Hinduism
Thirukkural - great treatise on right living
Sinnathamby Rasiah
Thirukkural has been acclaimed as one of the finest products of
Indian culture. The work of Thiruvalluvar has the unique privilege of
being praised through all the ages and in most countries of the world.
If the Tamils were to place before the world audience their literary
best, they would definitely place the Thirukkural. There cannot be no
disagreement on this point. In the words of well-known modern Tamil poet
Subramania Bharathi’ Tamilnad gave unto the world Valluva (the author of
Kural) and thereby won great renown’. The master piece of Tamil
literature is yet a fertile field for scholars to explore and exhibit
the lofty wisdom of the Tamils to the world. Thirukkural is said to be
the Bible of the Tamilians and it has been translated into many
languages.
World classic of morals
The Kural deals with the essentials of human nature. It has
universality of appeal. Its observations goes beyond nationality and
languages. Indeed the age of Kural was a period in which many cultures
and religions were interacting one upon the other in the Tamil part of
the Indian sub-continent. He ‘saw life steadily and saw it whole’ like
Shakespeare. He was not a mere observer. He participated in life. He
must have lived a rich and abundant life.
Thirukkural
*The Kural deals with the essentials of human nature
*The Kural is a great treatise on right living
*Thirukkural is a book of life
*Thiruvalluvar was a saint
*Thiruvalluvar was a person who had a deep understanding of human
psychology |
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Poet
Thiruvalluwar the author of Thirukkural |
The Kural is a great treatise on right living. The Kural seems to
stand as a unique classic on morals among the ethical works of the
world. It is unique due to the fact that its approach to morality is
psychological ie. agreeable to the science of psychology. He was
concerned about the right and proper way of living at every stage of
human growth and development from childhood to old age and development.
Thirukkural consists of chapters which are classified under three
main sections viz virtue, wealth and enjoyment comprising of 1330
couplets. It is a book of life – of the whole life. Chapters on ethics
politics, economics and human enjoyment are all actuated by one
underlying purpose viz the development of human personality in terms of
love and compassion.
On virtue
The chapter on virtue consists of 380 couplets dealing on aspects
such as righteousness, household life, life’s partner, children,
hospitality, pleasant talk, gratitude, impartiality, good conduct,
tolerance, benevolence abstinence from flesh, penance, fate and so on.
The first chapter in praise of God deals in a shuttle way without
mentioning any religious faith. The theme on rain exemplifies as to how
rain is indispensable to all vegetation and livelihood of man. Touching
on the theme joy of children Valluvar says begetting intelligent
children is the greatest gift and also describes the duties of parents
and children. When the mother comes to know that her son is a learned
person, her joy knew no bounds than at the time of delivery. On the
theme sweet words he draws a similarity to come out with harsh words,
when there are sweet words is like plucking unmatured fruits when there
are matured ones.
On theme “ideal Householder” he poses the question of what use of a
person who tries to seduce the wife of his neighbour. Interestingly
touching on the theme abstinence from flesh he asks how could a person
be kind if he eats the flesh of another living creature in order to
fatten his body. The other topics too are interesting and thee examples
are given at random in order to impel the reader to study Thirukkural.
On wealth
The second section of the Kural consisting of 700 couplets deals with
the topic of wealth. Wealth is to be produced as it promotes general
welfare. Wealth plays a significant part in society; because it is that
which gives importance to persons who are otherwise unimportant. But if
care is taken to acquire wealth in the proper way, it can become a
source of virtue and happiness.
Firstly the chapter on politics deals with the strategies, qualities,
duties and statesmanship of a king or ruler. The next chapter on
learning is of great interest. What Thiruvalluvar says to learning is of
interest not only to rulers but to the ruled also. The following couplet
is a striking example on learning.
”Learn without faults, what needs to be learnt; Thereafter conduct
yourself in a manner worthy of your learning ‘(Kural-301) While
mentioning about perseverance he says” those who strive ceaselessly and
undismayed by failure can defeat even fate (KURAL-620)
It is quite interesting that Thiruvalluvar in this section
practically deals on all aspects of life which are of utmost importance
in the day-to-day life. The importance of acting sensibly is stressed in
Kural 423. To whatever one may listen from others it is the intellect
that determines the truth. Kural 422 says that in order to encounter
difficulties one has to seek the association of great men. Couplet 467,
is a striking example on discrimination of things. One should embark on
action after careful thought; it is a blunder to think that the mater
can be addressed after starting on it.
The requisites for an ideal country are plenty of products, learned
men and never decreasing wealth-Kural-731.
Enjoyment
The third section of the Thirukkural deals with enjoyment (Inpam) it
relates to love human and love divine. Love is distinguished from lust
while love is constant lust is variable. Thiruvalluvar says that the
natural beauty of a woman is her excellence of character, her ornaments
are her good children she bears.
In married life high moral responsibility is emphasised for raising
on a good family. In dealing with the subject on love it underlines the
possibility even the necessity to move from sexual life to spiritual
life.
After a period of romance and after a period of wedded life, the hero
and the heroine having performed all the duties required of them in
domestic state, having enjoyed all worldly pleasures are in a state of
mind to give their undivided attention to the attainment of bliss, for
which their life so far has been a preparation. Once they establish
communion with the supreme self they find their sweetness not only in
their wife and children but in all things.
Spirituality has a personal as well as a social aspect. It is
refreshing to notice that that the spiritual life is described as a
joint venture by the hero and the heroine with their relatives around
them. The love between the lover and the beloved is compared with the
soul and the body. The mystics speak of God as the soul. In Kural 1122
he compares the intimation between the lover and the loved to body and
soul.
Thruvalluvar was a person who actually lived his life and also had a
deep understanding of human psychology and this is exemplified by Kural
1094.
‘When I look at her, her eyes are turned towards the ground; when I
look away she looks on with a timid smile’.
It is not surprising, the author of Kural takes a natural attitude
towards sex and life. Thiruvalluvar was a saint. He is said to have
lived in the first century of the Christian era. He gave us the famous
Thirukkural holy maxims as the Tamil Veda. Whatever its date of its
composition Thirukkural has been a source of inspiration for many
centuries now.
It is generally listed among the ethical works in Tamil and is
considered to be the greatest of them. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi
Thirukkural is ‘one of the greatest and purest expressions of human
thought’.
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