திரிகடுகம்

Tirikkaṭukam

The Three Pungents · One hundred verses, three truths each

One hundred ethical triplets by Nallāṭaṉār, from the Patiṉeṇkīḻkaṇakku anthology. As the three pungent spices — dry ginger, black pepper, and long pepper — stimulate and clear the body, each verse's three moral truths stimulate and clear the mind.

Unlike Iṉṉā or Iṉiyavai Nāṟpatu (which build A→B→C to a climax), Tirikkaṭukam gives three co-equal items — a stable tripod of truths, not a staircase.

100
Verses
300
Moral truths
Nallāṭaṉār
Author
c. 1st–5th
Century CE
The title திரிகடுகம் (tirikkaṭukam) means the three pungents — the classical Ayurvedic combination of three spices used together to stimulate digestion and clear the system. As those three spices work on the body, the three moral truths in each verse work on the mind: sharp, direct, medicinal. Not always comfortable. Always clarifying.
First pungent
சுக்கு
Sukku
Dry Ginger
Second pungent
மிளகு
Miḷaku
Black Pepper
Third pungent
திப்பிலி
Tippili
Long Pepper

One Hundred Verses

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