28 ‘Atruppadais’.in Tamil.
four stages:of-man’s life—the -first..being ‘that of ‘Brahmacharya’.. During:this period’ every indi-- vidual was supposed to. be guided by--a learned
‘guru; till his fortyeighth year.. Sacrifice of animals
was common ~ during: the time of Nakkirar.
Consequently too much emphasis was being laid
on the Yagas though Saint. Thiruvalluvar was of strong opinion that a vegetarian who believes
in non-violance is better than one who performs. Yagas. “In those days feasts and festivals were in
vogue, goats being killed during the time of feasts.
After.the feast, the common people used to gather and dance to propitiate Lord Muruga. This kind
of dance came to be. known as ‘Veriyadal’ when.
the dancer drank ‘Teral’, wore flowers and
resembled God Muruga. ‘Silappathikaram’ bears.
evidence to the prevalence of such dances in that
age. Inthose days the use of camphor during: Puja celebrations both in the temples and ‘in the
houses, unlike the modern days, was not prevalent.
Instead they used benzoin. The poet further points
out that the holy place Thirupparangunram is situ-
ated by the side of the flourishing trade-centre the
city of Madurai. He describes the natural resour-
ces of the land and refers to the amalgamator of the Vedic and Tamil customs especially with refe-
rence to the puja celeberations.
The next idyllic song composed by the poet Madathamakkanniar, elaborately describes the: �
