Cilappatikaram: Text, Transliteration and Translations in English Verse and Prose

Cilappatikaram, the epic of the anklet is the first known epic of the Tamils, and the first of the five great epics is the quintessential work of the Tamil mind and culture representing the final phase of the classical age in Tamil poetry. Whereas Tolkappiyam does not mention Kappiyam, Tantiyalankaram is based on the Sanskrit Kavya tradition and even though T.P. Meenakshisundaran has called it the epic of the common man, he also tries to relate Cilappatikaram to the theory of Tantiyalankaram particularly the four Purushartas of the Kavya tradition. We can see the marvel of the story of the common people becoming an epic only in Tamil. Eminent Jains and others have said that human beings can attain divinity through their own effort. Cilappatikaram only shows the possibility of even a woman evolving into such a sublime height as to make the entire world worship her. Whereas the Sanskrit epics speak of the descent of gods, Cilappatikaram speaks of the ascent of humanity and that too, a woman belonging to a merchant family.