Commentaries in Tamil literary tradition
Many ancient Tamil works continue to remain in comprehension chiefly due to exegesis or commentaries written on them.
[citation needed] Ancient India is known for its unique oral tradition wherein knowledge was chiefly passed on as word of mouth from parents to their children and from preceptors to their students from one generation to the next.
[2] The gradual buildup of this oral transfer of ideas through several generations resulted in an extensive corpus of knowledge, which eventually had to be written down on manuscripts.
[2] This process generated a vast scholarship in every domain of life in the Indian subcontinent, and both Sanskrit and Tamil, along with other languages, saw an exponential growth in their literature over the millennia.
[4] Unlike Western tradition, where only critics abound, Indian literature is rife with commentators who both analyze the works and write exegesis on them.
[3] Tamil literary tradition is no exception to this pan-Indian phenomenon, with commentary writing having developed as a distinct domain in the scholarly world over the millennia.
In the later Chola period, the responsibility shifted to the literary commentators who wrote exegesis on several ancient and contemporary works.
During the period of the Nayakar's regin, minor dynastic kings and aristocratic chieftains furthered the Tamil language and literature.
During the colonial era under the British rule, missionaries of both Indian and foreign religions and the Tamil groups established by the opulent section of the society contributed to the growth of the language.
[6] Bhashyas, which are "commentary" or "exposition" of any primary or secondary text, started appearing in Sanskrit literature in the first millennia BCE.
[17] Nevertheless, during the time of Ramanuja in the 10th century, scholars attempted to write commentaries to the Vaishnavite works of the Alvars.
[17] Initially met with rejection, they slowly gained acceptance with the public discourses given by religious scholars.
[17] In the words of Mohan and Sokkalingam, the commentators are considered responsible for initiation the process of "return to classicism.
[19] Chief among them were Ilampooranar, Senavaraiyar, Paerasiriyar, Nacchinarkkiniyar, Parimelalhagar, and Adiyarkku Nallar, who lived between the 11th and the 14th centuries CE.
[20] In the Tamil literary tradition, it is conventional to regard the commentators on par with the author of the original work.
Thus the exegetical works of Ilampooranar, Senavaraiyar, Paerasiriyar, and Nacchinarkkiniyar came to be known, respectively, as Ilampooranam, Senavaraiyam, Paerasiriyam, and Nacchinarkkiniyam.
[23] Short literatures include Pillai Tamil, Thoodhu, Ula, Barani, Anthadhi, Kovai, Kalambagam, Kuravanji, Pallhu, Madal, Maalai, Sadhakam, Venba, Thogai, and so forth.
According to the 17th-century work Prayoga Vivegam, the practice of writing self-written commentaries in the Indian Subcontinent began in Sanskrit literature.
[30] This was followed by several others, including the following:[30] This trend, too, continued well into the 20th century, with authors such as R. Raghava Iyengar, Jagavira Pandiyanar, and Bharathidasan writing their own exegesis to their respective works of Paari Kaadhai, Kumaresa Venba, and Pudhiya Aatthicchudi.
[30] The process of writing prosaic commentaries to the itihasas, puranas, and other Indian epics, which were originally written in verse, began in the early 19th century.
[31] Soon, dialogic commentaries to the Sangam works, such as the Eight Anthologies and Ten Idylls series of texts, began to appear.
