A knowledge of Sanskrit literature from the Vedic period to the Classical period is essential to understand and appreciate a large number of passages scattered among the poems of Tamil literature.
Notes from Wikiquote
quoted in VEDIC ROOTS OF EARLY TAMIL CULTURE Michel Danino Written in 2001 and published in Saundaryashri: Studies of Indian History, Archaeology, Literature and Philosophy (Festschrift to Professor Anantha Adiga Sundara), P. Chenna Reddy, (ed.), Sharada Publishing House, New Delhi, 2009, pp. 19–30.