புறநானூற்றில் நட்பு / Friendship in Purananooru

Friendship is a virtue that appears on a mutual understanding without any limits like high status, low status, male, female, age, language, race or country. Having good friends in life is a great blessing. Friendship is not only to make a smile but also to make friends with a genuine inner blossoming. In Tamil literature, the Chera, the Chola and the Pandyas who ruled Tamil Nadu were friendly with their people even though they were fighting among themselves. King Kopperuncholan and the poet Pisiranthaiyar were close friends and lost their lives together without seeing each other directly. When one has a friendship with one who commits a mistake, the friend should talk to correct the mistake. This act marks true friendship. Pothiyar was a friend of Kopperunchola who went to the place where Cholan died and fasted and asked for a place to die. Auvai’s friendship with Athiyaman stopped the huge war between Athiyaman and Thondaiman and made them friends. So, anything is possible for true friendship. Kambar has best described the importance of friendship with the statement that we become five through Rama indicating the helmsman Guhan. Keerathanar grieved over Perumsathan's death by asking why the Mullai Malar had blossomed in the Ollaiyur country. Keerathana’s friendship can be seen here. After Pari's death, poet Kapilar raised and arranged marriage to his two daughters. On having Pari's friendship in heart, he wanted to share his life in the afterlife and immersed himself in fire. Pari and Kapilar's friendship is eternal. Paranar sensed the grief of King Began’s wife Kannagi after their separation and he came to Began explaining that he did not come to ask for any gift but rather asked him to live together with his wife. One can see such noble friendships through Sangam literature. Auvai says that instead of making a false friendship, one should make friends based on the good qualities of a person. “Purananooru” depicts the friendship of Pandyan Palyaga Salai Muthukudumi Peruvaluthi and Netimaiyar. In the Sangam literature, the friendship of Thalaivi and Thozhi is exemplary. Thozhi's role is immense in bringing the love of Thalaivan and Thozhi to the level of marriage.