தொல்காப்பியம் பொருளதிகாரம் அகத்திணையியல் Part 2 Winter 2018

By E. Annamalai

The list of கருப்பொருள் in Sutra 20 does not include humans (மக்கள்), which is done in Sutras 22-24. Though the commentators bring in humans under கருப்பொருள் from the open ended wording (அவ்வகை பிறவும்) in Sutra 21, there is a valid reason for not including humans in that Sutra. Moreover, ‘others’ (பிற) in that Sutra is meant to bring in things that are subsumed under superordinate category names listed in that Sutra and humans are not subordinate to any of them. The reason for the separate mention of humans is the fact that they don’t have species like animals do and are a unitary biological category. There are other reasons for placing humans apart from other கருப்பொருள். Humans are the only கருப்பொருள் capable of rational action of their own and so could not be surrogates of dramatis personae of a poem. (It is debatable if தெய்வம், another கருப்பொருள், has this capability, but it is not a surrogate and is exempted from being a vehicle in உள்ளுறை உவமம் for comparison).