சிறுபஞ்சமூலம்

Ciṟupañcamūlam

The Five Small Roots · One hundred verses of five truths each

One hundred ethical quintet-verses by Āmūvaṉār, from the Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku anthology. Named for the five small medicinal roots of classical Ayurveda — small-caltrops, small-sida, horse-gram vine, small-jointed-leaf, and turkey-berry — which together restore what no single root can heal alone.

Unlike the staircase-structure of Iṉṉā or Iṉiyavai Nāṟpatu, and unlike the triplets of Tirikkaṭukam, Ciṟupañcamūlam gives five co-equal items in each verse — a stable pentagon of practical ethics — 500 moral truths in 100 verses.

100
Verses
500
Moral truths
Āmūvaṉār
Author
c. 1st–5th
Century CE
The title சிறுபஞ்சமூலம் (ciṟupañcamūlam) means the five small roots — the classical Ayurvedic combination of five small root-medicines used together to restore and strengthen the body. As those five roots work in combination, each verse's five moral truths work together on a life: small, underground, and sustaining what stands above.
First root
நெருஞ்சி Neruñci
Small-caltrops
Second root
சிற்றாமணக்கு Ciṟṟāmaṇakku
Small-sida
Third root
குதிரைமசால் Kutiraimacāl
Horse-gram vine
Fourth root
சிறுவழுதுணை Ciṟuvaḻutuṇai
Small-jointed-leaf
Fifth root
கண்டங்கத்தரி Kaṇṭaṅkattari
Turkey-berry

One Hundred Verses

Each verse names five co-equal moral truths · quintet visible at a glance · layers expand for Tamil, transliteration, English, note