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but
that the two ages overlapped everywhere, stone tools continued to be used
long after iron tools were made, more especially on ceremonial occasions,
for the stone tool being the older one, was sacrosanct and alone possessed
ceremonial purity, and hence stone stools occur along with iron ones in
the graves of the early Iron Age.”
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Certain
literary traditions respecting the immemorial
antiquity of Tamil
and the Tamils
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Traditions
relating to Tamil
| (1)
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Kambar
a great poet of the 12th century, describes Tamil as eternal. |
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| (2) |
An
old anonymous stray poem exalts Tamil as follows: |
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†Œga
lidaivan duyarnd†r to‰avi˜aŒgi
„Œgolin…r
?ƒlat tiru˜akaŠŠum
- ƒŒgavaŠŠu˜
mi‹‹,,r ta‹iyƒ‰i
veŒgadir†‹-r„‹aiyadu
ta‹‹„ rilƒda
tami‰. |
Translation
If
the two things that hail from a mountain, shine so as to be adored by
the great, and expel darkness from the earth surrounded by the roaring
sea: one is the hot-rayed Sun riding on a single-wheeled chariot of lightning-like
effulgence, and the other the incomparable Tamil.
Traditions
relating to the Tamils
| (1) |
The
idea expressed in the 34th stanza of PuŠapporu˜
Ve-bƒ Mƒlai,
that the origin of the MaŠavƒ
community was anterior to the evolution of earthy soil out of rocky
ground, though inordinately exaggerative, serves to point out the
high antiquity of the Tamil race. |
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| (2) |
Another hyperbolical statement by Parim„la‰agar,
the popular commentator of ThirukkuŠa˜,
that the three royal lines, viz. Chera, Chola and Pandiya were countinuing
prosperously from the time of Creation, serves the same purpose. |
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