This statement may seem chauvinistic to some,
but a patient and thorough analysis of ThirukkuraL
will tell us that Thiruvalluvar has extolled Aryan values only.
The application of Thirukkural’s value system
to the life and rule of the kings in ancient Tamil nadu also reveals
that those kings have lived up to be Aryan in essence.
Continuing the analysis of what makes one Aryan or SaandrOn,
we can see that Thiruvalluvar has characterized
‘piranil vizhaiyaamai ’ (not desiring another man’s wife)
as a virtue of SaandrOn!
In the chapter on ‘piranil vizhaiyaamai’ (chapter 15),
he has said,
“piran mania nOkkaadha pEraaNmai SaandrOrkku aRan”
Not to desire another man’s wife is the DHARMA for SaandrOn.
The very first verse in that chapter
(“ piran poruLaal pettozhugum pEdhamai gyaalatthu
reiterates our contention that
the one fixed in
will not desire another man’s wife!
Whatever he has described of this ‘saandrOn’
is identical to
whatever is regarded as Aryan in Sanskrit.
According to KuraL the saandrOn will
# do his duty
# have compassion, humility, complacence, mercy, kindness and truthfulness.
# not expect anything in return for the good he has done to others ,
# be non-violent , will not kill
# not find fault with others
# be humble to the extent that this quality will change the attitude of his adversary for good
# accept defeat and not pass on the blame on others
# help those in need
# not be poor in goodness
# be balanced and steadfast and not waver under any circumstance.
This ultimate quality makes one “sthitha prajgyan”
according to Bhagavad Gita.
Such a person will consider both victory and defeat with equanimity.
This is the ultimate aim of human endeavour.
This quality was gone in Arjuna when he refused to fight.
Such a tendency made him Non-Aryan, according to
It is ‘Anaaryam’.
The same concept is promoted by Thiruvalluvar
by the name ‘saandraaNmai’
and the Aryan as ‘saandrOn’
It was the wish of every mother in Tamil nadu
To see that her son grows to become an Aryan!
“eendra pozhudhil peridhu vuvakkum
than maganai
saandrOne ena –k- kEtta thai”
The moment of extreme happiness for the mother
is not the moment of the birth of her son.
It is the moment when she hears others
celebrate him as “SaandrOn” or Aryan!!!
It must be noted that Thiruvalluvar could have used other terms
in the place of saandrOn,
such as
‘arinjan’ (intelligent)
‘arulOn’ (kindness)
‘paNbhaan’ (one with good character)
‘poraiyOn’ (one with patience)
‘eedhalan’ (the one who gives)
‘isaiyOn’ (one who is famous)
‘valiyOn’ (one who is strong)
‘periyOn’ ( great man)
But he used ‘sandrOn’ which encompasses all the above qualities
and even more such ones.
This shows how the values enshrined in that term Aryan
was dear to the people of this
Nothing else can prove convincingly
that Tamil nadu was also part of Aryavartha!
Such being the case,
it is ridiculous to hear people hate this term.
It is all the more ridiculous to see people who swear by Thiruvalluvar
to say that they don’t like Aryanism and that they are against Aryanism.
It is nothing but the height of ignorance to say this
and also consider in the same breath that
the ancient Tamils were not Aryan.
Let me quote Thiruvalluvar himself.
We can prove that he was very much Aryan
and he propagated nothing but Aryan values in his master piece.
Even Tamil scholars have accepted that Thirukkural is “utthara vedam”
which means Upanishads!
Thirukkural is Tamil Vedam (thamizh maRai)
Three of he 4 purushaarthas of Vedantha namely,
Dharma, karma, kaama and mOksha are explained by it
as
The 4th one was left out because,
adherence to the first three will take one to the 4th one
which is Moksha (veedu in Tamil) or the Ultimate Release.
Thiruvalluvar has sequenced the chapters in such a way
as to give continuity and connectivity to each of the issue
that is discussed.
In the 1 st group on Dharma,
he has placed the chapter on Destiny (oozh or vidhi)
as the ultimate one.
Why?
He has accepted the role of destiny in a person’s life
and by placing it at the end of the group on
and by the explanations on destiny,
he has reinforced the vedic concept
that destiny ultimately decides the outcome ,
come whatever may be one’s effort or action.
This view is also the concealed interpretation of
the famous Bhagavd Gita exposition
that we have control over only our actions ,
and not on the results of the actions.
(karmaNi eva adhikaarasthE maaphalEshu..)
So the last chapter of the Aratthu-p-paal (group on dharma)
is the teaching of Gita!
Not only that
Even the first verse of the entire body of ThirukkraL is
about the A-kaara Brahamn!
(agara mudala ezhutthu)
The aadhi bhagavan is again the Vedic god Bhagavan
having 6 qualities called ‘bhaga’
namely supremacy, valor, renown, auspiciousness,
knowledge, and detachment.
At many places Thiruvalluvar brings in the concept of Devas
and has even compared the knowledge by hearing (kELvi)
to the havis (offerings) to Devas.
Such persons are like devas.
A number of connections from Vedas, vyakaranas, habits of the vedic people etc
can be quoted from ThirukkuraL.
Thiruvalluvar who has never quoted any specific god by name,
has indeed quoted one by implication
and another god by his name.
The one he has indicated by implication is Rama!
In kuraL 773,
he has said that the Height of Manliness (pEraaNmai)
is that of showing mercy to the bitter rival in battle,
when that rival is low in spirits.
The crucial version implying Rama comes now.
Thiruvalluvar says that
“this is what is being said of PeraaNmai (Height of Manliness)”.
This means that this episode must have been coming down the ages
and the PEraaNami also as one of the highest virtues
which can not be handled by anyone other than Rama!
Another God he has quoted is Thrivikrama in kuraL 610
He has named him as “adiyaLandhaan”
“madiyilaa mannavan yeidhum adiyaLAndhaan
thaaya dhella morungu”
That king who is not at lethargic will get
what the AdiyaLAndhaan got by his steps.
The AdiyaLAndhaan got this world and heavens by his 2 steps
and the greatness as the Lord of this universe by his 3rd step.
Such worlds will be gotten by that king who is not lethargic.
Lord Thrivikrama
or the symbolism behind the avatar of Thrivikrama,
seems to have inspired Thiruvalluvar
in a very astounding way.
If not, why should he have used the 2 -stepped kuraL,
which is not a widely used form for composition?
to express the rules of Dharma, Karma and Kaama,
the adherence to which will lead one to finish the third step too,
which is nothing but Moksha or Ultimate Release!
The above quoted KuraL (610)
looks like a self-made inference
or a sort of self-comment by himself, on his work,
in that
by the 2 steps of the KuraL,
he has conquered
and helps the followers of KuraL to conquer
what "AdiyaLandhaan" had done -
that of conquering this world and the heavens -
of conquering life in this world and the life after!!!
The crux of the issue is that
ThirukkuraL extols Aryan culture and
that the culture of Tamils also was Aryan.
And this can be best understood by the way he has named the chapters.
The final division of Thirukkural is called Adhikaaram.
The division is into 3
by naming them as ‘paal’ on 3 purushaarthas,
which are divided into Iyal,
and which are further divided into Adhikaaram.
Paal and Iyal are Tamil words while, Adhikaaram is a sanskrit word!
Thiruvalluvar found a Tamil equivalent for Aryan (as SaandrOn),
but did not name a Tamil Equivalent for Adikaaram!!
It is because of the uniqueness of the kind of Adhikaaram
that Thiruvalluvar wanted to convey.
Adhikaaram means ‘rule’ in usual understanding in Tamil,
but it also means ‘chapter’ in sanskrit.
But Adikaaram by its derivation means “adhikaritthal” (increasing)
implying that the control or rule or influence will increase.
What is this increasing control?
According Sanskrit lexicon, Adikaaram can be of 2 types,
“yatho-dEsa paksham” and “kaarya kaala paksham”
In the former case, yatho-dEsa paksham,
the rule or influence of the king will be spread by itself.
The king does not make any special effort or law
nor appoint any enforcing authority
to spread his rule or to make everyone in his country obey the rules.
The dissemination is automatic and natural
and the influence reaches far and wide on its own.
In the other case, “kaarya kaala paksham”,
The king appoints persons who will see to it
that the rule is enforced throughout his kingdom.
The best example to understand this adhikaaram is
King Ashoka’s efforts to spread Buddhism.
But the message spread by ThirukkuraL does not need any agency to spread it,
because it was the message of Aryan culture,
the Sanatanadharma
as practiced by anyone who qualified as Aryan in behaviour.
This existed and
spread by itself by the yatho-dEsa paksham!
That is why Thiruvalluvar coined this term for his basic division.
By choosing this term Adhikaaram as the basic unit of division
of rule book-like Constitution, which is what ThirukkuraL is,
he has succinctly made it known
that the values incorporated in Thirkkural spreads on it own
everywhere in this land and in this entire world!
The message of Universal Truth will spread like that.
The Universal truth he has said is the Tamilised version of
Vedanta and Sanatana Dharma,
of Aryan Culture.
Aryanism and sanatana dharma go hand in hand in that
an Aryan is the follower of Sanatana dharma
and sanatana dharma lives as long as an Aryan lives.
This message is again given by Thirvalluvar only
in his last verse in the Adhikaaram on “SaadraaNami” that
when the SaandrOn loses his saandraaNmai, the earth will perish!
The day when no one person lives as an Aryan,
on that day this earth will perish.
Until then this, world will go on.
and Aryan will live in some person,
or any person from any corner of this world.
When such is the greatness of Aryan,
it is not only ridiculous but also distressing to see
misguided persons (particularly of Tamil speaking origin)
claim that they hate Aryan
and refuse to accept
that their ancestors were the best custodians of Aryan culture
and lived as Aryans to the core.
The fear of Aryan is unfounded.
The hatred for Aryans also is uncalled for.
If we fear so or hate so,
it means, we the Tamils are fearing ourselves and hating ourselves.
Our past is nothing short of Aryanism.
It is high time, the Tamil scholars re-visit
the ancient Tamil works and Thirukkuaral
with an open mind.
They will know that we are Aryans in this
(to be continued)
