Thirukkural, the universal scripture

S Balakrishnan *

Any visitor to Kanyakumari, the southern tip ofIndia, would not have missed sighting the huge statue of Thiruvalluvar, the saint poet ofthe hoary past ofTamil language. What is so special about Thirukkural , the book authored by bim? Kural or Thirukkural is the Tamil language's gift to human-kind; it is considered as the Universal Scripture as it instructs the path for a righteous life.

Even our Prime Minister, Modiji, can often be heard quoting from Thirukkural. Its origin is shrouded in mystery and antiquity, varying from 3rd century BCE to 5th century CE. Putting endless debates and controversies to an end, the Tamil Nadu government fixed 31 BCE as the year of Valluvar, the author of Thirukkural.

Thirukkural (Thiru is a honorific word in Tamil and is synonymous with the Sankrit Shri, `kural' = short verse) has 1330 couplets of just seven words each; hence it is called kural. The top line has four words and the bottom line (3/4th length of the first line) has three words, in all exactly seven words!

All these 1330 couplets have been broadly grouped under three major heads { aram (virtue), porul (wealth), inbam (love), with the next step `veedu' (moksha) omitted/ missing, maybe because if a virtuous human follows these three steps he/she would automatically attain moksha. These are the four basic foundations of Hinduism as well.

One unique feature of Kural is that the very first letter of the first couplet begins with the first Tamil letter 'a', and the last letter of the last couplet (the 1330th) ends with Tamil's last letter 'nal The 1330 couplets are grouped under 133 chapters, each having ten couplets.

A total of 14,000 Tamil words have been used by the Saint Poet Thiruvalluvar. To honour the great poet and his great work, the Tamil Nadu government added the Valluvar Year to the calendar.

Thiruvalluvar Day is celebrated on the 2nd day of the Tamil month 'Thai' (Magh), which is roughly around 15th of January. This year it is on 16th January which marks the beginning of 2054th Thiruvalluar Year. India Post issued a postal stamp in 1960 honouring Thiruvalluvar. Coins bearing his image were issued in 1995. Thirukkural has been translated into various Indian and foreign languages.

The first foreign language translation was by Constantius Joseph Beschi in Latin, published in 1730. In Tamil Nadu he is known as Veerama Munivar. But being a Christian missionary, he did not touch the third division of the book on Love. The first full translation in English was by George Uglow Pope in 1886, again a Christian missionary. His work introduced this great work to the world outside.

In Tamil, the first print of Thirukkural came out in 1812. As Kural speaks about a virtuous life, it stresses on non-violence, vegetarianism, abstaining from alcoholic drinks, morality, etc. It also speaks on the dos and don'ts of king (ruler) which are applicable even to this day. He also justifies violence/killing when it comes to the role of the soldier/ protector. Valluvar speaks on rain, agriculture, friendship (both good and bad), hospitality, etc.

The first chapter of ten couplets is in praise of Almighty; the first couplet goes like this: Similar to 'a' being the first letter of the language, Aadhi Bhagawan (God) is the first of the universe. The 1330th couplet, the last one, comes under the chapter 'The pleasure of tiff among lovers' and goes like this: Tiff among lovers adds to their love, and getting together after that adds up to the pleasure of tiff.

Well, I may not be a versatile translator after all, especially on Love matters! Why leave the in-between division 'Wealth"; here is one couplet from the major division `PoruP/Wealtly `If the ruler is not lazy he can attain this whole world measured by Vishnu's foot' (in Vamana avatar). There have been controversies around the poet and his work.

There have been false claims that Valluvar was a Jain as he insists on ahimsa and vegetarianism. This is mainly because Valluvar does not specify any god in the first chapter that is in praise of Almighty. But there are references here and there about Lord Vishnu and His Consort Lakshmi. So, some claim him to be a Vaishnavaite.

Even Christians claimed him as one among them! His wife's name is said to be Vasuici, which is invariably a Hindu name. Then there were controversies about his caste/community, about his attire ... white or saffron, so on and so forth. Atheists even claim that the first chapter and references to god/religion were later-period insertions/additions. Popularity breeds controversies.

There are people who can recite all the 1330 couplets but I can recite at the most ten couple., though during schooling I was forced to memorize many more couplets. Kural couplets adorn the interior of government buses and even the Chennai Metro Rail. A later period woman poet praised Kural as 'a mustard seed containing seven seas'!

So, the next time Modiji fumbles a Kural or you visit Kanyakumari, I am sure you will appreciate Thiruvalluvar and Thirukkural, the Universal Scripture.