Elati is an ethical treatise in Tamil literature. Kanimetaviyar is the author of this work. Elati is a medicine consisting of six ingredients. Elathi uses the analogy of the traditional medicine known as elathi which uses six spices such as elam (cardamom), ilavanka pattai (cinnamon), naagakesaram (made from the stamens of the Ceylon ironwood), milagu (black pepper), thippili (long pepper), and sukku (dried ginger).
Just as the churnam (medicinal powder) made of the six spices cures diseases, the moral concepts taught in Elati of Kanimetaviyar cure people of moral ills.
Each stanza list six important aspects of social and moral life.
The poem contains 80 stanzas and is believed to have composed between 100 AD and 500 AD. The meter employed is Venpa.
Elati is part of ‘nidhi nulkal’ – a genre of Tamil literature.