Written by London swaminathan

Date: 17th August 2016

Time uploaded in London: 9-16 AM

Post No.3069

Pictures are taken from various sources; thanks for the pictures.

Tirukkural, the Veda of the Tamils, is a book of great value to the Tamils. Foreign writers who translated it into English and other European languages said it is like the Bible for the Tamils. Though the author TIRU VALLUVAR has written a lot of common things acceptable to all the four oriental religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, his 1330 couplets mostly reflect Hindu thoughts.

Some people tried to show him as a Buddhist or a Jain and those theories were exploded because of his reference to GOD and “the god who lives in the heaven”(Kural/Couplet 50)

More over Tiruvalluvar supports death sentence (550) and violence against the misers (1077 and 1078), he was the Chanakya of the Tamil speaking world. So he cannot be a Jain.

For the forty or fifty years I have been quoting his couplets on moral themes in my articles and speeches. I used to wonder whether he was a Vaishnavite or a Saivite. My research shows that he was a Vaishnavite because of his references to Vishnu and his incarnation and Goddess Lakshmi in more couplets. Next comes his references to Vedic Gods Inrda and Yama. Of the Vedic Gods, Yama was his favourite. He gets more references than others. Siva was mentioned only indirectly. But his first ten couplets in praise of God, he makes general references to God in form. He refers to the FEET OF GOD in most of the couplets. So out and out he was a Hindu.

He was a master of Sanskrit as well. He used the Sanskrit words Dhanam and Tavam/Tapas in more than one couplet. Above all, he structured his book on the Hindu values: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. Since the Tamils do not write separately on Moksha, he has included it in the Dharma section.

In hundreds of Kurals/couplets, he refers to Vedas and Vedic customs, which I am not using here.

All the books that were published until 75 years ago, described Tiruvalluvar as a poet born to a Brahmin and a low caste woman. Dravidian political parties hid this information in later editions of the book and gave him a new date 31 BCE. Tamil Linguistics show that he lived in 4th or 5th century CE.

Let us look at the references to Hindu Gods in Tirukkural, the Tamil Veda:–

Trivikrama/Vamana Avatar – Kural Couplet 610

Adi Bhagawan – Kural 1

Amrita -64, 82, 720, 1106

Yama – 269, 326, 765, 1083, 1085

Pitrs/departed souls- 43 (who live in southern direction)

Brahma- 1062

Indra – 25

Krishna/Vishnu -1103 (Lotus Eyed)

Lakshmi (lotus seated)- 179, 519, 617, 920

Alakshmi- 617, 936 (Lakshmi’s sister)

Maya/charmer man- 1258 (may be Krishna of Gopis)

Couplet 377 refers to Brahma, as the man who writes fate on every one’s head. But commentators translate the word as GOD.

Couplet 580 refers to Siva drinking poison.

“Men of refined courtesy accept even a cup of poison and look cheerfully calm.”

I quoted this in my research article written in 1997 (in London Tamil Magazine Megam) and commented it may be a reference to Socrates or Siva. But Tamil saint Manikka vasakar used this epithet for Lord Siva. So I conclude that it is an indirect reference to Lord Siva drinking poison when the milky ocean was churned to get the Amrita/ambrosia.

Since more remarks point towards a person who worships Vishnu and Lakshmi, I conclude that Tiruvalluvar was a Vishnu Bhakta.

The Opening Ceremony took place on 13th May 1996. Dr L M Singhvi, High Commissioner of India in grey suit is at left extreme, Dr Stuart Blackburn in grey suit is in the middle and I am (London Swaminathan, author of this article) at the far right in the picture. Location: SOAS, University of London.

Please read my old articles on Tiru Valluvar and Tirukkural:-

Strange Link between Lord Shiva, Socrates and Thiruvalluvar, posted on 18 September 2011

Albert Einstein and Thiruvalluvar, Post No. 749 dated 17th December 2013.

Buddha and Tamil Saint on Good thoughts!, Post No 717 dated 21 November 2013

Who was Tiruvalluvar?, 24-7-2013

Tamil Merchant who dumped Gold into Sea, Post No. 1239; Dated 17th August 2014.

வள்ளுவன் ஒரு சம்ஸ்கிருத அறிஞன், 5 நவம்பர் 2012

திருவள்ளுவர் பற்றிய பழைய புத்தகம் (Post No. 2532) , 12 -2-2016

திருவள்ளுவர் யார்?,  Post No. 748 dated 17th December 2013.

ஏலேல சிங்கன் கதை!, கட்டுரை எண்:– 1238; தேதி 17 ஆகஸ்ட் 2014.

அவ்வையார், வள்ளுவர் பற்றிய அதிசய தகவல்கள்! 14-11-2015

–subham–

By London Swaminathan; Post No. 749 dated 17th December 2013.

Tiru Valluvar is the most popular Tamil poet and the author of Tirukkural which is called Tamil Veda. Valluvar lived at least 1500 years ago. Albert Einstein was the greatest physicist of our time. He was the author of the Theory of Relativity.Einstein was born in 1879 in Germany and died in 1955in Princeton, USA. Both were great thinkers in their own fields. Let me compare a few quotations of Einstein with the Tamil poet Valluvar.

ZEAL
“One should not pursue goals that are easily achieved. One must develop an instinct for what one can just barely achieve through one’s greatest efforts.” —Albert Einstein
All thought should be the thought of rising high though it fails; it is the nature of success. Your aspirations keep you on a higher plane (Tirukkural 596)

Though wounded with arrows, the elephant stands firm in his greatness; he who has spirit never loses heart when he fails (Tirukkural 597)

Let a man lift himself by himself; let him not degrade himself; for the self alone is the friend of the self and self alone is the enemy of the self. (Bhagavad Gita 6-5)
Purananuru verse 214 of Kopperum Chozan also advises everyone to Aim High. A person who wanted to hunt an elephant will come with an elephant after a successful hunt. A person who wants to hunt quails may come even without a single bird. So aim high in life.

LOVE
Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That is relativity.
—Albert Einstein
For those who are counting days for the final return, of the beloved so long away, A single day will drag on like seven (Tirukkural 1269)

WISDOM
The important thing is not to stop questioning —Albert Einstein
To discern the truth from whatever source it emanates Is the true quality of wisdom (Tirukkural 423)

VEGETARIANISM
Although I have been prevented by outward circumstances from observing a strictly vegetarian diet, I have long been an adherent to the cause in principle. Besides agreeing with the aims of vegetarianism for aesthetic and moral reasons, it is my view that a vegetarian manner of living by its purely physical effect on the human temperament would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind—Albert Einstein
It is inconsistent with the way of living compassion
To fatten oneself on the flesh of a fellow creature ( Tirukkural 251)
Those who have a vision that is not blurred by mental confusion,
Will not eat the meat of dead carcasses (Tirukkural 258)

EXPLAINING
If you can’t explain simply, you don’t understand it well enough—Albert Einstein
Those, who cannot express their thought acquired after deep study,
Are like a bunch of flowers without fragrance (Tirukkural 650)

GENIUS

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid—Albert Einstein
One should not slacken under a feeling that a job is too difficult to be done; effort will give the greatness necessary to do it (Tirukkural 611)
T hose who labour on untiringly and without fault will overcome even fate (Tirukkural 620)

IDLENESS
The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything—Albert Einstein
A person steeped in indolence without noble deeds will see his home ruined by growing vices (Tirukkural 604)
These four are pleasure boats of loss and ruin: Procrastination, Forgetfulness, Idleness and Dozing (Tirukkural 605)

*******

Where Parimelazakar went wrong!!
“The Lord Indra himself is effective witness to the prowess of a sage
Who has really conquered the five senses” (Tirukkural 25)
(Indra, the king of the Devas himself, will bear testimony to the will power of those who curbed the desires of the five senses).

Parimel azakar interpreted it wrongly. He took it as an insult to Indra. But Manakkudavar, another old commentator, has correctly interpreted it. Indra has trepidations of the heart, whenever a sage effectively controls all his senses and reaches the height of the penance, lest he should ultimately endanger his own position—and so naturally, he is witness to the ascetic’s prowess. Dr S M Diaz has rightly pointed out it.
This is confirmed by other references in Hindu and Buddhist scriptures:
“And Indra through Brahmacharya brought the heavenly lustres to Devas” (AV 11/5/19)
“It was by the watchfulness that Indra became the chief of the Gods” ( Buddha in Dhammapada 2-10)

**********

“Who was Tiruvalluvar?” was written and posted in this blog sometime ago. I quote only GU Pope’s verse below:

‘’Sage Valluvar, priest of the lowly clan,
No tongue repeats, no speech reveals thy name;
Yet, all things changing, dieth not thy fame
For thou art bard of universal man;

And still thy ‘book’ above the waters wan’
Virtue, true wealth, and joy, and being’s aim,
In sweetest mystic couplets doth proclaim
Where winds sea-wafted palmy forests fan.

Haply undreamed of ‘visions’ glad thine eyes
In reals beyond thy fabled ‘seven fold birth’,
And clouds of darkness from thy spirit roll;

While lands far off have heard with strange surprise
Faint echoes of thy song. Though all the earth
Men hail thee brother, seer of spotless soul’’
—Written by Dr G.U. Pope
From the book The Sacred Kural by H.A.Popley, year 1931
Also read my earlier post: Who was Tiruvalluvar? In this blog.
Contact swami_48@yahoo.com

Written by London Swaminathan
Date: 6 July 2017
Time uploaded in London- 19-59     
Post No. 4057

 
Pictures shown here are taken from various sources such as Facebook friends, Books, Google and newspapers; thanks.

Hindu culture has been practised by the people of India from the Northern most Himalayas to the southernmost Kanyakumari for thousands of years. Sacred cow is mentioned in the Sangam Tamil literature in several places. One of the post Sangam books is Tirukkural written by Tiruvalluvar. Like the Vedas always pair the Brahmins and Cow, Tiruvalluvar also does.

“Go brahmanebya subamastu nityam lokas samasto sukino bhavantu” is the daily prayer of the Hindus. From the Brahmins and cows all living beings must live happily is the meaning. The reason for placing Brahmins and cow in the beginning is that they are pure and selfless. This pairing continued from the Vedic days and we see that in the oldest part of Tamil Literature – Purananuru verse 9. Poet Nettimaiyar sang this poem in praise of the ancient Pandya king Mudukudumi Peruvazuthi. His epithet is that one who did innumerable Yagas (Fire sacrifices). The poet says before waging any war, he will first request that Brahmins, Women, Cows, invalids, sick people and those who has not given birth to child must keep away. Kannaki, the Tamil heroine of Silappadikaram also did the same. Before burning the city of Madurai she commanded the God of Fire (Agni Deva) not to burn the Brahmins, women and cows. Tamil Miracle boy and one of the four Tamil Saints Jnana Sambandar also sang Long Live the Brahmins, Long Live the Cows.

Tamil Purananuru verse lists the worst sins and one of them is killing the cow (verse 34 by Alathur Kizar)

Now let me quote two couplets from Tirukkural, considred Tamil Veda by the Tamils (actually it was one of the poets who sang the praise of Tiruvalluvar, used these words Tamil Veda).

“If the guardian of the country neglects to guard it, the produce of the cows will fail and the men of six duties (shad karmana: = brahmins) will forget The Book (Vedas)” (Kural 560).

Here we see the Go+Brahmna pairing.

in another couplet (1066) “It is most heinous to beg for a bucketful of water even to quench the feverish thirst of a sinking cow”.

Being cow the most sacred animal, Tiruvalluvar used the cow here. feeding the cows, worshipping the cows are part of Hinduism. In Tamil Nadu, Go Puja (worship of cow) and Gaja Puja (worship of elephant) are done in all the temples and mutts in the early morning.

In front of the temples, cows are tied to the poles and the devotees used to feed them with the Agathi leaves (Agathi grandiflora) to earn good merits (Punya).

Of late the picture of wish fulfilling cow Kamadhenu’s picture is displayed in many houses and shops as a symbol of good luck.

–Subham–