In all the facets across our time, one thing that can pump courage and resilience in times of dwindling faiths is the ‘Tamil Philosophical Treasure – Thirukkural’!
Our life is a sum of all our experiences – the good, the bad, and even the ugly. Sometimes, we stand tall hovering over the clouds; other times, it takes all our strength to remain steady on the ground. A few crossroads have a clear light to follow, while many are just labyrinths to perplex our minds. We travel the entire breadth of our lives with people around us, and on some lengthy walks, we are alone.
My introductory post on reading Thirukkural was an initiation into the world of Thirukkural. With a customary salute to the revered creator, Thiruvalluvar, we talked about the magnum opus and how I came across the same. Building upon the thread, I shall focus on the text’s history, structure, and composition in this post.
Written in old Tamil, it is touted to be part of the post-Sangam Literature and considered as one of the eighteen lesser texts – Pathinen Keezhkanaku (பதினென்கீழ்க்கனக்கு). These eighteen texts contain primarily ethical or didactic poetry. Thirukkural also epitomises moral and ethical wisdom passed on from generations through palm-leaf manuscripts and oral recitations.
In the early 19th century, Francis Whyte Ellis, a British civil servant in the Madras Presidency and a scholar of Tamil and Sanskrit languages, discovered and printed the work into media. The first print is traceable to an 1812 edition, followed by multiple re-prints and subsequent editions
The text contains a plethora of sacred couplets – ‘Kurals’ which talk about righteousness, wealth, economy and politics, and love. ‘Kural’ is a shortened version of the’ Venba’ grammatical structure. While Venba is a type of classical Tamil poetry composed of 2-12 lines, the ‘Kural Venba’ is a 2-lined poetry containing four words in the first line followed by 3 in the second.
அகர முதல எழுத்தெல்லாம் ஆதி
பகவன் முதற்றே உலகு
Kural 1, Chapter 1 – Praise of God
The 1330 Kurals are divided into 133 chapters, with ten Kurals in each chapter focusing on a singular theme, such as the importance of rain, knowledge and education, power in action, honour, greatness, etc. Each Kural talks about a particular essence of the chapter and can be individually quoted for its idea. Further, the entire chapter forms an arch that details a connected insight and gives the reader plenty of thoughts to ponder.
While one may draw parallels with their beliefs and compare the Kurals to their religious teachings, the professed wisdom doesn’t incline itself towards any religion. It is fundamentally secular in nature.
Yet, quite interestingly, Thirukkural opens with a Praise to God!
Why would a secular text begin its shower of ancient knowledge with a description of the supreme being and elucidate ways to show devotion to the almighty?
Stay tuned to find out!
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