Elathi is a Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 poetic work of didactic nature belonging to the Pathinenkilkanakku

Pathinenkilkanakku

Pathinenkilkanakku is a collection of eighteen poetic works created during the 'post Sangam period' . The poems of this collection differ from the earlier works under the Pathinenmaelkanakku collection , which are the oldest surviving Tamil Poetry. The poems are written in the Venpa meter and are...

anthology of Tamil literature

Tamil literature

Tamil literature refers to the literature in the Tamil language. Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution...

. This belongs to the 'post Sangam period' corresponding to between 100 – 500 CE. Elathi contains 80 poems written by the poet Kani Methaviyar. The poems of Elathi are written in the Venpa

Venpa

Venpa is a form of classical Tamil poetry. Classical Tamil poetry has been classified based upon the rules of metric prosody. Such rules form a context-free grammar. Every Venpa consists of between two to twelve lines....

 meter.

Elathi uses the analogy of the traditional herbal medicine known as elathi which uses six herbs such as elam (cardamom

Cardamom

Cardamom refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds...

), ilavankap pattai (cinnamon

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...

), naagakesaram (made from the stamens of the Ceylon ironwood) , milagu (black pepper

Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...

) , thippili (long pepper

Long pepper

Long pepper , , sometimes called Indian long pepper, is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. Long pepper has a similar, but hotter, taste to its close relative Piper nigrum - from which black, green and white...

), and sukku (dried ginger

Ginger

Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....

). Elathi similarly uses six different maxims

Saying

A saying is something that is said, notable in one respect or another, to be "a pithy expression of wisdom or truth."There are a number of specific types of saying:...

to illustrate correct behaviour.

The following poem lists the six things, namely, fame, wealth, integrity, courage, education and philanthropy that add beauty to those who follow the scriptures.

சென்றபுகழ், செல்வம், மீக்கூற்றம், சேவகம்

நின்றநிலை, கல்வி, வள்ளன்மை - என்றும்

அளிவந்தார் பூங்குழலாய் ஆறும் மறையின்

வழிவந்தார் கண்ணே வனப்பு