பதனணகழககணகக நலகளல அறமதபபகள / Virtues in the Books of Pathinenkeelkanakku

Literatures serve as a reflection that delineate life and offer both descriptive and regulation structure for human life. The Sangam people represented this principle by living with a deep sense of social morality (aram) by embodying life with love-based inherent values (akam) in their daily life. The virtuous men (Santror) of the Sangam times lived with natural dignity (murai) and ethical excellence. They established classic behavioral standards for others through their conduct. Those who are in leadership roles (Kings) demonstrated meticulous diligence in fulfilling their protective duty toward their people. It illustrates the interdependence of individual virtue and social responsibility. The characteristic of an individual's commendable life in society lies basically in the values they represent and enact. The classical Tamil literatures impart evaluative support for human life and function as existential mediums and as structured mentors of ethical principles (Needhi). They provide ample definitions of human values working at dual levels for the individual and the collective group with a particular attention to their rational relationship. Sangam Tamil works reveal such high standards of life oriented virtues. They help to understand the core concept of virtues by heart. “Pathinenkeelkanakku” is a collection of the eighteen didactic works that emerged during the post-Sangam period (1st-5th centuries CE). Value based intellectual knowledge has been articulated meticulously in the books. Hence, the article investigates the glimpses of virtues in the collection.