ஏலாதி

Ēlāti

The Cardamom · Eighty verses, three truths each

Eighty ethical triplet-verses by Kaṇimētāviyār, from the Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku anthology. As the cardamom (ēlam) is the first and sweetest of the three fragrant spices, each verse of Ēlāti presents three things sharing a single quality — a threefold sweetness of moral truth, fragrant and lasting.

Where Tirikkaṭukam is the three pungents — sharp, harsh, stimulating — Ēlāti is the three fragrant spices: sweet, aromatic, subtle. The same triplet form, a different register entirely.

80
Verses
240
Moral truths
Kaṇimētāviyār
Author
c. 1st–5th
Century CE
Ēlāti (ஏலாதி) takes its name from ēlam — cardamom, the first and most prized of the three fragrant spices in Tamil medicine and cuisine. As cardamom sweetens and perfumes what it touches, each of Ēlāti's eighty verses gathers three things that share a single excellence — a trio of truths presented not as a sharp argument (like Tirikkaṭukam's pungents) but as an aromatic sweetness: these three things share this quality.

The Eighty Verses

Three seeds shown · Tamil text open by default · click any layer to expand further