[1] Authored by Napputanar, it is the shortest poem in the Ten Idylls (Pattuppāṭṭu) anthology, consisting of 103 lines in akaval meter.

[2][3] It is largely an akam-genre (love) poem about a wife in grief when her husband does not return from the war front, when he promised he will.

[2][4] The title of the poem Mullaippattu refers to the creeper mullai (jasmine) that carries sweet-smelling flowers in the jungles of South India, states Chelliah.

[3] It metonymically connotes the jungle home and sweet wife a warrior chieftain left when he went on his military campaign.

[3][4] The chieftain is reflecting on the loss of life, the injured soldiers and the crippled elephants in previous military campaigns.

[11][12] Lines 46–47 of Mullaippattu mentions Brahmin yogis in Saffron-colored clothes carrying three staves (Thridhandam).

It is notable for its mention of yavanas (Greek-Romans, lines 61, 73–83) as part of the troupes in the Tamil kingdom's army.