Paripadal preserves poems associated with more than one subject and author. In the fifth poem, the heading identifies Sevvel as the subject and Kaduvan Ilaveyinan as the poet. The edition also preserves musical information, reminding us that these words belong to a literary world closely connected with song.
The available passage gives us firm ground for discussing this prayer. It gives much less ground for reconstructing a complete personal life. Keeping that distinction allows the poet’s surviving voice to be heard without surrounding it with an imagined childhood, pilgrimage or private revelation.