Date uploaded in London – 19 JUNE 2024
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Let me give more comments on Tirukkural (TK) by ancient Tamil poets:
The following are a few of the laudatory stanzas from the Tiruvalluva maalai:-
Pandya king Ugra peruvazuthi says,
“God Brahma , hiding his own true form, was born into the world as Valluvar, who took the three categories of Veda- Virtue, Wealth and Bliss- and expressed them in the form of Tirukkural; therefore let my head worship this book, let my mouth praise it, let my mind ponder on it and let my ears listen to it”.
Another contemporary poet Sattanaar says,
“It is difficult to which of the two is superior Sanskrit or Tami. For Sanskrit has the Vedas and Tamil has the Kural of Tiruvalluvar”.
Idaikaadar is another famous poet of the day, puts the opinion of the Tamil world in a nutshell in the following stanza:
“The Kural is a perforated mustard seed into which the poet has poured the contents of the seven seas.”
Kabilaar, the most famous Brahmin poet of Sangam literature, is credited with the following stanza:
“O King! Who rules over the land where tame birds fall asleep to the music of the rice pounders! The wonder of the thought contained in one of valluvar’s little verses is similar to the drop of water on the tip of the tiniest flower, which reflects the whole length of the tallest Palmyra tree”.
These stanzas testify to the very high value placed upon the book by the Tamil poets.
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Original Tiru Valluvar with vibhuti on his fore head.
Now let us look at the Vedic Gods in Tirukkural (TK):
Indra is referred to in at least two couplets:
“Indra, the king of the Devas himself, will bear testimony to the will power of those who curbed the desires of the five senses”- Kural 25
This is already said by Atharva Veda poet and Gautama Buddha (Ref. AV 11-5-19; Dhammapada 2-10)
“If those of righteous penance become enraged even Indra will crash from power and position”—Kural 899
This is the moral of a Puranic story.
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Amrita/ Amiztham
Sangam literature used the Sanskrit word Amrit in many places. It is the elixir of immortality that came from the ocean. Hindus have been using it from the days the Rig Veda, oldest book in the world.
Tiru Valluvar also did not hesitate to use this Sanskrit word. He used it in at least four couplets 64, 82, 720,1106. It is available in Indra Loka or Deva Loka, abode of Indra. The Rig Vedic Sanskrit word has been used million times even today.
Here are the couplets:
“The food into which the children’s little hands have been dipped will be far sweeter to the parent than nectar/Amrit”- 64
Another translation
“A parent’s food is made sweeter than Amrit/nectar, when his child
Has toyed with it, dipping his little fingers”
Even the nectar of immortality is not to be consumed
Without sharing with the guests waiting outside- 82
Purananuru poem 182 says the same thing
Another translation of couplet 82
“Even though what one eats be ambrosia, eating it alone without sharing it with one’s guests is highly improper”.
This shows Valluvar is one of the pukka Hindus. Hospitality is a virtue in all the Hindu didactic books. Lord Krisha says that one who eats or cooks for himself is a sinner. Bhagavad Gita also said it:-
यज्ञशिष्टाशिन: सन्तो मुच्यन्ते सर्वकिल्बिषै: |
भुञ्जते ते त्वघं पापा ये पचन्त्यात्मकारणात् || 13||
yajña-śhiṣhṭāśhinaḥ santo muchyante sarva-kilbiṣhaiḥ
bhuñjate te tvaghaṁ pāpā ye pachantyātma-kāraṇāt
The spiritually-minded, who eat food that is first offered in sacrifice, are released from all kinds of sin. Others, who cook food for their own enjoyment, verily eat only sin (Bhagavad Gita)
This is in tenth Mandala of Rig Veda as well.
“A discourse addressed to unsympathetic hostile ears is like pouring sweet Amrita into a filthy gutter”-720
Or
“”Indulging in learned discourses before a gathering , who are not your intellectual peers,
Is like pouring amrit/nectar into the gutters”- 720
V V S Iyer, whose English translation is considered the best, translates it as,
A discourse spoken before men, that are hostile to thee
Is like unto ambrosia spilled in filthy grounds -720
The word in this Kural is Amrit (Sanskrit word)
DR S M Diaz, I G of Police retired, compares it with the Biblical saying
Neither cast ye your pearls before swine
Lest they trample them under their feet- Mathew: 7,6
Her arms are composed of amrit/nectar, for their touch
Revives my life whenever it occurs – 1106
Or
The shoulders of this artless maid are verily the amrit/nectar from heaven
Because they revive me every time I embrace the-1106
V V S Iyer translates it beautifully,
Of ambrosia are the arms of arms of my artless damsel formed ;
For their very touch reviveth my dying limbs- 1106
Two points to note:
The word ambrosia came from Rig Vedic word Amrit
Second point is more important:
Throughput 2000 year old Sangam Tamil literature, we find words like Amrit, Nagaloka (Devaloka),Amarar (Devas who are eternal) in hundreds of place. Deva loka is translated as Puththel Naadu. This means that the Sangam Tamils were very familiar with the Hindu Puranas and Epics.
Valluvar, being a Hindutva guy, never missed any of it.
If one looks at all the words connected with Deva Loka (Indra’s Heaven) in TK, one can write a thesis for Ph.D.
To be continued………………………….
Tags- Tirukkural, Tiru Valluvar, Tamil poets, praise, Tamil Veda, Amrit, nectar, ambrosia
Tamil and Vedas 