Paranar
Paranar
Poet of the Sangam period
Paranar (Tamil: பரணர்) (c. 1st century CE) was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom 84 verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed, besides verse 6 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai.[1]
Paranar belonged to the Paanar caste. He was the friend of Kapilar[2] and Nakkirar I.[3] He has sung various kings, namely, Kadal Pirakkottiya Senguttuvan, Cholan Uruvapatrer Ilanchet Senni, Cheraman Kadalottiya Velkelu Kuttuvan, Kudakko Neduncheralaadhan, and Cholan Verpatradakkai Perunarkilli.[3]
Paranar has written about 85 verses, including 17 in Kurunthogai, 12 in Natrinai, 32 in Agananuru, 13 in Purananuru, 10 in Pathitrupathu, and 1 in Tiruvalluva Maalai.[2]
By praising the Chera king Senguttuvan, Paranar received Udambarkaattu Vaari and his son prince Kuttuvan Cheral as 'present'.[2]
Views on Valluvar and the Kural
Paranar opines about Valluvar and the Kural text thus:[4]
Māl (Vishnu) in his Cural (or dwarfish incarnation) measured the whole earth with his two expanded feet; but Valluvar has measured the thoughts of all mankind with his (stanza of) two short feet. [Emphasis in original]
- Vedanayagam 2017, p. 17.
- Kowmareeshwari 2012, p. 442.
- Kowmareeshwari 2012, p. 243.
- Robinson, 2001, p. 25.
- Kowmareeshwari, S., ed. (August 2012). Kurunthogai, Paripaadal, Kalitthogai. Sanga Ilakkiyam (in Tamil). Vol. 2 (1 ed.). Chennai: Saradha Pathippagam. p. 442.
- Kowmareeshwari, S., ed. (August 2012). Agananuru, Purananuru. Sanga Ilakkiyam (in Tamil). Vol. 3 (1 ed.). Chennai: Saradha Pathippagam. p. 243.
- Vedanayagam, Rama (2017). Tiruvalluva Maalai: Moolamum Eliya Urai Vilakkamum (in Tamil) (1 ed.). Chennai: Manimekalai Prasuram. p. 17.
- Edward Jewitt Robinson (2001). Tamil Wisdom: Traditions Concerning Hindu Sages and Selections from Their Writings. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.