancient Tamil Classics, Patiṉeṇkīḻkkaṇakku, comprises eleven ethical writings (Nālaṭi, Nāṉmaṇikkaṭikai, Iṉṉā nāṟpatu, Iṉiyavai nāṟpatu, Muppāl, Tirikaṭukam, Ācārakkōvai, Paḻamoḻi Nāṉūṟu, Ciṟupañcamūlam, Mutumoḻikkāñci, and Ēlāti), six akam classics (Kārnāṟpatu, Tiṇaimoḻi aimpatu, Tiṇaimālai nūṟṟaimpatu, Aintiṇai eḻupatu, Aintiṇai aimpatu, and Kainnilai), and one Puṟam poem (Kaḷavaḻi nāṟpatu).
This volume presents, in this manner, Ciṟupañcamūlam, Mutumoḻikkāñci, Ēlāti, Kainnilai and Ācārakkōvai, the compilation and translation of each of which has been done by well-known specialists in the field.
The names of Ciṟupañcamūlam, and Ēlāti, are extremely significant because they are indicative of the medicinal value of morals taught in the works. The five herbal roots that constitute Ciṟupañcamūlam are Ciṟu vaḻutuṉai, Ciṟu neruñci, Ciṟu mallikai, Peru neruñci and Kaṇṭaṅkattari. The name Ēlati is that of the herbal medicine which uses the six herbs, ēlam, ilavaṅkap paṭṭai, nākakēcaram, miḷaku, tippili, and cukku. In every stanza, the former stresses five different morals while six different virtues are highlighted in the latter.
Mutumoḻikkāñci contains ten decades of single-line verses which are precise and full of wisdom. Mutumoḻi means proverb and Kāñci is reported to be a genre devoted to the theme of the transitoriness of life.
Cast in the metre called Kuṟaḷ Veṇpā Centuṟai, the didactic work is unique and challenges comparison with the ethical writings in Greek, Latin and Sanskrit.
Kainnilai consists of sixty stanzas dealing with the akam theme of love in five sections, each focusing on one of the five tiṇais (Kuṟiñci, Pālai, Mullai, Marutam and Neytal) in twelve stanzas. Though the work is also called Aintiṇai Aimpatu, only 45 poems – twelve in Kuṟiñci, seven in Pālai, three in Mullai, eleven in Marutam and twelve in Neytal – are available in complete form. As a work of art rich in poetic qualities that illustrate akam conventions, it has received the praise of Ilampuranar and Naccinarkkiniyar who cite some of its stanzas in their commentaries.
Of the eighteen texts in Patiṉeṇ kīḻkkaṇakku only Ācārakkōvai is said to be a derivative work, not an original Tamil poem but a free translation of Sukrasam vriti, including ideas from several Smritis in Sanskrit. Composed by one Peruvayin Mulliyar, it has one hundred stanzas in the Veṇpā metre, prescribing rules of etiquette in the form of a number of do’s and don’ts.
