Write a short note on Tamil Sanskrit literature.
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Answer:
Tamil isn’t just a language, it is an important identity of Tamil culture. The Sangam age literary work ‘Kalithogai’ has references to Lemuria continent, where it is mentioned as ‘Karodaiyaaru’. It was destroyed during ‘Kadal Kol’ (tsunami). Ancient Tamil poet Kaniyan Poongundranar’s popular quote ‘Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir’ has been recognised by the United Nations
It is difficult to fix the age of the evolution of the language because of its rich vocabulary. ‘Tholkappiyam’, which is 2,000 years old, is the first literary work in Tamil. According to Tamil language expert M Srinivasa Iyengar, Tholkappiyam dates to before 350BC. The other Sangam Tamil literature is estimated to be around 5th century BC and recent archaeological evidence has proved this.
Researchers of the subject have differing estimates for the age of Tamil. While recent excavations at Keezhadi throw light on the ancient civilization of Tamils, earthen burial urns (Mudumakkal Thazhi) have been found in Adhichanallur and Kodumudi that go back 2,000 to 2,500 years.
A stone inscription in Modi script (used to write Marathi language), that was unearthed in Thanjavur reveals that the age of Tamil language could date back to more than 10,000 years. Such archaeological evidence provide ample proof to establish the antiquity of Tamil as an ancient language. Discoveries also point out that the first ‘Tamil Sangam’ existed in 8th century BC. Ancient Tamil words are still in use.
After elaborate research on western languages, late professor and author Devaneya Pavanar has established that Tamil is the mother of all languages. As a conclusion of his research in Greek, Latin and English, he says words from Tamil have gone on to influence Latin and English languages. Words such as ‘coin’, ‘coffee’ and ‘navy’ are a few examples that have their roots in Tamil language.
Linguistic experts have often highlighted that the first couplet in Thirukkural has Sanskrit words. But ‘Bhagwan’, the word they are referring to in Thirukkural, is not the ‘Bhagwan’ that is mentioned in Sanskrit. Thiruvalluvar, has in fact, never used Sanskrit words in Thirukkural. The word ‘Bhagawan’ that appears in the first couplet of Tirukural is actually a Tamil word ‘Pagalavan’, which means sun. As far as the usage of Sanskrit words in ancient Tamil scriptures is concerned, it is minimal.