THIRU KURAL - the classic of Tamil Literature

Thiru Valluvar, the author of Thiru Kural, was not only a sage with the good of humankind at heart, a psychologist having deep imminent into the intricacies of human nature and a philosopher with an urge to restructuring. He is believed to have born 30 years earlier than Jesus Christ. In Tamil Nadu, Tamil calendar is dated from that stage and referred as Thiruvalluvar Aandu (Year). It is however, a disappointment that we know so little about the Mastermind who authored the great work. What we know about him is that he existed in Mylapore which now forms a division of the city of Chennai and that he was a wedded man and a weaver by occupation. Due to scarcity of accurate details about his life, in course of time, this great saint poet has entered into mythology and there are many of them. We discover Thiruvalluvar as an ethical philosopher, political scientist and master of public administration in the first two parts of Thirukkural. We find him to be an imaginative artist in the third part, describing the fascinating aspects of lovers.

The utter plainness of his language, his crystal clear expressions, accurate and forceful, his brevity, his choice articulation, no less his inwardness, his learning, culture and wisdom, his catholicity and eclecticism, his gentle wittiness and wholesome counsel have made him an object of reverence for all time and his book is considered the Sacred of the Tamils.

Thiruvalluvar himself was one of those rare great men who had their roots firmly in the history and culture of the Tamils of the Sangam Age, who had made their own all that was good in the religious and social teachings that blew into Tamil Nadu, from outside the state and country in those spacious days and in addition, had their own characteristic vision of the future. Out of the catholicity of his spirit and the depth of his integrated thinking arose the Kural, the moral line of which is not clouded by dogma or prejudice of any kind. If we see certain likeness between Valluvar's thought and those of Buddha, Mahaveera, Plato, Confucius, Kautalya and Vatsayana, these are only justifiable absorptions by a subsequent thinker of ideas, of which he approves from among those that have preceded him and are available to him, or natural similarities in the working of great minds. But there are also basic differences and substantial originality of thought and expression for ahead of his times, particularly in respect of his treatment of Godliness, casteless society, importance of agriculture, taxation with peoples' consent and enabling of physical love. That is the reason why Thiruvalluvar's Thirukural has continued to attract the best minds of the world down the ages.

The Tamil word "Kural" means whatever thing short and in writing it refers to an elegiac form using the shortest probable meter. Thiru Kural has been written in couplets ten of which form a section, there being in all 133 episodes. They have been prearranged in three books, the first one being on 'ARAM', the second one 'PORUL', and the third one on 'INBAM'. The first part related with Aram (Virtue), the moral value of individual life and it has 38 chapters. The second part is on Porul (Wealth), the socio economic principles of men in a civilized culture and it has 70 chapters. The third portion is about Kamam or Inbam (Love), the psychological values of life, it has 25 chapters. The approach is brusque, epigrammatically. This may be as much due to the meter used as to the form of appearance.

Thiru Kural is a discourse on the art of living, a set of healthy principles of guidance's for the variety of segments of the civilization for a pleasant-sounding combined living. Thiru Kural was belongs to the epoch of Sangam literature. Sangam was a 'court of congregation of the poets held under the patronage of a King. This literature create by these assemblies was accumulated in the period straddling over 600 AD.

This poem consisting of 133 sections of 10 couplets each which was recognized as a masterpiece of literature in Tamil, has stood the test of history and is accepted by posterity as a seminal work which has influenced the thoughts of man throughout the centuries. It is a work of not only great aesthetic and stylistic literary value, but also a guide to the art of living with nuggets of invaluable wisdom. The range of these verses covers subjects like ethics, statecraft, citizenship, love, the art of life in its myriad forms. It deals with the three ARAM, PORUL, INBUM which are essential for a life of action. The profound thoughts and ideas of this great saint-poet are encapsulated in the shortest possible Tamil metre called "Kural". Thus the wisdom of Thiru Valluvar (Author) is expressed in unparalleled verses which combine beauty with brevity. The translation of these verses into other languages will enrich the literature of this language as well.

Two thousand years later, we see the same concern for ethical values and the same commitment to expressing these sublime thoughts in a language and an idiom understood by the common man in the Kural.

Translation of the poetry of Thiru Valluvar must have been indeed a intimidating task. To evoke the appearance and expression of the Kurals in another language other than Tamil is not simple. Anyhow here below some of the Kurals for your reference:

He who controls his five senses
Becomes very powerful
Indira, the King of heavenly Kingdom
Is himself a living example. 3:25

The five common sense foes, viz, lust, ire, greed, attachment, envy are natural opponents of man and of even gods of heaven. They are so commanding that if not kept under control any one of them may spoil the career of the man or God concerned.

'Tara' wife of an olden saint, fascinated by her bewitching loveliness, the King of heaven, Indira, be short of control over his sense 'lust', visited Tara in the seize and figure of the saint and had sexual contact with her.

The saint who was for the time being absent from the hermitage performing his ablutions somewhere else returned at that point in time. Indira tried to flee assuming some other grab but was wedged red handed in course of his flight and was cursed by the saint as an effect of which he had a thousand women genitals hanging all over his body. And he lost the kingship of Heaven in penalty.

Man has to control his sense of lust, ire, greed, attachments and envy to avoid suffering situations as in case of Indira.

Deeds performed with clean mind
Are known as righteousness.
Those done without mind and heart
Are mere show-pieces. 4:34

Man should put into practice to perform all his performance with a clean mind and heart. Mere carry out of observing some religious rites such as Puja (Prayers) cannot be taken as virtue and on the other hand as piousness.

One who has never heard the lisping
Words of his own child
Will declare the sound of Vina and flute
As sweet music indeed. 7:66

Real music is that which lay a hand on the heart of man like the lisping of his own child. Whoever has not heard that will hold the music of flute and Vina as sweetest of all as the saint poet holds in the approved manner.
(Vina = Sting musical instrument)

It may be Possible for men to earn
Redemption from all other sins
But from the sin of ingratitude
None has escaped ever since 11:110

Every sin is redeemable on earth but not ingratitude, insists the saint poet in the approved manner. The scriptures have always held ingratitude as the worst form of human demeanor for which the penalty is "hell".

The deeper you dig, greater the spring;
The more you learn, greater the knowledge

Learn thoroughly whatever is to be learnt;
Then, let the conduct be worthy of his learning.

To say unpleasant things, when we have nice ones,
is like eating unripe fruit, ignoring sweet ripe fruits

The lotus flower rises to the level of water
Greatness of men rise with mental strength.

Friendship is not just a smile on the face;
It is what is felt deep within a smiling heart.

Think and then undertake the work;
To think after commencement will bring disgrace.

Determined efforts result in prosperity;
Idleness will bring nothing.

In an attempt to popularize reading and understanding of Thiru Kural, members of Thiru Kural Sevai Maiyam, Thiruvannamalai, have been conducting processions for the last 17 months around the compound walls of the Arunachaleswarar Temple, Mada Veedhis and Girivalam path on the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday of every month.

They have also been writing couplets from Thiru Kural on the compound walls of the house in Rajarajan, Thenmathadhi and Kosamede streets in the town using oil paint. They used to write couplets in 20 houses every 100 days. So far they have written couplets on 130 houses with the consent of the house owners. The couplets will be selected based on the interest of the house owners. They have also given a Thiru Kural book to each house owner.

In a move aimed at ending the obsession for the western pop and rock among the young global Tamils, a few Tamil literary well wishers have come together and launched the 'Digital Thirukural' microchip that can recite all the 1330 couplets of the legendary Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, together with explanations in contemporary Tamil. All the three chapters of Aram (deeds), Porul (wealth) and Inbam (pleasure) comprising 133 chapters and holding 1330 kurals have been recorded in song pattern follower by Kalaignar Karunanidhi's explanatory notes.

The chip-player allows the user to switch between the desired athikarams (chapters) through the nine hour rendering and it would be a great hit amid the 80 million Tamils around the globe - particularly the youth since it has great music composed by Sikkil B. Balasubramanyam. The user will be able to hear the Kurals rendered by Sirkhazhi Sivachidambaram a famous classical singer along with explanatory notes by Saradha Nambi Aruran reading from 'Kalaignar Urai'.
This Digital Thirukural is priced INR 3000 and is available at www.thirukkuraldigital.com in online on enquiry or it can be ordered through +91 944 499 0152.

In the modern age of Internet and digital notepads, it could be hard to find people like S.K.Ramesh a part-time school teacher who took upon himself the task of creating an illustrated guide to the timeless wisdom of the Thirukural. He has painstakingly drawn each of the 1,330 couplets with descriptive imagery in order to spread the message of the Kural among wider audiences. The original couplets are a compilation of about 1330 chapters, each comprising 10 verses. Ramesh's book measures about 2.25 feet long and two feet wide. It was created in a span of one year. Each couplet carries images that explain the Kural in a simple manner.
So, what inspired him to illustrate all the 1,330 couplets in a single book? Ramesh says, "It was actually a suggestion made by a few colleagues at work. They told me to us my talent and draw the couplets in the form of a book so that students could easily understand the Thirukural". Although the Thirukural is popular, a lot of people find it hard to understand. This pictorial reference should make things easier for them. Ramesh also has plans to print all the kurals in an abridged format. His daughter Mugil Madhi, a student of 6th standard was an able assistant in this artistic journey. After sketching each couplet, he consulted with his daughter about whether she was able to understand the Kural or not. This book is around 30 kilos and is kept on display at Mugil Art Studio in Namakkal, Tamil Nadu.

The intelligence of the Tamil race has flourished to perfection in this great author. The influence which his 'Thirukural' since its publication exercised 2000 years ago, over the mind, life and literature of the Tamils is phenomenal.

We declare that the Kural is a dissertation on the art of living. If it is so, it should not hang about within the class room, nor should it be restricted to the forums of intellectuals and the world of researchers. It must get through to the people; must form a part of their bequest, must be as omnipresent as the proverbs and maxims that people in general quote spontaneously as the occasion demands. At least the Tamils in whose language Kural has been written must have an acquaintance with, and knowledge of, its subject matter even at the level of the common man. They must realize that its plea is secular and that it belongs to the Hindus, Christians, Muslims and the others, all alike.