Splitting the paths of Sanatana and Dravidian thought

The earliest corpus of Dravidian literature, known as Sangam literature and dated before the 2nd century AD, is predominantly secular in nature and focuses on the themes of love and warfare. Yet here too one can observe a direct conflict between two social perspectives: one focusing on Brahminical Vedic values ​​and the other on those of the carnivorous Pulayar (later untouchables). These poems in particular often sarcastically oppose the four Vedas and the four Varnas. A Purananuru song talks about ‘the big four’. It says there are no other flowers then kuravam, thalavam, kuruntham And mullai; no other food then thinai, varaku And kolandavarai; and no Kudi (social group) other than thudian, paanan, paraiyan And Kadampan. The song ends with the statement: There are no gods other than the hero stones (the memorial stones of warriors who died in battle). Yet another Sangam poem composed by Nedunchezhiyan says that knowledge, not birth, brings social acceptance to a person. It says: A mother loves not the firstborn best, but the most learned of her children; the king respects not the eldest, but the most learned of a child. Kudi and people from above narpals (four groups or varnas) who submit to a person of lower rank narpal if it excels in knowledge.