Long live Thirukkuralism!
Long live World peace!
The Greatness and Uniqueness of Thirukkural Introduction A study of Thirukkural from the angles of its being a literature, ethics, life-guide and religious scripture will throw light on its permanence transcending time, national boundaries, races and languages and why it has been commentated on by many scholars and translated into all the major languages of the world.
Is Thirukkural a Literature? Let us first examine whether Thirukkural is a literature. If a literature must have a purpose, Thirukkural certainly has the noble purpose of teaching the world how to lead a noble life. While all Indian classical literatures conventionally dealt with ethical, material, love and salvation aspects of life, Thirukkural uniquely confined itself to the first three and intentionally omitted the fourth. Thiruvalluvar is convinced that a man automatically qualifies for the heavenly abode if he leads a virtuous life in this world and says this in Kural - 50, “The householder who upholds domestic virtues here, Is regarded as God living in heavenly sphere”. Thirukkural passes another test of a literature, namely, being a mirror of its time and age. It not only portrays how people of his time (2ndc A.D) practised worship of God, agriculture, domestic life, asceticism, medicine, politics, individual conduct, social life and love but also lays down eternal virtues. A good literature should be good in both content and form. Among the three literary forms, poetry, drama and prose, Thirukkural is cast in poetic form. The couplets expressing intimate feelings and monologues of pining lovers are each a micro drama in two lines, shorter than the dramatic love scenes of the Sangam literatures, Natrinai and Kurunthogai. We have the Japanese Haikoos, three line poems, but it is doubtful whether any language, other than Tamil, has micro dramas in just two lines. A good literature must have drawn inspiration from the contemporary and earlier literatures and must be quoted by the later literatures. Thirukkural passes this test too. Thiruvalluvar hints at the literatures he has read in the following couplets: “The aim of a true literature didactic Is to extol the greatness of a virtuous and detached ascetic”
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(Kural - 21)
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“Feeding and protecting all lives Is the chief virtue which the scripture prescribes”
(Kural-322)
“Learn what you must thoroughly, And then act and live accordingly”
(Kural-391)
Thirukkural is quoted verbatim by post-Sangam literatures such as Silappathigaram, Manimegalai, Purananuru, Kambaramayanam, Villi Bharatham and modern literatures of Bharathi, Bharathidasan, Kannadasan, Vaali and Vairamuthu which proves the point that Thirukkural is the literature of all literatures.
Is Thirukkural an Ethical Literature? One of the names of Thirukkural is Aram, which means ethics. A Purananuru poem (Alandur Kizhar-34) explicitly names it as Aram and quotes it in support of the moral that an ingrate has no redemption though other sinners may have. Though Thiruvalluvar deals with both domestic order and monastic order in the First part (Ethics) of Thirukkural, he holds only true saints in high esteem but condemns fake ascetics who deceive the world in their saintly disguise. He considers the domestic order superior to the monastic order because the householder is the prop and stay of others. This preference is conveyed in the following kurals (Couplets): “The householder is the supporting rock-bed For the hermits, the destitute and the orphaned-dead”
(Kural-42)
“Only the domestic life is true, the other too, Namely, the monastic life, if blameless, is equally true”.
(Kural-49)
The sequencing of chapters under the sections of domestic life and monastic life suggests that a person seasoned in the domestic order alone can step by step enter the monastic order. Even if the word ‘Aram” is construed as duties or responsibilities in the Sanskrit sense of “Dharma”, Thiruvalluvar prescribes the respective duties of a husband, a wife, a father, a mother, a son, a merchant, an individual, a social being, an ascetic, a king, a minister, a soldier, a spy, an ambassador, a courtier, an official, a friend, a physician, a scholar, a farmer and a lover. Hence Thirukkural is a book of ethics in both senses.
Is Thirukkural a Life-guide? The very fact that words like ‘Life”, ‘Living” and the Liver’ recur in several couplets is an internal evidence of Thirukkural being a life-guide.
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As a life-guide, Thirukkural prescribes separate lists of both do’s and don’ts for a good living. The first list includes the necessities such as worship of God, rain, good spouse and education. The second list includes the obstacles like evil friendship, gambling and tainted wealth. Moreover, Dr. M.Varadarajan, the renowned Tamil scholar and researcher, has written a treatise on Thirukkural with the explicit title, “Thirukkural or a Treatise on Life”.
Is Thirukkural a Religious Book? Tamil has two words to refer to religion, ‘Samayam” and ‘Matham’ but they are not synonyms. ‘Samayam’ literally means a maturing or ennobling influence whereas ‘Matham’ has a bad connotation of religious fanaticism. It is for this reason that, Vadalur Saint Vallalar prays to God to protect him from the demon of religious fanaticism. Every denominational religion in this world is devoted to its own god or gods, follow the rituals prescribed in its own scripture. Some over-zealous religious bigots, without religious tolerance, extol their own religions and decry other religions and try to forcibly convert people to their own religions, thereby stoking up communal conflagration and global holocaust. On the contrary, Thirukkural refers to the primordial God by his divine attributes and not by any specific name. So it is a unique religious book in the broad sense of ‘Samayam’ with universal appeal and application.
Thirukural’s Unique Characteristics The foremost unique characteristic of Thirukkural is its universality and timelessness transcending time, national boundaries, races, religions and languages. Thirukkural is Timeless
Thiruvalluvar who enjoined upon himself the mission of educating humanity has spoken of the eternal ideals of love, domestic life, social life, politics and morality applicable to all human beings. Premarital courtship and subsequent wedded life prevalent in Thiruvalluvar’s time and society is still followed by all the modern civilized world. The couplet (1101), “All the five sensual pleasures-sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, Are together found in the bright-bangled wench” refers to the conjugal bliss of a wedded couple in a subtle manner unlike Vatsayana’s Kama sutra which describes in obscene details even perverted lovemaking scenes. Hence even ascetics can read part III (Love Aspect) of Thirukkural without any embarrassment and damage to their vow of celibacy. Thirukkural is Neutral to Men and Women
Thiruvalluvar was one of the earliest sages to proclaim that chastity is applicable to both the sexes. ©Sundaravelan Publishers
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Kural - 57 says, “What use is it to keep a wife under lock and key? The strongest security is her own chastity.” Kural - 148 says, “Not ogling another’s wife is super manliness; It becomes only the righteous and illustrious.” Though Thiruvalluvar uses the masculine ‘He’ and ‘Son’ to refer to the singular of human species by convention, it should be extended to ‘she’ and ‘daughter’ also. He prescribes the duties and responsibilities of both the father and the mother towards their children thus: “It is a sire’s principal paternal duty To secure his son prominence in an intellectual society”
(Kural-67)
“A mother’s joy on hearing of her son’s sterling worth Far exceeds her joy at his birth”
(Kural-69)
Never once does he say that leaving behind a huge ill-gotten wealth to children is the duty of a parent. The Kural-112, “The wealth acquired by a man of probity and equity Will pass undiminished to his posterity” assures that honestly earned wealth will automatically reach the offspring. The phrase “Not coveting another’s wife” connotes “Not coveting another’s husband” also. The phrase “being henpecked” should be properly interpreted as being misled by the evil counsel of a wicked wife prompted by inordinate lust for her. It does not mean that a husband should not abide by the wise counsel of a virtuous wife. Thiruvalluvar, who glorifies womanhood in the Kural-1137, “What can be greater than the modesty of the woman who keeps it suppressed Without resorting to ‘MADAL’ though overwhelmed by an ocean of lust?” will never stoop to vilify women.
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The immoral women of both the categories ‘the unwed concubines’ and ‘prostitutes’ belong to all times and climes but Thiruvalluvar squarely holds men responsible for their existence and condemns their clients in the strongest term ‘paratha’ (male prostitute) specially coined by him and never before used by anyone else.
Thirukkural is a Common Guide to the House-holder and the Ascetic
Thiruvalluvar has divided human life into two orders, namely, domestic order and monastic orders, actually two phases of the same individual’s life. He gives two separate lists of their duties. The first list includes duties such as love for kith and kin, hospitality, charity, philanthropy, etc. and the second list includes the virtues such as compassion, penance, non-violence, the realization of the ultimate truth, the extirpation of desires, etc. A close study of the two lists reveals the truth that they are overlapping and one has to pass through the first phase of a householder’s life to become mature enough to enter the second phase of monkhood because only the householder’s love for his kith and kin gives birth to compassion for all living things, which is the hallmark of a saint. Thirukkural is Common to the Ruler and the Ruled
The chapters on politics, ministers, state, defence, finance, army and friendship apply to all kinds of government from monarchy of Thiruvalluvar’s time down to the modern democracy. Besides, education, hearsay knowledge, wisdom, getting rid of faults, the company of the great, avoidance of bad company, decision making, ascertaining the strength of self and others, time-sense, choosing right persons for right jobs, supporting the kith and kin, unforgetfulness. consideration, perseverance, industry, dauntlessness, eloquence, purity of action, power of action, right modus operandi, employing competent messengers, mind-reading, understanding the audience, courage to face the learned assembly, friendship, respecting the great, abstinence from liquor, noble birth, honour, good character, modesty and agriculture are essential for not only the rulers and the ministers but also the common people.
Thiruvalluvar’s Revolution and Reform Thiruvalluvar’s revolution is evident in his pioneering rhymed couplet form for emphatic communication of his teachings. Apart from this revolution in literary form, his Thirukkural served as a potent weapon in the hands of the revolutionaries and reformers of his time. According to the revolutionary monk, Swami Vivekananda, (refer The Complete works of Swami Vivekananda, Mayavathi Memorial Edition (June 2001), Book-IV pg 325-326, Advaita Ashram Publication Department. Buddhism and Jainism rose in revolt against the vice-like grip and domination of the Vedic religions that sanctioned the twin evils of birth-based caste distinctions and
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animal sacrifice to propitiate gods and both Buddha and Mahavira hailed from the same ruling class which had been patronizing and abetting the priestly class propagating the twin evils mentioned above. “In the process of birth all lives are alike, But due to difference in occupations, they are unlike” and “Abstaining from eating flesh of a slain animal Is better than a thousand sacrificial rituals”
(Kural-972)
(Kural-259)
threw a bomb-shell on those twin evils. Another revolution of Thiruvalluvar is his identification of God by His divine attributes and not by any name in the very first Kural of his book, which reads: “Alphabets of all languages from ‘/\’ begin; For the world, the primordial God is the origin”. Thirukkural-1062, “If it is the Creator’s design that some people should live only by begging, Let him perish like them exhausted by wandering” cursing the Creator responsible for the utter poverty forcing people to desperately beg for food shows what a firebrand revolutionary Thiruvalluvar is.
Thirukkural is the Tamil Scripture as well as the Universal Scripture The oldest but still extant Tamil literature, Tholkappiam, says, “Holy, potent and cryptic spells Are what a sage from his inspired mind tells.” Sage Thiruvalluvar’s Thirukkural, composed of epigrammatic aphorisms in rhymed couplets is a scripture according to this definition of Tholkappiar. It was originally written in Tamil and serves as the proud symbol of Tamils guiding them all in the paths of ethics, wealth and domestic bliss ultimately leading to Heaven irrespective of their castes, religions and economic status. In this sense, it is the only book which qualifies for the common scripture of the Tamils. But ironically, there is no mention of Tamil, Tamilnadu or Tamil deity anywhere in Thirukkural. Since, according to poet Bharathi, the self-effacing Tamils have gifted this precious treasure to the entire world, it has become the universal scripture. The Christians worshipping Jesus Christ and Mother Mary read the Holy Bible, the Muslims worshipping Allah read the Quran, and the Hindus worshipping Shiva, Vishnu, Ganapathy, Muruga, Shakthi and the Sun God read the Bhagavat Gita and follow the respective rituals and doctrines and fight over the superiority of their own religions and denigrate other religions, ©Sundaravelan Publishers
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thereby stoking the conflagration of communal riots and holocausts to annihilate the whole world. If everyone reads Thirukkural as a common scripture along with their own, the whole world will turn into a garden of peace and a heaven on earth. Count Leo Tolstoy, the pacifist and author of ‘War and Peace’ confided to Mahatma Gandhi that Thirukkural was his source of inspiration and Gandhiji started reading Thirukkural in English translation and wished to be born as a Tamilian in the next birth to be able to read that great book in its Tamil original. Gandhiji’s two weapons of non-violence and truth in his fight against the mighty British empire were actually borrowed from the Kural-323, “Not killing is the virtue number one; Not lying is only next to that one”. Can there be a greater witness to Thirukkural’s greatness than the great soul, Mahatma Gandhi?
Multiple Commentaries on Thirukkural and Multiple Translations In accordance with Kural-396, “The deeper the sand dug, the spring yields the more; The deeper the learning, the brighter knowledge will grow” and the Kural-423 “True wisdom consists in the truth about A thing irrespective of from whose mouth it comes out”, several commentators from Parimelazhagar in the 14th c A.D. to many in modern days have written scholarly commentaries in the light of their experiences and insights. Next only to the Holy Bible, Thirukkural has been translated into the most world languages. For the benefit of the posterity, Thirukkural is one of the treasures preserved in a tungsten vault in Kremlin Museum in Moscow against the ravages of time and the global holocaust.
T.Dharmalingam’s English Translation into Rhymed Couplets with Single Line Gists in both Tamil and English After deeply studying and internalizing most of the commentaries from Parimelazhagar onwards and the English translations of Rev. Dr. G.U.Pope, Rev. Lazarus, et. al, T.Dharmalingam, has brought out his own English translation of Thirukkural in rhymed couplets with single line gists in both Tamil and English for the benefit of the Tamil diaspora and the English - knowing people at large. The
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translator sincerely hopes and prays that the readers will follow the noble tenets of Thirukkural, uphold them in their life and ennoble themselves. Contact T.Dharmalingam Mobile: +91 9487325765/ +91 9487325765 (Vellore-South India) or D.Senthil Kumar Mobile: +61423004403 (Melbourne)
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